Christ Over All

When our son Jacob first told us that he was going to become a missionary, I knew two things:

1. My heart would hurt.
2. Our loss was the world’s gain.

What I did not know fully then, but do now, four months after his departure across the Atlantic, was how God would pull me close and teach me his character through the labors of our son.

There are many stories to be shared with you, my kind readers, and in the New Year, I will make sure that you hear from Jacob himself. He has been in dangerous situations, (likely more dangerous than he lets on to me) and the Lord has strengthened him and kept him from harm. Jacob has shared the Gospel with many, and a few have wholly embraced it, several of whom dwell in a homeless shelter in South Africa.

Jacob perseveres joyfully, delighted to teach Christ, inviting others to church, while resting contentedly in the sovereignty of God. I have written about Jacob before, and as you know, the stories of our four children are the easiest pieces I have ever penned. My greatest earthly joy was the long, slow work of loving, mothering, and home-educating each one of them. They have taken flight, which is precisely what Jon and I raised them to do but my goodness, I do miss them something fierce.

Parents, this is me looking you in the eyes, and urging you: forego the expensive clothes, the pricey vacations, the steep mortgages. Teach your children Christ, go to Sunday worship every single week, read the Bible together, pray together, laugh together, live simply, and love well. No one does these things perfectly, especially me, but every single day I am thankful that my husband championed my work at home, passing up a second income.

Spend time with your loves now. Life is a vapor, and those precious little faces will step out of your home and into the world soon enough.

May they step out with God ruling their hearts.

***

Last weekend Jon and I returned home from church, excited to catch up with Jacob via WhatsApp, eager to hear about a homeless outreach he had been a part of the previous day. He told us that some 200 homeless people had attended, longing to make use of the portable showers with the additional option of having their feet washed.

I have read about Jesus stooping to wash the disciples’ feet, including those of his soon-betrayer, Judas. In Bible times, people’s feet were perpetually grimy–filthy after miles of walking dusty dirt roads in sandals.

But I was not prepared for what Jacob described.

These men’s feet were wounded, and even decayed. Many had not experienced the joy of a hot shower in months, or more. The people, Jacob said, were desperate, grateful to have their swollen, aching, diseased feet washed, and their thick toenails clipped. They were noticeably moved by the gentle care displayed by human hands.

My eyes filled as Jacob spoke. I could picture our son–quarterback, singer, writer, and missionary–a man who could choose to do almost anything–sharing the truth and love of Christ, humbly.

***

Here is something else I now understand: you are who you are wherever you go.

Heading to the mission field does not make one holy. That is a work of the Spirit performed within the human heart. If God is your Lord, and you are spiritually robust while dwelling in Chicago, then you will be spiritually well in Denver or Toronto or Frankfurt or Athens or Cape Town or wherever you go. It is neither the location nor the vocation, but the pulse of the Holy Spirit at work in the secret places, the depths of the soul, that shines.

***

May you and I reach out and serve someone with the love of Christ Jesus.

Even if that someone is Judas.

I leave you with pictures of Jacob, washing feet in South Africa.

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John 13:14-17

 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.  If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.

I invite you to read more about Jacob’s missionary work.