In Between

Since the beginning of the summer Philip and I have been blessed by each having a part time job as we continue to build our support team to go to Russia. Though we are busy calling and connecting with people and churches, we are also keeping occupied by our jobs! Philip is working for City Wide Window cleaning and I am working for Rest for the Weary (house cleaning business). We are so thankful for how the Lord provided both of these jobs for us. We want to take time to thank John, owner of City Wide, and Mom Gormong, head of Rest for the Weary, for offering these jobs to us during this phase in our lives. We appreciate the generosity of these people!
As school begins back and I am not on the teaching front for the first time in 4 years, I have realized how the Lord is teaching me humbleness and servant hood through my "new" profession as a house cleaner. As you know I graduated from Indiana Wesleyan University with a BS in Elementary Education. I have taught for 3 and 1/2 years in the school system and seem to know what is going on in education. But I am not a teacher this year. Sometimes I think, "Do the people I clean houses for know that I once was a teacher and that I have a college degree?" But does this really matter? I have struggled lately with knowing what exactly I am doing. I know that we are missionaries in the midst of raising our support...doing whatever we can in between to make money, but what am I really doing? The Lord has spoken to me through His Word and prayer, that I am neither a teacher nor a house cleaner. Yes, I may have been a teacher by profession at one time, but what you do as a profession does not define who you are. I am a servant of the Lord most High fulfilling a call that He has placed on my life. Whether that means being down on my hands and knees cleaning other people's floors or spending my Sundays in a new church every week sharing about the ministry in Russia; whatever I am doing I am to be serving others with the love of Christ.
So, as Philip and I continue to "clean" around Terre Haute over the next months, we are reminded that missions work does not start when we are in Russia. We are ministering agents here, right now, in whatever we are doing. Ministering to others so that they can see Christ reflected in each of our lives is something we are called to each morning as we step out our front door.

Blessings,
Philip, Kara, and baby Adalynn