After going to the PASS Summit last November, I’ve been wondering about my career. How many Christians are there in the DBA world? How can a DBA reflect Christ? After all, it’s just a bunch of bits we’re keeping our eyes on, right? Where’s the redemptive analogy there? Jesus takes backups?
As a went through my RSS feeds today, I came across this article from Buck Woody,
What is the more exellent way? It’s a good question and something that applies to me whether I’m a DBA or Help Desk.
Up next, the Database Administrator as Husband. Well, that might take a few months and a new job.
Of late, things have been unusually stressful. Jinsei ga taihen dai yo! To~ttemo isogashii ne. But one thing as become more and more certain, that I should complete my Church Planting Associate application.
“You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?”
Galatians 5:7, ESV
What is it that’s been holding me back? Is it a person? My work? Netflix? More importantly, why is it so difficult to get people overseas into missions? One would think that you’d be excited to go, not fearful. You’d think that everyone would hound you to continue the pursuit. You’d think that God would just hand you everything you’d need on a silver platter because you’re doing His will, right?
No that’s not the case. It’s hard. Very hard. It’s that nagging feeling that says, “If you move to Seattle, you’ll never go to Japan.” But at the same time, there’s that other one that says, “If you want to win C-‘s heart, you have to keep serving the Lord in Japan a priority.”
Well, it turns out, I’m not the only one. Reading this article by Asian Access (aka, A2) missionary, Nozomi (who first contacted me when I was learning more about A2), who had to engage E’s family to get their support and approval for her plan to work in Japan. Wow, it is that hard.
Pray for folks like Nozomi, Emi, and Peter, who have been engaging people like me, trying to get us moving towards helping in the harvest. I didn’t realize how stubborn I am until reading this. I’m stoke to see Peter and his family next week, Lord willing. And I need to update my autobiography and finish the Psyche review essay questions this weekend. Hopefully it’ll be quick and I can do some apartment hunting at the same time.
Hi! I’m a PC. And I’m a broken Apple plugin.
Q. I am afraid of being alone in a wide-open place.
A. They have those in Japan?
If you haven’t figured it out yet, the excitement of missions work has once again took hold of my heart. I had begun to get worried that I had shelved the idea, instead fearing for social and financial security. Ever since I started working in Seattle, work itself has dominated life. From long hours in the winter, to night studying in spring; I’ve spent too much time at it.
Granted forty hours a week is a good thing, for it allows one to provide not just for himself, but also for his church family through general tithing and missionaries in the foreign field. I’ve been supportting the Powers in Latvia for nearly a year, and the Robisons for probably two or three.
But all this to say, I’ve pulled the CPA application back out of my backpack, made a few emails, and am filling out bubbles again.
Then lo and behold, the Thomsons call from Mercer Island. They’re in town! If there’s anyone in Japan I miss from my trip last summer, it’s them! Their breadth of experience floored me, and they taught me that you don’t have to be someone special to give your time or your particular gifts.
I suppose those long meetings at JxJ or translation errors during our VBS trip really made me think I can’t be a missionary. But let’s face it: Jesus was a carpenter and Peter was a fisherman. Okay, okay Matthew was an accountant, but that’s not rocket science either! Or brain surgery. We’re talking about quadruple bypass surgery here, and we’re not even the lead physician. God the Father himself “will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” (Ez. 36:26, ESV)
Additionally, Rita Mulligan, a retired OMF’er, came up to me this Sunday, her face aglow. She told me she was so encouraged by my testimony last week. She couldn’t wait to see what the Lord was going to do with my life. (And here I thought I knew!) And how dearly she hopped to introduce me to some friends at OMF, who were down in Tukwila.
Rita and the Thomsons, I love you guys! You, the Ryus, Reiko, the Clarks, the Mortimers, the Barkmans, the Takahashis, the Hondas all in Japan. Kei, Miyuki, Yohei, TK, Mina, Faith, Nozmoi, Yuki, Masa, and Dave: you rock my world here in Seattle! If it weren’t for people like you, showing what it’s like to engage the enemy, I wouldn’t be back on this path! Thank you for your service!
