Following God’s lead, looks like this for me here in Tulsa. I\u2019m back on a \u201cministry\u201d call to help my husband\u2019s sister and her husband, Karen and George, in the care of Mom (my mother-in-law). Last night I called us \u201cThe Three Musketeers\u201d \u2013 all for one; one for all! All three of us were up with Mom in the night. Karen is the \u201clead\u201d musketeer. Oh, how tender, patient, and loving she is as mom is no longer the mom that ministered to us. She needs 24\/7 care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I don\u2019t call it a \u201cduty\u201d call, because a \u201cduty\u201d call sounds like an obligation. A \u201cministry\u201d call is an honor and an important mission to serve. I know that \u201cministry\u201d typically has a vocational meaning (pastors, ministers, missionaries, priests, etc.). But when we serve others, we are serving right alongside the greatest servant of all, our Lord Jesus Christ. He set the example for what ministry and serving looks like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMinistry” comes from the Greek word \u201cdiakoneo,\u201d which means “to serve\u201d. Jesus provided the pattern for Christian ministry. He came, not to receive service, but to give it. \u201cFor even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.\u201d (Mark 10:45)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We know, intuitively, that we are to love and serve. That\u2019s what Mark 10:45 is all about. Jesus did not merely come as another prophet or teacher or philosopher. He came to do two things. One: to give His life as a ransom for many. And He came, secondly, to serve His disciples to show them the pattern for discipling others.
As a young Mom and wife, my early-on \u201cministry\u201d was to tend to my family’s needs, raising them up in a Godly and loving home. My family was my first \u201cministry\u201d. \u201cMinistry\u201d was my mission for many years as I was the caregiver for my own precious mother. She lived with us for many years, I took care of her in sickness and in health and even in her passing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMinistry\u201d was my mission when my precious husband became seriously ill. I was his 24\/7 nurse and caregiver. I never assumed those roles as obligations or duties. It was a season of \u201cfollowing God\u2019s lead\u201d and responding with \u201cHere am I. Send me. Use me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This present season has afforded me the rich rewards of serving my grown-up children when I can \u2013 praying for them, helping in areas that I can in their homes and with their children. I love giving some of this wisdom I\u2019ve stored up for many years. It\u2019s also a season of loving and supporting others who need an encouraging word and even practical servitude. I find that Facebook is another area of \u201cministry\u201d to be on the daily assignment of giving fresh words from God\u2019s heart to mine, to yours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And now, after years of loving, praying for and serving her family and dad and others, it is a beautiful ministry to serve my mother-in-law. Her life on this earth is waning. It is a pleasure to serve, love and care for her. We keep thinking \u201cany day now\u201d she will get to go to her home sweet home in heaven. In the meantime, we remember how well she has served. She gave us the example to serve others well. My desire is also to love and serve others so well, that they learn from my example too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I don\u2019t take my assignments or opportunities to serve, lightly. And I don\u2019t do what I do in my own strength because I\u2019m following my LEADER. He leads. I follow. He serves. I serve. How about you?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Following God’s lead, looks like this for me here in Tulsa. I\u2019m back on a \u201cministry\u201d call to help my husband\u2019s sister and her husband, Karen and George, in the care of Mom (my mother-in-law). Last night I called us \u201cThe Three Musketeers\u201d \u2013 all for one; one for all! All three of us were…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16865,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[24918,1],"tags":[1873,1210,1769,24892,40,5376,5371,4519,1813,15352,24917,24915,24916,4584,24888],"class_list":["post-16854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-serving-ministry","category-uncategorized","tag-assignment","tag-blog","tag-christian","tag-duty","tag-inspiration","tag-leader","tag-mark-1045","tag-ministry","tag-mission","tag-mother-in-law-2","tag-rich-rewards","tag-season-of-ministry","tag-serve-others","tag-three-musketeers","tag-to-serve"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16854","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16854"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16854\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16866,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16854\/revisions\/16866"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16865"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}