Missions

Firstly let me try to define 'Missionary'. According to Dictionary.com 'missionary' means One who is sent on a mission, especially one sent to do religious or charitable work in a territory or foreign country. This would be the more traditional meaning of 'missionary' and what most people would be familiar with. BUT, that is not the only definition of 'missionary'. This past two weeks, I have come to learn a new meaning of the term 'missionary'. It is living a life with a purpose (this purpose varies from person to person as God has a different mission for each of His children) and making the most out of the gifts He has given you to further His kingdom.

Last nite was The Great Omission: Part 2 and it was another great service. We had some people from the community share a little about what their mission in life is and how they've come to realise that the deep desire they have in their hearts in actually a mission that the Lord has called them to. This really sparked the question and got me thinking about what my mission in life is.

I have always known that God has a plan for my life and that what ever happens along the way-good or bad-that it will work out well for His purpose. But being human means that we will always question Him, beit His timing or His direction, especially when things don't seem to be going the way we want it to. So last nite's service helped reassure me that the desire I have in my heart will be my mission in life and that it will unfold and happen, in due time, because it is Him that has planted that desire in my heart.

However, it is good to keep in mind that His plan unfolds in His time and not ours. So be patient. I know it's not easy and at times it is fustrating (and this is coming from a person who hates waiting) but I guess it is in this time of waiting that we learn lessons that we need to be better people, better children of God and most importantly to be better missionaries to the people we come in contact with each day.

So what do I think my mission/purpose in life is? This current series really got me thinking and this is one hard question to answer! But I will attempt to answer this question to the best of my ability:
To most people, when I say chefs and kitchens, the picture they get in their mind will very often be a very crude environment filled with swearing, flying pots and pans & remarks that are filled with hurt and discouragement. Unfortunately, in 95% of kitchens that is and has always been like that. And this is something I have experienced myself and, I think most will agree with me, that is probably not a very nice thing to have to go through day in day out. So this leads me to what I think the area in which I have been called to. I have never liked this picture I have painted for you and I have never thought it was necessary either.

Recently, I did a few shifts in the kitchen at the Willow Park Christian Convention Centre and they proved my point right! I was delighted to see that there is hope...We had to cater for a function of 260pax and throughout the whole day there was not one word that came out of anyone's mouth that was degrading, mean or discouraging. So that is my deepest desire, at this point in my life, to make a change in kitchens where I work and show them that it is possible to change the stereotype that chefs have been labeled with.

Don't get me wrong though, I do have some level of respect for chef like Gordon Ramsay & Jamie Oliver. However, my respect for them only stops at their amazing talent to create and produce the fabulous food that they are capable of. Why? Because how they achieve what they achieve is done is a manner that I don't see as necessary.

So, if there is one thing that I can leave you with in this post is that as you go about your lives each day, ask your self this question: "Is what I say edifying the person I'm talking to?". Everything you say has an impact on some level to the people around you, whether it is a negative or positive impact. I struggle with encouraging people, especially people I don't see eye to eye with, so I am by no means saying this is easy but take a small step each day and it will get easier.