The Etceteras by Eric Ludy

I listened to a life-changing message a couple days ago by Eric Ludy and wanted to share it with you all. It's about C.T. Studd and God's call upon our lives to be His Etceteras. (And yes, by the end of the sermon, you will understand what that means.) Below is the link to the sermon page.

The Etceteras

The Virtue of Contentment Part 2

Now, you might have thought that Part 1 was the end of my story. Well, unfortunately, it's not. My life had taken a major turn in the past 45 days. I decided I wasn't going to college or pursuing ASL for money. But, now I had a new passion: India. I was reading books on India's culture and human trafficking, looking at saris for sale online, learning Indian Sign Language, and dreaming about the day I would finally be there. To put it bluntly, I was a little obsessed. :)

And although being extremely excited about where God was calling me wasn't an altogether bad thing, I had put my family on hold to pursue this "higher calling" that I had received from God.
At a recent homeschool conference, I was convicted that my relationship with my younger sisters weren't as strong as they should be. As I continued to think about this, I realized that I wasn't displaying contentment, but instead viewing my family and home as a place that I had to be for the moment, until I could go to India. That view is very wrong. The Lord has blessed me so tremendously with the family He has given me, so to waste the time I have here dreaming about the time when I won't be, is not God's will for me, but a sin.

After I asked forgiveness for my wrong attitude, the Lord began working in my heart and giving me a love for my family like I haven't had in a long time. There is so much to be learned, especially as a young lady, in the family God has placed you in. Patience, future homemaking skills, love for children, submission to your husband can all be learned in the day-to-day life of a stay-at-home daughter.

I have learned so much in the past two months. While I am still trying to learn Indian Sign Language and I still have a passion for India and/or Bangladesh, I am also viewing my family in a completely new way. Instead of seeing my family as a temporary place to live, while I work at my end goal, I now see it as a leaping pad, which will help me in all areas of life.

I am continuing to pray for the Lord's guidance, that He would make everything known to me in His perfect time. I would also highly appreciate your prayers as well for me. I have so much to learn!

"Does it make sense to pray for guidance about the future if we are not obeying in the thing that lies before us today? How many momentous events in Scripture depended on one person's seemingly small act of obedience?! Rest assured: Do what God tells you to do now, and depend upon it, you will be shown what to do next." (Elisabeth Elliot)