Borders

In reading through Oswald Chambers' My Utmost For His Highest one line really stuck out to me. He said, "Never make this plea: 'If only I were somewhere else!'" Ooops. I might've done that a time or twelve this year. And, the worst part is, I justified it every time. I've not left the country once in all of 2011, and that has been something with which I've struggled. How many times have I thought to myself about how I'd rather be in Africa or Guatemala or Mexico or any number of other places? I mean, I've been called to go, so where is the going in all of the staying that I've been doing?! And this Chambers guy has the audacity to say that I'm not supposed to feel this way? But then he goes on to say that we've been Chosen...present tense. Right here. Right now. Exactly as we are, we've been chosen. So, all of this has gotten me thinking about borders and how maybe I have gone this year. Maybe borders don't just separate countries. Maybe borders are also being torn down by two people and two suitcases that deliver healthcare to homeless people. Maybe borders are being crossed when small children can lean up against their nurse's knees and say "Me gusta estar con ti!" even after that nurse pricked their fingers to check their hemoglobin levels. Maybe I'm crossing borders every day. Maybe I'm not less called just because I've been in the same place all year. Maybe I can be used here. Maybe you can be, too.

I still want to go. I'm still called to go. I'm going to Nicaragua in January for two weeks, and I'm beside myself with excitement! And I can't wait to see where I get to go after that. But I think I'm learning that I'm underestimating the One who calls me to go when I take for granted that He can use me here...when I forget that His borders and my borders aren't always the same.