I'm not one of those people who looks down on people who don't want to be a missionary. I am glad there are teachers, doctors, scientists, and even garbage men in this world! I am in no way better than they are. I don't get puzzled when someone chooses another career other than missions. I get puzzled when someone doesn't understand why I want to be missionary when they are a follower of Christ. I got this same blank expression from someone this weekend. It wasn't someone at the seminary, but it was a fellow Christian. I told them that I was coming to Southeastern to get a degree so I could be a missionary. They just gave me this weird expression and were confused as to why I would do such a thing.
My passion for things, and even my heart is often misunderstood by other people. Especially when it comes to missions. I figure it will always be that way with people who are passionate about something though. It doesn't matter what you are passionate about, if you show that passion to others at some point it will most likely puzzle them. Trying to make people understand why we are passionate is such a hard thing to do , isn't it? Trying to get another person to truly grasp our heart and our experiences is always a challenge. They will never see it fully from where we stand.
This weekend brought on these thoughts. THis weekend I went to Wake Forest, NC to tour Southeastern. It wasn't a formal tour since I went on the weekend (I couldn't find a time to go during the week). My friend from this summer, Cameron Liner, lives in Raleigh. She has a friend who goes to Southeastern, so he provided us with a tour. I personally though don't think I would've gotten a better tour guide. Brad is really funny and optimistic. And it was refreshing to be able to talk to someone like that about southeastern. Wake Forest is a small town that reminds me of Amory, MS (the town I grew up in). It has personality even though it is so small. IT is very quaint. We ate at a cute little sandwhich shop called "over the falls". The rest of the shops downtown are just as adorable. One of them is a ice cream/gellato shop that has horse saddles for seats. Everything has a creative name.
The campus is really pretty, though not as pretty as the Southwestern campus in Dallas. I got to see pretty much everything from the outside. The dorms were super depressing and weren't even as nice as the dorms we have at Toccoa. That was sad. But, Brad had a lot of good things to say about the school. ANd, I honestly trust his opinion. He went to christian highschool and christian college so he truly understood where I was coming from. He said he has learned a lot in about the Old Testament (which made me really excited because I felt like Toccoa was weak in that area). It was good to talk to him! He was helpful. I still have some questions but I have emailed the admissions counselor and will hopefully get those answered soon!
It took practically all day on Saturday to tour everything. The rest of the weekend I was hanging out with Cameron. She goes to NC State so she gave me a tour of their campus. She showed me downtown Raleigh. It seems the area has pretty much everything I could need! I really liked it. It's a neat city. And, the school seems really good. There were of course, some negatives. I think the positive outweighs the negative though.
Oh, and it took about 5 hours or so to get up there! I was very thankful for my GPS. IT was helpful this weekend. I had so many different places to go!
Here are some pictures from the weekend:
4 comments:
You are going to be an amazing missionary. I understand all that you were saying. I love reading your posts. They make me think so much! I miss you!
The campus looks so beautiful, Jess. If you go there, I will come visit you.
I don't understand why people say/do the things they do either, but in the end it doesn't matter what they think.
I don't really understand the concept of a Christian being puzzled by missions. But hey, what does it mean to be a Christian these days anyway? You'll be fine as a missionary! As long as you have the right shampoo, deodorant, and toothpaste! ;)
As followers of Christ we are all called to be missionaries. Being a doctor, a lawyer, or a teacher, such as myself, does not relieve any Christian from a duty to share the gospel. I think many people have lost sight of that. Next time someone asks you "why," ask them "why not?" It was good to see you Sunday. Hope you're doing well!
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