Missionary Living

I am a missionary. Obviously. I mean, that's the title of this blog after all!

However, I don't often share about the missionary side of my life. The part where I get no income outside of support. The part where I watch my balance day after day (I am the one who does the books at camp, so I always know what is going on). The part where I wonder where the money is going to come from. The part where I get to see and experience God doing miracles on a yearly, monthly and daily basis. The part where I rest in the faithfulness of God.

I have no outside job. I have been on missionary support for 2 1/2 years and God has never let me down. My support level is not at 100% yet, but month after month after month I have had what I needed. My bills have never gone unpaid (except for my own forgetfulness ... but that's another story for another time!). I may not be able to buy everything I want, but my needs are very, very, very well taken care of.

Anyways, a situation has come up. It is a need, not a want. But it's one of those situations where I feel that I should just buck up and figure it out myself. But, I feel that God is telling me that would be selling Him short. This need is one that directly affects my life, ergo my ministry. However, it is one of those practical situations. Not one that is glamerous or spiritually based. Just one of those life situations that cannot always be avoided.

It is an issue with my car. Well, that's not entirely accurate. It's not my car, it's my tires.

In the past week I have had two tires reach the point of no return. One of them I have had for two years and it has already been patched. That one hit a rock just right and blew a hole about the size of a ping pong ball. The other one popped a hole in the side about a month after I ran over an object in the road with it (I was passing a semi on the interstate and could not swerve and it developed a bump and that bump popped). Since I can stick part of my hand in the side, I am pretty sure it is a goner! However, not only is my tire ruined, but my wheel got bent as well and as a result a different tire could not hold air.

It feels like it is just one thing after another after another. I wish there was an easy answer and an obvious fix, but there is not (it seems like it should be doesn't it? but, I am a person who can complicate any situation!).

Should I get new tires? Well, how many? My back tires were a pair and my front tires were an entirely different pair. My back tires were about worn out anyways, so should I get two new back tires and a new front tire? Where should I get the tires from? They are pretty expensive here in town, but the next closest place is at least 36 miles away. The best prices would probably be in a larger populated area, which is several hours away. How would I get them? Where is that money going to come from?

Should I get used tires? Apparently there is someone here in town that sells good quality used tires, but we can't get ahold of him. Does that mean I should pursue a different avenue? Where else can I get tires from? A junkyard? All junkyards are a ways away. How will I get them from there to here? How will I know if they really are good tires and not just something that the owner is selling as good?

I already have the answer for one part of my conundrum. I did some calling around to junkyards in the Black Hills yesterday and found a match for my wheel. It was $65 and hopefully in good shape! My pastor was going down there anyways, so they were able to pick it up for me. Luckily he is a car guy so he would know if it wasn't good quality.

So, that just leaves my tires. Our maintenance man Ted fixes a lot of my car issues for me and he keeps asking me what I want to do. And the answer is I DON'T KNOW!

However, I feel that God is asking me to wait on Him. I feel that He is going to do something with this situation. I don't know what that is and what it is going to look like. But He has something up His sleeve. I just have to sit back and take faith in that!