Nearest to Home

“I’ll understand if this is uncomfortable for you, and if you’d rather not answer this question, that’s fine. But tell me, what do you think is the role for a woman according to biblical standards?”

“To raise godly children, be a support to her husband, and keep a household,” I replied.

It was the last morning of the Northeast Youth Retreat at the breakfast table when Dr. Edwin Nebblett joined our group and began to converse with us.

“So, with the knowledge that you have that this is God’s plan, what should you be doing right now?”

“Preparing myself for that role.”

Paraphrasing his counsel, he said: “Start now. Do what lies nearest to home – it is your mission field. Spend time preparing yourself to fill the role God has designed for you to the best of your ability.”

I knew that my mission field was right here, right now, but I realized more clearly how important every learning experience is. Each day brings valuable lessons and opportunities for growth that will shape my character. In the continual and mundane household tasks of cooking, watching the children, and cleaning; in my school work where I have to learn discipline and practice perseverance; I am given golden opportunities for God to prepare me for my own home someday.

But there was another point that Dr. Nebblett brought out which I had never thought of before: my life work will compliment my husband’s work in the future. Whatever his mission is, God will prepare me to stand by him as a support and as a blessing to what he has called us to do.

Every decision that I make – whether I consider it large or small – will still be a building block of my life; molding, shaping, and changing me into the person the Lord wants me to be. The choices I make today – and the choices I make all along the way – will shape my destiny.