Affirmed

So this class I'm taking is rapidly coming to an end. In a couple of weeks I'm heading off to for a weekend to do the classroom portion of the course which I'm looking forward to with a bit of fear and trepidation. So far my school experience has been long distance which is a fair amount of work but to be honest it feels fairly safe. So far it's been a bit of interaction with my professor. Actually, the last assignment I did for this class I had to post to my classes online forum for one of the other students to read and respond to. Boy, did I struggle with the idea of someone else reading what I had to say. I was a nervous wreck.

I've never been much of a go-getter kind of student. I always hated being pointed out in class. I rarely ever raised my hand to answer or ask a question. I liked to blend in. I'm recognizing now how huge areas of my life are controlled by the importance I place on what other people think of me. I hate that. It's such an obstacle to growth and healthy relationships. Deciding to go back to school really was an issue of obedience for me because I knew that's what God was asking me to do but my concern was really how unprepared and completely adequate I felt. Read: I felt pretty stupid about things I figured I should somehow be an expert in.

Anyway, I find it very interesting that this course on the theology of work is the one I find myself taking at the beginning of this whole school experience. I know that it's no coincidence. It really has helped me to form some thoughts about calling and work, especially how that relates to me as a stay at home mom. To be honest, I can't imagine myself doing anything else. I know I'm blessed. BUT I am quite convinced that whatever knowledge I gained in Bible school experience has long since evaporated as I've allowed my brain to turn to mush over the last 10 years or so.

The professor has given us two options for the final project for this course. They are:

a. If you are engaged directly in the marketplace (which I'm not): Based on readings, course interactions and personal experience, create a gospel-centered marketplace ministry plan that will guide your personal spiritual development and transformational Kingdom influence within your current occupational setting. This plan should incorporate an initial section that defines your theological foundations for the plan. As well it should contain a section in which you articulate a Christian worldview of your profession.

OR

b. If you (i.e. pastors or pastors in training) are engaged in ministry to people in the marketplace: Based on readings, course interactions, and personal experience, create a program of development and mentoring for people within your ministry setting that will equip them to engage in a gospel-centered marketplace ministry. This will include the training process, the content of that training, the mentoring process included, the spiritual formation components, etc. As well it will contain a section in which you articulate a Christian worldview of a Christian's perspective on the relationship between work and calling.

Interesting assignment and completely practical if you're working the marketplace or training to be a pastor...neither of which I am. SO, I sent off an email to my professor asking if I might be able to do the first option from the perspective of the stay at home mom and I was pleasantly surprised by his response. He was certain that I could do the assignment from that perspective. He didn't patronize me but suggested a variety of ways that he thought a stay at home mom would have a role in 'marketplace ministry'. That one little email was a HUGE encouragement to me. Now I have the task of evaluating and articulating my role as a stay at home mom as an agent for transformational Kingdom impact. Hhhhmmmm.....I'd better get busy;)

Back at it again...

It's been quite awhile since I've done any journaling about this class. Right now I'm working on two assignments. One is to interview two different Christians about their work and what they think about 'calling'. The other is to write a case study about marketplace ministry. I've never done an assignment like either of these before. Should be interesting:)

I came across a quote this morning as I was finishing up "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan. He quotes a friend who once said "Christians are like manure: spread them out and they help everything grow better, but keep them in one big pile and they stink horribly". Interesting thought. It reminded me of this concept of the church gathered and the church scattered. As a body we're not really functioning as we were designed to if our focus is primarily on the church gathered. We are meant to be spread out in our community in order to be most effective. God has been working on this idea in my life over the last couple of years. Cultivating friendships with and deliberately making an effort to spend time with non-churched people has been refreshing and exciting and challenging all at the same time. Being a stay at home mom I could quite easily be homebound. Being a pastor's wife I could easily become church-bound. Combine those two roles and I'm embarrased to admit that for much of my adult life I've lived in that stupid bubble.