Big God...There and Here

My heart is stirred and my brain is swimming.  This evening, I got to listen to a Pakistani man share about his life in Pakistan and how God is doing really big things in the hearts of people and communities there.  It was exciting and compelling.  And big.  In some moments, I found myself wanting to move to Pakistan (which really isn't a good idea for many reasons), wanting to be part of God's movement in unlikely places.

But I am here.  My place is in the everyday, often repetitive, basics of my family's life as we live amongst our Midwestern American neighbors.  And God is here.  My heart wrestles with how to hold both things at the same time.  How do I engage with God's big-picture heart for every tribe and nation, yet receive the grace that is the fact that He is equally involved in the hearts of my children and neighbors?  He is in the exciting (and challenging) task of training indigenous church leaders in Muslim countries.  Yet, He is present in the wiping of little faces (and butts, for that matter) and in the imperfect offerings of grace here in our home.  He is big.  I am small.  Yet, He is here.  He longs to use me.  He gives me good gifts.  And He allows me get glimpses of how vast He is.

Tonight, I'm overwhelmed and grateful . . . and praying for Pakistan . . .