The Lord doesn't waste anything...

A theme that our Missional Family has picked up lately is that the Lord doesn't waste anything.  He doesn't waste the wait, He doesn't waste the meantime.  He doesn't waste the easy and he doesn't waste the hard.  These past few days the Lord has made His lack of wasting so abundantly clear to me.  

This past Wednesday I had the chance to address the teachers and staff at one of the local elementary school.  This school has 7 or so of our kids, who make up about 15% of our Tuesday night program.  I got the chance to share with them a little bit about what it means to be a refugee, the process that these families go through, and a little bit about Nepali culture.  It was wonderful to get to share with the teachers who spend everyday with the kids, and help the teachers understand the kids better.  It was weird being the one presenting at a Wednesday in-service, when I spent a year on the teacher side. 

If you knew me during the year I taught in KCK you probably knew that I strongly disliked my job most days.  The kids were for the most part difficult, I didn't feel supported by my principal, and I was new back to Kansas City with few friends or connections outside of work.  I had no idea why the Lord had me doing what I was doing, most weeks I wanted to quit.  Now I know why I didn't.  Teaching in the district has given me the knowledge of what it is like to be there, as a teacher or student.  I know what our kids need to be successful, and how to build a bridge between teachers and my Nepali friends.  I could have never imagined when I was teaching how the Lord would use a time that was so difficult for me.  

This week the Lord didn't waste my illness(an upper respiratory infection).  He used it to give me a chance to tell a Nurse Practitioner what I did for a living, and how God works in my life and community.  The Lord then used that NP to teach me a lesson in humbly accepting help from others (in this case a free visit to the doctor), which has been a big struggle for me. But in this case all I could do was say thank you.  There was no way for me to argue about it, no way for me to say no, and nothing that this person expected in return.  The most I could give was a thank you.  The Lord used a cough to teach me to let Him bless me through others.  

I went to a private Christian College, the type of school notorious for marrying couples off shortly after graduation.  Obviously, I'm not a girl that fell into that category.  I would be lying if I said I never cared, sometimes it was tough to watch most of my close girlfriends walk that path, and wonder what the Lord's plan was for me.  Over and over I have seen God's answer to that question.  His plan was for me to be here, doing what I am doing and loving my Nepali friends.  He has given me the chance to serve them in a way that would only be possible as a single person.  He isn't wasting my wait on that one, he is using the wait and allowing me to see Kingdom life in action, in a beautiful way.  I feel so blessed that God filled me in on what He created me to do at such a young age.  

Look at your life, look at the good and bad, the easy and hard.  How is God using them?  

Remember that the Lord doesn't waste anything.