Some Things Never Get Easier

Some things NEVER get easier...or at least it seems that way!

As of July 2, 2015, my family and I completed two years of teaching, missions, and relationship building in Taiwan. We loved the people we met and those with whom we worked. We even enjoyed the majority of the crazy cultural differences and experiences we had. We only moved back to the United States for two reasons #1 God's calling and #2 so our baby girl could be closer to her grandparents.

We prayed and prayed and sought God's guidance on what He would have us to do when we returned. He faithfully answered us, and He provided this amazing opportunity to minister to university students--just twenty minutes away from my husband's mom! We had a job and a place to live/minister all before we even set foot back on American soil. It was all perfect...until it wasn't :(

After moving into the dorm and having an amazing first month at our new ministry, things unexpectedly ended. (Let me tell you that I hate politics--workplace or otherwise!) Suddenly, we questioned God's calling. Had we heard Him correctly? Did we misunderstand? Why had this happened to us? We started off so strong and now we were jobless, homeless, and confused. What should we do next?

Well here we go again!

In my experience, it seems like it never gets easier to listen and trust God. Especially when I am in a situation like the one we are in now. It's so much easier to trust and have faith when you are snug as a bug where you think God wants you to be, but it's so much harder in the struggle. The ironic thing is that is when it really matters! I know this is something that I am still learning, and I may never master it until the day I die but I'm trying.

Proverbs 3:5-6 says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths." ESV

Join me in making a conscious choice to trust God today--even if your circumstances don't make sense right now. Choosing to trust God above our own reasoning and common sense can be difficult--don't get me wrong God gave you a brain for a reason--but sometimes God wants us to do things that don't make any sense in our rationale and sometimes those can be the most rewarding things of all!

Praying for Difficult People

Hello, everyone! Happy New Year! Yes, sadly this is my first post of 2013. I feel like such a slacker.

A lot has been going on in the Mustion house lately. We started the new year with Jimmy taking a trip to the emergency room and then being admitted into the hospital for a two day stay. Needless to say, things have been hectic.

Unfortuntely, not only was Jimmy's illness uncomfortable for him and down right scary for me it has also caused other unforeseen complications. Namely that my boss doesn't understand the concept of taking care of family and making sacrifices for your spouse. Since I have returned to work after Jimmy recovered, she has done nothing but pick at me over the smallest details and tell me that I need to shut out the rest of my life when I am as work because work is the most important.

It has literally been one thing after another for the past two weeks. I feel like I am constantly tip toeing around on eggshells, and I have shed more tears in the past two weeks than I have in the past two years. It's incredible how stressful this environment can be.

But I had a realization today...

During my quiet time I was reading about love from the book of Romans chapter 12. Up until this point, I have been focusing on how miserable my boss has made my life and all the stress that has put on me and my marriage when I bring the stress home from work, but never once have I stopped to pray FOR MY BOSS. I have prayed about the situation--mainly that God would deliver me and make it stop--but I have never prayed for HER.

It made me think. What must be going on in her life that would make her treat someone this way because they took time off to be with their husband while he was in the hospital? Maybe she doesn't understand what family is like because her whole world is her job and her two cats. Have I missed an opportunity to bless her because I haven't prayed for her earlier?

It gave me a different perspective when I stopped to think about it. I may not love my boss or the way she is treating me but God loves her. She probably really needs God's love right now. So I stopped and tried to genuinely pray for her and not just that she will stop being mean to me, but actually that God will genuinely touch her and bring peace to her life.

It wasn't easy and I am no saint. Still I realized today that praying for people that are difficult is important. It is a realization that I will have to make a conscious effort to employ. But I am sure that God will be more than willing to help me with it.

Grace and Peace,
Christiana