Hand in Hand with the Hallahans

We were in Indiana this weekend, interviewing with our mission board to become missionaries to Uganda, East Africa! We will know within the next two weeks if we've been approved. Please join us in praying that God's will would be done and that He would pave the way for us! Thank you!

Today's reading: Luke 1:26-38

"Then Mary said, "Behold, the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word." -Luke 1:38

Now this is utter faith and radical obedience! This poor teenage girl gets approached by a daunting angel, and told that she is going to become pregnant with the Son of God... and she bows her head in submission and says, Yes, Lord- whatever You say! Wow!
I wonder if most of us would have taken one look at the angel and laughed in his face? Who, me? But that was a monumental display of obedience which wasn't wrought in one speedy decision- I am sure that her "yes" to the Lord in this one scenario had been the outcome of many smaller requests in which she had been obedient. Her daily choices to say yes to God, her daily obedience to her parents, her faithful service in mundane things prepared her for the "yes" of the century. We will never be faithful in great things, until we are faithful in many little things! Pastor Jeff has said yes to God's calling to Trinity for the past 16 (?) years... He has said yes to many mundane tasks and now God is calling him to be obedient in this next season of life.

Likewise, I will give you a small glimpse into my testimony of how we have come to this big "yes" to career missions. I have wonderful parents who trained me well. They taught me that delayed obedience is disobedience. They taught me to always respect those in authority. So as I learned to obey my parents, I was training to obey God. When I was 15 I said "yes" to a two week mission trip to Jamaica. After college I said "yes" to one year in Uganda. In each one of these instances God came and asked, do you trust Me? Will you go where I send you? And each time I said "yes" it became easier to trust Him, because He showed Himself faithful time and again. So it was only logical that when He asked us to apply at World Gospel Mission to become career missionaries, that we said "yes".

So perhaps you think your life is boring, you don't have any big decisions in front of you, and your life seems so mundane. I'm sure before the angel appeared to Mary, she did too! But in those mundane decisions she was practicing obedience- so that when the big decision came- she was ready- it was natural to say yes to God. Let's all practice listening for the quiet nudges of the Holy Spirit and practice obedience and faithfulness in the small things today- so that when we arrive at the crossroads- it will be natural for us to obey God's leading!

Practicing obedience,
Kelly