Connie's Mission Playlist

I realized that this week is the one-year anniversary of my blog at this site. It was at this time last year that my mom and I came up to visit International House and I started thinking of life here in Indiana as a real possibility. At the time, I had no idea that I'd stay here for a year... Who in their right mind would choose to live in Fort Wayne in the winter? But I guess I've lost a little common sense in the past few months... taking risks and diving in to new experiences will do that to a person.

Hannah and I gave ourselves a project this weekend... we compiled a playlist of 15 songs that tell our story of how God brought us to this place in our lives. Some of the songs are old, and bring back memories of our first short-term trips and defining moments of decision. A few songs are fairly new, that we've discovered together and will forever remind us of the ministry we have here. I'm listening to the playlist right now, and I'm just amazed at God's plans and purposes.

I just finished teaching a 6-week study on Sundays about the life of Joseph. There were some lessons that were hard to get through, because the Bible doesn't give the God's-eye view of the situation. Joseph is thrown in a pit and sold as a slave... he is falsely accused and left to rot in prison... where is God in all that? It isn't until the end of the story that we really see the faithfulness of God and his control over the situation. "You did not send me to Egypt - God did... so that many lives would be saved."

Not that I can compare my life with Joseph's... no prison, no slavery, and my brothers are pretty awesome guys who I'm sure wouldn't stage my death. But I can relate to long periods of waiting helplessly, wondering why I have the disabilities I do and why God has closed the doors he has. I still don't really understand a lot of it, but that's because He's still unfolding the story. But it is good to reflect - to listen to music that makes me remember milestones in my life, turns in my path, that God's orchestrated to lead me here.

Maybe I'll write some posts telling the stories behind my songs on the playlist...