Everything in its own time.

One of the benefits of living for many years is the ability to look back and reflect on the small steps that led to big decisions. How did I get here? How did I end up with these goals and priorities? How did I find myself at the conclusion of a second missionary term, in the heat of the Spanish summer, preparing a community for a pastoral transition and looking for the next adventure upon which God will lead me?

There are so many small steps in how I became a missionary. My childhood and youth idols were people who experienced international -living: a teacher who had lived in Kenya , a neighbor who was an International Exchange Student in South America, church ladies who’d been missionaries to Japan, Nepal and all parts of Africa.

My call to ministry has always included John Wesley’s words, “The world is my parish.” I will go where I am needed and serve with the community to which God calls me. I have always resonated with early Methodist bishop Francis Asbury, who favored the itinerant preacher. I am an itinerant - going to a place to work and serve, and then - when called - moving on to a new community. “Go where you are needed.” That message lives in my heart.

When I received the call to re-join the missionary ranks, I was in Walnut , CA after a 5-year term that included a global pandemic. Once the severe restrictions were lifted and in-person church was ushering us into a new normal, I heard the call again. “Go where you are needed.” And, with the help of God, the GBGM and the Spanish Protestant Church, I found my way to La Siesta Evangelical Church.

And now, as August comes to a close, I find myself called back to the United States to care for my beloved family and to offer myself in service to the United Methodist Church in Southern California. And even though it is a challenge to live with so much uncertainty, I am trusting that God will guide a new pastor to La Siesta and God will guide me into a new community in which I can offer my gifts. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, “God has made everything beautiful in its time.” In God’s time, God will direct our footsteps on the way to the future. And it will be beautiful.