A Teaching Ministry . . .

"And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi,
Let me now go to the field, 
and glean ears of corn after him
in whose sight I shall find grace.
And she said unto her, Go, my daughter."

Ruth 2:2  KJV

Why are you going on the Pilgrimage to Ireland?

Right now this question remains to be answered. I can’t count how many times over the last seven months that I’ve been asked why I was going on the Pilgrimage to Ireland. What was it that was calling me to go? I still don't know why the idea of this pilgrimage called to me so strongly in February; or continued calling to me during the months leading up to it; or during the Pilgrimage; or now, nearly four weeks after returning home. And I was told that it's OK, give it time. But, maybe this post will help, at least in part, begin to answer that question . . .

To be quite honest, I haven’t really thought about this question the last few weeks. That is until yesterday afternoon when this question just happened to come into my mind as I was driving. As I drove over to town, a whole conversation went on in my head and I thought I really needed to jot this stuff down, you know . . . journal it. Now I so wish I had one of those little tape recorders so I could have just had this conversation out loud and recorded it – would have made writing it down so much easier! Something to put on my list of ‘must haves.’ Well, I finally got to a place where I could start writing my thoughts down and the more I wrote the more it was beginning to sound like something I should post on my blog, but then again, maybe not. Well, here’s what came out of my conversation with myself . . .

So, WHY did I go on this Pilgrimage? What was it that God wanted me to see? Experience? Be a part of? or Do? Has God already revealed the answer to me and I just haven't seen it, or heard it, yet? Is the answer right in front of my face? It could be any one of these possibilities!

However, my thoughts yesterday afternoon turned to include a recent comment made by a Friend about at least some of my Blog posts.

This Friend wrote to me: “And I think your posts have had a component of teaching ministry in them, too.” Teaching ministry, really? Hummmm, if that’s so, it certainly was unintentional on my part. But, yesterday afternoon her comment came into my head, very loud and clear. Not screaming, but loud and clear none the less.

OK, so if I DID any ‘teaching ministry’ in my Blog posts, as this Friend has pointed out or suggested to me, maybe it's something that's written between the lines. I’ve had a habit for way too many years of reading between the lines, so maybe I also have the ability to write between the lines, to put a suggestion within my writing without using words. That is to say that the stories I’ve written, about some of the experiences I had in Ireland and Northern Ireland, have some sort of hidden message within them, but I was not intentionally writing them to teach any lesson or lessons. I wrote each of my posts to share with you about the different ‘ministries' I saw and felt in each of those experiences. There may very well be a 'lesson' or ‘lessons’ within those stories, a kinda bonus! Lessons I've been called by God to teach? But lessons for whom?

OR is it that God has called or is calling me into some kind of 'teaching ministry' or 'writing ministry?' If so, teaching or writing what? And for whom? I've already told you that I'm not a story writer and that I don't like to write. So, if this is what God wants of me . . . what direction is this going?

Taking a look back on my blog posts, these ideas came to mind and I’d like to share them with all of you . . .

First of all: Is there a lesson in the name I chose for my blog? OR Is the lesson in the meaning of 'grace?' Is it not enough for me to find out 'what it is that God is calling me to do?' Is that piece that I pulled out, as I felt it calling to me, actually meant for other F/friends or family members around me? Is God just using me to call attention to that little piece for others? Is He using me and the ramblings in my blog to get others to just stop and think about what it is they are doing, or not doing in their own lives; their own family; their own Meeting/Church; their own community? I do know that God uses us to do His work here on earth.

OR is the lesson just within the whole of my blog? I did state 'what I will share in this Blog will be spiritual in nature and will tell of the ministries I find myself in along the journey.' I’ve made it known that I don't accept it well when others tell me that I'm doing is 'ministry.' As I don't/haven’t thought OR viewed what I do as ministry. Over the last several months however, I have become a bit more accepting of this, but it's still difficult for me to see. I will say that it has become easier for me to see and accept some of what I do as ministry, others it's not. I’m still a work in progress; be patient with me . . . God isn’t finished with me just yet!

'I Shall Find Grace,' 'The Meaning of Grace,' 'Wonder,' 'I Don't Know Why She Does This,' 'Being a Servant of God,' 'Colored Napkins,' 'A Bible for Ireland,' 'An Irish Rainbow,' 'Circle of Friends,' 'Epilogue by Candlelight,' 'Bat Ministry,' 'Cups of Tea,' 'Ministry of a Sugar Cream Pie,' 'Ministry in Story and Song,' 'A Visit to See the Quaker Tapestry,' 'A Black Taxi Tour,' 'Music Ministries,' 'Family Reunion,' 'Grace Revisited,' and 'Ministry of the Chocolate Ginger Cake,' the names of all my posts, so far . . . Has God called me to minister through these posts? If so, minister to whom? And minister about what?

As you've read them: Have you really thought about the words you’ve read? Have they spoken to you? How have they spoken to you? Have they tugged at your heart? Have they made you a bit 'misty' eyed? Have they brought back special memories from your childhood, or adult life? What have my words, inspired by God, said to you? Have any of these posts made you think a bit differently about yourself? About others? About your family? About a F/friend? About a neighbor? Something you've done? Should have done? About your Meeting/Church? About your Yearly Meeting? About ministry? About missions? About mission work? About your faith? About your personal walk with God?

What are you doing differently as a result of something that you've read in one of my posts? As a result of something you felt after reading one of my posts? Are my posts, and the 'teaching ministry,' that this Friend sees within them, written to teach Friends who are reading them how to be better Friends? To be more 'Quakerly?' To learn and/or see how to better work together? To show them how to listen, and I mean really listen to each other? To listen to God?

Seems the questions continue.