Call of God or Nostalgia

[amywah]

A bit of back story... M dad was saved at the age of 30. He had been an alcoholic and drug addict.. spent time in jail etc. After he was saved he started a drug rehabilitation home for other young men. Over the next 40 years he was an evangelist, pastor, ran a mission through th e church etc. He gave his life to helping others. He passed away last January just shy of his 70th birthday.

Ever since then I feel "led" to do something in the ministry... maybe with Teen Challenge, or something similar. Not sure exactly.
But it has crossed my mind that maybe I just want to do this because I miss my dad so much. It reminds me of my childhood. How do I really KNOW?

 

[stormdancer0]

Minister where you are. Offer to volunteer at a teen event, and see where that leads you. See if you feel pulled to a particular area. God gave you specific talents and tendencies that will help you find His will. If you feel let to teens, maybe that's where God wants you to be. But try different areas until you find where you fit naturally. It may surprise you - I am nowhere near where I THOUGHT I would fit in ministry. I tried several things, including some things that made me uncomfortable just thinking about - until I tried them.

 

[Maremma]

What a beautiful legacy of caring your day would have left behind if you do choose to follow down the same path. I am sure God had His plans for us already planned out before we are even born. He knows us better than we know ourselves and works with whatever personality and strengths we have. He may well have already planned on you taking over where your dad left off. All you have to do is pray and ASK Him if that is where He wants you to go.

 

[*Charis*]

I'm so sorry for your loss... but rejoice in the legacy your father left you.
I've lost someone very dear to me, and found myself doing things this
person did, subconciously, to keep him 'alive'. When God showed this to
me, it became possible to focus on the future God had for me.

Praying for you.

 

[amywah]

Thank you all.
I will pray about this and as mentioned minister where I am.

I actually am hoping to start a new job soon as a teacher in a Christian preschool. Maybe that is the beginning of great things to come.

 

[heron]

Sad, to hear about your dad. I don't think you need to separate your emotions from where God wants you -- many great works of God tied in with human emotions.

Minister where you are.

Yes, it's hard to jump drastically into ministry. And there's no reason you can't think of your daily walk, as just effective as anything else you would do for God's kingdom. It starts in the mindset -- caring about people, praying for them. If you had a ministry without establishing the mindset first, then it would be just a shell... an exoskeleton without the heart.

God reminds us throughout the Bible that He is with us in the dark and silent places. If you don't know what to do, you can at least be sure He will be with you wherever you decide to go. To the ends of the earth... the far winds... you can't escape His presence, so He will not escape you.

 

[HolyTrinity]

Pray and fast and let God speak to you. What I do is, I pray to God saying "If you want me to do this, make it obvious. Gve me the opening or opportunity through someone else so I can know for sure that you are leading me to do this.". I prayed that prayer once because I wanted to do something good with some money I had, and in church soon after, they had someone up front talking about a child that had cancer. His only wish is that other kids in the hospital he is in would get to have a pillow pet to hold in bed while they are sick. So I went out and bought a couple of them (only 20$ each, but i'm not rich by any means) and donated them. This happened very recently, by the way.

 

[heron]

Pillow pets are amazing.

 

[HolyTrinity]

His cause is all over the place here in Indiana. I've even heard about it on the radio.

PS - I don't have a pillow pet, but they are very cute. (I say that in the most masculine way possible).