As I've now passed the halfway mark of my time with OM Ships in Florence, it's time to look ahead beyond 5 December, when I will leave Florence to return to Eindhoven again. For a couple of weeks now, I've been thinking and praying about my future. Before I came here, I had a very strong sense that God wanted me to go to Florence and serve with OM Ships here. I also feel that serving here with OM Ships is just one step in God's plan for me and that there is more to come. But why? Why did God sent me this small city with 37000 people on the other side of the Atlantic to sort, pack and box books, and to teach English for 3 months? Why did He close the door to the UK? I was very excited about serving with OM Lifehope. The work I would have been doing there certainly sounded much more exciting than Florence.
As I've been thinking and praying about this, I was reminded of my first interview at a small office in Amersfoort with two people from OM. One of the questions they asked me was if I had a specific field in mind. My response was something like: Not really, I'm happy to go where you think I could be useful. The only place I do not want to go is the ship. I'm a very private person and need my own space. Spending two years or even just 3 months with 400 others in a limited space and having to share a cabin with 3 others was something that did not appeal to me at all, despite the amazing stories I've heard about serving on the Logos Hope. Absolutely no way!
Well, after my plans to serve with OM Lifehope fell through, OM Netherlands sent an e-mail around asking whether anyone would like to have me serving with them. As far as I know, OM Ships Florence were the only one who responded positively and after God made it abundantly clear to me that I should go there, I reluctanty accepted the offer and now I'm here. I think you can probably guess by now where I'm going, right? Could it be that the reason God closed the door to OM Lifehope and made sure the only place that would have me was OM Ships Florence, was to put me in a place where I am surrounded by people who have served on the ship so I could hear their stories and their experiences, in order to change my heart and bring me to the one place I did not want to go? The Logos Hope?
The only way to find out, as I've learned from how I got here, is to make the first step. So when I get back home, I will contact OM Netherlands again to talk about my options of serving with the ship. Being 38 years old now, I'm at the upper end of the age range to be considered for a 2 year commitment, so perhaps this is the time for me to go. Who knows? I will continue praying for it. Will you pray with me?
No comments:
Post a Comment