From Grit to Grace and Recalibrating Expectations

[Jaylen]

One of the main concepts that struck me from reading the book was obedience.

The author said that living in obedience to God shouldn’t be harder, it should be easier. I found this interesting because the concept of living in submission to God is sort of paradoxical in the sense that resisting your earthly desires somehow makes you more free.
Living obedient to God should be easier, and I think there is a reality to strive for where we come to a point of intimacy & faith where obeying God does become easier than not obeying Him. But, I think growing those muscles and getting to that point can take some time, and that period of learning to submit to God can become harder than just doing things our own way. Yet, we will likely find that the non-submission route will often turn out to be not too great either. Regardless, the truth remains the same: it is always ultimately better to submit even though it’s not easier. But I guess my point is that there is a point you can reach with God where complete submission becomes easier to do and it is also better to do.
As far as missions go, the foundational nature of obedience to God becomes heightened compared to working back home/local ministry because you are fully out of your element and also a higher level target for the enemy because you are full-time winning back the kingdom in a place that the enemy has a hold of. Obedience and constant reception to God while you are on the field is absolutely mandatory and it is the cornerstone of staying well on the field.

[Taliya]

I focused on the first section of the book Grit to Stay Grace to Go and there were some really helpful and encouraging bits!

1. Fulfilling God’s purpose for my life is more important than fulfilling my own idea of success. “I do not have to achieve my version of success. I need to know how God made me and to serve him where he has placed me” pg. 75. This reminder, as encouraging and freeing as it is, actually has been difficult for me to accept. I still struggle with the feeling of falling short for what I had planned for myself to do here. But it’s so good to be reminded of the truth that all thats required of me is to live as a child of God, to know Him and obey Him and become who He has already made me to be.

2. I must be proactive in staying well overseas. It’s kind of like coming to the realization that just because you moved doesn’t mean you moved away from all your struggles. The ideal worker life doesn’t just fall into our laps simply because we made the step to move overseas, “we must keep pursuing our relationship with God” pg. 139. Just like life anywhere, we must be proactive in investing into the things we want to see in our life.

3. God remains our constant help. This life, again like life anywhere, will still have difficult times. It’s good to expect that to happen with the hope that God is ever present in times of trouble. “Not always does he protect us from trouble, but he always goes with us through it. No matter what happens all around us, despite dangers, God remains our constant help through everything” pg. 274.

[Daycee]

This is not an easy topic but will become more real to you once you are overseas. For now it plants an idea in your mind about what may happen, and down the road resources like this might come back to mind when you find yourself faced with responding to and processing a teammate’s departure.

[Emma Hodges]

I read the 2nd section of the book Grit to Stay Grace to Go: Staying Well in Cross-Cultural Ministry. My three main takeaways are these:

-Not just to press on and move ahead, but to feel and process through the emotions of losing a team member

"Sadness is a necessary part of grieving well" (pg. 178)

Seeing how much it impacts people to lose a close member on the team makes me want to be someone that is consistent and stays when it is hard. I want to build up grit to continue.

–Not jumping to judgment when someone announces they are leaving.

"Perhaps this explains why some resort to playing the God card. When we question them further, asking for more specifics, they say, "God has told us to leave." End of discussion. One cannot argue further. If God said so, then who can differ? What else can we say?" (pg. 210)

"When our colleagues give a justification that doesn't sound right to us, we look for other explanations to fill in the blanks. In doing so, we sometimes succumb to judgmental conclusions." (pg. 210)

I need to support my team members if/when they leave and leave them well.

– Complete the task.

Not necessarily a time commitment of 5+ years, but being somewhere that God has called us and completing the task He has put before us.

I found the study on missionary attrition interesting and it helped me to rethink about expectations I may have heading into this ministry. I need to hold the expectations not too tightly, but also place realistic expectations on my ministry.