Making Up My Mindset

I've said it before, I don't love my job. People who work in the educational field do not make enough money for the time and energy their position requires, though my dad likes to say, "Teaching is the best part time job there is."

I was talking to my mom about a couple of wins I've had with some students and how even though I don't really like my job, I do really care about a select group of kids. She said, "Krista, I know this isn't the mission field you wanted, but maybe this is the mission field you need right now."

She's right that working with junior high and high school kids is not the mission field I want to be in. I'd love to be doing something where it's obvious that I'm making a difference: working with human trafficking survivors, feeding the hungry, building churches- something that really matters. That is making a mission all about me, which of course, is dead wrong. Mission work is not about me, or my ego. It's about being present in the position I am in to share God's love with other people.

If I made up my mind to be a positive influence on the kids I see daily, regardless of what I think of the environment, wouldn't that go a little way in making a difference? If I showed kindness and respect to the kids who rarely see anything but disgust and neglect, isn't that a mission field? If I can offer a [terrible] joke to the kid who is down or needs a hug, or even a firm reminder that I have confidence in their abilities, that makes a difference.

I may not love this mission field, but it does have its benefits. If I'd just make up my mindset, it might be alright.

Consider This: Where do you need to make up your mindset? Is it reminding yourself that your kids are a blessing, even when they're making an awful lot of demands and leaving a mess on your counter? Remembering that you love your husband, even when he's trying your patience? What about the frustration with the never-ending battle against keeping up the house? This week, make a conscious effort to adjust your mindset to remember what your mission field looks like. Maybe that means laundry and cleaning house and errands and raising kids is your mission field. Maybe it's a job that you tolerate because it barely pays the bills, but you're making an unseen impact. Your mission field matters, and so does your mindset.

Have a great week!

#considerthewildflowers #makingupyourmindset