We had a wonderful Saturday today spending time with another missionary family in Poland. I believe the Carlsons have been in Poland for about 18 years now and have enjoyed their ministry there immensely. Back in July we visited them, but it was fun to reconnect again at their home and just talk about what’s going in each of our lives and share a Saturday together.
My biggest takeaway from today was just how important it is to have older families in your life. God has graciously allowed older families in to my family’s life over the years and I have learned much from them. Invaluable tools have been handed down to me in regards to parenting, my and Bethany’s relationship, ministry, leadership, etc. from older men and women. That’s part of discipleship and I really don’t care how old you are, there’s always something to learn and there’s always someone who has gone before you and would be able to speak in to your life. I tell myself all the time, “Never stop learning.” Maybe I’ve even written it on this blog, but when you stop learning, you stop growing. Growth is part of being a human, and it’s definitely part of being a Christian. We are constantly desiring to grow in Christ-likeness and to look more and more like Him every day. But if I sit still and don’t work at it, there won’t be any growth. It takes work.
All that to say, we were blessed just to chat with the Carlson family and learn from their time on the field and to hear their insights in to what helped them along the way. Topics like parenting, language, and friendship. The key now is to work through the things we discussed and make a game plan for how to implement change and grow in those areas. By God’s grace, we will do just that and even look more like Christ in the end.
This was Avery playing with a balloon at the Carlson’s house today. I know she just turned 3 a few weeks ago, but she really looks older to me here.