Six years ago my husband, Justin, and I sold our home to embark on a new adventure with our toddler and infant daughters. We responded to a call to serve in an apartment ministry. We were charged with operating as the welcoming committee and social activities coordinators. However, our covert mission was to make a kingdom impact among the residents there. As we began, we felt as though we were truly serving in our sweet spot for the first time. That was exciting! Then after just six months of service, we were informed that all of the teams in Texas affiliated with our particular residential management company had only thirty days to relocate. As you can imagine, this was initially devastating to us.

We believe that our brief time with the apartment ministry had awakened a calling for our family to reach out to our neighbors. However, at the time, we struggled to understand why the Lord had plucked us from that particular mission field so suddenly. We trusted that He would use those experiences for good, but we were also filled with questions. Was the Lord delivering us from something? Protecting our family? We just did not know. As it turns out, after that, we moved into a temporary housing situation that lasted for almost four years. During that time we added two more children to our family. If you are keeping count, we were now up to four little ones. The questions continued for us. “Lord, why would You have us downsize while at the same time growing our family?” “Why would You reveal a sweet spot to us, but then take that opportunity away?” “Why have we been dropped on this transient street where forming relationships seems near impossible?”

Many people seek Jeremiah 29:11 for comfort and encouragement when faced with life’s difficulties. However, once we stopped resisting the gentle discipline of the Lord, we were lead to the verses that precede that one. Through this prophet, the Lord instructs the Hebrews being held captive in Babylon to go on with their daily lives – build houses, plant gardens, have children, pray – despite the unfavorable circumstances before them (vs.5- 7). A local pastor summarized this portion of scripture eloquently when he encouraged his congregation to “bloom where you are planted”. Hearing those precise words was so striking for me because that is the title of a familiar song I grew up singing. However, during all of those years I did not fully understand the meaning of that particular phrase until I was walking on the hot desert sand and asked to reach out and blossom anyway. What a blessing that the Lord reveals the truth of His Word to each of us in such a personal way and in His perfect timing.

Over a year ago, our family was overjoyed when we received the opportunity to replant in a new neighborhood. God’s timing never ceases to amaze and thrill us. This move came about just as we were feeling stirred to return to hosting neighborhood outreach events. Praise the Lord! The desire of our hearts is to serve others as a family, help turn our subdivision into a community of people who know and care about each other, make an eternal impact on lives…oh yes, and have some fun along the way too!

For our first event here, we decided to host an ice cream social at the end of last summer. This memorable evening was spent with over seventy friends and neighbors gathered at our home. What a blast! It is always so thrilling to see people connect and enjoy one another over something as simple as ice cream. You just never know how those relationships will develop or where they will lead. One neighbor commented about the fact that she and her husband have lived here for five years and had never met a single neighbor…until that evening. Another family stopped over announcing they were not interested in ice cream at all, but rather that they just wanted to meet the “new neighbors”…us. God is so amazing! Since then, our family has also handed out fall harvest hot dogs, hosted a cookie exchange, and participated in neighborhood Christmas caroling. Now we are prayerfully considering the next adventure with our new friends and look forward to whatever the future holds for our neighborhood in upcoming years.

Have you ever felt called to serve as part of a missions team? Well, you do not have to travel to a distant land to fulfill your calling. Seek the Lord and He will equip you with the basics of reaching out in creative ways within your own community, ultimately in an effort to share the love of Jesus with others. My hope above all in sharing here is that our story encourages you along the journey to get to know your neighbors…and to bloom wherever you are planted, friends.