In chapter 5 of Ruth Chou Simon‘s new book Beholding and Becoming, she talks about our home and family being our mission field, as well as the importance of embracing this truth on a daily basis.

I grew up in a home with two loving and godly parents. Both of whom taught me from a very young age, a message similar to Ruth’s: home is the biggest mission field, and your family the richest ministry one can have. My parents having had previous failed marriages, and children marred by divorce, dedicated me to the Lord when I was just a baby. They committed to not only serving God themselves, but raising me to know and love God as well. I was their mission field and ministry. They poured Biblical teaching into my heart from the time I was a toddler. They sacrificed greatly to provide me with a Christian education from kindergarten through twelfth grade and supported my decision to attend a Christian college, even when it took me away from home.

Having lost my Daddy and now facing the impending loss of my Mom and best friend, I am faced with a lot of reflection. It is in these times of reflection that I become overwhelmed with gratitude for all my parents did and have done to love me well. They weren’t and aren’t perfect, but perfectly displayed humility through imperfection and repentance. Through their imperfections, they chose differently, protected differently and loved differently.

Loving well, doesn’t mean sending nice cards and gifts for holidays, making phone calls or visiting occasionally. Loving well involves sacrifice. Loving well doesn’t always yield instant gratification. Loving well is sowing seeds every.single.day in the lives of those we love the most. Listening. Caring. Encouraging. Praying.

My Mom and Dad set before me an example of loving well, when it came to honoring their own parents, both while living, and in dying. I was then blessed with the opportunity to serve and love on my Daddy during his final moments on earth. Now, I am honored to get to walk beside my Mom during one of the most vulnerable times in her life. This chapter wasn’t simply reached by turning a page; it’s taken forty years of sowing into the relationship we share. Being there for each other, praying for each other, listening, caring, making memories and sharing life together!  Loving well. Both of my parents loved me well, and so it is with great honor that I also get to love them well.

Ruth Chou Simon is right, everyday life can sometimes seem mundane and down right boring, leaving us craving the instant gratification that comes from a missions trip to Africa or Mexico, but the Bible says:

“To whom much is given, much is required”
Luke 12:48

If we are called to love well, then sowing tiny “mundane” seeds of love on a daily basis is actually what prepares us for harder times when it hurts to love well, because it involves letting go. Sending a graduate off to college; away from home. Walking a daughter down the aisle; giving her to the man God chose for her. Role reversal with a parent who’s lost their independence; bathing, dressing, and feeding them.

I am forever grateful for two parents who truly and purely loved me well, and my heart is full knowing I will have loved them well, my entire life, not just in the final chapters of their lives.

Let Us, Love Well!