Family Moving Ministry

It started a few weeks ago with a crazy idea to help some close friends move halfway across the country…  You know, like take a truck and a trailer and basically be their moving company. 🙂

Serving Together

Last weekend was the Lake Itasca Family Music Festival, which we go to every year.  It is centered around families doing music ministry.  Saturday morning is filled with workshops and this year – for the first time in 5 years (usually we have shifts at the ticket booth or are helping out elsewhere) – we actually attended one.  Since I don’t play banjo, fiddle, guitar, mandolin, OR have much interest in soundboards and sound set-up, we went to the only one that seemed somewhat applicable for us:  Loren Wissman {dad of 13 children, one of the main family bands, amazing role model} on How to Train our Children to Think Biblically.  One thing he said really stuck out to me, about doing things together as a family, “take your children with you, as you serve, as you do ministry.”  Do ministry as a family.

This was very much the mindset I was raised in on the mission field as well.  We did things together ministering to those around us as a family unit.  But Ben and I are not overseas missionaries.

On the way home I was thinking about what that might look like to us.  For musical families, it seems straightforward and obvious, but what about the non-musical families?

What is our ministry niche?  

Where can the skills and talents God has given us be used?  

What can we do as a family?  

So many times it feels that kids are a hindrance to being involved in ministry opportunities.  I have literally been kicked out of a building of a non-profit doing ministry for children because I had a baby with me.  I understand regulations and liability scares, but that is just sad.  So in this day and age it requires thinking outside the box.        

Family Moving Ministry?

Looking at the calendar though, I’m not sure when we’d squeeze this unique-not-come-up-with-yet ministry in, because, for this short season – the next couple of months – we are a bit busy figuring out logistics of helping people move around.  And then a silly-sounding idea hit me:  Maybe this is the thing, a Family Moving Ministry!  Supporting our friends through the transition of moving IS ministry!

God is definitely putting pieces in place to help us move towards this… we’re not sure what this means and maybe it will just be a short-term way we can bless people, but if this is what God leads us to do right now, then we do this for right now until He gives further direction. 🙂

Last Night We got a Truck

…Tonight We got a Trailer

This morning was our first set of goodbyes to our good friends who are moving back to WI.  Unfortunately we didn’t have the truck/trailer in time, but hopefully we were able to be an emotional support and practical help loading a few big items.  We will see if our crazy dream of going south with our other friends and bringing a different load back north for some others will happen or not.  In the meantime we will do little things to bless others with the truck.  Our first real “moving” will be taking my sister to Bible school at the end of this month!

I challenge you to think about it.  What ministry has God uniquely prepared your family for?  It might be unconventional.  It might even sound… silly.  Maybe even as ridiculous as a Family Moving Ministry! 😀

{Like I said, I don’t know where this is going, and please don’t inundate us with a bunch of calls because Ben still has a regular job… ;)}

We celebrated our new-to-us truck and trailer with a Chinese buffet!  All my European friends will be happy to see Ole has good fork-and-knife eating style!