The Bigger Picture

A photo from Alaska: Keweenaw, the dog. Focused on her favourite play thing - snowballs.

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Note to readers: Beware as I have begun sharing the musings and adventures from New Zealand in two separate locations. The writings in each location may very a great deal from time to time, or, they may be very similar.

Check out the website of Skyline Family Fellowship (www.skylinefamily.com) and find your way to the Missionary Updates under the Missions heading. There, one shall find additional thoughts of an Alaskan Down Under. Notably, this week, as the post to Skyline has taken a very different look to the post captured in the words below. Perhaps the post to Skyline is a bit more "newsy".
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It's been just a bit over three weeks since arriving here in New Zealand. As I think back over the days it strikes me as to how many of them appeared to be quite slow, yet the three weeks has really flown by - much to my dismay.

I had high hopes of accomplishing many tasks within that time frame. Yet I now realize that the accomplishment of tasks is not a proper focus for life. As Ge-off pointed out the other day, life isn't captured in a bullet-point list of to-do's. Nor are relationships.

We live in a community of people here who are dedicated to serving God, in this place and in this time. This place is a place of learning and a place of sending out. Yet, as we live in this place and work in this place we begin to focus much on our roles in this place and unknowingly remove ourselves from our roles in the world at large.

And this is supposed to make sense, right? Why should a person care about the world at large or their role therein? Because a person matters. A person has a role in the world whether they believe it significant or not. The challenge is to view life in a way that removes a person from the bubble in which they exist - there is a bigger picture.

This is the challenge here in our little world of YWAM Oxford. We do send out teams to well over 40 countries per year. Teams that participate in many ministries across the nations. Teams that report back here every week. We do keep in mind the work that God is doing the world over, and here in this place. Yet in all of this we tend to narrow our view to a little piece of what our bubble encompasses.

And by "we" I don't mean everyone. In fact, I probably can only speak for myself here. But I know others struggle with this as well - keeping a perspective on the bigger picture.

Then of course, the question must arise as to what exatcly is the "big" picture. How does one define this? Hmmm. Good question. There may be many answers that come to mind.

However, there is just one Truth.