FIVE LETTERS S-L-E-E-P

Burden or a Calling?

Do you ever get burdens? I noticed we get burdens quite often.  It seems as though after watching the news, reading blogs, surfing the net, we tend to feel bad for the people we see and read about that are in horrible situations. We often find ourselves wanting to help.  For example, we see the children in Africa starving and want to feed them or we read about killings (like what just happened in Norway) and we find ourselves wanting to help the families that lost a loved one. So, with that in mind, when we first started feeling like we were being called into missions, Kim's father shared a profound statement with us. He said "You better make sure that you guys are called by God to come to Iceland not just feeling a burden for Iceland, because there is a difference." Understanding the difference between a "calling" and a "burden" has been a learning experience. After searching our hearts and scripture we figured out the difference.  IT IS FIVE LETTERS S-L-E-E-P.  We learned early on that a burden is like a feeling that comes and goes but a calling is more like a commitment that won't leave you alone. With a burden you can still sleep at night even though you feel bad about the situation and with a calling you don't sleep at night until you do something about it.  It's been a year since we felt called to change our direction in life.  We have had some tough days and big decisions but we still know more firmly now than ever before that God has called us to Iceland.