Happy New Year, Charis Family!!!

Spending time face-to-face with friends who live far away is such a sweet treat!  I had the opportunity to spend time with many people I love and miss very much when I was visiting Virginia Beach at Christmas time!  One of those dear friends took me out on a four-hour lunch date that I wish didn’t have to end.  Elizabeth Carmichael, Charis midwifery student from Central Asia who was also visiting the area, and I talked and talked about so many things. All very important things.  In fact, I think we may have solved several of the world’s problems that day!  One thing that has remained in my heart since our meeting, however, is how multifaceted a life calling can be.  Each of the Charis students has something in common: a calling to serve childbearing families in some capacity.  But, that is only one tiny piece of the puzzle.  Each one has unique gifts, passions, and assignments from the Lord that affect exactly how that service fits into the whole scheme of things.

In my own life, for instance, while I am passionate about improving birth outcomes here in the US and around the world and spreading the Gospel as I do, I am also committed to expanding the Kingdom of God through homeschooling, church planting, supporting my daughter in her outreach to teens in our city, wellness coaching, public speaking, and the list goes on.  During each season of my life, different facets of my life’s calling become dominant.  Looking collectively at my life, one theme remains a dominant thread: The Great Commission.  To His disciples, when He appeared to them on the Mount of Configuration after His resurrection from the dead, Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.  And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”  (Matthew 28:16-20)

How wonderful it is that God puts passions inside of us and then chooses to use those things to bring about His purpose in the world!  And, even more wonderful than that is that He promised to be with us always, even when we are helping moms and babies, teaching our children, planting churches, hanging out with teenagers, changing diapers, doing dishes, helping a community learn to grow their own food, learning a new language in a new country, adopting a child, grieving after the death of a dear friend, studying for the NARM exam, and the list goes on and on.

I am blessed to know our students and am in awe of how they are following the calling on their lives and making a difference in the world in so many unique ways!

Blessings,

Kristin Schuchmann
Executive Director, Charis Childbirth, Inc.