From the Editor – Winter 2023

Letter from the Editor – Emily Fales

 

Prior to this year, my vision of service was exclusive to the day to day around my college campus and tight knit community. From volunteering on the weekends, to dropping my schedule for a friend in need, to late night calls from younger sisters states away needing help with their homework – I had yet to experience the fullness of the word service. Of course, these were opportunities to help, but I now struggle to believe that any of them reflect the truer meaning of the word. Since being led to Word Made Flesh, I have been rediscovering the meaning of this word as a lifestyle.

I graduated college with nothing other than an inkling inside me saying, “I want to change the world”, which began to outpace every other possible desire of a 22 year-old eager to follow her dreams. To make a long story short, I had been praying for a God-sized mission to say yes to, and He led me directly to the digital doorstep of Word Made Flesh. My eyes widened to the needs of the world, and my desire to serve naturally grew. Before crossing paths with Word Made Flesh, I had yet to come into contact with an opportunity that allowed me to move closer and learn firsthand how to respond to suffering that exists across our world. My intensely tender heart endured a rollercoaster of emotions as I simply observed the service of those who have come before me at Word Made Flesh, and so, I said yes.

It quickly felt impossible to reconcile the needs of the world with my small part. The more I was exposed to the suffering and hardships, the less it felt appropriate to pay attention to my inner world. But this way of service isn’t true. Losing yourself in the needs of others isn’t helping anyone. The service that I am first being tasked with is to search the inner workings of my own heart. God doesn’t ask us to lose ourselves for the sake of others, but to be moved into truer communion with Him so we can see His face everywhere. We are meant to live in the fullness of receiving His love and extending His love as One.

In the book Life of the Beloved, Henri Nouwen shares,

“We may be little, insignificant servants in the eyes of a world motivated by efficiency, control, and success. But when we realize that God has chosen us from all eternity, sent us into the world as the blessed ones, handed us over to suffering, can’t we, then, also trust that our little lives will multiply themselves and be able to fulfill the needs of countless people?”

We have to look within with love before we can look upon the world with love. I am learning what it means to serve from a response of my belovedness. I am not loved because I said yes. I am loved, and so I continue to say yes. This edition of The Cry for Service features those whose expression of service is tangible both in their occupation and their day to day presence in relationships in the Word Made Flesh community. Service is not exclusive to full-time missionaries, but a lifestyle celebration that we may all embody. You are given a lifetime of opportunities to serve exactly where you are at, with what you have been given, and it only takes an inkling of awareness of God’s love for you to lead the way. All God asks is our willingness to say yes. 

I hope the following stories stir you into personal reflection of how God is working through you and asking you to share your life with others. May we open ourselves up to the inner working of our hearts that lead us to serve others open handedly and multiply our love.