who am i serving?

life is changing. to be more accurate, my life is not really changing...it's more like everything around me is changing and moving at 100 mph and i am standing still. and i'm not sure how to deal with it. the director of my school and his family have had to leave suddenly due to their baby daughter's health problems. she can no longer live at this altitude. jason is an amazing director, he is incredible at his job. but more than that, this family is my family away from home. jason is the big brother i never had and his wife, sara, is one of my closest friends. we came to bolivia together 3 years ago. we have gone through all the adjustments to a new country together. we have spent hours talking about everything and planning the rest of our lives. we know each other's struggles and burdens. we have cried together and celebrated together. and now the life we had planned has been drastically changed. we no longer have a year and a half left together. our time together is finished, and i didn't even get to say goodbye. the past two days at work have been extremely hard. jason is here to get the semester started and will be coming three more times during the semester. we had a meeting today about the chain of command while he is gone. it's going to take 6 people to take his place. and i was sitting there thinking, "this isn't what i signed up for. i keep renewing my contract because i want to work for jason. he is the biggest reason i have stayed in bolivia. and now, he won't be here? i can't do this" and i know many in the room were thinking the same thing. and then james, our high school science teacher and jason's best friend, stood up. looking at the people who are filling in for jason he told them that he was speaking for the staff when he said that we did not come to bolivia to serve jason. we came to serve god. and therefore, although we don't want jason to leave, it doesn't change anything. we are here because god called us here, and we will continue to be here serving him, and that means we will submit to their authority because we have submitted to his authority.

and that is truth. i did not come to bolivia because jason called me here. i came because god called me here. and he has called me to at least another year. i am here to work for him, not jason. and while this is still a sad time, full of tears and confusion, ultimately, my work here has not changed. and i have committed to serving him, here or anywhere else he calls me. i just needed to be reminded of this commitment.