Sometimes you find yourself in a life situation that you did not anticipate. (If you have never found yourself in such a situation, let me know. I'd like to know how you have accomplished this, and -- more importantly -- how I can accomplish this.) When this happens, it is important to find an individual who is supportive, is understanding, and can help you put things in perspective by, say, telling you how much worse the situation could be.
I was explaining to a friend my disappointment with a certain situation, one that involved a considerable amount of boredom and uncertainty. As friends do, she endeavored to cheer me up by telling me a story. The story was about missionaries, which didn't quite pertain to my particular situation, but as missionary stories are usually interesting I listened attentively.
She said that she had read that sometimes missionaries find themselves doing everything but what they had gone to the mission field to do, things like hauling water by donkey, competing with hairy creatures for sleeping space, or cleaning toilets. This last point was the one my friend thought was pertinent to my own situation.
"Eventually," she said, "you'll figure out your purpose. Just think of what you're going through right now as your toilet-cleaning experience."
Well, this certainly made me think. But probably not in the way my friend meant it to. Mostly it made me think of my real toilet at home, which desperately needs cleaning. Maybe someday I can get my own missionary to take care of that.
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