My husband and oldest daughter return from their mission trip today! Today’s the day! We’ve had no contact except for a 1 minute phone call on his birthday. I’m so excited to reconnect. I’m visiting with my friend who reminds me of this post I wrote last year. I had been worried about what to ask and what to say to bless them most, and she directed me to my own lesson! Enjoy!
My friend sits beside me in church on Sunday, barely awake from her mission trip to the Dominican Republic. “I missed you! How was your trip?” I ask.
This is a terrible question, and I know better. It’s an overwhelming, nonspecific kind of question that makes my friend do all the work. When I returned home from Chicago when I recorded the audiobook for Seated with Christ, my husband didn’t ask, “How was your trip?”
I would have said, “Fine,” and then I would have yawned.
But he asked, “What surprised you the most about the process there?”
What surprised me? Oh, I have so much to say! I want to tell you everything about the technology and my voice and the whole thing!
So this morning as I prepare to meet with other professors for our Bible study, I’m so eager to connect with my friend who just took her whole family on a mission trip. I don’t want to ask, How was your trip? I want to ask a question that will bless her and help her process all that she experienced.
I ask others what they think are the best questions to ask returning friends, and we come up with these that I just love:
- When did you have to be the most flexible?
- How and when did you experience God the most?
- What did you see God do for you as a family?
- What did you learn that you’ll want to incorporate in your life and ministry?
- What are you finding yourself praying for now that you’ve returned?
I’m excited to ask better questions. I love a good question like a love a good verb!