07/28/2026
"Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain."β Psalm 127:1
As a Realtor, I often meet parents who are moving to give their children access to better schools and a better environment.
For a long time, I simply assumed that was the right thing to do.
But today I found myself asking a different question:
What kind of home is the Lord building?
I happened to watch an interview with the principal of a Christian international school, and it led me to reflect on my own calling.
If you'd like to watch the interview, here's the link:
π₯ https://youtu.be/us31gLjnAig?si=H1okepFd9iv-PRGi
One sentence stayed with me:
"When your calling ends, your life ends."
Her unwavering commitment to raising the next generation through a biblical worldview deeply moved me. Knowing that she had carried this calling since middle school brought tears to my eyes more than once.
As I listened, memories of my own family came flooding back.
My mother often said,
"Young Ja should become a teacher. One day she should become a superintendent of education."
My great-grandfather built an elementary school on a small island because my father (his grandson) had to take a boat every day just to attend school. That heart for education was passed down through my family. My father became one of the youngest principals, and my mother was also a teacher.
From the outside, we looked like a family devoted to education.
Yet my father's ambition often took priority over his family.
My mother seemed to believe that endless sacrifice would one day be recognized. She taught me to live the same wayβto keep giving in, to put my sisters first, and to do whatever was necessary for the sake of the family.
Without realizing it, I had begun to adopt the very mindset I once believed was wrong.
A few days ago, my husband said something I haven't been able to forget:
"If a plane crashed, you'd put the oxygen mask on strangers before your own family. Then you'd die, and we'd die too."
I realized that I had unconsciously equated sacrifice with love.
Today, I felt God gently convicting my heart once again.
A good school district may shape a child's future.
But if that future is not built on a biblical worldview, it is built on a false foundation. If our children are not grounded in God's truth, everything else is built on a lie.
Yesterday's sermon also reminded me that saying,
"I can't,"can sometimes be pride disguised as humility.
Today, I ask God to help me forgive my parents.
And to help me forgive myself.
Then I pray:
Lord, Just as Elisha asked for a double portion of Your Spirit,
help me clearly understand the calling You have entrusted to me.
Give me the grace and courage to fulfill it faithfully until the end.
May Your Kingdom come to the next generation,
and may I simply be a small channel through which You work.
Amen.
