Heather Cofer

  • Home
  • About
  • Recommendations
  • Products
  • Book

20 Years: Reflections on Mongolia

3 Oct
Photos by Naomi Vacaro

This week marked a very significant milestone in my life. 20 years ago, on September 29, 1999 I stepped foot in Mongolia for the very first time. I don’t think I will ever forget that day as a seven-year-old… the drive from the airport to my new home in the middle of the capital city of Ulaan Baatar. I was flooded with new sounds, new sights, and new smells, but I only remember being thrilled by it all. My parents told us they felt like God was calling us to live in this country across the world from our own, and in my childlike faith that was enough for me. 

For the next 12 years, those sights and sounds and smells would become an everyday part of my life. The other missionary kids who lived there would become the most precious of friends (and one would become my husband). We shared experiences that were wonderful and hard and exciting. That rugged land of Mongolia became home. 


Not long ago, my friend Naomi (whose family became like family to us during our years there) made a trip back to Mongolia with her husband. As I looked through the beautiful pictures she shared, there was an aching in my heart I haven’t felt for quite some time. She captured some of the spaces that, although may be overlooked by many, are incredibly significant to me and many others. I stared at them over and over and over, tears often running down my face. 

It struck me as I gazed at those photos just how thankful I am for those years I lived in Mongolia, and how much my parents’ decision to move there has impacted me in ways I may not fully know this side of heaven. But, I wanted to share three ways God has used that experience to teach me invaluable lessons. 

1. Living in obedience to God is always worth it

Many people questioned my parents’ decision to move their family of (then) six children across the world to a place that was much more rustic, and had very little access to medical care at the time. But my parents had counted the cost, and they knew that if Jesus was calling them to Mongolia, He would hold us all in His Almighty hands. They knew that there was no other way to truly live this life than in full abandonment to the King of Kings. And we experience the blessing of that obedience to this day in countless ways. I’ve learned that it is the highest privilege to serve God wherever He leads us, and that even when those decisions are very difficult, they will never be in vain. 

2. God’s family is beautifully diverse

We were a part of a community made up of families from all over the world. My dad was the director of a missionary kids’ school, and in many ways these people became our “local body.” All of us had come to Mongolia for one purpose: to serve Jesus. And this purpose bonded us together in amazing ways. I had friends from Germany, Korea, England, Switzerland, Holland, Canada, and all across the US, giving us the opportunity to see how God was working in the lives of people around the globe. We learned to appreciate the many cultural differences and embraced together many of the ones we lived in (creating quite the unique group of kids). And, there are a few of these people I still consider to be some of my closest friends even though we’re far apart geographically. The days of playing, learning, painting, working, laughing, and walking all over UB with these people will forever be some of my most cherished memories. 

3. this world is not my home

As I looked at those photos Naomi took of places that were once such a significant part of my life, a deep longing entered me. But… to go back? To experience those places again? To relive my childhood? No, I don’t think so. I know that that yearning wouldn’t be satisfied by going back to what it once was, or even seeing it again without all the people I love there to experience it with me. As I’ve pondered this,  I think C. S. Lewis sums it up so well:

“The fact that our heart yearns for something Earth cannot supply is proof that Heaven must be our home.”

– C. S. Lewis

As beautiful as my childhood was, it was only a glimpse of the beauty and joy I’ll experience one day in the presence of my Savior in my eternal home. Anything good, anything lovely, anything precious I gained from those years in Mongolia was only a taste of what is to come when all those childhood friends are reunited in Heaven. There, where it is untainted by sin and sorrow and goodbyes. And every time I feel that longing for what once was, I can ask the Lord to use it to ready me for what is to come in my forever home with Him. 

There is not a day that goes by that I am not deeply grateful for those childhood years in Mongolia. Some days I still find myself grieving the loss of that place I loved. But I’m also learning more and more that my identity doesn’t lie in the fact that I grew up there, or that I now live in Colorado, or that I’m a mom or a wife or a writer or anything else. My identity is found in Jesus Christ, who never changes and never leaves. This life will change… seasons will come and go, but not Him. And when that is my foundation, my source of comfort and hope, my gaze is lifted to eternity and the untold joy that is to come. 

Your friend,

Previous Post: « Can You Have a Sense of Style… and Modesty?
Next Post: Friendish – Book Recommendation »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Carol Beth Sprenger says

    October 4, 2019 at 6:45 am

    Praising the Lord for His Amazing Grace, the abundant blessings of those years in Mongolia, and for teaching all of us those invaluable lessons!
    Thank you for this thoughtful expression of your heart, Heather!

    Reply
    • Heather says

      October 4, 2019 at 2:03 pm

      Yes, God has been so good! Thank you, Mom!!

      Reply
  2. Laura Thomas says

    October 5, 2019 at 1:05 am

    I truly enjoyed seeing these photos of places we once visited as well! It’s good to hear your reflections on your experiences there. I love the C.S. Lewis quote! It sums things up so well!

    Reply
    • Heather says

      October 5, 2019 at 2:28 am

      It’s so special you got to visit us there! I’m glad you enjoyed the post!

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Subscribe

Recent Posts

  • Grace-Filled Planning for the New Year
  • He Fills the Hungry with Good Things
  • Is Bitterness Ever Acceptable for a Christian?
  • My Top 4 Trip-Packing Tips
  • Pregnancy and Marriage: Interview with Bethany Beal

Archives

  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019

Categories

  • Christian Living
  • Christian Womanhood
  • Expectant
  • Guest Post
  • Life Stewardship
  • Marriage
  • Missions
  • Motherhood
  • Products
  • Resources
  • Uncategorized

Connect

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Latest on Instagram

Five days until our Disney adventure, which means Five days until our Disney adventure, which means baskets and baskets of laundry😆. The anticipation is through the roof!
.
It dawned on me in the midst of switching a load of laundry and making mental lists: doing normal work with an exciting end in mind makes even the simplest tasks fulfilling. It gives them purpose.
.
It’s easy to lose sight of the fact that we do have an incredibly exciting end ahead of us (eternity with Jesus), and that how we do our work now matters for later. If we’re only focusing on here and now, these mundane tasks feel purposeless beyond just having a clean shirt to wear or a dish to eat off of. But when we are doing our work as unto the Lord—working for His glory and anticipating those words, “Well done, good and faithful servant”—it changes everything. We see these monotonous tasks as worthwhile and valuable.
.
Our work, no matter how normal or repetitive it may feel, is valuable in God’s eyes. It’s being used to scrub our souls (as my friend @gretchensaffles says), teaching us faithfulness and readying us for eternity in His presence.
.
Nothing is wasted in God’s Kingdom.
.
.
.
.
#faithfulness #lookingtoJesus #allforJesus #workisworship #motherhood #risenmotherhood #Christcenteredmotherhood
Gratitude is a gift. When God tells us to give tha Gratitude is a gift. When God tells us to give thanks it is not only for His glory, but also for our good. Let’s be people who are faithful to offer gratitude.
.
.
.
.
#gratitude #thankful #lookingtoJesus #quotes #sacrificeofpraise #Christcenteredliving
There’s always more than what you usually see on There’s always more than what you usually see on IG. See progression for proof (Javan was licking my face, which he does sometimes when he’s upset 😂).
.
Mama friends, don’t allow the lies to come in that tell you you’re the only one who doesn’t have what it takes in your own strength. Whether we see it or not, every mother has limits—an end of their rope of patience or wisdom or love where God needs to supply His grace. It’s ok to only post the beautiful moments on here—those moments of struggle don’t always need to be seen by the world. They can be between you and God and those closest to you in person. But don’t forget that every one of us needs Jesus every hour of every day, regardless of what you see in this space. Glean from and appreciate the strengths of others, but don’t idolize. Look to Jesus, and remember we are all the same at the foot of the cross.
.
.
.
.
#lookingtoJesus #motherhood #Jesusplusnothing #Christcenteredmotherhood
Some reminders I’m repeating to myself today: . Some reminders I’m repeating to myself today:
.
🪴My hope is in Christ alone
🪴”Small” obedience matters
🪴Just do the next thing in faith
🪴Truth > feelings
🪴Live peacefully, quietly, dignified, and godly
🪴What I need is not primarily what Jesus can give, but Jesus Himself
.
.
.
.
.
#ponderings #reminders #lookingtoJesus #livefaithfully #truth #Christcenteredliving
“When we acknowledge our inability to mother our “When we acknowledge our inability to mother our children apart from the Lord’s provision and strength, we honor God. Of course we are not able to do this work of raising children and training them in the instruction of the Lord. That’s why we desperately need the Lord!” - Gloria Furman, ‘Treasuring Christ When Your Hands are Full’
.
Too often I fall prey to the lie that it’s up to me alone to mother my children well for God’s glory, and that He looks on in disapproval as I make foibles and need to repent yet again for impatience or laziness. But what hope, what joy that God is honored when we acknowledge that we cannot do this job apart from Him. He is the source of our wisdom and grace for motherhood, and it is in our weakness His strength is shown to be perfect (2 Cor. 12:9). God is ready at every moment to draw near to us as we draw near to Him, acknowledging our lack. He delights to supply all we need with Himself.
.
.
.
.
#motherhood #Christcenteredmotherhood #lookingtoJesus #childrenareagift
For many years my grandparents’ house has been c For many years my grandparents’ house has been called Peace Cottage. It’s a name that truly reflects the atmosphere of their home; a place of rest and refreshment for all who enter as they are loved and served by Spirit-filled saints (and believe me, there have been countless people ministered to within those walls).
.
This has been our vision and prayer for our own home: to cultivate an environment ruled by the peace of Christ, in turn refreshing all who enter. Several years ago as we considered names for our home, we thought, “what could be better than being an extension of the home that has set such an amazing example for us?” So we asked my grandparents if we could call our home Peace Cottage Windsor.
.
It is an immense privilege to be a part of the Peace Cottage heritage. We pray we will be as faithful as those who have walked before us.
.
.
.
.
#peacecottage #peacecottagewindsor #hospitality #Christcenteredhome #Christcenteredfamily
This dear, dear friend is off on a new adventure o This dear, dear friend is off on a new adventure of obedience to Jesus. I’ve known her longer than 3 of my kids, and they’ve never known life without “Buddy.” How we are going to miss you.
.
You’ve blessed us in more ways than we can count, and your friendship is an incredibly precious gift. I know the Lord will use you to advance His kingdom wherever He calls you. You’ll always have a special place in the Cofer house fam. 💕
Load More...
  • About Heather
  • Book
  • Recommendations
  • Products
  • Contact
  • Affiliate

Copyright © 2021 · Refined theme by Restored 316