Pondering

I mentioned to Peter the other day that I needed to write a blog post, but since we are sort of in a holding pattern as far as things go, I didn't really know what to write.  He suggested I go through the blog I kept during the time I lived at the orphanage and see if I could post any part of it over here, just to give a sense of that trip to this new group of friends.  I spent a couple of days revisiting my first journey to Orphanage Emmanuel.  That trip was so challenging.  Those of you who walked with me during that time will recall the challenges, although some I did not even recall until I read my record of them on the blog.  The part I chose to post over here was from after I got home.  

I had been home 10 days.  What I found when I returned was that I missed the kids like an amputation, and I had such a hard time readjusting to normal life once I came back.  I had spent 8 months in full time ministry, four of those months out of the country, and I had to come back and start working almost immediately.  Also, I was sick.  I have a dust allergy that surfaced while I was in Honduras (remind me to get Allegr.a for my trip), and it took me 7 months of being home to get well from the immune shock my system went into to.

But back to this blog entry.  I was reflecting on my time there, still wondering what it all meant (truth be told, I still wonder what it all meant), and this is what I came up with:

As this season ends and the next begins, I look for one thing as the constant in it all, Jesus Christ.  My circumstances will change, but He never does.  And I thank God for that.  People have been telling me that I will continue to see the effects of this time for the rest of my life.  I know I have seen fruit already from my time there, from the deepening of relationships that occurred while I was there to the reduction of the power of want in my life, and I will continue to see fruit in the months and years to come.  Something life changing, eternal occurred there.  And it was worth all the lice, all the exhaustion, all the frustration, everything.  I recall the day I arrived there, and was standing in front of the airport, God gave me a sense of peace, an assurance that I was right where I was supposed to be, and I still have that sense of peace about it.  I know that I went there out of obedience and I fulfilled the task that God put in front of me.  I didn’t do it perfectly, but I did it, and He will honor that.  That’s all I can possibly ask.  I don’t regret a minute of it, and I feel as though I know God better for having gone.

If you are so inclined, you can read the entire entry by clicking HERE.

I'm thrilled to be bringing my daughter to the same place that meant so much to me then and means so much to me now, to be introducing her to the world of loving others in the name of Christ on foreign soil.  

We have bit more to raise, we are having a yard sale at our church on Saturday and a few people have asked how much more we still need, and I am fully confident of God's provision for the rest of the trip.  Blessings, blessings, blessings.  :)  

The next post I am going to ask Peter to write, about sending his precious wife and daughter to the mission field without him.  It'll be a good one.