Wow –immeasurably more indeed!
Since my last posting God has been so good in making His hand evident and reminding me that He does, in fact, have everything well under control: financial support has been coming in, number of prayer supporters has reached my minimum required, and I have accepted an offer on my house.
“We must stop looking at our situation through worldly eyes, asking IF something CAN be done . . . instead of looking at what needs to be done and then seeking God’s provision. . . instead of asking IF something can be done, we need to ask HOW to accomplish it.” (A note in my journal a little over a year ago)
My financial support is just over 10% (nearly 17% if you count the one-time cash donations so far), I have about 70% of my minimum number of prayer partners (but of course, I would love even more!).
Let’s be honest. I have absolutely no earthly idea how the support numbers can possibly come together for me to leave this summer. Quite simply there IS no EARTHLY way. On the other hand, we serve a God who is able to do ‘immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine” a God whose hands have made the waters part on more than one occasion, and a God who knows EXACTLY where everly last penny is going to come from.
If I were capable of making this happen, it would be about me.
But the reality is that is isn’t about me. It is about HIS provision even against seemingly insurmountable odds (ok, ESPECIALLY in the face of humanly insurmountable odds)
I know those four things probably seem an odd combination, but they define my last week.
Sub-Zero Temperatures
For the sake of those of you NOT in Kansas right now, I should probably point out that it has been uncharacteristically cold around here for the last few days – cold enough, in fact, that we had two ‘snow days’ this week even though we only got an inch or two of snow. Truthfully, it hasn’t been nearly as bad as everyone predicted. I think the coldest actual temperature I have seen is about -6 or -7 F with wind-chill in the mid negative teens. I know the wind-chill is probably much worse outside of town, but it is still more than slightly humorous that we got out of school for two days! Mind you I am NOT complaining, simply musing at the unlikelihood of the situation. It is also interesting to think about the concept of a ‘snow day’ when I think about my approaching move to the tropics! I wonder if they ever have ‘rain days’ or ‘heat days.’
Houseguests
Ever since I have moved into this house (about 7 ½ years ago), I have been blessed with opportunities to open up my home to various guests: a young man from my brother’s church who was traveling cross country, a former student from Wisconsin visiting her fiancé stationed at Fort Riley, a couple families from my church with gaps between housing situations, college students stopping in our town on choir tour, and the occasional out-of-town co-worker needing to spend the night in town. It has been GREAT! I was just commenting to someone in recent weeks that this state of transition in which I find myself has really put a lid on those opportunities, and I miss them. I haven’t felt the freedom to really offer my home in the same ways I used to because of it being on the market and not knowing exactly when I might need to move out. Well, because the weather was predicted to get really bad Wednesday night, a coworker of mine who lives out in the country about 30 miles from school spent the night at my place to ensure she would be able to get to school Thursday if they weather got as bad as they predicted. Ironically school was canceled, but it was an absolute blessing to spend the last day and a half with her!
10%
As many of you either know or can probably guess, support raising (‘partnership development’ as it is now called) has been a source of both frustration and anxiety on my part. I know this is normal, and have been often reassured that it is through this process that many a pre-field missionary has learned to truly accept the sovereign hand of God, learning true dependence. I am no different. I know God can and will provide what is necessary, but often wonder if I am contributing all that He expects of me. Is there a part of me that He is asking for that I have not fully submitted to this process (and therefore to Him)?
Last night I got an email update on the progress of my financial support. As I opened the email and waited for the attachment to load, I prayed specifically that it would have at least passed that 10% mark. Current pledges have brought me up to 10.9%!!!! Yes, it is still scary to think that there is nearly 90% to go, but once again God has reminded me that He is Faithful, that He is Sovereign, and that those two things mean that I do NOT need to worry about it. Please continue to pray that I listen intently to His leading regarding all that I am called to do in preparation.
A Tiny Baby
Perhaps most amazing is life itself. I spent most of this past weekend at the hospital with a very good friend of mine who was having a baby. Her husband is deployed, so I was her ‘support person’ through the delivery. Wow! I’m not sure there is anything that can fully prepare someone for that (for me, but even more so for the new mom!). Seriously, consider everything that happens in the nine months leading up to the delivery, the tremendous stress endured by both mommy and baby during delivery, and the rapidity with which both recover! At 12:36 am, as they placed that 6lb, 6oz wailing little boy on her chest, all fatigue and pain seemed to momentarily disappear. Even with the doctors and nurses rushing around, the world stood still. We truly are fearfully and wonderfully made!