All these aspects

Delays. They are never easy.



                     When we arrived it was late. 

But we made it! 

Throughout the night I heard cats fighting and dogs barking and anticipated the early bird "can't-tell-time-for-nothing" rooster crows. 
This bunk-bed rest was just as I had remembered.
It was oddly comforting.



It was beautiful!

It was so incredible to be back! 

But dang, it was so hard!

    I didn't want to be a visitor.
    I didn't like being a visitor.
    I wanted to be unpacking in our new home. 
    You know... The one we've been praying for.
    For 2 years now. 

I cried a lot those first few days.
As I unpacked the most recently packed suitcases, I realized that I needed a heart adjustment.
That...or this trip I had anticipated for the last 6 months was going to be miserable. 

I gave my heart a little pep talk because.. 

And I thanked God that although I wasn't there under the means I desired, that I was there none-the-less.

I visited with friends, I loved the GH canines, I ate incredible Haitian food, I drove in insanely frustrating traffic, I ate REAL mangoes and non-store-bought coconuts, I spoke kreyól with peeps who extended grace in more ways than one, I used mosquito repellent like after-shower lotion again, and I wore tanks and shorts in January!

Pure bliss.

I sat on the roof and rang in the New Year with my one and only (after a wonderful meal at the McHouls).

I prayed over and held little miracles!

And we even got to spend some one on one time away with our first-born (for the first time in years)! 

Y'all, it was so wonderful!
But despite the amazing things, there was still hard reality. 

This was a photo message I got from the girls one day. Though Caleb and I got to travel to Haiti the day after John and Cabila left Mississippi, our girls didn't get to go with us. 

I was in Haiti but our #6onajourney was missing 2.

As I dug through our things that we left behind, I literally wept. 
I pulled out stuff that belonged to our girls and I cried til I couldn't even see what I was looking at.  

I remember the hopes that were bigger the day we packed them.  

Everybody had specific spots where they wanted to unpack their stuff, themselves. 

I dug until I couldn't dig anymore.    
    "What now, God?  What are we supposed to do now?"

I got caught up in the details. 
I wasn't hopeful for later, I hurt right then...down deep. 
I closed the top to the box.

I tried to make sense of what needed to be held onto and repacked vs. what could be given away that someone else might be able to use while we were still in this horrific holding pattern. 

    And then, honestly, I just stopped.  

Have you ever prayed and prayed, and waited and waited, and still you see no evidence of an answer? Are you tired of seeing no movement? 

Are you at the point of giving up? 

Then perhaps you have not waited in the right way, which removes you from the right place-

the place where the Lord can meet you.

"Wait for it patiently" (Romans 8:25). 

Patience eliminates worry.

Patience eliminates weeping.

Why feel sad and discouraged? He knows your needs better than you do,

and His purpose in waiting is to receive more glory through it.

Patience eliminates self-works.

"The work of God is this: to believe" (John 6:29),

and once you believe, you may know all is well.

Patience eliminates all want.

Perhaps your desire to receive what you want is stronger

than your desire for the will of God to be fulfilled.

Patience eliminates all weakness.

Instead of thinking of waiting as being wasted time,

realize that God is preparing His resources and strengthening you as well.

Patience eliminates all wobbling.

God's foundations are steady, and when we have His patience within,

we are steady while we wait.

Patience yields worship.

Sometimes the best part of praiseful waiting is experiencing

"great endurance and patience.....joyfully" (Colossians 1:11).

While you wait, "let all these aspects of patience have her perfect work"

(James 1:4), and you will be greatly enriched.

~C.H.P.

Digging and Flying

I've done a lot of digging lately, both in Scripture and in some old journals.  

When I'm 'stuck' I find it encouraging to look back and see how God has proved Himself faithful time & time again. 

I've found lots of photos in my recent exploration, too!

This one was taken 4 years ago on a little plane (like in 12 seats!) in Haiti.  I couldn't help but think about that time we sat in the cockpit, when reading this devotional from the year that followed in The Word For You Today..

    "Did you know that most small-plane crashes are not caused by mechanical failure but pilot error? In most cases the pilot was not instrument rated, so he or she depended on two things that can fail you.  Let's look at each: 

     1)SIGHT. As long as the pilots can see roads, bridges and landmarks, they can fly safely. But when the storm comes or the fog locks them in, they're in trouble.

     2)SENSES. In aviation terms the problem is called "vertigo". If you blindfold a person, sit them in a revolving chair, spin it around for several moments, then stop the chair and ask them in which direction they're spinning, they couldn't tell you with certainty. There's a sensitive device in our head that's like a carpenter's level. The force of the spinning sends the "bubble" as far as it can go to one side. When it can go no further it begins to return-even though the person's still spinning in the same direction. So they have the sensation of stopping and beginning to spin in the opposite direction, but it's only a sensation. If they were not blindfolded and could see, they could ignore those sensations and would have no difficulty knowing in which direction they are going. It takes many hours of training in simulated storm conditions to develop the ability to confidently fly by the direction of your instruments and ignore your sensations of vertigo. 

    Understand this: as a child of God you must not be led by your sight or by your senses, you must be led only by the Scriptures."

It was cool to sit in the pilot's seat that day (as you can tell by the incredibly cheesy grin on my face!) but there is no doubt in my mind our flight would have ended terribly if John and I had tried flying that plane. We were not instrument rated. 

Since that time, our training hasn't been with any aircraft so we still aren't instrument rated in that regard.  However, we've had many hours of training while 'flying' through some pretty fierce storms...some that left us spinning and unable to see where we were going.  

In the middle of the storms, when we're fighting vertigo, it's so tempting to make decisions and choices based on our sight and senses. 

John and I still haven't mastered flying (on the ground, of course) but praise God He's still faithful through our attempts to ignore our flesh reactions and follow His Words. 

"Our God who has proven Himself faithful throughout the years is always with us. Because His character doesn't change, in our fear we can say with a confident voice of faith, 'The Sovereign Lord is my strength!' (Habakkuk 3:19)." ~Pho Fang Chia 

What storms are you facing? 

What scriptures have you found to be instrumental so you can 'fly' safely?

"I heard and my heart pounded,

my lips quivered at the sound;

decay crept into my bones,

and my legs trembled.

Yet, I will wait patiently...

I will rejoice in the Lord,

I will be joyful in God my Savior.

The Sovereign Lord is my strength..."

Habbakuk 3:16-18

Lessons from "littles"

  "When my little son was about ten years old, his grandmother promised him a stamp collecting album for Christmas. Christmas came and went with no stamp album and no word from Grandma. The matter, however, was not mentioned, until after his friends came to see his Christmas presents. I was astonished, after he had listed all the gifts he had received, to hear him add, "And a stamp album from my grandmother."

  After hearing this several times, I called my son to me and said, "But George, you didn't get a stamp album from Grandma. Why did you say that?"
  With a puzzled look on his face, as if I had asked a very strange question, he replied, "Well, Mom, Grandma said, and that is the same as." Not a word from me would sway his faith.
  A month passed and nothing else was said about the album. Finally one day, to test his faith and because I wondered in my own heart why the album had not been sent, I said, "George, I think Grandma has forgotten her promise."

  "Oh no, Mom," he quickly and firmly responded. "She hasn't."

  I watched his sweet, trusting face, which for a while looked very serious, as if he were debating the possibility I had suggested. Soon his face brightened as he said, "Do you think it would do any good for me to write Grandma, thanking her for the album?"

  "I don't know," I said, "but you might try it." A rich spiritual truth then began to dawn on me.

  In a few minutes a letter was written and mailed, as George went off whistling his confidence in his grandma. Soon a letter from Grandma arrived with this message:

          My dear George,

             I have not forgotten my promise to you for a stamp album.

             I could not find the one you wanted here, 

             so I ordered one from New York. 

             It did not arrive until after Christmas, and it was not

             the right one. I then ordered another, 

             but it still has not arrived.

             I have decided to send you thirty dollars instead 

             so that you may buy the one you want in Chicago.

         Your loving Grandma.

  As he read the letter, his face was the face of a victor. From the depths of a heart that never doubted came the words, "Now, Mom, didn't I tell you?" George "against all hope...in hope believed" (Romans 4:18) that the stamp album would come. And while he was trusting, Grandma was working, and in due time faith became sight.

  It is only human to want to see before we step out on the promises of God. Yet our Savior said to Thomas and to a long list of doubters who have followed, "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed" (John 20:29).

   ~Mrs. Rounds

(published on Feb 18th in Streams in the Desert a long time ago 

but meant for me to read today)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On Feb 18, 2014 I prayed this prayer:

Oh God, I'm scared...not scared of not having a home, 

not scared of not having stability, not scared of not having

support...

but scared of missing Your voice, scared of missing

Your hand, scared of missing Your direction, scared of falling

for something that may be disguised as You but isn't You.

Thank You for Your Holy Spirit that is alive in me.

Thank You that as Your sheep we can hear Your voice, 

as our Shepherd. 

Oh God, I praise You that You never leave.

You are there for me.

Please remind me that You are here.

As the last 2 years played out, I did get scared.

   ...scared of not having a home, not having stability,

       and not having support.

   My flesh failed again and again and my doubts and

       fears spoke louder than my faith.

It's so easy to let difficult circumstances strip us of the very perfect provision 

and protection that God promises us. 

I'm praising God today for Grandmas, for timeless truths and the fact that He never forgets His promises!

   What about you?  What are you trusting and/or struggling to believe?