To Rest

God calls us all to rest, to rest in Him, to trust Him, and to ultimately rely on Him for all we need.  He is our Source of strength, peace, comfort, and SO much more.

As I type this I sit in a state of literal rest.  We are expecting our first child to be born in the next 2 months or so, and it appears that our baby is trying to come sooner than its expected time!  So, here I sit in the hospital, resting.  We are very thankful for a healthy baby, and that I too am healthy!  It just seems like our baby is anxious to come sooner rather than later, and one thing that we have learned on this journey of having children, is that we are not in control of this process!

Coming to the realization that your child might very well come early and need some extra time and help in the hospital is very unsettling.  As parents we naturally want what is best for our children!  No parent hopes that their child be born earlier than 'normal', and we are no different.

God is teaching us what it means to not only physically rest in Him, but also what it means to rest on Him.  God is not surprised at what is happening with our baby right now.  God knew that all of this would be coming, and He is faithful to sustain us through it!

"I lay down and slept;

I woke again, for the Lord sustained me."

Psalms 3:5

32 Week Ultrasound: profile & arm

As we seek Him and His perfect timing, our understanding of what it means to trust Him is growing!  God knows exactly what is best for us, and our family, and we find that as we learn to rest on Him, He is faithful to sustain us and to give us peace.  So...as the days pass we will trust Him.  God knows exactly when our baby will arrive!  Our task until that day is to rest. 

So that His name is glorified!

The training up of the next generation of missionaries....what is needed in this task? 

Check out this video to get a glimpse of one way we can come together in seeing this task done!

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, 

for it is Godʼs power for salvation to 

everyone who believes"

Romans 1:16

He is GOOD!

God is Good  

If you ask people in today's society what they think about God's goodness, you would be met with many differing views.  So many seem to think that because they do not understand what is happening in their life that God must not be good; that if hard times come, that God cannot really be good. 

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“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

    neither are your ways my ways,”

declares the Lord.

9 

As the heavens are higher than the earth,

    so are my ways higher than your ways

    and my thoughts than your thoughts."

Isaiah 55:8-9

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God declares through the hand of Isaiah that His 'ways are higher than (my) ways'.  I may not always understand why God has chosen to have certain things come my way, but that doesn't make His ways wrong.  God is still good  even if hard time come!

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"for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances....

 I can do all this through him who gives me strength."

Philippians 4:11, 13

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I find encouragement through what God did in Paul's life.  Paul knew what it was like to have much, and to have little.  He was a prominent man in his society and was well-liked.  He, at another time in his life, was also hated by most and went without.  God showed him what it was like to be content regardless of his circumstances, and He relied on God for the strength he needed.  And God was faithful to supply him with that strength he!  God, through the life of Paul, expressed His goodness.

Knowing of God's goodness has transformed our lives.  It's given us hope when we had none.  It's given us strength when we were weak.  God's goodness is a solid rock that we have landed on time and time again, and yet our hearts break.

Why?

Our hearts break for those who do not know his goodness, who cannot know it.  There are people, like you and me, who cannot understand God's goodness because they do not have His Word in their language!  There are those who, year after year, live in fear of spirits.  Those who, every day, have all they do revolve around keeping spirits happy as to not be tormented or punished by them...those who do not know of the joy that comes from God's goodness!

Our prayer is that they will know.  That those who have already been given this hope will come together and see God's Word taken to those who do not yet have it!  

God is good and they need to know!  

When We Don't See

What do you do when you cant see?
When God brings you to a place where you are unable to see what is ahead of you.

As we prepare to welcome our child into this world we, like all parents, are met with a certain amount of blindness, not knowing what to expect or exactly what we have coming.  As I sit and type this, feeling our little baby wiggle around inside me, I cannot help but recognize those feelings.  I have no idea what is coming!

God has brought us here to train.  To train for something that is of most importance to us, and to God!  We long to play a role in taking His Word to those who do not have it.  There are so many that have never felt the hope that we have!  There are so many that go to sleep at the end of every day living in fear, who have not yet been able to know the peace that can only come from God.  Every single day Mitch and I thank God for what He has done for us!  We are so thankful for Christ's death, a death that was not deserved, but was freely given so that we might know the God who created us, loves us, and longs to know us in a personal relationship.  We have been given freedom!  And we long for others to know this same freedom.  That is why we are here. 

We both cannot deny the fact that God has brought us this far.  The things that have taken place up to this point in our lives that have lead us to this exact moment have been undeniably God working His will out in our lives.

As we head into March break, prepare for our babies arrival, and look to finishing up this coming semester we are met with darkness, blindness.  We cannot see how things are going to go in the months to come.  We cannot know if our baby will come early, on time, or late.  We cannot see the way in which God is going to provide for us to stay here, and we cannot see anything that He might have for us to come in our future.

But we can see that He is sovereign.  We can see that He will direct us in His timing.  We can see that He is good, and we can trust that He will lead us in the way that is best for us and our family.

So...today.  Today is what we have.  Today we will trust Him.  Today we will look to our Saviour for strength, for wisdom, and for peace.  Today we will choose to believe the One that saved us from darkness, hopelessness, and fear.  Today we will rest in our own blindness and rely upon His perfect sight to guide us as we each day at a time.