God is Faithful

Lots of interesting things have happened since we returned home from Africa. We have looked for six weeks or so for a place to live in the mountains without success. The area we have been planning to live in in western North Carolina is very rural and finding a place to rent has not been easy. We knew we couldn't buy a house now because we don't have enough income to approach a bank for a house loan. Despite our many prayers, we have been tempted to be discouraged, but we felt like the Lord was just having us wait on Him. As we began our search around the first of July, he led us to read Psalm 37:

v.3-9 " Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret - it leads only to evil. For evil men will be cut off, but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land."

He also reminded us of His words in Isaiah 30:

v. 15 " This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: 'In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength"

v.18 "Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him."

This past week God provided in an extraordinary way! We will soon have a rent-to-own agreement signed on a place that will give us much more space than we had hoped for, allowing us to have friends visit, even large families from the ship or relatives who may want to visit. We have been dreaming about the possibility of having enough room to extend that kind of hospitality freely, and the Lord has provided it! We are very thankful for that! And Bethany has not only been accepted into the local Christian school to which we applied, but will likely receive a full scholarship for the year! That brought tears to my eyes and to Jenny's as well. God has blessed us abundantly beyond our imaginings.

All of this seems to have happened at almost the last minute. God often asks us to wait down to the wire like that, in part I'm sure to develop our ability to trust in Him. Thankfully, he's not offended if we don't wait perfectly. We had been going around actively enquiring about rental properties and enrolling Bethany in public school just in case the other fell through. I guess we could have saved ourselves some of that headache, but maybe that's part of learning to walk by faith. God has been faithful and we are believing that He will provide all that we need in the coming months and years as we walk in His Kingdom, not relying on what we can see, but on His wisdom and goodness. Glory be to God! We are on an incredible journey with Him! It's really fun in times like this to see what He can do, to see what He can call into existence out of nothing!

Just today, in Walmart, Jenny received a two-fold word from fellow Jesus follower and missionary, Juan Suarez - the word 'TRUST' and Ephesians 3:20-21: "Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."

The day after the details with the house and Bethany's school were settled, Jenny got a call from the ship asking her to return as soon as possible to Sierra Leone for several weeks to help the hospital with critical needs. Jenny initially thought that it just couldn't be done now with our move coming up, but we will manage in her absence. Hopefully she will be leaving for Africa by week's end and provide some relief there. That will make it hard for those of us left here, but we believe that this is also part of God's plan, so as with the house we can't yet pay for, we will walk this out by faith and see where the Lord takes us. God is faithful, so shall it also be with us. May God grant us the grace we need to be His faithful servants wherever He sends us.

John & Jenny