Packing and Seeking God's Timing

My mind reflects back as I type this post.  The time that we are at in our lives right now is very similiar to where we were in 2008. We were living in Bluffton, IN and felt God opening doors for us to move to south Fl. Danny ended his lawncare and landscaping business, we packed most of our house up and prepared to move as we had an interested buyer in our home. We felt sure that it was God's will for us to take this big step and we were ready to go. Then the sale of our house fell through. And then we had another interested buyer and thought this would be the one who would buy. Once again, we mentally prepared ourselves to move far away feeling like this was definitely God's will. Then...you guessed it...that potential buyer could not get a loan due to their credit and we were back at square one. This same disappointing scenario happened over and over through out the next two years. We would pray and ask God if this was really what He wanted for us and and if it wasn't then to please take this longing to serve Him on the mission field out of our hearts. We asked Him to help us be content where we were and kept up our involvement in our home church, yet, not only did He NOT take away the desire to go to the mission field, but He intensified it!

  Danny took whatever odd jobs he could find as he felt reluctant to find a full-time job that he would soon have to leave. As a result of this, money was tight and some times non-existent. When we look back at that time, we can see that God was teaching us to Fully Rely On Him and increasing our faith as He supplied our daily needs. He used some very creative ways. One example of this is one cold, winter night I was driving home and a deer jumped out in front of me and I hit him.  Thankfully, Caleb, who was strapped in his carseat and myself were unharmed. Our insurance company pronounced our van totaled and settled up with us. We then turned around and bought our van back at a cheap price and ordered a new hood, which had been destroyed, and replaced it ourselves. We then took the rest of the money, caught up on our bills and drove to Hobe Sound, FL for Seabreeze Camp. It was while we were at Seabreeze that we were approached with the idea of going to Haiti as teamleaders with Touching Lives for Christ. To make a long story short, after much prayer and discussion, we signed up. Then we typed up and sent out letters asking for financial support and prayer. God amazed us when one donor gave half of what we needed...$1,500! After that, we knew that God wanted our family to go to Haiti! God supplied the rest of the money needed and our family had the honor and priviledge of going to Haiti in 2009. That trip changed our lives and we will never be the same again!
   Another year passed before God finally sold our home and lead us to Hobe Sound, FL. We can see that during that two year period that God was teaching us many lessons. Not only was He teaching us to depend only on Him for our daily needs, but He was also teaching us that His timing is perfect. Even when we in our humaness feel that things are moving too slow, He is in control. It was NOT an easy lesson to learn! Many times we would pray and ask each other what God was doing? Why did He ask us to quit our business, our main lifeline of support for our family of six? Did He not understand how crazy our friends and even our family thought we were?  What about our children? What were they thinking? These were just a few of the many questions swirling through our minds. When we had family prayer, the standard prayer request was for God to sell our house and find us a house in FL. The children were sad to leave our family and friends, yet they seemed to understand that we were waiting on God and this was His plan for our lives.
   God gave me this verse: Psalms 27:14 says, "Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart, Wait,I say, on the Lord!"
   My Wesley Bible had this footnote to say concerning this verse: The idea of waiting on the Lord is prominent in the Psalms. Although it contains an element of time, there is more to it than time alone. Waiting expresses that complete dependence on the Lord which does not run ahead of Him making its own plans and relying on its own strength. To wait on the Lord is an expression of COMPLETE TRUST. It is better not to rush into doing something today if the doing is an expression of dependence on our own strength and on our own sense of timing.
 Wow! I copied this verse and the footnote onto a 3x5 index card and taped it on our bathroom mirror. God used that verse over and over again to calm and reassure our hearts as we waited on Him.

   So here we are now. Fast-forward a little over 2 years. God has helped Danny to complete college, Paid off $18,000 of our debt in 5 months, gave us His help, strength and annointing to go through almost 9 months of deputation, with just two services left, and has provided the entire $30,000 to build our house in Haiti. He has given us a strong, burning passion and excitement to serve Him in Haiti. It seems that, as each service that we speak at passes, God intensifies our excitement and passion and we are so ready to go!
   Yet, here we are...waiting on God just as we did those long two years back in 2009-2010. Is it any easier? No, yet, we have learned that this is the best and only way. God sees the big picture and He, in all His finite wisdom, knows what is best for our family. He knows exactly when He wants us in Grande Riviere du Nord and we do not want to be there a minute before He wants us. God has lead us down this path and we know that He does not make any mistakes!  We need your prayers as we pack, sell and give away our stuff. We need your prayers as our Regional Director and ourselves seek God's timing for our departure date. We need your prayers in putting together a team to go finish our house at the end of April.

   You may wonder why I have shared all this? Simply to let you know where we are right now and how you all can pray for us.  Please help us to pray for the rest of our shares to come in. AT THIS TIME WE ARE JUST 40 SHARES SHORT!  Help us pray for the $5,000 that we need for moving expenses. Pray for us to have clear direction and wisdom as we wait on God. Thank-you for coming on this amazing journey with us! Your prayers and financial support mean more than we can say! Please feel free to leave a comment or two as we enjoy reading them :o) Blessings!


       

 

Happy Easter from our family to yours! He is RISEN!