A word to cling to

 The start of a new year always brings a few things:

New Year's resolutions

New expectations

Reflection on the last year

A new sense of hope

And often disappointment with unfulfilled hopes from last year.

In my (Jenn) younger years, I was encouraged to take time at the start of every year to seek the Lord and find a word to cling to. A promise from Him, and a new sense of purpose, an anchor.

I admit, I've had difficulty finding that word this year. We are still fundraising. We are still unsure of our launch date to Asia. We still have no answers when our kids or our partners ask, so now what? Things still feel like they are in limbo.

This morning I was working through an overview of the books of Haggai and Zechariah. I was reminded of how the people of Judah returned to Jerusalem after exile to rebuild the temple of God and the city. But things were not easy for them. There were still challenges in the land and the new temple they built fell short of the glory of Solomon's temple. Many wept over it. They wept because they had seen the first temple's glory and lamented its loss. What it was replaced with underwhelmed their expectations as they were hopeful that God would finally bring forth his kingdom and he would send a Messiah to save his people and reign over them and the nations as promised by the early prophets. And yet things remained difficult and less than expected upon their return to Jerusalem.

They were very much in limbo.

The challenge put forth by Haggai and Zechariah then is, will the people of Judah remain faithful to God as they wait for the Messiah to be revealed? Will they continue to build the temple, even in its less-than-glorious state? Will they choose to follow God's laws and obey him? Will they continue to hope for the coming promises of God and his Messiah?

It was a good word for me this morning as we wait in limbo for God to finally take us to Thailand to begin the work we feel called to there. Waiting is not idleness or continuing in the motions of before. It requires my own faithful attendance, not just the tasks that will help us get ready to go, but also to my heart. It's easy to lose sight of where God is while in limbo. Yet he remains with us, and so we must look to him continually for strength, courage, guidance, and most of all, hope.

"Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful." Hebrews 10:23 - NIV

Q and A with the Kids Part 1

 I have posted a new Blog on www.intothenations.ca I have did part one of the Q and A with my kids about our upcoming move. Here are the questions they have answered this time.

• What will you miss about Canada?

• Josiah - I will miss my Preschool

• Asher - I will miss being so so close to cousins and being really close to Grandma.  Also I will miss going to the Climb Thru Time Museum in Paradise Valley

• Adelynn - I think the biggest thing I will miss is my close friends and cousin’s

• Dominic - Being close to friends and Cousins, 

• What is one thing that you really want to bring with you?

• Josiah - Whiskers (Sea otter stuffy), Ashers gaming computer

• Asher - God’s Love in my heart, My baby book, my Robot kit

• Adelynn - My Favorite Stuffies - Big Husty, Foxy, Brown Bear, American girl Doll

• Dominic - My really fluffy pillow, MP3 player

• What things do you think might be similar or different from Canada?

• Josiah

• Similar - I don’t know

• Different - Gyms 

• Asher

• Similar - We will have friends

• Different - The Language

• Adelynn

• Similar - We will have a house, 

• Different - the seasons will be different

• Dominic - 

• Similar - How expensive things are

• Different - Culture (different First Nations People)

Advent, that season of waiting

In the Christmas season, we are reminded of how the angel of  the Lord came to Mary to fulfill a promise that the people of  God had been waiting on for generations. I can’t even imagine  the kind of build up and expectation in Mary’s heart and in the hearts of the Jewish people as they awaited a Saviour. It’s like,  FINALLY!!! God’s promises are fulfilled! 

Waiting is something I’ve never done well. I think of my own four birth experiences and how a woman must wait nine months  to meet that little bundle she has been carrying. I think of the  season of waiting to become pregnant after we decided we were  ready to plunge into making our family bigger. In fact, most of  the seasons where I was forced to wait have not been full of  grace or peace. Instead, I’ve just been looking for the fastest possible way out of waiting. I mostly just wanted the waiting to be over. 

There was one season of waiting God gave me…I call it my  “desert season.” At the start of one year, I remember God  specifically telling me to wait on Him. Then I fell into radio silence from God for around 18 months. On this side of that season, I can see how God used it to strengthen my faith, and eventually lead me deeper in relationship with Him.  During it, however, I thought I was lost. I thought I may never hear from God again. I wondered if I would wander in the desert forever. 

Have you ever felt like that? Wandering, waiting, hoping, but  unsure of how or when it will all end? It feels fitting that another season of waiting for Tim and I, has ended just in time for Christmas. We applied to be missionaries with the Church of  God back in January of this year. Now, in December, we can finally say we have been accepted and are ready for the next  step: fundraising. I wish I could say that the waiting was all  easy, and we were filled with the hope of God’s promises for us  at all times. We were hopeful for the most part, but I know for  myself, there were still those moments of despair, when I wondered if we would ever move on from this waiting, waiting, waiting. Maybe this wasn’t God’s plan?! Had we misheard His leading and guidance? 

If there’s one thing I have noticed about myself in this most recent waiting season, it was NOT that I had fewer moments of doubt, but rather how quickly I was able to run back to God in the midst of those moments. This time, it was easier to open the Scriptures or say a quick prayer or just get alone with Him and  my own thoughts, and then declare my hope and trust in His ways and His timing. Jesus just seemed nearer in this season of waiting. Because of that, it was easier to lay down my own  hopes and desires and trust that His ways are not my ways, and  His thoughts are not my thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9). 

I hope in this final week of Advent you can find Jesus in your  waiting. The whole of Christendom sits poised, waiting to welcome a coming Saviour this Christmas. Some expect Him to save them from their troubles, some expect Him to provide for their family, some expect Him to heal their bodies or their broken relationships. I hope that in your waiting, you can lay down your expectations of Him and instead be filled with the  assurance that He has plans for you, exceedingly abundant  plans, full of hope. First we must lay down our anxious desires and receive the person of Jesus. Then we will experience the gift of His presence in our lives.

Steps on the Road to Asia

 

Right from the early days of our marriage Jenn and I (Tim) have said that someday we wanted to live overseas with our family.  Those early days were 13 years ago and we are currently still in Canada but our time to follow that dream may soon be coming.