The Unknown

I’m thankful for the moments I got to come up for air during this past month as things got super busy with packing, more packing, even more packing, cleaning and moving!  At least I didn’t end up MIA by packing myself into one of the boxes or suitcases!

I had my pile of suitcases that were packed with things “specifically for Africa”, a pile of “donate to the Salvation Army,” another pile for “in the future”, one for "selling," and one for “keep out for now until we leave in September.”  We also had our “take to Mom & Dad Mason’s” pile, take to “Mom & Dad Campbell’s” pile, and “give to friends” pile…..oh, and don’t forget the “throw away” pile.  Holy moly, that’s a lot of piles to keep straight, but I’ve really enjoyed the process and am glad it’s all done.  The kids have done incredibly well with this transition and haven’t complained once….I think because we just gained some incredible neighbors (our good friends, the Beers Family).

We officially moved out of our home on Thursday, August 7^th and headed straight to my parents’ in Eastern Idaho.  The rest of my family (minus a few) joined us throughout the weekend for a “mini” reunion to celebrate one last time before we move.  It was great to spend time with my family and I am thankful for the special moments I had with them.  I was also able to visit my brother (currently incarcerated) in person one last time before we leave the country.  Typically visits only last 30 minutes, but sometimes longer for out-of-towners, but the guard in charge surprised us with the blessing of 1 ½ hours!  That was pretty sweet!!

We are back home now and the first week of living in our RV has gone rather smoothly.  Our friends have been gracious and generous with sharing their home and belongings with us.  Their daughter, Gracie (age 6), surprised us with giving up her room for a month so that we could have somewhere to store all of our suitcases for Africa.  Thank you Gracie Beers!!

After returning from Eastern Idaho we had planned to list our Jeep for sale.  However, an employee of Josh’s approached him the next day when he returned to work and asked him if we were selling our Jeep and that she wanted to buy it and pay cash, say what?!?!  She also told us we could keep the Jeep until we leave in September.  WOWZERS!!  I mean, I know the Lord is good, but I just love testifying of His goodness and how much He’s been taking care of our every need as we step out in faith.  While we were driving home from our trip, written on the back of a dirty semi-truck was “Matthew 6:33”.  I looked it up right away.  “But seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”  The part He really highlighted to me was at the beginning – seek first His Kingdom.  He was reminding me to keep my eyes focused on Him and all will be well.  Sometimes we can get discouraged or disappointed when people we care about don’t understand our hearts, but that is when it is imperative that we keep our eyes focused on Him so that we can protect our relationship with Him in turn protecting our relationship with others.  This verse was very timely for me to read.  With the rest of the verse (and the verses prior), we know the Lord is our provider so we don’t worry about the unknowns of this journey we’re on.  When we worry, it’s like telling the Lord we don’t trust Him.

There have been some changes that have occurred that have placed us in a greater position of faith.  Without going into great detail, we are unable to get visas at this time to enter into Pemba, Mozambique (which was supposed to be our final destination).  We have plane tickets to get us as far as Johannesburg, South Africa, so that is where we’ll remain until the visa situation in Mozambique gets resolved.  Your prayers over this situation would be greatly appreciated.  We don’t need visas for Joburg (Johannesburg), which is why we can remain in that country until we receive further direction from the Lord.  We are looking into serving at another Iris Global base in that area, and either way, are excited to see what the Lord is up to.  We don’t see it as God leading us a different direction.  Sometimes things happen that are outside of our control and the Lord’s, but with the new twist in our journey, we’ve learned to ask the Lord daily what He’s up to at the time so that we don’t miss what He’s doing from day to day.  Yes, we are 20 days away from leaving and, at this point, have no idea where we’re going to end up………but we trust God and know that we’ll be taken care of.  Living a life for Jesus isn’t supposed to look normal to the world.  To me, living a life for Jesus looks exactly like it did for the disciples – they left everything comfortable to them to follow after Jesus…not really knowing what that would look like.  That doesn’t make the journey easy, it just makes it worth it!!