“Reflect upon your
present blessings of which every man has many – not on your past misfortunes,
of which all men have some.” ~Charles
Dickens
Three weeks ago, Lisa Jo’s FMF prompt was “Fly.” You will note that I did not post a blog, did
not write a thing, and yet I very much participated.
You see, my Friday lasted 40 hours and I spent nearly half
of that time … well, flying.
Things don’t always go as we plan (I know, understatement of
the year) and with that in mind I hereby officially
participate in this week’s prompt as I reflect on the goodness of God demonstrated within the last month.
If you know the story, you know why I cannot be more specific in
this venue, so please forgive my vagueness.
However, I invite you to celebrate with me as I journey down this path
of remembering, reflecting on God’s faithfulness.
In late October we realized that it was a distinct
possibility that some part of the family would need to leave Papua New Guinea
for a period of time and to seek specific assistance. As time progressed, this seemed more and more
likely, until the week of November 10 when we realized it was a certainty.
All that while, we had
prayed that God would make it clear if we should go. He made it very, very clear that we should
go.
We talked over the decision of where we should go – either to Brisbane or all the way to the
US. We talked of the pros and cons of
that (cheaper to get to Brisbane, cheaper to live in the US, availability of family
support, distance from PNG, etc.). We
got stateside family involved in helping us plan and find people to provide the
assistance we needed. From the “immediate
and strong” recommendation of person #1 to the free room and board (and car!),
we knew it was the right thing to do.
God united us in that
we should go all the way back to the US.
Then he repeatedly reinforced to us that this was the right decision.
We also debated as to which members of the family should go
and who should stay.
When it mattered, God
made it very clear who was to go and, again, we felt unified in the decision.
I was teaching the high school choir and it pained me
greatly to walk away from them before their Christmas concert. (I never cry – especially in public - but I
was a blubbering idiot when I had to tell them I would be leaving.) However, it occurred to me that, just a few weeks
before, God had set someone in place to help out. This person was now already familiar with the
music and knew the students, and agreed to carry on in my absence.
Without my even
asking, God provided someone to carry my choir through the end of the term and
their Christmas concert.
Because I was the one who was leaving, we would have to
displace the sweet girl who lived with us.
Alas, where was she to go? I
asked a few people to consider housing and caring for her, but God’s provision
ended up coming in the form of people who volunteered. One family volunteered to take her for the
last three weeks of the term. Another
family opened up their home for the entirety of next semester, if needed.
God provided people to
extend their hospitality to our Stacey with grace and joyful hearts. He answered the desperate prayer of where she
could go this term, and opened up arrangements for next term before I ever even
asked for it.
We looked into and made reservations for mission flights,
overnight lodging, and Port Moresby shuttle service. We started on commercial flights, only to
find the fares changing almost with each tick of the minute hand. True, we were booking a week out, and flying shortly
before the Thanksgiving holidays, but still … I searched for not only our destination city,
but also for three airports within a four hour drive of our destination. I
cried, I fretted. Couldn’t God do better
than this?
Of course he could. God provided reasonable tickets for just the
right timing and all the way to our ultimate destination.
As evidenced by my stress and tears, we knew this whole
thing was going to cost us quite a bit of money.
The mission flight, one-way
commercial tickets, and two overnight accommodations came to within a few
dollars of the tax refund we had received in August. (And this was a good reminder that he will surely provide for the rest of our expenses, too, including all of these appointments and travel back to PNG!)
Though travel was long and tiring (and expensive), it was uneventful
and smooth.
All who traveled coped
wonderfully. We could feel the prayers
of God’s people over us.
We hoped to see those we needed assistance from as soon as
possible after our arrival.
We had an appointment
with the first individual a mere three days after our arrival in the US. And it went even better than I had hoped.
We needed to see a second individual and when family began
started calling on our behalf, the first available appointment was mid-January. By the time we arrived in the US, the
appointment had been moved forward to December 19. Still we asked people to pray for an even
earlier appointment.
Also, since we happen to be in the US for the holiday
season, we were trying to figure out a way to travel over the Christmas break
without having to conflict with necessary appointments.
On December 3, God
opened up an appointment on December 4, less than two weeks after we arrived in
the US. The appointment went as
seamlessly as it could have and we had immediate help. And this cleared on the calendar definitive
dates available for travel.
Oh … how I could go on and on. Just
because I am reflecting on the “biggest” things does not lessen the reality and
impact of the many little miracles along the way.
“I will remember the
deeds of the Lord; … I will consider all your works and meditate on all your
mighty deeds. Your ways, God, are
holy. What god is as great as our God?” Psalm 77:11-13
This post written in
conjunction with Lisa Jo Baker’s Five Minute Friday. Click on the button to read more entries or
to join in the fun.
