There are a lot of cool things that have happened in the last six months. It has been amazing to watch God answer prayer after prayer, removing obstacles and opening doors for us. Some of it defies logic. If you judge the future based on your past experience, it would be safe to bet we have only just begun to see God at work. That is exciting to us.
As a mom, I look at the work ahead differently than Troy. Everything is examined from a caretaker's point of view. I think about how different aspects of the job or the new culture will effect our kids first. He just shrugs his shoulders and gets to work. ;)
We had always planned that Troy would go ahead of us for a week, maybe two. Then we found out that two large teams would be living in the mission house and that the container would not clear customs until early February. I couldn't imagine introducing the kids to their new home with 15 guests and none of their toys or books or familiar things. So,that is why we are waiting three weeks to go.
I have recieved lots of encouragement over the past few weeks via email. It has helped so much.
This is from a friend in North Carolina ... (jumping in mid-letter)
"There will be bad days. You will get frustrated with your kids, you might fight with Troy. You may feel (as I do sometimes) like everything hinges on whether or not you can pull yourself together. I want to make sure you know it does not! It all hinges on a wonderful, Holy God who has already counted you faithful. He's not sending you to Haiti so that you can impress Him. He's sending you to Haiti so that He can amaze you! It's all about Him."
I think this particular paragraph of my friend's letter meant something to me because it is easy to trick yourself into thinking you have to be perfect. Like, since we really believe that we should be in Haiti, and that God is leading us there ... then we better not ever screw up while we are working down there. We better have a perfect day with perfect attitudes every day. Ha, good luck to us!
The most important reminder of the whole letter was that I cannot really impress God. He knows me and He knows that as hard as I try I will still have days where I freak out about some insignificant thing. (Basically, this is guaranteed.)He is okay with that and He plans to amaze us with His love, grace, forgiveness and perfect provision. ~Tara
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