Update... God is Good All The Time

So,  we've made it to Canada.  True to what I thought I knew, we left Charlottesville on Tuesday, June 19th.  True to what we prayed for and asked several folks to pray for, our time at the border & customs office was a smooth as possible.  We got the nicest border officer, there was no wait and we were on our way after only about half an hour going over the paperwork in the office.  God is good, all the time.

Wednesday morning brought some shocking news,  a beloved cousin of Super-Awesome's (the closest to an uncle that he has) passed into the presence of the Lord.  Glitches with the phone service at the cottage had us drive into the city to use friends' phone for Super-Awesome's phone interview.  God is good, all the time.

Thursday we received some voicemail messages on our "American" cell phone, and I was having trouble receiving them, because any call I make from Canada I have to redial the 10 digits.  I don't have 10 digits to redial when I call voicemail.  However, sitting on the dock where I get a teeny bit of reception, I managed to figure out that it's really simple when you call from a landline... and was able to retrieve the messages: one from a dear friend and two from our moving company.  Sadly, by the time I received the message, the office for the moving company was closed.   God is good, all the time.

Friday I called in to our old doctor's office because I needed some scripts filled and lo an behold they had a 10am appointment open (it was 9am when I received this information... and it takes about an hour to drive into the city).   Cell service is sketchy both at the cottage and on the road into the city, until you get to a certain point.  When we got to that certain magical point where service becomes consistent I discovered that there were messages on both of our phones.  Remember Thursday's issues with checking the phone messages on the American phone?  No can do.  So, the new Canadian phone hadn't even had our voicemail recording set up, but I could easily retrieve that message and it said that the doctor I'd been scheduled with had been called away and her appointments for the day had to be rescheduled.   God is good, all the time.

Also Friday morning I was able to get in touch with the moving company and learned that it was a little more complicated than I had thought to get our household goods trailer cleared.  We couldn't just go into the moving company's office and hand over the papers we'd been given at the border.  We have to go to a Canada Customs office and the one he directed us to go to is another hour and a half past the city we already drive an hour to get to.  But hey... when you're used to 12 hour drives...  2.5 hours doesn't seem like such a big deal.  God is good, all the time.

Saturday found us happily back at the cottage for a day of rest.  Everyone was exhausted.  Everyone, except Super-Awesome, had a good nap that afternoon.  Super-Awesome's mom had been staying with her cousin's wife since his passing and other friends had come and she was able to come back to the cottage.  Emotionally drained, and still in shock, we are all grieving in different ways.  Super-Awesome didn't nap because he was preparing for this interview on Tuesday in the North.    God is good, all the time.

Sunday we were back in the city to remember the Lord and worship with our brothers and sisters in Christ at the assembly we had been in fellowship with for 8 years before our move to Charlottesville.  What a blessing!   God is good, all the time.

Sunday also found us going out for lunch with Super-Awesome's parents.  Certain heavy handed hints were put forth by Super-Awesome that eating at a certain restaurant in the city that he didn't have access to while we lived in the South, would be... super-awesome.  For my American readers, this restaurant features rotisserie chicken.  Within Christian circles it is euphemistically called "Christian Chicken" because that is where you will find lots of Christians after church on Sunday.  I know in the US the euphemism "Christian Chicken" refers to another chain, operated by Christians and closed on Sunday (which I miss intently!).    Super-Map got a bit of sun on Saturday, and that combined with drinking lots of chocolate milk at alarming speeds & chicken and fries, ended our visit to the restaurant with vomit being spewed everywhere.  Amazingly wonderful staff cleaned up everything, including my purse, which thankfully was zipped shut and became a perfect bowl of vomit.   Hey!  He didn't throw up in our car on the 2 hour drive to my mom's...   God is good, all the time.

Sunday evening found my whole family together for supper.  Something my mom treasures, as it doesn't happen too frequently.  The cousins and aunts & uncles all got to take a dip in the pool.   God is good, all the time.

In the will of the Lord:

Today, the super-kids will stay with my mom and we will head North and take a supper break with Super-Awesome's aunt (in the Gateway to the North) before reaching our northern destination for a good night's sleep.   God is good, all the time.

Tomorrow,  Super-Awesome has his interview with the university.  I will wander around the city and see the sights.  We will be in prayer for Super-Awesome's family as they have the funeral at 11am for Super-Awesome's uncle.  God is good, all the time.

Thursday, we'll be back with the Super-In-Laws and be off to sort out having our belongings released by customs so that they may be returned to the storage facility where they will stay until we know where the Lord is taking/sending/keeping us.  God is good, all the time.

GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME

Whether things in our lives are good, hard, unknown, sad, happy, does not change the fact that God is immutable (unchangeable)  and one of His attributes is goodness.  It's easy to say God is good all the time, when things are going well, but it is no less true when things are very difficult or we don't know what's going on.

^{Hebrews 13:8} Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

What we know now...

In the will of the Lord,

We know that Super-Awesome has a Skype interview tomorrow morning @ 9am EDT.
We know that we are loading a trailer with our stuff on Saturday.
We know that said trailer will be picked up on Monday and will be shipped to and stored in Canada.
We know that Super-Awesome will be having another interview the week of June 25th.

We hope that we will be on the road to Canada on June 19th.
We hope that the third university will be in touch regarding an interview.
We hope that we'll hear back from other universities.

We trust that God knows exactly what's going on and He's had it planned out before we were even born.
We trust that there will be a job for Super-Awesome in the near future.
We trust that our family will adapt to wherever God plants us.


That is all I know!  And I think that's pretty good ;-)

Five Minute Friday: Expectation

Linking up with Lisa-Jo @ The Gypsy Mama

"Fridays are for writing for five minutes.
Only five minutes.
Stream-of-consciousness style. Like you did when you were in 9th grade.
Write and see what comes out. There’s no right or wrong.
Got 5 minutes? Come and spend them writing"

Expectation 

Five Minutes, eh?

I think I need more that that today ;-)

Our heads are spinning today.  Last Friday, I wrote on the topic SEE, and last week we had no idea what God had in store for us.

This week we have been showered with blessings and options.  All since Tuesday at 2pm.  

On Tuesday, Super-Awesome was contacted by two Canadian universities who had shortlisted him for the jobs he had applied for with them.  Not one, but two,  in one day!

On Wednesday, he spoke further with one of those two universities to clarify some questions he had.

On Thursday, that same university called back to begin arranging an interview time, in person, potentially next Thursday.  We also booked our moving truck for loading next Saturday.  Just before bed, Super-Awesome checked his e-mail and there was an automated e-mail announcing that he had been shortlisted for a job with them.  This university is not in the US or Canada!!!

On Friday... (today) He got an e-mail from a real person at the overseas university setting up a Skype interview for next Friday.  Within an hour of that, his boss here came and talked to him about a proposal if these other things fall through.

Expectation?  Um, I have no idea.  However, I am so thankful, that God does!  We'd appreciate your prayers for discernment and wisdom and peace and focus for us and particularly Super-Awesome as he finishes up his work here, but keeps getting these calls and e-mails that have a high distraction factor (good, but still very distracting).

May I never cease to be amazed by how AWESOME our God is!

P.S.  There are still about 5 other applications out there, so there's no telling what Monday will bring ;-)

Mail Call Monday: Allan!

It was a hallelujah day at the mailbox today!  3 letters!  And all 3 from Allan in Ecuador!!!

He was scheduled to have surgery in March, but none of these letters mention it.  Partly because two of the letters were written prior to March. 

Letter 1 is from December 31, 2011 (yes, sometimes things get backed up...)  Here's an excerpt:

I write to you in the name of Jesus, with my heart very glad for writing this letter 

to tell you that I am very glad that you did well in your trip visiting your family 

and that beautiful baby whom I send many kisses to, as well I send your 

mother and your family many greetings. 

Letter 2 was written on February 29, 2012  (still a little slower than his usual letters, and shows that my letters don't always get to him in the 2 month period some of the time)

I greet you in the greatest Father God's love.  I didn't receive you letter at Christmas, 

but I got it in a very nice month, which is February, the month of love and friendship.  

I want you to know that I love you very much.  I would like you to send me more photos 

from you for my album.  My favorite subject is Natural Environment and Geometry [...] 

I am praying for your husband to find a good job and you to do well as lawyer 

(uh oh, I think Compassion Advocate got mistranslated).  I thank you very much for 

the letter  and for the postcards, stickers and drawings to paint.  I am also praying 

that you do well in Canada and your dreams come true.  

With much love,  your spiritual son, Allan

Wow!  I teared up over this letter!  So much love... and calling himself my spiritual son.  I love this little guy so much!

Finally, Letter 3 was dated April 30, 2012 (which is the usual timeframe that I had been used to getting his letters in before).  This letter is one of the new templates with a topic for the child to write about and this one was titled "My Family"

I would love to share with you a little bit more about my family. 

 I live with my dad, my mom and my sibs.  I visit my grandparents very often. [...] 

My food is prepared by my mom and my brothers.  My family lives in the urban area.  

I want to thank you for being my sponsor and for helping me to stay at the project.  

Thanks also for praying for me.  Please pray for my country because it rains a lot here, 

the weather is cold and there have been lots of floods.  I also want to say that you are very 

special to me.  I love you very much.  May God bless you and your precious family!  

 Allan

What a blessing to get three letters today. Still praying to hear how his surgery went, but so thankful for these letters. I have felt a bit of a letter drought lately, since Tania moved out of the program area.  She and Allan are both in Ecuador and they have a great reciprocal program already in place so I was used to getting lots of letters from them both.

Life update:  We got another piece of good news today:  there are people who are going to rent our place and we can leave on the day we need to after all!  Papers haven't been signed yet, but we are praying to that end.  One piece of the puzzle may be in place. Trusting for the rest!  And I am THANKFUL!!!  This is how I'm feeling:  

I'll keep you posted on the rest of the puzzle when we know something!

Five Minute Friday: See

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. And then absolutely, no ifs, ands or buts about it, you need to visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments. Seriously. That is, like, the rule. And the fun. And the heart of this community..
OK, are you ready? Please give me your best five minutes on:

Start:

See.  I feel like I can't see even a minute ahead of me right now.  Well, maybe a minute is a stretch, the next five will be taken up with this post... maybe I can't see what's a day ahead of me. That's more realistic.

We're still playing the waiting game, the job-search waiting game, the when-are-we-moving-out-of-this-rental waiting game, the I-just-keep-packing-boxes-that-I'm-not-sure-where-to-ship waiting game...

It turns out that faith is not about sight (see Hebrews 11:1).  Even though I can't see what's ahead past these 2 remaining minutes, doesn't mean that God can't see what's ahead.  He's always known what the big picture for us is, and this tiny block that will come next into our view... He's got it under control.  We don't.  And yes, there's a fine line between faith and being foolish.  But right now we're focusing on faith and trusting that God knows what He's doing.

Because, you know what?  HE DOES KNOW WHAT HE'S DOING!

Stop.

Ok, so I have some more that I need to get off my chest.  Yes, I sound like I have it all together and this isn't bothering me.  Guess what?  Some minutes or hours that is a true statement because of Phillipians 4:7.  And other moments, like this morning, I just hung my head and wept because of how overwhelming it all is.  When I give in to my flesh I can get pretty freaked out about it all and does it do me any good?  Yes, (if it's just for a short time) it actually does.  It makes me remember that I'm only human and the God of the Universe has it under control and I need to be praying and telling Him how overwhelmed I feel and then keep taking small steps to accomplish the things I need to do.  When I am praying for others, praying about this issue, rejoicing, giving thanks for everything, it's much easier not to worry, be anxious, or fretful.  And He supplies the peace that passes all understanding. Philippians 4:4-7

The next verse in that passage are also exceedingly special!  After I've prayed about those things, does it help me to go right back to thinking about the problems that I can't see an answer for?

No!

Philippians 4:8 says this:    

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things

 So I put on a worshipful cd, or open the window and listen to the rain fall or the birds sing, snuggle with SuperMap on the couch and I think about the good things and the absolute blessings that I am showered with daily in my Savior, family, friends, these material goods that I have to pack, that we have places to go when we move and food on the table at every meal and water... clean water that I can access any time I want from any faucet in my house.  

When you take that perspective, our mountain of difficulty loses it's grandeur and seems more like a small hill.  It will still require trust and effort to scale it, but it can be done.

Please continue to pray for our family.  That is something that I cannot thank you enough for, that you are petitioning our God to strengthen us and give us patience and endurance to run this race is an unbelievable gift to us!