meanwhile...

tonight i am pondering how faithful God has been in my life - so faithful in His design and timing to bring about His plan. we are now in preparation mode to transition our family to Africa. to love some orphans. just to type that brings tears to my eyes and pounding in my heart. i still feel disbelief that this season (that i have prayed for, longed for, BEGGED God for) is now actually upon us.

this is totally new and exciting territory for our family. our ten years in Jackson have been absolutely wonderful - and all we have ever known as a married couple. we got engaged here, bought our first home here, had all our babies here. we've planted roots and shared life with friends who have become family. we haven't had any transition yet. we haven't really ever had to "step out in faith" and be completely dependent on God, as we are now contemplating selling all that we own and starting over. there are a lot of questions in our minds. there are lots of emotions! i wonder, are we being presumptuous or are we full of faith? i happily daydream about what we will be doing in a year, while i also get a big lump in my throat when i think about leaving our family and friends here. but, for T and i both, our overriding emotion is PEACE. we have so much peace about where we are right now and where we are going.

definitely, at this point, the hardest part is not being able to talk about all this with the people we are close to. i'm writing this entry in July... don't know when i'll get to actually post it. in fact, i am at the moment sitting at the table in my grandparents house. my and the kids have been visiting a few days while T is in S.Dakota. it has been such a lovely visit. i love being with my family, and i love seeing my children make memories with their great-grandparents. "bitter-sweet" is certainly the word i would use to describe how everything tastes to me right now. i'm so eager to be able to share what all God is teaching me through this process. writing a blog is probably like my " coping mechanism." i am such a girl and have this great need to TALK about everything! but i know this season has a purpose. it is good for T and i to "count the cost" now, to know we have a quiet, firm commitment between us and God, and it has nothing to do with other people's enthusiasm, encouragement... or lack thereof.

i wish i could adequately and concisely explain how all this has come about. it may seem sudden, but it really isn't. the dream to work with orphans has always been in our hearts. we talked about it before we ever even started dating. the dream to go OVERSEAS and work with orphans has always been in MY heart - not so much T's. he has never led me on to think that he would want to go be a missionary somewhere (even though he LOVES missions!). all i can say is God has been slowly, subtly (yet firmly) bending our hearts toward this continent. it began with an awareness of the need, then a stirring to respond. it was never as if God barked the order for us to go. there wasn't a shock-and-awe revelation moment where we knew we were "called." we just came to a logical conclusion that this, as T put it to me, is the "purest desire of our hearts." if we could choose what our family will be made of and the experiences that will shape us... well, this is it. are we "CALLED" to Africa? honestly, i don't really know what all that means. i just know i long to be there. i wish for it. i ask God to please allow us to serve the children - so much that i will abandon and sacrifice whatever i need to in order to go. so, this is where we are right now.