Sittin on the 5 yard line

We are lined up on our own 5 yard line.  We are both wide receivers and the play calls for us to run the same pattern.  A quick slant pattern to the inside for some guaranteed yards.  We line up, then I hear the quarterback (God) calling an audible.  His plan calls for me to go deep, and for you to continue running the slant pattern. You were on the other side of the field and you didn't hear this audible, and for you, the play remains the same.  I don't know how the play will work, we won't get the guaranteed yardage, it is risky.  But, he is the play caller.  We don't have the playbook, we just do what we are told.  If we waver, then the play will fail.

So, the ball gets snapped, I run straight for 5 yards, you go five and cut inside. I should be making a cut also inside but last minute the play was changed and I know that I have to go where the quarterback told me to go.  He is expecting me there.  There are BIG things at stake for this game.  People are at stake.

I keep going straight, past the 10 yard line and you look at me like I am crazy.  You think that I am supposed to slant inside and pick up 7 yards.

I keep going, past the 20.  You call out at me and tell me that I have the play wrong.  I look back at the quarterback and he nods for me to keep going.

I keep going, at the 30 I am still going straight.  You are telling me that I am messing it all up, that this play doesn't make sense.  The distance is growing and it is not going to work.  I look back, make sure to reconnect with the quarterback and he directs me to keep going.

When I get to the fifty, I know that this whole play is not making sense, but I don't have the game plan.  The quarterback is the only one with the game plan and he NEVER loses.  He will win!  The trophy already has his name on it.

I feel a tug on my shirt, you are trying to slow me down now.  You are telling me that I am crazy, and that I must have mis-understood the orders that I was given.  I look back and He tells me to keep going, deeper into enemy territory.

In the quarterbacks booming voice he tells me to run all the way to the end zone!  I think that is crazy!  I think that the play can't be made.  I have no choice though but to run to the end zone and pray that the 95 yard pass ends well.

You are angry that the plays changed, and that our plans did not coincide in the middle, where there was a guarantee.  I am here to remind you that we play for the same team.  We want our team to win.  We have to listen to the one who calls the shots though if we are going to win.  We both must run our plays.  You need to run your slant pattern, and I need to run my deep route.

I am still running towards the end zone expecting a hale mary.  The quarterback might decide not to throw it to me there, but might be using me as a decoy.  Or, he might make an incredible pass to me, showing off His skill.  I do know this, he won't Kaepernick it at the very end.  He is the Victor.  We will celebrate together with Him.  We need to keep our focus.

Medical scare

When we moved into our new home we already knew one of the neighbors.  She came to our old house to buy some of our furniture that we were selling on craigslist.  Her name is Jessica.  The encounter of buying our furniture in a sparse house led to a conversation of where we are moving.  Which led to a conversation of us moving just 5 doors down from hers.  Our kids have been able to go over there and play and vice versa.

Yesterday, we had a little bit of a medical scare.  Eyerusalem was out running around the neighborhood.  She is allowed to run around the large block by herself and she had already run a couple of laps.  Well, due to being dehydrated she started to have a weird feeling in her chest and then she passed out.  She fell from a standing position and hit her head on the concrete first.  The fire department was called, and she was taken off on a backboard in an ambulance to the ER.

She is doing well.  We were at the ER until late and they almost kept her overnight, but decided to make a follow up appointment instead.  The diagnosis was that she became dehydrated.

When she fell, she could have been in front of any of the 40 houses on our block, yet by God's grace she was right in front of the one and only neighbor we know.  In fact, Jessica was the only witness and saw her running and then saw her pass out.  She was the only to stop and help for the first few minutes, calling 911 and sending her kids running to our house to ask for help.  After all the commotion we have been able to meet a few more neighbors now but we are grateful that God provided for us in this way.

We do believe that we live in a spiritual world and as we prepare our family to move to Kenya we are in a spiritual battle.

God continues to provide.

A different story

Today.
I was supposed to write about how we have found renters.
I was supposed to write about how God worked in amazing ways to lead a family to our house.
I was supposed to write about how we were patient, God was faithful and He provided in amazing ways.

However, this story changed 15 minutes ago.  The renters who were SO excited to rent our house and we thought were going to fit SO well, just backed out.

Now, we have a different story.
This is the story of how difficult it is to wait, be patient and trust in God's perfect timing.  In the effort to be fully authentic, this is hard.   This was VERY hard news to hear.  We were so confident in how things had been working out and we could see God's hand in the process.

Almost a full week after showing our house to many potential people, the top two contenders fell through.  Hesitantly, we denied the two applicants that we had because we just didn't have any peace about it.  We felt like God was telling us to wait and be patient.  So, we waited.  The whole idea of being a landlord is incredibly stressful for me and not something that I am good at, so I took some time to sit and read God's word.  I read through many Psalms and finally ended when I hit the end of Psalm 27:14

Wait for the Lord; 

be strong, and let your heart take courage; 

wait for the Lord.

And so we waited.
The next day, I get a call from a new family.  She had heard about our house from a friend of a friend.  A man named Tim, whom we don't know, who had reposted our ad.  (Thank you Tim by the way).  Then, as she is telling me the story about how she was looking on Craigslist that morning for a rental, ours was the first to pop up.  This is where I know that God was working.  Our craigslist ad had expired the day before and was over a week old by this point.  Our ad should not have even been there any more and if it had it should have been WAY down at the bottom.  Yet, it was the first one that popped up.  In talking with the family, we could see God working in so many different ways.

However, today we wait some more.

Here is today's story.

God is faithful.
God is still in control.
God is still leading us and He knows what our needs are for us to go to Kenya.
Being patient is hard.
Being patient is stressful.
Being patient is not something that I am good at.

Well, there you go.  That is today's different story.

This week I have been meditating on and memorizing Psalm 117.

Praise the Lord, all nations!

Extol him, all peoples!

2 For dgreat is his steadfast love toward us,

and ethe faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.

bPraise the Lord