Jesus Goggles

We are now in our final 2 months of our ministry here at Kibogora. As we start looking forward, I can't help but notice that things ahead are a bit... unclear. The only things that are currently planned are that we will be back in Kerrville on July 21st, and that we will be living in a missionary house owned by Trinity Baptist Church (praise God!). We aren't sure how we'll get home from the airport (though I'm sure some of our loving friends and family will be happy to help us out), where Steph and I will be working, what we'll use to get from point A to point B, or, looking further ahead, where we'll be headed when we enter back into the mission field in 2016 (or, really, IF we'll be headed back out).

So much uncertainty. The type of uncertainty that, prior to 2013, would have driven me crazy. But here's the thing: Though I have never been so unsure of my families and my future, I have never been so much at peace with what the future holds.

You see, prior to 2013 I thought I was in the drivers seat, and I was trying to steer my life in the direction I thought it should go. But I have learned over the last 2 years that I am not in the drivers seat, but Jesus is. He has shown me time and time again that He will take care of us so long as we trust in Him.

That's not to say we just sit around waiting for Him to make things happen. We must take a proactive approach starting with prayer, but also including being His hands and feet and allowing Him to guide us and take necessary actions that we feel He is leading us to take. For instance, Trinity Baptist Church likely wouldn't have reached out to us about the missionary house as they didn't know we needed to use it...instead, God placed it on Linda Berg's heart to email them on our behalf, Trinity sent us the paperwork, and we printed it, filled it out, scanned it, and emailed it back. God does not always do things for you, but instead He moves people to do things.

Does that make me a bad husband? A bad father? A bad person? Am I wrong for placing my future in someone else's hands? My answer is simply, "no." For I believe what God promised in Jeremiah 29:11 when he said "For I know the plans I have for you... plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."

I also believe the words in Philippians 4:19 when Paul writes "And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus." This verse tells us that it is God that supplies our needs from His riches (not that of the world), and it is Jesus who, as our "future and hope," is the giver and mediator of those riches.

Jesus told us in John 14:6 “I am the way, and the truth, and the life." If you believe in Jesus, he's not a way you can follow, he's the way that you should follow.

So, when things aren't clear and I'm not sure of which direction I should go, I will put on my Jesus goggles. Though they may not allow me to see far into the future, I know they will point me in the right direction.

Though the road He takes us down might not always be the smoothest or most comfortable, it's a far better road than the one I would go down if I still had a hold of the wheel.

Prayer Requests:

As we approach our departure date, we invite you all to join us in praying for the following:

• For clear direction as to what God wants for our future
• That we will finish strong here in our current ministry
• For our children-that Macy will finish her school year at RVA strong, for Zach, who is almost finished with home school for the year (Hooray!) and for Brandon as some of his friends here are leaving at the end of this week
• That God will continue to use us for His glory and that His light will shine through each of us everyday
• For feelings of homesickness that we still have
• For the patients and families of Kibogora Hospital
• For knowledge and wisdom for the hospital staff

Thank you and God bless!!