The Questions Behind the Question

The flags in front of WGM's home office yesterday in Marion, IN

"Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished" (Luke 1:45).  (Memory verse for the month of December).

Many have asked "how it's going" in relation to this time of preparation for Albania.  Actually, we get this question almost daily, sometimes in a cautious, "I'm prepared for an honest-but-probably-not-optimistic answer" tone of voice. 

It's a question pregnant with many unspokens.  The first is a question about how our support is coming in.  We get it -- it's like watching a football game.  What's the score?  How much time is left in the half?  How do we define 'winning'? We are pleased to report that by God's grace and through His people we are meeting our goals for monthly support -- praise His name!  I admit that as we approach the end of each month I find myself starting to doubt, then confessing and closing with "Lord, I trust you!" The answer for today is that we are at 32% -- that feels huge to me and we rejoice in his provision.  

The second unspoken relates to the family: how are the children handling the meetings, the schedule, life on the road, etc.? That's going extremely well too!  They generally approach each visit with anticipation, especially if that place has pets or children!  If you are praying for us and the children in this respect, thank you!  We believe that God has really prepared their hearts. Where I think we need to work harder is in preparing them for what this is all about.  They know it's so we can "go to Albania," but I don't believe in their limited understanding that they have grasped the greater Purpose.  We are almost daily asked by them when we get to go. And as I write this, I think it's rooted in the fact that  'home' is a nebulous concept for us right now and they sense that perhaps upon reaching Albania, life will be 'settled'.  And after all, don't we ALL want that?

Back "home" today after 4 weeks in Ohio and Indiana

Case in point:
Last night we pulled up to the white farm house (after four weeks away) and Reni said, "No! Not this house!  I want to go HOME!"  

Ellie told us (as if we didn't understand her brother), "He wants to go to our old house in Kentucky!"

I told Reni I knew what he was feeling but that we didn't live there anymore, to which he responded in a tone of acceptance (and in his 3-year-old way of pronunciations), "Yeah, it's Jon and Faif's house now."

This morning he's happy as a clam, rediscovering old toys and reacquainting himself with a place where he knows the boundaries.

I think a final, unspoken question within the question is: how are YOU (Cydil) doing?  Or, is this what you signed up for? In our previous job we hosted missionaries on a weekly basis.  I got to see them at various places in their journey, whether that be as green appointees figuring out how to articulate their call to veteran missionaries preparing for their last term abroad. From that perspective, I think we got a pretty realistic insight as to what this year would be like for us.  We prepared ourselves for the possibility of stress, discouragement, tiredness, rejection, lack of privacy, family tension, etc. I have to say the Lord has been so GOOD to us.  We sense his blessing on us.  He sends us encouragement through fellow believers, through unexpected provision, through new insights from the Word... through a special sense of closeness we feel with our family unlike any we've ever experienced before. 

Thank you for asking!  Thank you for caring!  Thank you for praying!

"Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished" (Luke 1:45)

NEWS UPDATE:  Nathan and my father are flying to Albania tomorrow afternoon.  They will be carrying over items for our family and checking on the status of construction projects at our future home, like the completion of the stairway project, window grill installation and other modifications to keep little monkeys safe, as well as legal matters like ministry registration and residency visas.  While they are away, the kids and I will get in lots of time with Gigi and Aunt Hannah, send our Christmas cards, and do a lot of cooking and preparing for Christmas!