2011

Here it is, January 2, 2011......a new year has begun with new hopes, new plans, new goals......but God is teaching me lessons about all of those things.  I always have a tendency to dream big and plan bigger....sometimes it works out, and sometimes it doesn't.  God is teaching me to seek Him first, to ask what His plans for us are....and then to obey Him, to follow Him.  Sometimes I feel  a little like Abraham....when God told Him to move to a land he did not know.  How hard would that be?  What a step of faith that would take!

To know that you hear God telling you to do something that absolutely makes no sense at all......that's when we want to sit down and write out our agendas, our plans, etc.  When we want to see if it will work or not, to see if it actually makes sense and is realistic.  But then, that doesn't take alot of faith.  Faith is definitely something that God has been working on in my life.  As you can tell from previous blog entries, I struggle with it.....boy, do I struggle with it!  I have found it is easier to have faith when you are praying and seeking something for someone else than for yourself, probably because that doesn't really take so much faith on your part, and you don't really have alot at risk or alot to lose there.  But when it comes to you personally.....it is all on the line.....either you trust God or you don't.  I further complicate that by pondering this....I get passionate and excited about doing things and then wonder...am I excited about this because God is doing this, or am I trying to convince myself that it is God's will because I want it so badly?  I've actually been on that side of it before, and it is not a good place to be.  So, now I'm REALLY desirous that I seek God, and ask Him to take a passion and desire away if it is not in line with His will.  That brings me back to Uganda.  My husband Mark and I have been prayerfully seeking God's will and direction for us as we look into moving to Uganda to immerse ourselves full time into the ministry work of Mercy Uganda.  Yes, this is a big step.....we leave behind a lifetime.  We leave behind 3 adult children, and 4 grandchildren, 2 of them not yet born.  But one thing that God has been teaching us over the past few years, is that our children don't belong to us anyway....they belong to Him.  Whether we are in the U.S. or in Uganda, God still has our children in the palm of His hand....He still directs their steps, and ordains their lives.  So, what we are doing for 2011 is praying, reading scripture, praying some more, and moving forward with plans to move to Uganda, asking God to guide each step, and close doors along the way so we don't try to guide ourselves.  It is a huge step for us but one we want to take if that is what God wants.  This plan involves a 24 month schedule of downsizing, support raising, planning, praying, and sharing.  We hope that you will pray for us too.  We pray that God will be ahead of us each step of the way, and that His will be done, not ours.  Two thousand and eleven will be a year of preparation.  But then, every year should be that. God tells us always to be prepared, in season and out of season, to share the gospel.  Please pray for us.  We want to do things God's way.  Our prayer is found in Psalm 90:17 "Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us; and confirm for us the work of our hands; Yes, confirm the work of our hands."