Eye of the Storm

When all our hopes are gone,

It is best our hands keep toiling on

     For others' sake:

For strength to bear is found in duty done;

And he is best indeed who learns to make

The joy of others cure his own heartache.

Streams in the Desert, October 30

I read that the center of a cyclone is the most undisturbed part of the storm. In fact, it's peaceful. Quiet. A child can even slumber in the midst of a storm like this. The winds whirl all around, chaos ensues on it's every rim. Yet, in the center, in the eye of the storm, there is peace.  

Last year in Asia, we felt the Lord kept reminding us of the passage in scripture where Jesus calmed the storm. The disciples were frantic from the storm, fearful that it would be their demise. Yet Jesus calmed the storm in an instant. They only had to ask, they only had to remember who was with them. They needed to look at Jesus and not the storm. This was the theme of our hearts last year: look to Jesus, remember who is with us, fret not about the storms around us.

When we landed in Africa, storm upon storm encircled us.  Our home had some hiccups and delayed our moving in by one month. The stress of moving to 2 countries within a year hit hard. Our identity was lost. We now not only missed the culture of our home country but we now missed the culture of our last home in Asia.  Our two oldest daughters behavior went from sweet to incredibly naughty and mean and even destructive. We felt lost, out of place, confused in the midst of a storm.

Really, I made my own cyclone.  I couldn't let go of what was. I couldn't let go of the comfort America had to offer us. I couldn't let go of the grief that swelled up daily of missing our family and friends.  I couldn't let go. It was who I was.  This lead to weeks of readjusted thinking: I am a child of the King, I am not an American first or a daughter first or a friend first. I am of royal heritage of the God who will never leave me nor forsake me. I am a child of the God who sees me.

As in Asia, gratitude became our ammunition.  Being thankful when it hurts, when it's emotionless--well, that is a really really hard thing to do. Yet we had so much to be thankful for! Every step of our journey had been hemmed in behind and before by the Lord!  What we needed to do was stop dilly dallying on the edge of the cyclone where self pity, grief,  and despair threatened our every thought. We needed to get to the eye of the storm and fast!

From all of Robb's trainings he has met many people and has networked to meet lots of missionaries.  One such encounter lead to another and before we knew it we were hosting a sweet young missionary named Kacy and a little 3 year  old boy, Given, who had serious but not life threatening medical issues. Kacy has been ministering to Given and his family for a very long time, praying they would know Jesus, the only one who has the power to help them out of their poverty both physically and spiritually. Given and Kacy stayed  with us for 4 days. When they first got here my heart was hard and sad and fighting to see the positives in this whirlwind life the Lord has chosen for us.

As the days went on my heart lightened, joy was creeping in. I loved this sweet missionary and this child! The Lord let me stop thinking about myself and start thinking about someone else: a perfect cure to heartache. By the end of the week Robb and I bought groceries to go home with this sweet boy. His mom is a single mom of 5. 

Later, Kacy told us the impact these groceries had.  Given's mom not only felt God's love through Kacy's help in taking him to the doctor, but she couldn't believe that a family that has never met her would provide food for her family.  They literally just ran out of food! There wasn't a single crumb left in there tiny shack!

This, and other opportunities the Lord has provided to think about others has lead to the eye of the storm: a place of peace, rest and hope. Our hearts are once again filled with thankfulness and our girls are back to themselves.  Our home is a safe haven, a refuge in this place we now call home yet feels so foreign.

Thank you for your continued prayers, love and support. You have been the hands and feet of God's love to us, enabling us to be the hands and feet of the Lord to the people of South Africa. Thank God for the body of Christ, an indescribable gift! We pray that whether you find yourself on the rim of the cyclone or in the center, that the Lord's hand will be upon you.  We pray that grace upon grace will be your daily love notes from the Lord as you run this worthy race until the day we meet our King face to face. May the Lord's peace be with you all.

"Do not call to mind the former things, or ponder things of the past.  Behold, I will do something new.  Now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, rivers in the desert." 

Isaiah 43:18-19

Kacy, Given and Chloe