Sunday, February 17, 2008

Fear

2/17/08
Dear family and friends,

A couple of nights ago, Will came downstairs after we put him to bed and he said that he was scared. I hugged him and prayed through the verse about how God takes care of the birds and clothes the lilies. He looked up at me with wide eyes and said, "That is the same story Daddy told me tonight! I think God is talking to me about this." That night I had nightmares and woke up with fear plaguing me, as I thought about the direction our life is going. I got Rebekah up, made breakfast, and sat down with her and started to read through her devotion while she ate. The devotion for that day just happened to be about fear and I read several verses about what God says about fear - basically, that it is a lack of trust in Him. Following her devotion, my heart was restored to peace once more. Two times in 12 hours, He spoke either through me or to me about fear. I am always so amazed at how He meets us right where we are. He is such an incredibly personal God.

It is interesting though, how the majority of the time we are very much at peace individually and as a family. We continue to talk and process, but we really are enjoying the ride so far. We will give you a few things to pray for this week and some ways to praise Him. Please let us know how we can be praying for you as well. We consider that a privilege!

Praise:
Three families in the past week have committed to financially supporting us without us even asking them!

Three families have also stepped forward to host small group dinners for us!

A good conversation with CRC World Missions.

God's personal touch through His word to calm fear and restore peace.

Petition:
For CRC World Missions to make a decision this week about whether they will serve as our board.


For Dan and I as we meet tomorrow night to discern the next steps we need to take in the next few months. We will be talking about when we should sell the house and what needs to be done to prepare it to sell; and about building 3 teams - a small group dinner team, prayer team, and child care team (more details about that later).


For health - Rebekah has a 102 temp and cold symptoms. We are a little concerned about dehydration tonight. We also pray that the rest of us can stay healthy, as Will has great difficulty getting through respiratory illnesses.


The Kids:

Will told some of his friends we would be moving and I can tell that was difficult for him and for his friends. He keeps reminding them that we will be back to visit.

Rebekah started a document the other day on WORD with more questions for us. She's also been telling friends at school and feeling the impact of the news. She made a map that we will use to track the support raising process as we did with FamilyLife. It is different going through this with them now than it was when they were 3 and 4. They can be even more involved in the process, and are working through it with much more awareness.