Summer is winding down here in Hayward, Minnesota. It is dry here, and the mornings are cool. The corn has grown so high and the beans are thick. I spend a lot of my afternoons helping my mother prepare veggies for canning or soaking up the last of the summer sun. My younger brother and sister have both left for college, leaving me home alone with my parents. What a wonderful summer it has been!
This summer has been full of so many changes. My brother and sister and law had their first baby, precious little Isaiah. What a delightful change that was! About 2 months ago, those three moved to Yakima, WA where my brother was offered a job as an assistant pastor--BIG CHANGE! And...I know Yakima is in for some BIG changes through the work of the Holy Spririt through Calvary Chapel, the awesome ministry my brother gets to work with.
In addition to Isaiah, another little treasure was added to our family: A puppy!! While he is certainly not quite as exciting as a little baby, this little nut has certainly caused change on the farm. I am now a lot more careful with leaving my belongings outside after one of my favorite books was torn to pieces and strewn thoughout the yard and my phone now bears nice teeth marks in it....ohh silly puppy.
My youngest brother just headed off to his first year of college...what a change that will be for my parents! They now have an empty nest! I am so excited for Caleb and am so proud of him.
My personal life has also been full of exciting, but also a little nervewracking changes. While most of my friends are buying binders, text books, and pencils or moving into their new apartments and getting cute furniture, or getting engaged or married, I am left buying a moquito proof tent, getting medication for malaria, and figuring out how in the world to pack for a 4 month trip. I am so excited that the Lord has called me and has led me to this trip to Kenya. Some days I get so anxious to go that it is all that I can think about. Just grasping the fact that the Lord chose me to show His love to His people in Kenya is so exciting. But, it is also scary. Some days I hate this change and wish I could just stay here...go to college for another year...stay on the farm. Sometimes the thought of this big change scares me.
You see, I know how to be a student. I am really good at it. I love my schedules, my planner, my timeframes. I like knowing what my role is in class, in ministry, in my family. I love knowing that I have friends right next door who care for me deeply and who know me well. But, now this is all changing. I am no longer a college student. I am no longer going to be in River Falls. God has called me back to Africa, where schedules dont seem to exist, where I really still have no clue what we will be doing, and where things are a lot different.
BUT>>>> it is SO comforting to know that I serve a God who does not change. I serve a God whose promises are the same as they were thousands of years ago. The Lord promised that He would never leave or forsake me. The Lord has got my back. He is leading me, working in me.
So, I will embrace all these changes...the exciting ones as well as the scary ones. And I know that the Lord will be faithful to continue to lead me through them.
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like the shifting shadows-James 1:17
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