The Beginning and the End

A few months ago we were in church (NCF) and the congregation knelt and sang a chorus with a line in it about trusting God’s timing. Afterward, Brin told me she realized she shouldn’t be uptight about how long we have to wait for our visas. “Time is in His hands, beginning and the end.” Brin sang and allowed God to take away her quest for a countdown to Brazil or having plane tickets in our hands. I have to admit my journey was not as quick. In my head I trust God. I know He knows best, but I still had all these questions. How long can we continue to live on no income? Where are we going to live? We hadn’t heard anything from the Brazilian Consulate for 2 months. We didn’t know what that meant, and I was admittedly getting a little nervous. Every time my cell phone rings I about have a coronary.
Yesterday (Nov. 18th), after several attempts, I got a hold of someone at the Brazilian Consulate and they informed me our visas had been accepted! Unable to fully enjoy the moment, my mind raced ahead to all that we needed to do before leaving in as short as two weeks. In addition to that good news, we learned just a few days ago that we are now at 100% for our financial support. Two things for which we have been waiting for over a month came to a close within three days of each other. Sometimes I wish that I were not so rational, that I could just enjoy the goodness of God and His provision, without immediately looking to the next thing down the road.
When I got the news of our visa, Ella and I were the only ones home. We didn’t want to just come right out and tell mom when she came home. At the time we were playing a game of scrabble (pictured above) so we decided to be subtle. Something our girls and their mother is not known for. It took Brin a little while to get it. I suppose I’ve been like that when it comes to seeing God’s hand of provision.

Here are a few things that are looming that we would appreciate your prayers about:
1. Plane tickets are expensive right now and airlines seem to be booked because Varig, a Brazilian Airline recently went out of business.
2. Jed Stuber (Josh’s 2nd cousin) is planning on going with us to help us move down, we will be applying for his tourist visa when we go to Chicago next week to pick up our visas.
3. We have a lot of luggage. We are grateful for Jed’s help, but hauling 12+ boxes around the airport with 3 kids still seems like a daunting task. Also, we have to make decisions about leaving some things that we don’t have room for.
4. And on a more personal note: we learned a lot at MTI about what might be asked of us as missionaries…becoming part of a new culture without losing our “saltiness”…finding peace with fellow workers who may hold to different doctrines…maintaining closeness with God amidst the fog of adaptation…relating with nationals so they recognize Christs’ centrality in our lives…finding enjoyment in Altimira despite hardships or disappointments. There is a ton more but at heart is the desire to give of ourselves in service to Christ, knowing how much we will have to learn from our teammates at Xingu, nationals, friends and family back home and God. Just writing these things brings up feelings of inadequacy and nervousness as we remind ourselves to be vulnerable and teachable.