What a week?!
Seconds… minutes… hours… days… weeks…
We all know time doesn’t stop, but there are defining moments that create milestones we will always remember that change the trajectory of our lives.
This week was one of those weeks!
A week ago Thursday we had our official Board of Review with Word of Life where we became ‘official’ missionaries! What an incredible moment! And then to hear we were one of four from around the world just that day. I got this note from one of the WoL team members…
“Fun fact - we had four Board of Reviews this morning - you guys, were group #2. We started with Papa New Guinea, then Panama, then Lithuania, and finally Ethiopia. We traveled around the world this morning!”
Wow! Not only has this felt ‘world moving’ for us, but to hear we are truly a part of a global movement of Jesus advancing His Kingdom all over the world through His Gospel! Brothers and sisters in Christ that we won’t meet till Heaven, and yet we are intricately connected!
We have been blown away by dear friends who have helped us create videos and a website to tell our story of going to Panama! To see that come together, and even at the ‘final hour’ to have our WoL giving account linked to our website before our big announcement day, was incredible. God’s hand was clearly on this process the entire way!
And speaking of our big announcement day where we finally got to tell not only our home church, but the entire world, ….WOW, again!
To listen to that message check out the video here.
Six months led up to this moment. Of course we were excited to share the news, and of course we already had received such an incredible response and support from those who know us. But what I wasn’t ready for was a physical reaction going into the announcement time. I had a quiver / shake in my legs I couldn’t stop! It wasn’t a bad fear, but it was a GOOD fear and trembling. As I experienced it, I can only say it was a ‘Holy moment’.
This is so much bigger than our individual lives. This has been the culmination of everything leading up to this moment. Even after sharing in one of the services I visited with some folks, and was prompted to remember of when I first trusted Jesus as my Savior. I was five or six years old, and a visiting missionary had come to my little rural church, gave a report, but then presented the Gospel and called for a response if anyone wanted to trust Jesus. I said YES!, knowing it was what my parents had that I also wanted, but it came at the prompting of a missionary who showed up that day!
And so begins the next chapter of our lives. We are stepping into this season of finishing well at our church, helping transition the ministry, while also raising up our sending team.
Wrapping up our home in MN, preparing to eventually sell it in the spring, decluttering stuff, storing stuff. And then next fall we go to Costa Rica for language school.
Combined, these next two years of on-ramp to launch into Panama are integral and foundational for the long-haul of the next major season of life and ministry.
So, here we go… one week at a time.
If you are reading this, thanks for jumping in with us! We can’t do this alone! This week is the milestone, but the weeks ahead with friends is what will tell the story of a work that only God can do, …but we get to be a part of it!
