As we’ve just celebrated Mother’s Day and school is coming to a close this month, I am feeling a bit nostalgic, and finding myself in the midst of the ongoing battle of anxious thoughts. Will my children succeed in life? Will they love Jesus more than anything or anyone? Will they be strong adults when they leave our nest? Will they turn out okay in spite of all of my failures? Am I demonstrating a grace-filled life? Not only to our children, but also to the MANY children that have come through this house this month, and as delightful as they are, it is a significant responsibility that we feel to leave a Christ shaped image in their minds and hearts.
A Godly pastors' wife once said; "As a mother, my job is to take care of the possible and trust God with the impossible." What a sweet truth. God is trustworthy and good. He will love those around us through us, and He will do the work of drawing their hearts to Himself.
We had the privilege of hosting our friend’s 13-year-old son from Lima for his vacation time! He spent his days working with Vann, and enjoyed time with Ethan after school. What a delightful young man he is, and he has such a teachable spirit! What an honor to be trusted with a dear friends’ child.
We belatedly celebrated Ethan’s fourteenth birthday this month with a houseful of middle and high school boys. There were just enough of them to play a fun and muddy game of baseball, as well as an entertaining game of “Watch ya mouth”. Hilarious!
The kids have been looking forward to Field Day all year, and absolutely killed it! They are amazingly talented children, and we are blessed that they have Godly teachers that are willing to pour into their lives.
Vann began the preparations for the building of the Petra Camp bathhouse for the girls’ side, but the rains set in heavily this month, and progress in the back forty has had to wait. In the meantime, our thatched shed roof was in such disrepair that all of the woodshop tools needed to be covered in tarps between uses because the rain just came straight through! Vann reroofed it with corrugated tin, which will last much longer than the five years that the thatched roofs lasted, and is less of a fire hazard. What a relief to have all of the big tools that the Lord has provided for this mission well protected! During the very rainy days and weekends Vann has been so diligent in continuing to whittle down the to-do list for the house. Although, I’m starting to think that those will be ongoing projects as homeowners!
We are excited to be able to devote more time to missionary care these days! There’s always something new to do with differing needs to be met. One missionary needed to be pulled out of the mud as he was attempting to reach his property in a completely undeveloped area. There was a leaky kitchen sink to be repaired, and an emergency makeup tutorial session before furlough, among the notables. Also, we helped our neighbors to get all packed up and ready for a last trip out to the tribe before their furlough. Prayer meeting was hosted here again, and it just gives us so much joy to see this house used as a house of prayer and fellowship!
The children helped us celebrate our 18th wedding anniversary this month with a beautiful dinner on the front porch! They are so darling. I have now been married longer than I was single!!! (That didn’t take very long. ;) It has been such a blessed life, and I am so very thankful to look back and see all that God has done, and hopeful for the future, knowing that God is in control!
Please pray for Felipe, one of our tribal brothers. He has not been able to work for the last couple of weeks due to injuring his hand while using a machete. We took him in to get an X-ray to see if he broke it, but there are no obvious breaks, and no clear answers yet for what is wrong. Please pray for healing for him.
Thank you to those of you who faithfully hold us up in prayer. There is a tangible although invisible battle going on over the missions and missionaries in our area of the jungle, and we need to remember to live as victors while never ceasing to pray. Thank you also for your generous and faithful support for this mission. God is good, and He is doing great things!
“The cross is the lighting rod of GRACE that short-ciruits God’s wrath to Christ so that only the light of His love remains for believers.”- A.W. Tozer