Just Beyond Our Anxieties...

Jonathan and I are back in the promised land (a.k.a.-the good ol' US of A), but we haven't really "landed" anywhere yet.  We spent 4 glorious days in Houston with the Hendersons just relaxing and catching up.  We went to UBC on Sunday where several women got together to pray over me in anticipation of what's to come in our lives in the coming months.  It was so refreshing and centering.  Made me feel like I'm really ready to take this next step and go for it with IVF.  Those prayers and those women gave me just the solid ground I needed to be able to go forward boldly and with confidence into this "great unknown"...

I am praying fervently for peace and calm from my Lord these days.  What remains in our 2014 are things that have the potential for unspeakable joy, crippling anxiety, super human strength, and/or debilitating pain.  I am reminded of what it took to get us out of the USA into the Caribbean to start medical school.  Satan was ALL over the place just throwing road blocks in our way.  Pulling out all the stops to keep us from going.  He made us wonder often if we were doing the right thing.  He made us question our faith, question our God, question our calling.  Once we finally got there, we knew why.  Because we found God where we went.  We found Him in the beauty of those islands, in the faces of His people, in the quietness of our simple lives, and in Jonathan's success in medical school.  Satan didn't want us to experience any of that amazing love, but we did it anyway and we found God waiting just beyond our anxieties.  He was waiting and softly calling and we had to step out into the waves and take His hand to see how marvelous His plan for our lives was!

And here we are again at a crossroads.  Bracing ourselves to push through our anxieties, ignore the fact that we have literally no freakin' clue what's going to happen even in the next 90 days, and reach out and take His hand and trust that He's got this covered.  I am more than fully aware that the enemy lurks like a hungry lion just waiting to devour us.  He is diligent in waiting and watching for our human nature to give way so that he can find a foothold to take us down.  There is some comfort in that knowing...because I've learned to recognize those jabs and convert my pain and fear into anticipation for what's to come.  If Satan is being this vigilant, it must mean he knows there is something amazing waiting for us just beyond our fear and worry...

So in the next few months, if you think of us, please say a prayer for us.  Pray for peace and calm, pray for protection from the enemy, and ask that God be present and real for us as we keep completing the difficult task of seeing beyond our anxieties.  He is faithful, He never fails, and He has our best interest at heart.  I *know* He won't forsake us, whatever the outcome of the next few months.  He is requiring super human strength from both of us right now.  Which means the only way we are going to come out on the other side of all of this is with full and complete reliance on Him.  He is able to do immeasurably more than we ask or can imagine.  And we are banking on that right now.  Gripping tightly to His promises and soaking up as much reassurance from our support system as we can get.  As we are mindful of His presence, we ask that you, as our support system, remind us to watch and pray.  Remind us of the army we have behind us.  Here we go y'all...it's starting to get real...