Waiting Expectantly...

We're in a weird time right now.  Waiting for the birth of our daughter (who, quite honestly, we thought would be here by now even though she's not due for a few more days) and at the same time making as many preparations as we can for moving to Indonesia.  If you look at our to-do lists, they are a strange combination of making sure we have diapers, wipes and other baby basics in between filling out visa paperwork for us and passport applications for the kids, making appointments to draw up our will, researching water filtration systems, etc.  Life just looks different right now than it ever has before- in a weirdly good way.

The cool thing in all of this is that it feels like God is making sure that we see He is walking with us in all of it.  Every sermon, Sunday school lesson, Bible study is tracking EXACTLY with where we are in that moment.  Last Sunday, our Sunday school started a new series looking at  "Good Church: Bad Church" using 1 Thessalonians as our example of a "Good Church."  The question essentially was- what are the marks of a 'good' Christian and thereby a strong church?  There were several points I'd be happy to share if you're interested, but (of course) the one that jumped out at me was-  that a good Christian and a strong church waits expectantly for the imminent return of Jesus.

The teacher asked if anyone could identify with that and I almost jumped out of my seat (as if I could move that fast these days :D).  Oh, yes! We are waiting expectantly for this sweet girl to make her appearance.  Any plan that we have is with a caveat of "if we can!" or "if she hasn't come yet!"  But what about the rest of my life, or yours?  In normal life, do I make decisions and plans as if Jesus could show up at any moment- changing everything?  What would it look like if I did?  What if I made a conscious decision to live each day, each moment as if it were the last?  How would my conversations change? My plans?  My priorities?

So as I try my best to be patient and wait on the Lord's timing to meet this baby face to face instead of foot-to-ribs, He is teaching me to look at life as a whole expectantly.  I certainly don't have it all figured out, but- hopefully with time (ironic, isn't it?) my outlook will change and I can live with waiting...expectantly!

Oh baby... (No, she's not here yet!)

Well, we are a few short weeks away (really any day now is fine with me!) from welcoming our baby girl into our family- in a lot of ways it is really hard to believe we’re already at this point!  Last week, some of the women who have been our “family” since I was a girl threw a baby shower to bring a little pink and purple into our house and celebrate the spice this little one will add to our lives.  With all of the traveling we have done in the course of this pregnancy, it was really the first time I’ve been able to stop and just enjoy and really celebrate the fact that we are having a baby girl!!  It was so fun to get things for her- she will no longer be relegated to the world of truck blankets! :D  According to Murphy's law- our camera didn't work so these are from a friend's phone...

There must be something in the water- we had baby girls due in October (me), November and December!

Just one of the delightfully girly things we were given!  Thank you all!!

 

Me and Baby Girl, My Mom, Aunt Judy-our hostess, and My Sister

Come on sweet girl!  We're ready for you! ; D

And I have the rash to prove it....

The Lumber

Just as i turned the page, I felt it.  I wasn't quite sure what "it" was though....first it started with a little wiggle of the floor lamp, then it gradually got stronger and more defined.  As I set down the book that E and I had been reading I noticed it in the walls, this time more pronounced.  Was the room really dancing or was the shake that I felt a figment of my imagination?  I really started to question my own sanity until my little boy while looking at me asked "whatsat" (Roughly translated "whats that")?  Sure enough the room was shimmying around like a dancer with no rhythm.   Ahhh, the great Eastern Earthquake of 2011.   I thought for sure that natural disasters only happened one at a time, but as many of you experienced these last two weeks this is certainly not true.   Who would have thought that the East Coast would have seen an Earthquake and a massive Hurricane only a few days apart? 

Some have said that it is judgement from God, others a sign that the end is near!  I personally think it is an opportunity to realize that control, is more of an illusion than we think. Seriously stop to think about it... how many of you thought that you would be the proud owners of a shiny new generator within the past two weeks?  Even with this downturn in the economy a man could have made himself a fortune with a small truck load of generators and a few sump pumps.  In many respects I don't think we realize how dependent we actually are, dependent on our lights to work when we flip the switch, dependent on our A/C to keep our homes cool, dependent on the refrigerator to keep that prime cut of meat delectable instead of rancid. In a lot of ways I thought that I would have to go to a foreign country to see the kind of disruption that old Irene caused many of you.

Although these things are at best an inconvenience, they are also a great opportunity to walk with our fellow neighbors, friends and family in a time of despair just like I think Jesus would have done.  This past week I had that opportunity to walk in some of your shoes.  I had the chance to see the devastation that passed some of your homes and landed on others.  I had the great privilege to show the love of Christ, just as I would want to see it, while at the end of the street the world walked by without ever knowing your despair.  I recently had the opportunity to join the EFCA Disaster Relief group, along with 4 other men from our home church in Charlotte in walking along side those suffering the effects of Irene in Greenville, NC.

Don't tell Mom.  These may or may not be power lines.

Why Greenville? You might ask yourself this question since the epicenter of this storm hit much farther north in many of your own back yards.  The simple answer is because just as in many other areas, this area also had people in need.  When we arrived in Greenville, I was surprised that I didn't see widespread damage.  In fact it almost seemed that life was just as usual, businesses running, traffic lights working, and A/C cranking.  But if you looked closer down the side streets and alleyways you would find widespread damage in the lives of families that the storm chose not to pass over.  People who were living a total hell, as all of their earthly possessions and more costly than that, their security had been stripped away, shadowed by the many limbs and debris of fallen trees into and through their houses. 

Newest definition of "Tree House"

Many of these people had no means to help themselves, some of them had no idea where to begin, and the world just seemed to walk by on the other side of the road.  Sadly I would have been one of them if I had not been invited to go along on this trip.  My mind was not focused on serving those in my own community.  My mind was securely distracted with packing and moving our family to serve the "least" of these 10,000 miles away from home.  How foolish!  Lord, thank you so much for allowing me to serve those in my own back yard and giving me a greater perspective of serving You through serving people.  I can tell you this, there were many logs rolled, many pounds of wood moved, but also many lives touched, many of which will hopefully be for eternity.  It was a great opportunity to serve the Lord through serving people, but also a great reminder of why we are going....and I have the poison ivy rash to prove it.    

This is the "One".  Poison Ivy....lovely little thing.