Final Update

 

We flew back to the states on July 18^th.  Since that day, we have been in a whirlwind of moving and big decisions.  We apologize for not having sent any sort of update or explanation for how the Lord has directed our lives.  We will try to sum up the last 2 months with this little email.  Due to the extensive amount of transition that has made up the past 5 years of our lives, as we arrived in the states, our hearts were set to find a place to settle rather than prolong our transition with intermediate housing and location.  As a result, we began pursuing an open door for a long-term solution, but the clock was ticking, as we knew we could only live out of a suitcase for so long.  We needed to make a huge decision that would affect the church we attended, the education of our children, the community in which we would invest, and the place we would call home.  Although we got real close to going crazy in the process, God has been profoundly gracious in helping us answer each of these questions.

            The answer to these questions are as follows.  We found a house a ranch house on a couple of acres outside of West Lafayette, IN.  This means that we will be attending church at the Apostolic Christian Church of West Lafayette and we will be investing our lives in this community.  The kids have started school, Drew at the local public school and Truitt in Kindergarten at a private school.  Kirk is working on behalf of the Apostolic Christian Church’s mission outreach in an effort to coordinate the support of the missionaries who are serving overseas.  Keri is faithfully making sure all of these moving pieces are going in the same direction.  Again, in spite of the weight and difficulty of these decisions, we are shocked at the faithfulness of God over this past month.

            This was not my first attempt to write an update, the words just haven’t been able to get from my brain to the paper.  I am interested in telling the story, it is just hard to get it in a nutshell.  Therefore, I am going to save it, I hope to save it for our next conversation, maybe by then I will be able to express it in a way that does justice to our experience.  So, if you are interested, please don’t hesitate to ask.  And, until we have that conversation, please know that we are eternally grateful for your love, support, and prayers.  Again, words wont come, but please know that our hearts are profoundly humbled by your expressions of love over the past 5 years.  May the Lord bless you for all you have done on our behalf.

P.S.  Actually, there was another missionary family who was returning to the states about the same time as us who had spent about the same amount of time on the field.  They did a much better job putting this sentiment into words and so please see their explanation of the time after they returned to the states.

“ I'm just a little stunned by the gravity of it. Unable to tell you how hard it was to leave or how wonderful it was to arrive. Unable to paint a picture of how my heart is both broken and restored. Unable to say anything, really, because it feels irreverent to do a bad job telling this story; the Story of how God is moving in my life, and in the world.

Maybe better words will come. Or maybe they won't. Maybe this last crazy month is a treasure I won't feel compelled to share. Maybe all of this trial and error, clinging and letting go, all the kneeling down and growing up... maybe it's just for us; me and my little family of men, to hold onto for ourselves. Maybe we'll look back and say,“Remember that one month? The one where, somehow, we all lived?”

And maybe we'll just sigh and leave it at that, because now we understand a little better that to follow God is hard, but we'll live. And that's enough. “

Fully Alive - A book review

 

I wish I didn’t like books like this.  I wish I didn’t need books like Fully Alive.  I would rather say that these books are below me and therefore not necessary.  But, for me it isn’t true.  I call it a “kick in the pants” book.  Fully Alive by Ken Davis is a book that discusses living out the passions we know God has placed in our hearts.  And, this is the problem, I know those passions, I have a desire to effectively live them out, but I don’t.  This is the disconnect.  Therefore, sometimes I need a reminder in the form of a book like, Fully Alive, to remind me of that call on my life.

            Fully Alive is a memoir of sorts recalling the author’s story.  A testimony of the atrophication of faith slowly over time and its subsequent awakening.  The story is largely told around the context of the author’s physical health.  While not exactly a weight loss book, the context of the loss and revival of life is told around the story of weight gain and loss.  The parallels are significant when viewed in the context of a scripture like “throw off every weight.”  The book is a call to lighten up and live fully alive.           

            Would I recommend this book?  Well, I hope you don’t need it.  Ultimately, I hope you don’t have to read this book.  But, if you need a little “self-help” type motivation, this may work for you.  Ultimately, the author would not accept the “self-help” title and so it more appropriately should be categorized as a reference for how to walk in the Spirit and live out the life God has called us to live.