The birth certificate arrived.
No, not for one of the kids. (Though we can’t be the only people who realize months down the road that we never ordered official copies, can we?) This birth certificate is for our farm.
While simply registering the name doesn’t do much in the real world–beyond ensuring that no one else in our county uses the same name– in our hearts, something new has blossomed. That verse that assures us that the Lord restores what the locusts have eaten? It’s true. The one about being given the desires of our heart? Also true.
Yes, the Lord took the dream of serving full-time on Nepali soil off the table. But then, in His time, He handed us a big heaping plate of the farm we dreamed of for so many years.
One isn’t better than the other. It took us a while to learn that lesson, but there it is. Somehow, our family is able to shout the gospel around the globe more efficiently from here than we ever imagined. Go figure.
So here we stand. On a farm. Proclaiming Christ’s name to the nations. Raising chickens. Rebuilding churches. Learning how to build greenhouses.
A friend once reminded me that, done properly, the life of every Christ-follower is his or her ministry. Today, I know this to be true.
I see so many parallels in what you’ve been through to what we’ve been through, in approximately the same time frame. I continue to stand in awe of how God works in our lives. Not easy. But I’m not sure that serving Him is meant to be easy. Thank you for the encouragement today.