This is a very interesting season for me. I am not sure I will be able to put my current thoughts and feelings...or even if I should...in writing...but I am going to give it a shot.
Russ and I have prayed for almost three years...for God to send us back on the mission field. We have. Actually, we have prayed for over 16 years. When I was in college God really apprehended my heart...and I knew then that I wanted to serve him in foreign missions. When I met Russ that was just doubled. We have been married 16 years yesterday. That is hard to believe. And over the past 16 years time has just gone by...and things have crept in...and with evey child there was an even greater distraction. And then you make friends...and your kids make friends...and so it goes. You can barely see the dream that God had once given you.
Then there is reality. My family doesn't fit. I don't want anyone reading this to sit and think too hard on that and evaluate what I mean by saying that...it is just there. And really...it is not all together a bad thing.
The really neat thing is that there is no island of misfit toys in God's Kingdom. We are all misfits short of the grace the He has given us. And, top that off with the fact that God doesn't forget...dreams.
So here we are. Russ and I are making plans to take the family to Honduras. My heart is overjoyed! There really are no words...and I am found speechless...which is really a miracle in itself! You see...Russ is not an American. Of course he IS an American...but he is not at all in heart. Now again...don't go reading anything into that. He is not unpatriotic...and he is not a future terrorist. Pastor Jeff said it best when he said that Russ was a third world man...and he won't be happy until he is living in a third world country. And this is true. And after 16 years of living with an unhappy, unfulfilled man...I am overjoyed that we are going to Honduras.
We will be joining a wonderful family in Siquatapeque ( I hope I spelled that right) Honduras. They are three years into starting and running an orphanage for boys. It is cool really. Their vision for the boys is that they grow up IN families...learning how a family is...and being able to be a part of a family. That is a great change from the idea that we have our family...and then there is an orphanage...and we run it...but they are the orphans and we are our family. I know several people that do this...and they have been a tremendous blessing to the children and it has been a huge success. It is just not us. We talked about helping in a ministry like that several times and it is just not us. This is so our vision! Add to that Russ will help manage a 25 acre farm! OK...now if yuo were part of our raising sheep days...and you remember that...or have even just heard the stories...you will know how funny that is. But...we all grow. There are cows, pigs and chickens...and a horse. Tons of fruit trees and marketable vegetables. They can slaughter and process meat on site and it can potentially in the future support the orphanage. Then there is school stuff. They need help teaching and I am a teacher. That is pretty cool. But even better than that...they want to not just homeschool but actually start a school and be abel to hand out diplomas at the end. Now THAT is something I can really get into.
That is just part of it...and it is exciting.
The hard part is that Russ and Josh are going to Honduras on Tuesday. They will be staying for two months and really running things while the missionary family there takes a two month trip home to Texas. It will give a real clear picture of everything. But...it is still for two months and that will be hard.
OK...if you have made it to the end of this...Woooohoooo! Thanks for sticking in there.
more later...
jax
