A new season

So.... Michelle and I have some updates about our trip. It looks like we will be going to Ethiopia this MAY!!!! We are both very confident in the timing and the way all of the pieces are coming together. We will be mailing out letters very soon and are in the process of making a little video to share online as well. We would both very much appreciate your prayers as the details of our travel plans are being worked out.

As I'm sitting here writing, a blog post by Levi Benkert (from Bring Love In) that I read a couple weeks ago keeps coming to mind. Follow this link to read it yourself. The post is about a woman, named Hawa, and her incredible testimony of God's faithfulness. The part in the article that continues to stand out to me was how frequently she said, "Praise Him" despite such hard and terrifying circumstances.

I can not begin to imagine the struggles this woman has experienced nor the goodness and closeness of the Lord's touch on her life. I can glimpse it, relate her experiences to my own loss but I can not touch it or fully grasp it, only God can. In Psalm 51 it says "You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart.  You, God, will not despise."

It is in these humble vessels that He finds good pleasure. Princes and princesses awaiting an inheritance greater than anyone can imagine, full of life that this world does not hold. I see glimpses of this eternal glory in her simple words, Praise Him.

I do not have the answers to most of the hard questions... questions that often rise up when reading life accounts of people like Hawa. I don't know why one person is given so much and another so little... and I don't attempt to judge who has more in God's eyes.

Every moment that passes life and death occur somewhere simultaneously. One person's dream comes true while another falls apart. Someone's happiest memory will transpire at the exact moment someone's saddest or most frightening happens. This truth both eludes and breaks me.

All I know is that when I have known nothing else, I have known Jesus. And He passionately pursues me. His love never gives up, he chases me with it. He covers me in it. He reminds me with creation, with testimonies surrounding my life, with promises that death and suffering can not quench or take.

I feel so fortunate to be stepping into this new season with such a dear friend, not having any clue where this trip could eventually lead either of us but very hopeful for what lies ahead. Michelle and I both feel incredibly blessed to have this opportunity and are continuing to pray for the Lord to prepare our hearts. 

-Renee