The plan is to be in Cambodia all of May and then be in Thailand at the orphanages from June-August. So it's no longer a year long mission, but 4 months.... at this point, I will take whatever I can get to go hug my kiddos again!! :)
Before, the option of heading overseas was slim due to may changes with the organiztion. Last week, I read this devotion I get in my e-mail daily (not knowing that this idea of going over to Thailand was a possibility) and then the next day I recieved a call that made this devotion come alive. I thought I would share with you this great story from the Proverbs31 ministries devotion:
Scribbled-On Dreams24 Mar 2009Marybeth Whalen"Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders you have done. The things you have planned for us no one can recount to you; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare." Psalm 40:5 (NIV) Recently I learned that a book that I had given up on was miraculously going to be published after all. I was amazed at God's power and His timing. I was ecstatic that He opened doors that I thought were shut forever. As I dug out the original notebook I had once designated to hold the papers and notes I would need for this project, I was shocked to find that almost every page in that notebook was scribbled on by my youngest child. Her artwork made every page unusable! I chuckled to myself as I closed the notebook and went in search of another one to us e instead. Later I reflected on my decision to hand over that notebook to my child. What had made me do that? I knew that it was because the project was, in my estimation, worthless, forgotten. The notebook represented something that would never be. It epitomized the death of a dream. Why not let my daughter fill in the pages with her toddler scribbles? I must have reasoned that nothing else would ever fill those pages! And yet we serve a God who can blow new life into a dead dream. I had forgotten all about the book I once yearned to write. I had moved on in search of a new dream. But God had not forgotten. His plan was different—and longer—than mine. His vision was further reaching. His outcome never consisted of me writing my dream off as worthless and unachievable. Instead He wanted me to trust in Him even when the situation looked hopeless. Do you have a dream that looks dead from where you are standing? Have you thrown in the towel, chalke d your efforts up to experience and moved on? Just don't move so far that God can't bring you back to the dream when He is ready. Don't fill in the pages of your notebook with hopeless scribbles and not give Him room to fill the pages with His Word, words of life and hope and vision. Yes, surrender your dreams—holding onto them lightly and always keeping His plans as your purpose, ready to lay down anything He asks because no dream is more important than Him. But also remember that God loves to bring about the unexpected, throwing us little surprise parties that bring joy to His Father's heart. My notebook now serves as a reminder—in childlike script—of God's ability to overcome the impossible and open doors that were once slammed shut. I wouldn't trade those scribbled-on pages for anything! Now I look forward to filling the pages of a new notebook with all new dreams. Dreams that were handed back to me when I least expected it. So much to do, so little time! I was honestly making plans here in the states, thinking I would not be able to go overseas, but God had a different plan and I'm so thankful for that!! Thank you for your prayers as I tried to figure out what to do and how to handle all the decisions. Please pray that I will have the wisdom, strength, energy, and knowledge to know what to get done in just a few short weeks before I head back to SE Asia. |
