Three Weeks

The silent one speaks! Sorry there has not been much communication from my end as I approach departure. Due to the number of you and your geographic spread, a lack of mass communication means, for many of you, a total lack of communication. My apologies. My deepest apologies to those hearing of my upcoming departure to Thailand for the first time (I don’t think there are any of you, but both I and (less often) the postal service at times misplace things).

Wow! Time isn’t big on slowing down. It just keeps cranking along. Yesterday morning I purchased my ticket. I fly out of EWR with Malaysia Airlines on the 27th of December. I have three more weeks to wrap up my affairs on this continent. Your prayers for wrapping up paper work, saying good byes, getting packed, etc, are much appreciated.

I’m ashamed to admit how readily I am surprised by God’s faithful providence. My best efforts continue to fall short of the mark, and God continues to provide more than I ask or imagine. One of the places I have seen this most clearly recently is the area of finances. Money is a nice clear cut place to see God provide. Money is there or it isn’t. God has been my source in a number of other ways that are less readily communicable. That said, here here are two tales of the monetary provision of God:

Around Thanksgiving I was beginning to grow anxious. The gifts people had given were far from the pre-departure threshold. Then a week ago, apart from any of my efforts, someone gave through my sending organization to me a generous gift that brought my funds to the cleared-for-departure level. Then, right on the heels of that provision, a friend (also apart from my efforts) put forward money to cover the cost of my ticket.

It is beautiful to me that God is my source, and that I, as a part of his body, am part of his source to others. You can pray for me that I grow both in recognizing God’s provision (and thanking him for it) and in allowing God to use me to provide for others.