HERE WE GO!!!

The day has arrived!  After years of God moving in our hearts and lives, a year of wrestling with the call, over a year preparing since making our commitment last May, months of packing, weeks of moving, late nights and early mornings, an all-nighter to get out of our home on time and a few precious days with friends and family…(inhale)…the day has finally arrived.  We’ve been filled up, stretched thin, knocked down, lifted up and thrown around, but God has been so faithful to us throughout the process thus far both intimately and directly and through the support of so many family, friends and even strangers.  Oh yeah, and we haven’t even left yet!

For the past ten days we have been staying with our parents, mainly the DeKams, but also with the Gills in Kalamazoo.  We are so grateful, not only for the hospitality and comfort that they have provided, but that we were able to share our final precious days so closely with them.  I can only imagine how bizarre it must be for someone else to get such a close look inside the craziness that is our life and family right now as we live out of suitcases and pack two years worth of our lives into rubbermaid totes.  Apparently, there are also a few loose ends to deal with before one moves a family to Africa for two years, so we have been running around dealing with things all week.  What a Blessing it has been to have the comfortable and loving presence of parents and grandparents to cover our tracks and care for our kids as we deal with the “business” of moving.

We have been able to commit to some quality down time as well with family and friends.  We enjoyed a wonderful weekend camping a few weeks back, a day at the lake with family that was absolutely perfect, and multiple “final treats” of ice cream, meals out, and dips in Uncle Trent’s pool!  Yesterday we were able to spend the afternoon with the boys picking out a few final treats for the trip and even caught dinner and a movie.  While we have been running pretty fast and loose (even more than usual) it has been wonderful to see how God has provided some meaningful opportunities to share with each other and the kids about what is happening in our lives and what He has yet in store for us.  Even watching Madagascar 3 yesterday (hilarious by the way) provided many lessons that we were able to share with the kids to help relate to their current experiences and the adventure that lies ahead.

Around 1pm today, the Roelofs will join us and we will begin, along with our parents, the first leg of our journey by driving to Chicago.  At 9:35pm EST, Lord Willing, we will depart via British Airways to London, a 7 1/2 hour overnight trip.  We will spend most of tomorrow in London and, condition of children permitting, hope to get out of Heathrow to stretch and catch some sights in the Royal City.  Clayton, especially, has been fascinated with London and is very excited about being able to explore there. 

Tomorrow evening (around 2pm our time) we will then reboard for the long leg from London to Lusaka.  This is about a 10 1/2 hour flight, but is usually empty enough to provide room to stretch out.  At 6am Lusaka time (11pm Sunday night EST) we will arrive at Kenneth Kuanda International and be greeted by Sophie Hartman, a young woman who has been serving with GEMS in Lusaka (Sophie has a wonderful blog at crownsofbeauty.blogspot.com).  Sophie has arranged for a minibus that will transport 2 families, 30 pieces of luggage, 10 carry-ons and a new electrical inverter to the Esther School.  Fortunately for us, the trip from the airport to campus is less than an hour so we will soon enough be in our new home and, after a full day of rest, hope to begin the week of settling in and acclimating.

So there it is – the itinerary for the trip we have been anticipating for well over a year.  It’s utterly amazing to contemplate it all when we look back from today over the past couple of years and forward to the adventure that lies ahead, an adventure that literally only God knows what will entail.  Again, we are so grateful for all of the love, support, encouragement, prayer and help that we have received from so many of you.  We have often said that our only regret has been that we have not had time to adequately thank all of you, but please know that we are eternally grateful and would not be miving forward without your help.

I did my part this morning by getting our “bad luck” out of the way.  While on an early morning prayer/bike ride my crank arm fell off and I rode over the pedal, popping my tire.  I laughed, carried my bike home, and began my devotions.  God has placed several scriptures, stories and songs in our path throughout this journey and one of them has been the story of Joshua.  As I reread Joshua  this morning, I was struck by Joshua 3:5:

“The Joshua told the people, ‘Make yourselves holdy, because tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.”

We are far from holy, but through God’s grace we have been humbly following His call.  Throughout Joshua, throughout the rest of Scripture, and througout all our lives the same theme shows up over and over: God provides direction to His people according to His Will.  When people seek their own direction they fail.  When they follow Him He does amazing things for His Glory and to fulfill His Will and His people are blessed.  May we be a blessing to the people of Zambia as we do our best to seek His face and fulfill His will.  We pray that each of you will seek His face as well and serve Him and others in the way that He has called you.

 

Talk to you soon from Zambia!!!