God is good.....ALL the time!

                                          

Well, we made it!  What a whirlwind! After 4 days of frantic packing, we left for Charlotte on Monday afternoon. 2 of Brendon's precious friends, Justin and Maddie, helped drive us there. On the way, we went through a torrential thunderstorm and our luggage got pretty wet, but it mostly dried out before we flew.

We got up at 4am to catch the 4.30 shuttle to the airport. Groggy after just a few hours sleep, we checked in with no trouble. We boarded and took off just after 6.00am.  At 8.30 we arrived in Newark, and had to pick up our luggage as we were changing airports. We grabbed something to eat and then made the big trek to the area where the bus would collect us. It was hilarious, because there were 3 of us pulling 6 big bags and 3 carry on bags. We did it in shifts (carts are EXPENSIVE!!!!). We JUST made it to the bus and were hustled on by a very impatient driver. Our drive in to town took about 1 1/2 hours. When we got there, we had to get off the bus with all our luggage, and wait for another bus. The driver of that bus was amazing, and helped us with all our luggage. We arrived at JFK and got in line to wait to check in to our international flight. We were about 45 minutes early but it was good to take a breath!

After we checked through our luggage, we went and had something to eat before boarding. Our flight left at 4.30pm,so it was a fairly long day, but we were excited.  The flight was wonderful. The stewards on board Aerolineus Argentinas were so friendly and helpful (food wasn't amazing, but we weren't starving anyway).

We arrived in Argentina at 3am and had 3 or so hours to wait. So we found a cute little coffee shop (managed to interpret the menu for the coffee we wanted) and sat and waited while Zane slept on the bench for about 2 hours.  
                                                            

After our final flight, we landed in Asuncion, Paraguay and went through customs. Such a wonderful experience!  The people were friendly and smiling, and it was so casual. No screening, no stress.....God was there! And, most importantly, no questioning Zane's passport which expires in September (I was told it may not be easy to get in as most countries require 6 months on the passport). As we walked through, we saw the wonderful, smiling faces of our hosts, the General Director of the school and his wife (who have been amazing, and are also from South Africa!). They helped with luggage and whisked us out of there. The drive was interesting, to say the least. Traffic is hectic, people are walking all over, there are motorcycles weaving in and out of traffic.....it's just like Africa!

           

                

When we got to the school, we were taken to our apartment. SO adorable. Beds were ready, and we had all the basics that we needed. There was even food in the fridge and on the counter for us. 



I have so much more to write, but am going to end here for today. I am just so thankful at the way God has provided and been there for us. You know, we often say the words, "He'll be there for you", "He'll provide for you", "He will make your paths straight", but until those words get into your heart, they cannot come true. His Word has the power to do all He promises, but you REALLY have to believe it, deep down. You can say the words over and over, but nothing is going to happen until you let go, and 100% give it to Him. This is what we have experienced in the last week. When we finally said, "Ok God, this has to be all you, we cannot do anything," He smiled and took over and everything fell into place.  It was our stubborn hearts that were making us hope for something else.

So now, we will take each day as a blessing, and see where God wants to use us.  I will continue to update as we go along, and I pray that through this blog, you can see how good our God is. He's not just a big man/magician/ being/mystery out there somewhere. He's real. He's our Father, and He loves us and will take care of us.

Be blessed, as we have been.  This is a great place to be.

                                 

                                                  

Our journey continues. As you know we have been praying for God to show us His will for us regarding our future. We have no idea about whether the visa will or will not be approved.  The lawyer is not even certain.  So what this means is that we would need to wait until the 10^th August for more information. If the information needed by the Dept. of Labor is not received, we can’t file, and therefore can’t stay. Everything is uncertain as far as this is concerned. I hate this for the school because I don't want them rushing to try to find someone a few days before school starts. I want them to be able to find the best teacher for the students that are coming up to 5th grade - precious students that I WANT to get my hands on and spend time with.

                                                  

While waiting,  we have been putting our resumes out all over the world and praying that God would open or close doors according to His will.  I have had several interviews for a school in Russia, one in Abu Dhabi and two recruiters from Canada and Australia (who recruit for all around the world). There have been problems in each one (I won’t go into details). Closed doors.

On Monday, we received an email from a Christian school in Asuncion, Paraguay (never thought of going there). The school is under the same accreditation as BCA (my current school) which is wonderful. What concerned me is that we would have to pay for our own flights, and salary was not as competitive as all the other packages.

So, Marlowe and I prayed over it, and asked God to show us what He would want us to do. We discussed the fact that if we went to South Africa, we would have to find money to fly, and we would end up there with no jobs or a place to stay. Nothing was opening up there.  In Paraguay, we were being offered jobs and accommodation.

We were set up for an interview this morning which went really well. We spoke with the Directors of the school (one who happens to be South African - wow) who were delightful and put us totally at ease. We were told that accommodation was fully furnished and all we’d need was our toothbrushes!! Wow. Marlowe would be able to teach again, and Brendon may even have something to do after school.  We discussed the interview afterwards and felt that God was opening this door wide. We said that if we were offered the jobs, we would take them. This would be a certainty, whereas the visa is uncertain.

So, as of now, we are going to be teaching in Paraguay!! School starts NEXT WEEK!!!

                                                 

 We are taking a step of faith and trusting that God will help provide the funds we need to get there, and to pay off our accounts here.  I have no worries, because I KNOW that this is from Him. The peace we both feel is amazing.  We will have a yard sale this weekend and try to sell as much as we can and then, God willing, will be flying out on Tuesday or Wednesday, arrive Wednesday or Thursday, and possibly be in the classroom on Friday or even Monday.

                                                   

Nothing in life is certain, but when you get that feeling of peace from God,  and you KNOW that His hand is in it, then you have the certainty that all is going to be okay. It is wonderful to see His promises come to fruition. It’s been a LONG waiting game, but He has been teaching us patience, and trust, and gave us a huge measure of faith.

Let me encourage you to rest in Him for whatever you may be going through. Sometimes it doesn’t look like there’s hope for the future. But His word doesn’t lie. He promises us that He will give us a hope, and a future. For now, our future is in South America. But I believe, in my heart, that we will be back as soon as He is ready for us to come back. So, at the earliest, 2 years.... 

Please continue to pray for us for wisdom and guidance, and please pray for our precious Shelaine who has to go through this once again. I praise God that she has a wonderful husband and friends that will support her through this.

Replace worry and fear with trust

This verse is one that I feel I'm growing into. I'm not always sure about the strength, and I know I don't always have the dignity down straight.... but I'm about at the stage where I can laugh without fear of the future.  This is something God has been teaching me.

So many things in our lives are unsure, especially in this day and age. Our family has certainly experienced a lot of unsurety. It has been a long and difficult journey. However, as I read through my blogs (which I write mainly to check back and see how far we've come), I realize that much of the time, it's been difficult because we've made it so. We've been holding onto our wishes and desires and praying for God to please help us and make things work out, yet we haven't actually given these requests to Him - completely. It's like a child who has a broken toy and wants daddy to fix it. She holds it out to him, but as he takes it, she keeps hanging on because she's scared that if she gives it up completely, she'll never get it back. Little does she realize that she'll get it back even better than it was before!

So last week, when we went away, we spent time asking God to show us what He wanted from us. The words we got back were "Do not worry or have fear", "Trust that I will take care of you", "I give you my Peace".

A passage I read that week stated : "At the root of worry, we find fear. In an effort to overcome that fear, we try to be brave. This doesn't replace or take away fear - it just masks it and gives us strength to act. We need to replace fear with security. As God becomes bigger worry becomes smaller. When we are secure in Christ, we don't have to fear. When we don't fear, we don't have to worry. Worry and fear are now replaced by trust.

                        -  Fear separates; Trust brings together
                        -  Fear blurs;  Trust clarifies
                        -  Fear disconnects us;    Trust re-engages us

Everything won't make sense. It doesn't have to. We won't have to try to make sense of the chaos, but instead can trust that God is with us. He will strengthen us and help us. He will hold us. He is THAT good. You can be secure in that. You can trust in that."

Saying all that, let me update you on where we are. At the moment, we have until August 10th to send in further documentation for Immigration. Due to all the issues with the green card, as well as some more that came up, we have sent in a request for Administrative Review. If they agree to that, and it is done before August 10th, we can go ahead and apply for a year's extension based on that petition pending. If, however, it does not come in before then, the visa application falls through and we will have to leave by the end of August.

I do not want to be surprised again, and have to rush and panic with packing up and getting ready for another overseas move. So, in the meantime, I have registered with several recruitment agencies and sent out all my info. I have already interviewed with a Principal in Abu Dhabi (in the Middle East), as well as a recruiter from Melbourne who has sent me some job offers in Abu Dhabi, Tanzania and Cairo. 

No, I am not accepting anything right now. I am preparing just in case we have to leave. I do not know what God's plan is right now, and I don't need to know. All I need to know is that He is in control. I believe He will open the doors He wants us to go through, or close doors that He doesn't. I believe He will give us the wisdom we need at the right time, to make the right decisions.

Do I have worries and concerns? Of course!  I worry about my old dog that will not do well with anyone (she's a little cranky with other dogs and is very protective). She may need to be put down :(  I worry about paying off our credit cards that we had to use after we got here, because we used up all our savings in South Africa. I worry about paying off our phones as they're still under contract.  I could go on, but then that gentle whisper reminds me :

He reminds me of His command :

So that's where I stand. Giving every situation to Him, with thanksgiving, and He, in His infinite wisdom and kindness, gives me His peace.

I do not have the strength for this. 
I do not have the patience for this.
I do not have the answers, or a plan.

I do have a God that is bigger than all of this. He is in tomorrow. I believe He will make this trial a blessing, and will teach me the lessons I need to learn. I believe, in His time, He will bring our family out of this. How and when? He knows.

Therefore :  I am here
            -  by God's appointment
            -  in His keeping
            -  under His training
            -  for His time.