Barry's Thoughts

Have you ever felt like you were born at the wrong time? You know like when as a boy you wish you had been born during the cowboy days. When it was perfectly normal to carry a gun everywhere you went and everyone rode horses and if you had a problem with someone you could take it out to the middle of the street and settle it like men. No clocks to punch, no paperwork that had to be filled out, instead you just did what you had to do.

Lately I have been thinking about what it means to be a missionary. I think the draw of missions is that it is a place where the love of adventure and a God-given love for people meet. What we are doing as a family here in South Korea is an adventure no doubt, but it seems to have a little less risk and a little less sacrifice than I had imagined. Sure there are sacrifices and risks but they all seem so manageable at present. I envisioned this to require a faith that caused you to lean heavily on God. So far I feel, like I always have, that leaning on God is a choice but you can totally get into the flow of doing things your own way and miss that closeness of leaning on God that is available.

I think that if I were born in the days of David Livingstone or Jim Elliot the draw to unexplored lands and unreached people would pull us into a life of danger and the unknown. This in turn would require unhindered unity with God for daily survival and sanity.  I don’t know, maybe that was not the case for them either, maybe those guys had to choose to follow and obey God on a daily basis just as we do. Not to mention I don’t think many women ever romanticize the opportunity to trade places with Mrs. Elliot or Mrs. Livingstone. 

The test is to learn to embrace where God placed you in human history and learn to make choices to honor him in all things regardless of your station in life. Let us put Jesus first in our daily life and ask for the vision and discernment to recognize opportunities to impact our world. Let us seize those opportunities to advance his kingdom however they present themselves. Be devoted to the King whether our times bring peace or peril.

Personally I am choosing to put the laptop down and go sit with the Lord- Now!

Signing off…   Barry

Details

Great news!!!  The final details are falling into place.  (Not a moment too soon!)  Thanks for taking the time during this busy season to bend in prayer on our behalf.  We don't merit your time, interest or energy, but we're absolutely grateful and humbly thank you.  We know we couldn't take this step without the strong hand of the Lord and the prayers of the saints.  He really is faithful to provide as He guides.  We're just along for the ride and desperately praying that we'll be found worthy of the call.

Thank you Lord for providing! Lizzy has a foster home.  That's been such a concern of my heart.  I love my lil' Lizzy so much.  I'm going to miss her sweet brown eyes and snugly, soft fur.  She's been a good buddy and I know she'll be easy for her new peeps to love.  A gal from the tack store will take her for the year.  I'm going to introduce them to each other this week.  Also, we found a secure, climate-controlled storage facility for our belongings -- our house!  Yep, some friends are going to rent out the house (furnished), which will be a mutual blessing.

On the Korea front, our dear friends in Korea have been working overtime to secure our visas (still in process) and smooth out the details over there.  We have housing and employment already set up.  Kidoong left a message today to ask that we bring a copy of our driving record so we can get cheaper car insurance.  I am SO thankful to have such a gracious and attentive God and such precious people to help prepare the path as we make this transition.

We've heard references several times to Indiana Jones and the invisible bridge.  That's definitely been an accurate description of this leg of the journey.  With these details in place, it's like the sand has been tossed over the bridge and there's enough visibility in place to know where to take the next step.

Merry Christmas!

p.s.  We need some huge suitcases.  I'm going to check Goodwill. We'd love to borrow some if anyone has some.  Thanks.

How Did Get Here?

Tickets have been purchased.
Boxes are being packed.
Clothes are being set aside
And I'm hoping that they'll match!

Family times are bittersweet
Knowing time is short.
And when I look at my best friend
A lump forms in my throat.