Almost Africa

That's right. I didn't make it to Africa. After many trials, and hours upon hours at the United Airlines ticket counter, I made it to Paris. I won't tell the whole story here. Many friends have suggested I write a book to tell my story. The short version of the story is that United made some major mistakes, and they booked me out of a different airport than I arrived at in Paris. Having only 1 1/2 hrs to collect my checked bag, make it through security and passport screening, make the 1 hr trek across Paris, and go through the entire security/passport procedure in reverse, I wasn't even close to making my flight. Ouagadougou seems to be quite the popular place in February, since all seats on all airlines were booked until Feb. 22. So, it was either sleep in the Charles De Gaulle airport for a week, or return home. So I'm back home, and praising the Lord. I'm not sure exactly why He didn't want me to be in Africa, but I trust Him and know that His ways are Higher than mine.

Learning to Surrender

Its not an easy thing to throw your arms up in surrender. Its a pretty vulnerable feeling. Theres a reason you have to put your hands behind the back of your head when you are being arrested; the police know that you can't easily defend yourself this way. I've been getting a bit of an idea of what that is like. NO, I haven't been arrested, but I have sensed the Lord calling me to surrender to Him. I've always been a go-getter, a can-do type. Unfortunately, when this comes to our relationship with the Lord, it doesn't work out so well. We can get to the point of thinking our ingenuity or strength is enough to deal with a situation, and so we go it alone. When things work out OK we think, "Look what I did." Pride sets in. More often than not, though, we fall flat on our faces. We know our works can't get us to heaven. We know our righteousnesses are like filthy rags. But somehow we think we can still do it by ourselves. Romans 12:1 says, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service." I am learning that each day I must lay my life down. 1 Cor. 1 speaks of our weakness. But the great thing is, because of that weakness God can and will use us. Lets stay in a place of brokenness , relying on the Lord to be our strength.

As far as whats been going on with our family lately....We hope to be listing our home soon, and are praying that God will bring the right buyer at the right time. This will be one of the bigger obstacles before we leave for Vienna. The real estate market is slowly picking back up, so we are praying it will continue to do so. We also have lots of possessions (stuff) to sell before we go. Charis and Joel are both well, and Natalie is handling the pregnancy like a seasoned veteran. Nolan and Amy, along with Isaac and Tyge, came to visit this weekend. Its always good to see them. We went to Sisters yesterday so the girls could go to the fabric store, so the dads took the kids to the park.

I have a little over one week before leaving for Africa. I will be gone from Feb.13 - Mar. 1. I will be traveling to Burkina Faso, in West Africa. I will be staying at a compound in Ouagadougou with some friends who are missionaries there. Their names are Jerry and Jan Swanson. They work with local churches and pastors to put roofs on church buildings, as well as to teach and equip the pastors in the area. Their son Shay, who is the pastor in Vienna, will also be in Africa while I'm there. He teaches at a conference each February in Kaya. I will also get to share at this conference. If you want to learn more about Burkina Faso, you can visit this website: http://www.burkinaembassy-usa.org/. This has links to news as well as traveling to Burkina Faso. If I knew how to give you a link here for how to see the compound in Ouagadougou, I would. If anyone reading this knows how to make that happen, email me and let me know. With the latest version of Google Earth, you can get a great view of it.