The Hearts of My Parents

My soul will magnify the Lord, for He is good to me and blesses in abundant ways, that I did not even ask for, and did not deserve. Give thanks, O my soul, to the Lord, sovereign over all, ordaining hearts and change for their purposed time.

I was concerned that my parents, especially my dad, would take God's call on me to the African nations in a dimmed light. My mom has been behind the dreams that the Lord has cultivated in my heart for over three years now, to go to the red soil, but my dad has been fearful of losing his little girl.

I have seen God work miracles in my dad's heart over the past week, which I suppose that God has been truly working for much longer than a week. The support of my dad, who I fondly determine, Pastor Rusty, has been an encouragement to my soul. Praise God, that daddy has chosen to love God's will in his daughter's life, instead of loving his daughter more still.

Praise the God that turns and molds stubborn hearts, and makes all things new, surprising and beautiful in their time. Magnify the Lord, o my soul, for he has shown his arm to be strong and has exalted those of meager circumstance. Praise the Lord, for my dad has chosen to fear the Lord instead of fearing the future. Praise God!

The Emotions Wear Off

For the past three or so days, I have been really excited that God has ordained this summer as my first trip to Africa. Now it is Saturday morning, I have been awake for a few hours, and the emotions and initial excitement have mellowed out into a very mentally sobering morning.

I suppose I knew that I would need to rely on God for strength in the time that I am in Africa, but I didn't know that all of this heavy, Africa related reliance would begin today. As I read through the checklist of what to bring, a very fleshy reality hit me square between the eyes, "O, God! What have I gotten myself into?" Even as I logically made plans of how to get money on a visa debit card, and knew that I would very soon need to begin writing support letters, I hit a wall where I know that there's only so much a person can prepare for.

I am so vastly unprepared, and I have so precious little time to prepare what I must to meet bare minimal survival requirements. But God, He's chill and calm and collected, and sitting, sovereign, on His throne patiently chuckling at my heartbeat, which goes from steady to wildly beating out of my chest. God is sovereign on the throne, and smiling as His plan unfolds, because He knows that He has been preparing me for this throughout my whole life.

Now I am praying that He will lend a wing so that I can find rest under it. So that I may find rest in His sovereignty over all and in all circumstances.

Acceptance

Here's the brief version of the path to acceptance from AIM, African Inland Missions, which happened January 20, 2010.

Some time in June/July of 2009 I met a gal who was spending her summer at the University of Iowa, working in the hospital as a student. Her name was Rochelle and we had 2 very brief conversations about Africa, God and missions. She connected me with Warren Day, on staff with AIM, and we had two "interviews," although by the second one I felt like we were old friends and were simply meeting to catch up. It was either odd of God, and I bank on the latter.

So many months later, in January, I get an e-mail that says that I have been accepted, and will be going to Africa this summer.