"Oh how feeble is man's power that if good fortune fall
cannot add another hour nor a lost hour recall!
But come bad chance
and we join to it our strength and we teach it art and length.
Itself over us to advance."
Song by John Donne
Tomorrow in British Lit. we will study John Donne. Tonight as I prepare for my lesson, this particular stanza reminds me that life's misfortunes, though temporary and staining, leave lifelong impressions that require of us strength and steadfastness.
Something terrible happens to us, sometimes in a moment. It seems harsh, I mean harsh in the abruptness of it. We wonder about the warning. Was there no warning at all or did we just not see it? For me, it was a sudden car crash that resulted in the death of my father at age 21. As Donne so proudly put it, we "cannot add another hour nor a lost hour recall!" So I am again reminded that I cannot add time to or subtract time from any misfortune. Although, as Donne so beautifully says, " we join to it our strength, and we teach it art and length." So Jesus, the perfect author of our faith, more importantly tells us He makes all things come together for good to those who love Him. I reflect back on the two years we have lived in Ghana. I think of how much harder the first year was than this second year. It was not only financially difficult, but emotionally and physically. As with every hard trial in life, we look back now and see how God was adding to us strength and steadfastness..
Growing up we are often taught not to discuss money matters outside of the family. This is reason enough to explain the hesitation Chris and I feel when writing in a newsletter how God continues to provide for us financially. Of course, generally speaking, one might believe it is sufficient to stop at that. However, this morning I can't stop thinking about what God actually meant when he said if I keep quiet, the very rocks will cry out. What harm really is there in being completely honest about the details in answered prayer? Will God be offended? I decided He can only receive as much glory as the amount of information I choose to provide about what is actually taking place in our prayer life.
Most of you are aware that our house stayed empty and for sale for an entire year. This put some financial strain on us, especially when the pipes burst and flooded some rooms last Christmas. Altlhough each month as our needs were met, at the end of the month we were back at zero. Two weeks before we were to return to Africa from summer break, we received a call from Mr. Manley who is the headmaster at SBEC in Southaven, MS. He told us he had heard of our situation and our homeowners assocation was not allowing us to rent our home. He asked us if we might be willing to have a family whom he had recently hired to live in our house rent free until they could sell their house. He explained how they would take care of any bills we had each month including the upkeep of it. This relieved us of the water, electric, yard care, property taxes and insurance which had increased drastically since our house was empty. This family has been such a blessing to us this year, as they have fixed many things around the house and kept it looking presentable to show.
We thank God for the sale of our house. We have been asking God to provide enough money for us to fly home this summer. Because the sale of our house is a unique situation, after closing costs, attorney fees, and paying back the money owed after the pipes burst, we did not have the funds available to fly home for the Summer.
I woke up one morning and in prayer told God if He wanted us to stay in Accra this summer, I would be fine with that. I told Him I really truly believed in His soverereignty and in His provision for us. Two hours later I received a call from Chris. He explained to me that he had just recieved an email from an unexpected source telling us that 11,000 dollars was to be put in our account that week. This was enough to cover the costs for our family to fly home.
SCHOOL NEWS
We thank God for providing land for a new school. Oil has been discovered in Ghana and with this discovery will come many new people coming to Accra. We expect to make available a new Christian school facility capable of educating and ministering the gospel to more students by August 2012. One of Charlye's muslim friends discussed with her that her that he believes in Jesus and would like to make a profession of faith when he gets older. As a muslim, a child can be ostercized from his family for converting to Christianity. Please pray not only for Charlye's friend but for her brother.
PRAYER REQUESTS
*Spreading of the gospel in Ghana. More and more God is showing us that is the 1 main reason we are left on earth. That is the mission we are all a part of.
*Summer for us. A time of rest and refreshing.
*School Unity
*School building
*Good health and safety for our family
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