I didn't realize six months had passed since my last entry here. Six months...it almost gives me hope, and in a moment, I'll explain why.
First of all, these last six months have been busy with everyday life, as I'm sure is the case with each of you reading this. I've also written novella #3 in the Landers Town Romance and am currently editing and preparing it. (As I write this, I still don't have a title!)
I'm reminded that a little over nineteen years ago, a couple days after giving birth to my second and last baby, she still didn't have a name. At least, my husband and I couldn't fully agree. The nurse kept coming in on our last day at the hospital, sweetly asking if we had a name for the birth certificate, and we kept telling her to come back in a little while.
Finally (since I did most of the work to bring her into the world) we agreed on the name I most wanted for her, along with a middle name my husband chose.
In some ways, that day seems like eons ago...in others, just a blink of an eye.
This weekend, we'll be sending our baby girl out into the mission fields. She has joined YWAM, and will spend the first three months in Hawaii, followed by three months to a destination still unknown.
She'll be gone for six months. Six months! That was seeming like a lifetime, but then....the simple realization that it had been that many months since my last blog entry suddenly helped ease the pain of separation ever so slightly for this mom.
Not knowing where she'll be going for the last three months of outreach isn't the only unknown. This world is still so crazy, governments have gone crazy, and nothing is still as it should be. Add to this all the simple concerns...travel safety, keeping healthy, (even if she goes to a remote location) her mental, emotional and spiritual health.
For all her life, though she grew more independent with each passing year, I as her mom was always there to keep an eye on her, make sure she ate right and stayed as safe as possible.
Now, I have to completely entrust her to God. And I have to be honest- it's a struggle!
At the same time, I'm reminded that, although God entrusted me all these years to help look out for her, in truth, I really wasn't the one who really had the power to take care of her. Any number of things could have happened to her while in my care....severe sickness or accidents. No parent can protect their children one hundred percent. God was really the One taking care of her all along. And ultimately, of course, Heaven is our real home.
Just as her dad and I dedicated her in church as a baby to the Lord, we're doing it all over again. It's just somehow a little harder now. But deep down, I know that I can trust Him with her. She was only on loan to us, and He loves her even more than we do.
Our baby girl is also a bit nervous. She's excited, but is having a lot of trepidation this week as the day draws closer. It's a leap of faith for her... and for her parents.
So even if you don't know us personally, I would love it if you keep our daughter and all of us in your prayers as she dives off into the unknown for His sake.
There will always be times for all of us when we have to exercise our faith and take a leap, knowing the Lord will catch us and keep us in His care. It's not always easy, and I think the Lord understands that. But He still asks us to trust Him.
But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. ~Hebrews 11:6 New King James version
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