Today, in the USA, we celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday. It is an especially wonderful time for families to come together to celebrate a great feast and to give thanks for their blessings.
We would like to celebrate today by praising our almighty God and thank Him for so many blessings because He has truly provided for all of us. As missionaries, we have learned to trust in Him for all of our provisions as we are committed to serve Him. God always amazes us with His plan for our lives and how He orchestrates everything to work together for His good and in His time. We have learned to honor "His time", but sometimes it takes a lot of faith and patience.
Our Testimony Of How God Has Provided For Us
In January, God provided the airfare for Robyn and then again for Jim in July, for them to go on furlough in the US. It was a much needed break because 18 months is a long stretch without a day off with the help of only one part time staff member. In Uganda, nothing comes easy and a seemingly simple task back home can become a difficult challenge there. To make all of this possible, God provided a partnership with Love In Action, to care for our children during our break. This has been a wonderful transition and truly blessed by our Lord as our children are doing fine! This has been a great relationship for all of us because Love In Action has been able to provide additional support to our children, like social workers and other staff. We have continued to transfer the sponsorship funds to cover all the costs of our kids for education, food, shelter and clothes, and we thank and pray for our faithful sponsors who help to provide for these children.
We thank God for this time with our family and to check up on our health and to rest. While in the USA we stayed with our daughter Jenny and her family since we had no permanent home other than in Uganda. Todd, Jenny's husband, was offered a pastor-ship at a church in the neighboring state of Idaho. We were then called into action to help prepare their house to be sold, this worked out pretty well since Jim's background includes owning a construction company specializing in home improvements. The Lord had the house sold in record time as we have seen Him do before with our own house just three years earlier. When God calls you, He will take care of everything, including all the necessary details. In faith, our plan was to stay in the home until the close of escrow and then go wherever God sent us. Just a week before the close of escrow, the new owners of the house offered for us to stay with them for a while until we had a place to go, of course we thought; Wow! It is just amazing how God works! We have found that many times the Lord will give more than one solution to a problem or a need, just to remind us how magnificent he really is. A few days later we were at the new location of our daughter's house in Idaho after helping them move. On the day we were to return to Montana, we found out the house next door had become vacant. We were able to meet with the landlord and she agreed to an extremely low amount for rent, (what we could afford) with no deposit or up front money, she simply said; "we need you here"! A truck and trailer were provided for us to move our possessions to our new home. We have been blessed with a little home overlooking beautiful Lake Couer d' Alene, which is next door to our family with five of our grandchildren.
In his heart man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps. Proverbs 16:9
Late one night, a visit to the emergency room became necessary because of a case of pneumonia. The bill for the ER services was $600.00, and we don't have health insurance. When we went to make arrangements to pay the bill, the clerk said you have no balance. The hospital bill was "mysteriously" paid!
On a follow-up visit with doctors, many other needed tests were performed for various medical conditions, and all of the medical fees and several months of the very expensive medications were covered under a grant program. Since getting settled, the Lord has provided us with food and other needs through many people in this wonderful community.
...The Lord will provide... Genesis 22;14
During this time in the US, besides resting, visiting and praying we have been working on our future plans in Uganda. We were blessed again recently when we met with a director of Love in Action to discuss our future in Uganda regarding the continuing care of our children along with some other exciting possibilities.
And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:19
Yes, this is a time of Thanksgiving!
