SOVEREIGN GRACE
October 13, 2007

What is Sustaining Grace?
"Not Grace to barre what is not bliss,
nor flight from all distress, but this;
the grace that orders our trouble and pain,
and then, in the darkness is there to sustain"
- John Piper

We leave tomorrow, traveling a road we've felt called to take and yet not knowing exactly what lies ahead. Many people have said that the safest place is in the center of God's will but I guess this persepctive depends on who we fear more, God or man. Disobedience would bring us divine discipline and obedience will invite us to join in His sufferings. I stand here looking forward with full knowledge that the road that lies ahead is impossible without sustaining grace. The same amazing grace that gives eternity also orders and leads us into the darkness. It is here that we are formed in the fire and it's here that his glory with burst forth with brillant light.

TAKES MY BREATH AWAY
October 12, 2007

1 day and counting... The last few days have been filled with errands. Some were expected and some caught us by surprise. There was the normal closing of bank accounts, visiting the prefecture with paperwork, and then there was the unexpected mechanical problem. It seems that the right front wheel of our minivan decided to divorce the rest of our vehicle and wanted to break free. We took it in for "counseling" and the problem seems to be resolved.

The to-do list is now almost complete as we prepare to leave but some things still steal our breath. Things like... we're moving to Africa, to live. Or, this is the fourth continent upon which we will live. And then there's the bill for Malaria medicine. For two months of prevention we just paid over $,1700. This picture of white and green could bleed red if we needed any more. You may not see Eleanor's name listed here but that is only because she needed a bigger bag as she'll take 3 pills each day and needed 18 boxes rather than 6 boxes like the rest of us. The picture simply looked better this way. I have more thoughts but I'm saving that for tomorrow.

PARK
October 8, 2007

6 days and counting... After two weeks of constantly being busy I finally took a day of rest. Kirsten is visiting some friends in the south of France today and tomorrow so I was on dad duty so the meals were simple and thankfully the sun was shining. We went outside to the park and I promised the kids I wouldn't do any work. They were thrilled and I did my best to keep my promise.

The countdown continues till our departure and though our to-do list isn't getting much shorter we will be sitting on a plane next Sunday.

ONLY GOD
October 7, 2007

7 Days and counting... Some things can only be explained by divine assistance.

Our challenge was to sell a busted up van in a foreign country in one week, get paid before we leave the country, but not hand over the van until after our departure. Believe it or not this happened while we lived in America but this is France after all and we don't know how to sell a car here.

Solution - God not only does all this he also uses our van to bless a family expecting their third child. The history of this family and his prayer before dinner almost made me cry but I can't go into that here. He also gives them the desire to arrange all of the paperwork and final inspection for us. Instead of stress we had a nice afternoon with another family, laughing and talking until we filled out all the paperwork and said goodbye. Often times the only explanation is God.

DADDY
October 5, 2007

"Daddy, where are we going to sleep?" Our bags were packed and our apartment had its final cleaning as we walked away. Most of our bags were stored at a friends house while we kept two bags available for our last two weeks in France. I was sitting on a park bench as the kids played and then my son came up to me with his concerned question. He had obviously been thinking about it for some time as he watched us pack up our belongings and then finally his bed, pillow, and stuffed animals. He knew we had moved out but didn't have a place we were moving to. The question and his concern seemed to haunt me the rest of the day.

As I thought about it I was reminded of Jesus' words when describing the cost of following him, "the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head" (Matt. 8:20). I wonder how many times Jesus asked, "Daddy, where am I going to sleep tonight?"

WITH GREAT JOY
9.28.07

"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then IN HIS JOY he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field." Matthew 13: 44

Did the man lose more than he gained or did he gain immeasurably more than all he sold? There can be great joy in emptying our hands so that we can grab hold to more of Jesus. We lose nothing, sacrifice nothing when we gain the greatest treasure. It is only when we have the sin of the rich young ruler that our "emptying" is viewed with great sadness rather than great joy.

We have gained more than anything we have given. It is true then that we have sacrified nothing.

This is a picture of the language we are about to learn. This is the second of three languages we need to learn. It's a little different than French but I am very anxious to get started.

STRATEGY OF PACKING
9.26.07

There is a strategy needed to our packing. Right now we are packing our "stuff" because we still have to live here with clothes on our backs for three more weeks. Then we have the chad bag that has the clothes we will need once we arrive in Chad. This picture of Jocelyn is with her head covering before it gets packed away in that bag.

Things have been going better now although some things are hard to give-away. We received our passports and visas in the mail today and our tickets are secured in my carry-on. Eleven years later and now we're two and a half weeks away from our departure. More than anything Ive learned that it is how we handle ourselves on the journey and not if you reach the destination.

REALITY CHECK
9.24.07

I realize that I post many images that people, including myself, find extremely beautiful. Though our surroundings will be vastly different in a few short weeks, we are currently surrounded by the majestic alpine mountains. If our life only consisted of regarding these mountains and meditating on the greatness of God then I would not feel stressed. However, today we had to force ourselves just to go outside for a short walk. I wanted to give you a picture of how my day really went. We packed most of the morning and afternoon as we try to fit our family's belongings into 7 bags. This has caused more stress than I could have imagined as everybody has a different idea as to what belongs in that limited space. The power supply broke to my computer - yes my mac. Then I figured out it was my french adapter and had nothing to do with my mac. I almost broke our new sat. phone trying to upgrade the firmware after the software crashed leaving the phone unusable. Finally got it fixed without any known damage at this point. We had to buy groceries and break up fights, hold crying children, and make the disobedient ones cry. Life is normal and abnormal all at the same time.

The bag on the bottom right is my carry-on as we journey to the end of the world. The pictures you see are contained in that bag as it carries all my camera equipment, electronics, and my computer. God allows us to see amazing things along our journey but unfortunately the scenery in my pictures are not what fill the landscape of my daily life.

Voyage of the Dawn Treader
9.17.07

I stood at the edge of the sea as the sun rose above horizon's veil. Its light marked a path across the calm waters calling us to the end of the world. This was the last time we would look across the ocean. A journey is about to begin that will take us to the end of the world. We have already stepped off the shores of one continent and now we prepare to leave another. There are adventures and dangers that await us that can not be lived in books but must be experienced. This is where I will record that journey.

The pictures may not always be high quality or large since high speed internet hasn't reached the ends of the earth but satellites positioned in space seem to reach pretty far, be it slow and expensive. I've found a way to update this page without ever visiting my own site so I'm setting it up now in hopes that it will keep working along the journey. If not... well, you'll just have to wait until we get back.