He went to the informational meeting. And what my heart (selfishly) desired was that he would come back and announce that we were both going to the Ukraine. We were eager to get back into short-term missions!
However, the trip would be very task-oriented. Very manual labor task-oriented. I am a weak assistant for my project-loving husband when it comes to moving simple furniture. This was NOT the trip for me! They would be digging a cellar, moving or building (I'm fuzzy on the boring construction-related details!) a wall and putting in a ceramic tile floor. All very appropriate and fitting tasks for Dan. It was like the trip description was written with him in mind. No orphans to photograph. No stories to collect. Not even a VBS to plan.
And so when I was called to Africa and then finally admitted to myself that the trip was a good fit for me and would definitely fulfill a need for Rick and Paula, I still hesitated. Because of finances. Because Dan already committed to this trip; he was emotionally tied in and eager to go! I didn't want to destroy that, and two big, expensive trips for each of us in one year seemed unlikely. Especially since I'd just left my job and we were -- for the first time ever -- a one-income family.
But God indeed provided the first time around, and I have complete and total faith that he will again. Despite Dan not getting "paid time off" with his job. Despite the frustratingly slow trickle of work I'm getting. Despite the fact that we're still waiting on his passport (a long story I PRAY I won't have to blog about!)
Just today, a family member handed us a check for $175 to "feed the kids" while he's gone. How awesome is that?!?
Dan will go to the Ukraine with a pastor from ACC and two other construction worker types. They have a long list to accomplish, not a lot of resources where they're going and a small crew.
Will you pray that God will provide in mighty ways for them? That he would allow them to complete projects in a way and pace they hadn't imagined? And that they would all grow in a brotherhood of faith with a spiritual renewal that fills them up?
These short-term commitments are scary for us -- not because we're afraid of the work or the place we're going or the things we're doing. Financially they have ALWAYS been hard to plan for because we don't get "paid days off." So even if we raise enough money to cover the cost of the trip itself, the bills still come even though the paycheck doesn't! Will you also pray that Dan's trip doesn't financially set us back? Pray his employer would see the good in it and pay for his time off, or even better that he would reach someone back home for Christ through his actions!
In the past, we've always planned ahead for trips like this. Lately, we're living on faith and it's the hardest thing I've ever had to do!
But it's a choice we made when we agreed to be obedient to God's will for our lives. After we noticed this one disturbing trend: In the six months I was working full time, making more money than ever, we weren't doing ANYTHING at all mission related. We weren't even financially contributing to any causes, despite all that extra income. Then Dan got sick. And I became miserable in my job. God made us aware that we'd turned our back on something that used to be our passion.
If we want to take a vacation (we've taken three week-long vacations in our 12 years of marriage), we have to work more or save more. Or, we can work more or save more for a LIFE-CHANGING experience.
Dan has never complained. Never grumbled that he doesn't get to relax on the beach or jet set somewhere exotic. If it comes down to a choice, he WANTS the mission trip. Spiritually, emotionally, mentally (maybe not physically!), he comes back more refreshed and renewed. So it's a no-brainer for him. And, while I'm more likely than he is to want an exotic vacation, I must admit if I had to choose one or the other for the remainder of my life, I would go on mission trips. They really are that great!
Today I want to praise God for Dan. For the awesome servant I married who is such a courageous husband and dad. For a man, who despite major physical pain and challenges in the last two years, isn't afraid to push forward, to travel halfway around the world to a remote village in the Ukraine and be the hands and feet and mouth of God!
I almost forgot...praise God (I think!) for a husband who isn't too proud to buck cultural norms and put on a skirt when the mountains are colder than he expected on our first mission trip to Mexico. Yes, he really did this, and the Mexicans asked that he never return. No, I'm kidding. We have no idea what they said. We don't speak Spanish. But I'm thinking one of those beautiful African patterns would look lovely on him. I wonder what the Africans would say!
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