God's Providence

I just got off the phone with a very good friend, and it reminded me of God's providence and incredible grace. Why? Well, I had been meaning to call this person for weeks, but for whatever reason it was either too early or too late in the day to do so. However, my butt accidentally called today (ever have you butt call someone?...my phone was in my back pocket), and it was a very pleasant surprise. It always amazes me how God shows up when we need Him most. It is my tendency to explain this away by chance, but there is no real reason that my phone should unlock itself and call a person in the "D"s on my call list. You may call it chance, but this one I am chalking up to God. The conversation was a like ice cream on a hot day. It was what both our souls really needed!

The reason I tell you this is because the whole process of preparing for Jamaica has functioned this way. We have taken very small steps, and God has worked them into big ones. We began fundraising only a five and a half months ago, and it is indeed looking like we will be spending the Christmas holiday in Jamaica! No tickets have been purchased, so this could in fact change, but the truth is that God has worked incredibly throughout the whole process. My tendency (as with my phone call tonight) is to rely on a network of wonderful people such as yourselves or our superior skills (i.e. numchuck skills, computer hacking skills, etc.), but each of these is wrong. If we are really honest, we will certainly see God at work in each step in the process.

There are still some thing that need to happen in order for us to get to Jamaica before the new year, however. We need visas! Not the plastic variety; we need approval from the Jamaican embassy. We are currently working on this, but time is of the essence. So please pray that paper work will go through for us to attain a long-term visas (with this working visa we will not need to leave the country every 3-6 months). Also, we are hoping to be in the last weeks of being at home, so please pray for us as we say goodbyes and finish packing! Lastly, please pray that we will continue to trust God's timing and providence.

Grace and peace,
Jon and Kirsten

Comin' at you!