Thy Faithfulness

The snow has been falling steadily in Palmer Lake, Colorado, for the past twenty-four hours, and it is forecasted to fall for another twelve. I just walked outside for a few minutes to experience what 9 degrees feels like when it's combined with 11mph winds that whirl tiny snowflakes around in the sky. I don't think I've ever been so cold in my life - I'm a true Seattleite and I'm definitely not used to ten inches of snow and temperatures below twenty.

Being here at Mission Training International (MTI) has been such a wonderful experience. I am learning so much about so many different things. The first two weeks of training have been focused almost entirely on language learning and how to best approach any new language. In the moments that we aren't making strange new sounds with our mouths or consuming caffeine to keep us awake, we are talking about what it means to enter a new culture and engage fully in the paradox that is ministry.

It isn't easy to be here (nor is it easy to remain inside for days on end due to snow!), but it is so good to be here. It is such a blessing to see how God has brought all 68 of us here and to hear how He has called each one of us in a totally unique way. It has been such an encouragement to know that we are all experiencing the joys and hardships and blessings and discouragements of heading onto the mission field, and while each of us is experiencing something different, each of us knows what it means to truly rely on the Lord and trust His goodness.

God's faithfulness has been the subject of nearly all of my journal entries these past two weeks, and every day He shows His great faithfulness in such a new way. His grace and constant love are so overwhelming and His mercies are indeed new every morning, for which I am especially grateful. But ministry is a paradox. Some days are harder than others, and on those hard days that faithfulness looks as simple as a hot cup of tea in the evenings or a letter slipped under the door by one of my tiny five-year-old pen pals who are each heading onto mission fields of their own with their families.

But as we learn to appreciate the hard and the good of ministry by comparing both sides to a rubber duck, we see the blessing that comes with them both and that you cannot have the good without having the hard. Whether today was a "yuck-duck" day or a "yay-duck" day, all I have needed Thy hand hath provided, and great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me.