Man makes his plans...

There is a wonderful and comforting verse in Proverbs 16:9 that says, "The mind of man plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps." Praise God for His personal, intimate, caring, loving, good, and sovereign plan! A few months ago, the Lord saw fit to change the plan we had made.... In the Fall I was diagnosed with some health problems...Unclassified Connective Tissue Disease, which is an autoimmune disease, Fibromyalgia, and Sjogrins. We knew that living in Africa is demanding on a healthy body, much less a weak one; we knew healthcare for me now needs to be longterm and accessible, and would be hard to attain good healthcare in Kenya; and we knew we no longer had peace about moving forward with our plans to serve in Kenya. Many tears, prayers, and counsels later, the Lord closed the door for us going to Kenya and opened the door somewhere else. Actually, not just somewhere else, but on a whole new continent. A whole new people group. A whole new team. Same vision- indigenous pastoral training. Same timetable- early March 2013. Same sending agency- SERVE Denton Bible. Same God! God moved us from Africa to South America, from Kenya to Argentina. Africa will always have a special place in my heart. It is said that once you have been in Africa, the soil gets into your blood and you will never be the same again. It is true! I will always love Kenya in a very special way, the people, the ministry, the team, the needs, the beauty, the food, the culture. And now I look forward with eager anticipation to falling in love with a whole other people group, culture, and country that our creative God masterpieced together! Right now we are making preparations to leave the beginning of March for our first (God-willing, of many) term. As I write this, I can hear the echo of every letter on the keyboard across our almost bare living room, my clothes are scattered on our bedroom floor (no dresser!), suitcases line the bedroom walls. We are sofa-less, chair-less, dresser-less, car-less, etc. Yet as we watch all our worldy possessions disappear, we see our hope and confidence in Christ appear in greater and greater measure! He continues to faithfully provide all we need, from winter coats, to free babysitting so I can pack, to yummy meals provided by dear friends, to a borrowed car; and we know that our God will continue to supply all that we need in this world and in the next! Some people ask me if it is hard to sell everything, or give it away, and pack up what I can fit into suitcases. And you know what? Amazingly, it isn't! The Lord reminds me of the truth that not a hair can fall from my head (which lately a great many have been doing, ugh) that He does not know about. If He knows every sparrow that falls out of a tree, does He not much more care about me?!