The offer struck me in an odd way. It was unbelivable that the Lord had sent someone to buy our house so fast - in this poor market. I was pretty much just sitting there dumbfounded. Part of me was exicted and part of me was suddenly overwhelmed. This is the second to the last major hurdle before the finish line of getting to Haiti. The actual trip to Haiti will be the last hurdle. As Tina and I were talking, we discussed how when we question the direction we are heading, it is the worldly desires that make us want to stay. When we focus on things above not things on earth, our hearts look down the straight and narrow. As long as we keep our eyes on our Lord, we will less likely be distracted. As has been our case, after each step of faith, the Lord is right there to provide strong support.
All is not without struggle, however. Sunday morning as I was cleaning the storage area above the garage ceiling, I found a leak in the roof. I called our realtor and he suggested I send him an email and he'd forward it to the buyer's realtor. I went on the roof and found an obvious spot where it was leaking and I sealed it well with silicone. I did the best I could to make it look good and then I put Post-it notes all around it so the inspector could easily find the area. What appears to have gotten wet is just the outside of an inside wall near the master bath (behind the shower area). The leak appears to have been slow and it caused only minor visual staining on the outside of the wall which soaked a little area of the sheetrocked ceiling in the garage. We are prayerful that the inspector and new buyers do not see this as an issue any longer and that it hass been fixed and sealed it well.
I'll end this post with two things: 1) a quote from one of Noel Piper's books that Tina read (and read to me) this morning:
How many of us had said and sung with all our hearts "anywhere with Jesus," but at the same time we did not realize all that it meant for us. Indeed at home, and surrounded by all that home means, we would not know. When the test comes we must not forget that "anywhere" means for missionaries something different from life in England [and I would add: the US], and let us take very good care not to make a misery of anything that "anywhere" brings us.
To us in Algeria, it must mean sometime or other, Arab food. Do we object to it? And mice, do we mind them? And mosquitos, do we think them dreadful? In some parts it means close contact with dirt and repulsive disease. Yet if Jesus is there, what have we possibly to complain of? It means living among a stiff-necked and untrue people and struggling with a strange and difficult language. And yet let us evermore write over all our miseries, big, and for the most part very little, these transforming words "with Jesus." And then the very breath of heaven will breathe upon our whole being and we shall be glad.
A quote from Lilias Trotter. Taken from Noel Piper's book Faithful Women and Their Extraordinary God.
and 2): Although the following effort appears to be purely humanitarian and not done as sharing God's love, this 12 minute video shows a little of Haiti:
http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=4069409n
Posts
