Skip to main content

Itineration: Between the Tensions (written by Noah)

God is Good!!

We just finished our 3rd service of itineration and it went incredibly! We are 3 for 3 – meaning we visited 3 churches so far and all 3 are supporting us! 

Itineration is a unique phenomenon, there’s really nothing quite like it. It’s part traveling evangelist, part fundraising, part small business promotion, and I’m sure there are other parts that I’m not thinking of at the moment! 

Emotions play a role in adjusting to new circumstances – there’s something about the fact that if you haven’t done something before, you feel a little nervous. I’m not sure why because if you take the different parts of itineration, they are familiar to me and to us, but put together as a whole they form a different reality that can be intimidating. 

I generally try to downplay my nerves and anxieties and attempt to stand on certain truths that give me confidence. For example, I know that God is our provider. Therefore, I should never be nervous or concerned about raising funds because I know that God will provide. 

Yet the reality is that it is a struggle everyday to trust and believe that we will raise all of our funds. 

Another example, I know that God has called us to Mexico and He has written our stories. Yet I struggle when speaking with pastors and churches with feeling that my story isn’t that exciting and there are probably better causes and missionaries for pastors, churches, and individuals to support. 

These tensions, between what I know to be true and what I actually feel and struggle with, form the basis for the nerves and anxiety that come to the surface as we embark on this new journey of missions itineration. 

Eugene Peterson paraphrases Philippians 4:6-7 this way: 

6-7 Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

So the answer to our worry is….PRAY. Wow, who would’ve thought..(note sarcasm). I NEVER would’ve thought of that (again, please note sarcasm..)!

Having the right answers and putting them into practice are two completely different things. Most of the time we have the right answers in front of us – because they are usually simple – it’s putting them into practice, in the midst of their simplicity, that poses the challenge. Yet if we will take God at His Word, we will find the truth in those answers. 

I now realize that I need to pray MORE THAN I DO. I need to take more time to LISTEN to God, to WAIT on Him, to TELL HIM WHAT I NEED. As I do, I can be confident that He will meet me in my need and bring “peace that passes understanding.” 

I have a feeling He might do the same for you..(sarcasm..again).

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Greatest of These

"Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him." John 13: 3-5 Being that Noah and I travel to different churches every Sunday, we have the opportunity to have a lot of conversations about foster care.  We typically get the same questions that the majority of foster parents get.  Questions like, “How do you give them back?” “Doesn’t it just break your heart?” “Don’t you get so attached?”.  The inquiries are usually followed with ending statements like “I could never do it.”  “I would get too attached.” “It would be too hard for me to let go”.  (PLEASE note this is not a post to guilt anybody into foster care.  That’s not how things are done, and that’...
3 comments
Read more

A Safe Haven

Like any good story, you need to start at the beginning.  Or do you?  Sometimes starting in the middle is better for someone like me, because I just want to know what's happening and then relax and enjoy its beginnings instead of trying to figure out where it's heading. But for the sake of you normal people, I'll start at the beginning. It all began with a baby.  Or, should I say, a lack there of one.  My husband and I have not been able to conceive naturally, and I don't feel like getting tests done.  In my opinion, if God can make a virgin pregnant, I'm no great challenge.  (And for the record, this post isn't about what's "right & wrong" when it comes to getting pregnant.  This is the last I'll touch on the matter).  I personally have always wanted to adopt anyway, and luckily my husband was on board.  So, the investigation on different ways to adopt began.  Hours spent skimming blogs, browsing websites, reading through applic...
2 comments
Read more

We Could Have Missed This

A little over two years ago we resigned as associate pastors as we pursued the next “job” that God had for us: missionaries to Mexico.   K-man reunited with his bio family and a week later we left for a month of training in Missouri. Our goal was to have our budget to leave for Mexico raised in a year, so we closed the door to fostercare.   It didn’t fit in our timeline.   We had always been open to private adoption, but the expenses of that were too great with the daunting assignment of raising money for Mexico as well.   So, we surrendered our hopes of starting a family anytime soon. However, we decided to call our case worker and let them know that we wanted to stay in the system for a “miracle adoption”... an adoption where both parents had surrendered rights and we would be able to adopt before we left.   We told them that we didn’t expect for this to happen but just wanted to leave our hat in the ring, so to speak.   Being that we ...
2 comments
Read more