As I (Bruce) have been reading through 1 Chronicles, Psalm 77, Psalm 78, and others, I was struck by how the authors used their history and past experiences to process their present situation. It helped give them courage and God-given wisdom to not give up; to keep going forward and to keep their focus on God.
Last weekend I took a moment to reflect upon all that has happened to us these past 18 months. One could view it as losing our visa and our work in E. Asia, losing Bruce’s mother, leaving our adopted country in which we had spent 17 years, the culture shock associated with a new and different way of life; and being dazed with spending 10 months traveling 25,000 miles and sleeping in 28 different states. All that has happened could have been almost paralyzing. Yet, it has not.
We arrived here at Indian Hills Camp on Feb. 28 planning to spend three weeks helping the camp and then moving to our next project. This Monday (May 18) we will finally leave after over 11 weeks here. As I look back over these past 18 months, I truly see God’s hand in all that has happened. He has protected us as we’ve traveled and helped us to remain healthy. He has provided for us in multiple ways. He has blessed us with wonderful places to stay and people to work with. We could have been totally overwhelmed with all that has happened. However, by focusing on who He is and what he has done in our lives, we are at tremendous peace.
We look forward to the next three weeks as we work our way north through CA, OR, and southern WA to Idaho. However, we will also miss those with whom we’ve worked and come to know at a much deeper level. The past gives us the courage and perspective we need to peacefully move into the future. We serve an awesome and mighty God!
