Don't Worry About Curtains...

A team mate of ours recently told us about a good piece of advice a seasoned missionary had given her with regards to moving to Africa:

Don't expect. Just accept.

In other words, "Your world is about to be completely turned upside down- let your expectations of what life 'should' be like go out the window, and just accept the circumstances you are handed for what they are.  

You never know...God might be handing you a gift that is disguised as a thorn."(my interpretation, for what it's worth)

This little phrase "Don't expect. Just accept."has resonated, convicted, and led me recently into a place of peace as we forge into a place of unknown. You see, up until March, we were slated to be on the field July 10 (or thereabouts). The plan was to be welcomed by the Johnson's (our team leaders), get acclimated to our town and new home, and for Derek to have Dr. Travis as a mentor at the Nyahuka Health Center before his co-physician Dr. Jessica left home for furlough.  
But God had different plans. Instead, Travis was diagnosed with cancer, our arrival on the field was delayed until September, and we are now traveling back with the Stevens family, who themselves have a 3 year old and 3 month old to tend to (but for whom we are very grateful!). We will pass Jessica and Josh (our team's water engineer) in the capital on their way to the US for their furloughs.

That was Major Adjustment #1. I wish I could say we handled it better than we did. The cancer diagnosis took everyone by surprise, and I think we have all been grieving in our own ways the hole that will be felt without the Johnson's there on the field with us during this season.They were one of the tools God used to confirm in our hearts that Bundibugyo was the place for us. Their presence will be greatly missed.

Major Adjustment #2 took place just last week. On July 11 our town turned into a refugee camp for 66,000 people who were fleeing for their lives carrying everything they owned on their back.The Allied Democratic Forces, who had occupied Bundibugyo in the late '90's was at work again, this time on the DRC side of the border, about 12 miles from our town. And to think that just that day I had been worrying about what curtains I was going to hang in the girls' room.(I know, I cringe admitting that...)

When I realized that this dramatic event occurred at the exact time we had originally been slated to arrive on the field (July 10), and that God had sovereignly thwarted those plans so that we would not arrive in complete chaos...I began to understand. God has a plan that is bigger than anything I could ever imagine. He controls the hearts of men, hardening and softening as He wills. He hates Evil, but even in its wretchedness His compassion, love and mercy are put on display. He protects His children, hems them in, and graciously dashes our expectations on the rocks...

...for Our good & His glory.  

"Don't worry about curtains..." he whispered to me, "I've got this."

 Major Adjustment #3
...I wonder what it is going to look like and how I'm going to react. Actually, I'm trying not to wonder, because my imagination easily becomes the fuel for my expectations. This is not in and of itself bad (our imaginations are one of God's greatest gifts to us!), but I've come to realize that where I place my wonderment is where my expectations will be founded. If I consume my mind with trying to "picture" what life will be like when we arrive in Bundibugyo, and prepare myself for what that picture looks like, I am realizing that I will be greatly disappointed (probably on a number of levels, unfortunately.) If I consume my mind with surrendering to the plans that God has for me, each and every day, irregardless of what they look like...I think my arms will be overflowing with blessing! 

All that to say, we're taking one day at a time here in the Webber household. 

It's a day by day, moment by moment, 
step by step on the Bwamba road to Bundibugyo...

...but we're walking it in faith...

Thanks for walking it with us.