About four years ago, two seemingly unrelated events happened that would shape our future. The first was that Gordon was forced to go on disability because his muscular dystrophy had progressed to the point that he wasn't able to keep up with his work at Scott's. We knew that God still had a plan for Gordon and for our family, but we really weren't sure what it was, so we began praying and seeking God's leading for this next chapter in our lives.
Around that same time (the same month even!) my cousin Chris and his wife Maria were called to Pena Blanca, Honduras to plant a Calvary Chapel church. They have worked in the local bilingual school while working in the church, helping to build it from the ground up. From the beginning of their ministry, they have invited people to join them and come see how God is working in Honduras. In the summer of 2009, the girls and I had the opportunity to travel to Honduras to visit them and see what God was doing.
Within the first couple of days, all of us felt a very strong feeling that this was more than just a short term mission trip. It is hard to describe, but it seemed like this is where we were supposed to be, and it was a very exciting feeling. The only problem was that I was pretty sure that Gordon, who is not a big fan of change, would have nothing to do with coming to Honduras. I called him and told him about what we were doing, and I told him that I was feeling like this was a place that we needed to come back to, possibly long term. Much to my surprise, he said that we would have to pray about it, but maybe that was what we were supposed to do. I was surprised and encouraged! Anyone who knows Gordon knows that only God could make him even consider such a huge change.
When the girls and I returned home, we began discussing the idea as a family, and we all began fasting and praying and seeking God's guidance for us. We received confirmation over and over again that going to Honduras was what we were supposed to do. At first, we thought we would go for a year and then go back to Florida where my family lives, but then we were convicted through James 4: 13 - 17 that we needed to be open to God's leading, and not put our own limits on God. Right now we have committed to a minimum of 18 months, and we are open to whatever God leads us to do at that point.
It was the fall of 2009 that we were sure that we were supposed to go to Honduras, and we thought that we would be moving there in September of 2010. We started relinquishing our responsibilities here in Omaha and working towards moving, but we started to realize that God had a different timeline for us. I tend to like planning things and I like to be able to know what I will be doing, and I needed to learn to just trust God and not rely on my own plans.
In the time since we've felt called to Honduras, God has worked in all of us, even allowing our dog, Conan, to be trained as Gordon's Service Dog, so that he can travel with us to Honduras. Conan passed his tests and is certified, and even has a cute ID badge with his photo on it! The timing has been perfect, and we feel ready and excited about heading into this next chapter in our lives!
James 4:13 - 17 Now listen, you who say "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins.
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