A new chapter in the story...

Yet He has not left Himself without testimony; He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; He provides you with plenty of food and fills your heart with joy.
                                         Acts 14:17

     I feel the need to wrap this blog up. Much like the year wraps to a close, it's just time for a new season to unfold in the life of the Goehmann's.
     First...
        We have been so blessed! SO BLESSED! I am overwhelmed by the joy in my heart for what God lead us to, what God brought us through, and where God is taking us next. We could not have done anything we did without the support of so many loved ones and perfect strangers. We were loved more than we gave, we were ministered to, more than we ministered. We carry Haiti in our hearts, even when she isn't under the soles of our Keens. We were welcomed and cared for in Haiti and then we were welcomed back and cared for in America.
      Second...
          I am absolutely convinced of the joy in the struggle. Some of your struggles are immense, some appear small, but feel like the weight of the world. Some struggles are small in reality, mattering only to you and to God. But that's just it. They matter. The struggle brings me that much closer to Him, to seeing his face and feeling His arms. In the struggle, St. Luke cared for us, my parents cared for my children, my women's bible study listened to me, my friends hugged me, my sisters comforted me. In the struggle I was brought closer to understanding that we all need Jesus, but we also need our church families. God gave people to us, to care, to help us know it matters, to not be alone.
      Third...
          I am meant to be a missionary where ever I may go. For this time, I am called to be a missionary in America. My simple task to share the struggle and share the joy. It is the common denominator. In Haiti I heard the story of a woman named Sissy, elderly, in a one room pre-fab house, rejoicing in God's love for her when there was little else to rejoice over; I heard the story of a mom, working to feed her children, trying to save up enough funds so that maybe, just maybe next year would be the year they could go to school; I held a little girl, crying because she felt she didn't matter to anyone, no one noticed she was hungry, alone, and scared; I laughed with women rejoicing over a soon to be born baby. To share these precious stories...God testifies to me in each story, that He is still there. He can heal all wounds. He rejoices in each joy.
          So now I share in the struggle and the joy here, where God has called me back. I tuck Haiti in my heart. I pray for her, I pray for my friends, and the church. I look around me and see a sea of people who need to know that He is there in their struggles and sings with them in their joy. That there is a family who is there to help, to cry and to laugh with. That the church wasn't made out of brick and glass, but out of people loving one another and sharing their stories together.

I'd love to hear your story. I know He's there in it. Let's find Him together.