Leavin' on a Jet Plane...

...He will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.
                                                                 Psalm 121:7b-8

     August 26 it is!

Jonah had a rough week to say the least. No matter what we did, he was discontent, whiny and unhappy. I was perplexed. He's normally a pretty easy child to please. Throw him in a room with some legos and we're good to go. 
     
But what are you going to do? There are 3 other children to take care of, life moves ahead. We asked him if something was bothering him, but got nothing. So, we went about our business. 

Then, as we're riding in the van to go visit friends, the back seat burst forth - 
        "What if the plane crashes, what if we fly into the ocean,
                           what if, Mom??!!! What if...??!!"

Oh, Jonah.  My heart hears and understands. Jonah has flown before, in his wee toddler years, but I'm sure he doesn't remember, nor does it even matter. New things are scary, whether you are 8 or 98. And we're introducing a whole lot of new into their little lives. So, I respond in honesty...
 
 "God's already there, Jonah. I don't think our plane will crash, 
                                                     but even if it did. God's already there." 

     He sat back, "August 26th, huh?" "Yep, August 26th." 
      
We arrived at our destination and the conversation was forgotten. 
Then this week I went to check Jonah's grammar. The assignment, evidentally, was to create commands out of these words...love, read, take, help, and stand. This is what Jonah came up with...

Oh little man! I love how God works in you! Resolve. I like it. God has a plan and a purpose. So it is, we have a date with an airplane to Haiti. August 26th, 6am, Detroit Metro Airport. 

Preparing...

Wear sandals,
                 but not an extra shirt. Mark 6:9

I admit it...I'm a bit freaked out. A little over 3 months and we'll be in Haiti. Praise the Lord, right?! After all this waiting and waiting, we'll be there, living and working, making friends to cry and laugh with, trying to figure out what peppers are hot, when the water is the warmest, and how on earth to do anything of lasting value...

There it is, the question that has me rolling over at night, praying aloud -
  "Are you sure, God? What in the world do we even have to offer?"

I read books and blogs, I watch documentaries, I study social work articles until everything is a blur. I feel so unprepared...

My daily litany is "Lord, How am I supposed to do anything of impact? How are we supposed to make a dent of difference in even one person's life in 8 short months?"
 
Then I came to grips with it...Reality.

            Who knows what we'll do. We'll share Christ. We'll smile and laugh, be frustrated, and exasperated, we'll cry...with brothers and sisters a world away who open themselves up to sharing life with us. We'll try to teach, but we'll be taught. We'll support, but be built up.

I can prepare and prepare, but what I'm really called to do is share.  
                                  God knows what we'll do. That's enough.

So instead of preparing this week. We jumped in. I read this verse from Mark in bible study and God spoke to my Spirit. We had enough money in our bank account for 6 one-way tickets to Haiti, so we bought them. I put on my sandals, metaphorically speaking, instead of worrying about the extra shirt.

I'm enough for those God puts in my life, because He is enough. We'll support and guide, and build up our Haitian brothers and sisters, we'll blunder and fall flat on our face, but He'll  make it beautiful.

Who are you called to share with in this life? Strap on those sandals. Jump in.  
                                                                           He's always enough.