You would think, after over 5 months in Yap, we would no longer be surprised by daily life. However, the last few months have taught me not to try to predict what's going to happen. As a student missionary in Yap you have to expect the unexpected. No matter how routine the days become, everyday has something unique to adjust to. This week is a great example. As an answer to prayer both Pamela and Andrea were able to return this week! Pam still has some medical problems from the hospital here but they cleared her to come as long as she is careful. We were so excited to have them back! It seemed like maybe for the first time all year we would have a full, healthy staff. Then, two days after Andrea arrived, she stepped off a ledge onto a bottle that was left, which rolled her ankle. I couldn't believe it when Jesse came running up to our apartment saying "Andrea broke her ankle!". The first thing that came to mind was, "Why?!". It seemed like she was trying so hard to follow God's will, and yet she was being struck down yet again. It amazed me to see her smile even as they loaded her into the back of our van, with a mattress on the floor, to take her to the hospital since all the ambulances were busy. She had a rough night, but she didn't lose faith. That really inspired me. We don't always, actually rarely, understand why things happen. But we really don't have to worry about that, we just need to rely on God. That is what I learned from Andrea this week. She could be upset because she came back to the mission field after having Dengue just to get hurt again, but she wasn't. It's so easy to be close to God and praising Him when everything is going well, just as you planned, what's hard is when everything goes wrong. I've been thinking a lot about this the last few days and it really made me realize how selfish it is to think that way. God went through so much for us in order to save us and give us a connection to God. He promises to guide us and be with us if we will surrender to Him; and yet, as soon as things don't go as smoothly as I think they should, I want to complain and claim "it's not fair". It seemed so silly when I though of it that way. God already saved me from sin and planned out a future for me, I just need to rely on Him regardless of the circumstances.
This week, aside from the above incident, went pretty well. We had school off Friday for parent teacher conferences. I had a lot more parents come this time! I was talking with them most of the morning. I had a couple moms talk to me for over 30 minutes desperate to figure out a way to help their kids. We were able to come up with some ideas to hold them accountable and I was able to pray with them. I really hope together we will be able to help some of the students that are really struggling. We left church early today to Skye with Walla Walla University for vespers. It was so great to listen to vespers, hear familiar voices, and talk with some past Yap SM's and friends after the service. As much as I love it here I miss WWU and my friends there a lot. It was really encouraging to talk to them for a bit and share some experiences we have had.
Thank you so much to all of you who have been praying for us and supporting us since the beginning. This week, if you think of Yap, please pray for Andrea. By a miracle the swelling stayed down enough for them to be able to set it straight and put it in a cast. They are just waiting to find out if she needs surgery. It's scary to have anything medical go on here, especially after what happened to Pam.
No comments:
Post a Comment