Three Weeks

The Lord said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you” Gen 12:1

I think I’m starting to get a glimpse of what this experience must have been like for Abram. In three weeks, we will begin a one-way road to California, visiting with friends and family before settling in Oakhurst, CA. We’ve been prepping for this move over the past few weeks, and our apartment bears the marks of this activity: it is full of boxes and random flotsam strewn about. It feels less like a home, and more like a holding area where we happen to sleep.

While we have been trusting God to lead us as we pursue overseas ministry, this is the first tangible “move” toward East Asia we’ll have to make, and it is serving to drive the gravity of what we are undertaking to heart. Krystal is accustomed to moving a lot; she did it often as a kid, and during her military career. I, on the other hand, have always called the MD side of DC my home. I’ve never been anything but a Marylander. My immediate family and closest friends live here. In a few short weeks, we’ll be leaving all this behind….and of course an even bigger move will come (Lord willing) further down the road, that will challenge our understanding of culture, society and communication.

There’s a nagging sense of recklessness to this move, as well: in the western world, it generally isn’t considered wise to undertake a cross-country move without a steady source of income lined up on the other side. A part of me struggles with tempering worry about the future, and providing for my wife, with trusting God’s promise to provide for us, as he does the flowers of the field and birds of the air.

Lest I give you the wrong idea, I should say that we are also very excited to make this move. We aren’t really making a move to a new home in California, but to a stepping stone on the way toward the ministry God has laid on our hearts. There are lots of unknowns, but I can’t imagine a more exciting and fulfilling way to live, than to follow God where He leads! I imagine Abram must have felt similarly: simultaneously afraid of the unknown, and excited to follow God into it.

We’ve had a few people ask how our support is going. Currently, we have approximately 30% of our total support pledged, with about 20% of it coming in. We’re immensely grateful to you all, for the prayer, support and relationship you’ve blessed us with!

Through a glass, Darkly....why?

I titled this blog "Through a Glass, Darkly" for two reasons:

1) It is a reference to I Corinthians 12:12, which fully states: "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part, but then shall I know even as also I am known"

The verse speaks about the fact that a Christian living on earth does not yet have a clear picture of God, or Heaven, or Eternity; he sees through a glass, darkly.  But someday, that same Christian will stand face-to-face before God, with nothing obscuring his vision.

2) That same scripture reference, I think, describes well the photographic process (a passion of mine).  A digital sensor, or a piece of film, is held in darkness by a camera, until the shutter opens, and light from the outside world is emitted through a glass lens.  The resulting image may be beautiful, but it falls short of perfectly capturing reality.

As a Christian, I find myself often feeling this way about life: often-times it just doesn't make sense.  While I trust God to be good and righteous, I am sometimes perplexed at the state of reality.  I believe that a day will come when I stand before God and everything will make sense, but until then I'm stuck on a journey, where I squint and strain my eyes, trying to look through the dirt at what lies ahead.

I guess that is what this blog will be about, assuming I keep up with it: the life of my wife and I, and the journeys we are on, as well as my random musings on any of a number of other topics.