Depending on God
Hello Dear Friends,
WOW!!! What a crazy last few months it has been!
Overall, we are doing well and getting back into healthy routines. There is still a lot to do connected to the fire, and this can be overwhelming at times, but God is guiding us through it one day at a time.
The kids are doing better overall, but we still see their struggle at times when they remember something they lost, or talk about the trauma of trying to find their way out through the black smoke, only to find their routes blocked by flames. But they are also praising God for getting them all out safely. This will be a process over time. We will be going for 10 days of family counseling, from May 24th to June 4th, to work through this and all the difficult transitions we have been through in the last few years. So we appreciate your prayers during this time!
We are still being sued by our landlords for all their losses, because they want more than the insurance is offering. They are also trying to refuse us the insurance for our belongings, but we have a very good Christian lawyer from one of our sister churches that is helping us. And we know that God is our greatest defender! We are also praying that we reflect Jesus well through this in a God honoring way.
We are praising God that the sale of our home in Kočevje looks like it could be closing soon. Not sure exactly when yet, but the process is moving forward. Then hopefully we will be able to buy a home where we are now serving in the Ljubljana area.
This brings us to our long term ministry location... When we first moved to Ljubljana, it was intended as an interim location while we looked for a new long term location in a new community. But we have connected in this community more than expected, and God has been opening doors in amazing ways! So it seems we could be staying in the Ljubljana area.
While here in Ljubljana over this last year and a half, we have restarted the Jr High youth group and have recruited and been training our successors. We have also started a youth baseball team with a handful of our church youth group kids and another 8-10 from the community. We are joining the Slovenia youth league for this season. This is showing to be a great connection to the community and our youth group kids have been able to invite new friends.
Please pray for us and our lead team as we discuss options and discern God's leading for our more specific direction long term. Specifically for the next 8 years until our kids are all out of school.
Something I was just processing more today is how truly dependent we are on God. If we had a “normal” job, lived in the same house, in the same community, and not much changed for 20 years, it seems like it would be easy to find our security and stability in our job and home and community.
But the life God has given us is far from secure or stable, which drives us so much more to faith in God for everything! Through all the transitions over the last 20 years, 12 moves, 9 ministry positions, and everything in between, God and His promises have been our only stability. And for this necessary dependence on God, I am grateful to Him for the hard, because I can not rely on myself or anyone around me to take care of my life. My life, family, ministry, and future are in God’s most capable hands. And in Him I put all my stability and security, because He has always cared and provided well for us.
Thank you for all your loving and faithful prayers and support! We are so grateful for everyone that God has put in our story.
Love you guys!