We got 6 inches of snow Saturday in Rockford. Even here, where spring is mostly just a cruel rumor, this was historic — our latest recorded snowfall of more than 2 inches.
On Easter, 6 days earlier, the temperature was 79 degrees. We broke out the patio furniture. Hostas, lilies and ferns sprouted in the garden. Now, under heavy snow, all of those plants drooped like Charlie Brown’s Christmas tree.
Everyone here complained, of course. We didn’t specifically address our whining to God, but it doesn’t take much theological insight to see that’s exactly what we were doing. Spring had been cruelly pulled away. Why?
Then I (Jim) went outside Sunday at daybreak. The patio furniture mocked me, but it quickly gave way to stunning, unexpected beauty. In the dawn light, wet snow clung to every tree and plant. Our wooded backyard looked like a Currier & Ives print, missing only the one-horse sleigh.
And then it was over. By 8 a.m., the sun had already melted the snow from the trees. By noon, plants had popped back into shape and the hopeful green of spring had returned. By evening, no trace of snow remained.
In Texas, where we lived for three years, spring is just summer with hailstorms. Here in Illinois it’s a time of waiting, full of false starts and cold, snowy regressions.
That’s a lot like life in missions. We do a lot of waiting and wondering—seeking clarity, funding, some semblance of progress, some assurance that God really is in this. And He does give us all of those things, but rarely at the pace or in the manner we wanted.
“We aren’t taken to the promised land overnight. Patience is the attitude of wanderers because they know that God often takes a very long time accomplishing in our lives what he desired to accomplish when he created us in the first place. Patience involves holding dearly not only to God’s sovereign plan but also to his sovereign timing. When we recognize that God works the long term in our lives, we can come to rest in the idea that all of life isn’t about getting somewhere as much as it is about God making us into someone.”
Sunday morning served as a good reminder: Even when we’re waiting on the promise of spring, winter offers moments not to be missed. During this time of partnership development for our Wycliffe assignment, we have been re-establishing old friendships and making new ones, and it’s been wonderful. We pray a lot more. We look for opportunities to be more generous. We recognize spiritual attacks. We rely on God for everything, because everything feels out of our control. It’s a time of preparation, but also a time to rest in what God is doing right now.
Which, we suspect, is exactly where He wants us.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
—Isaiah 55:8-9 (ESV)
Funding update
As of April 30, we’ve reached 41% of our monthly budget need. Thirteen new monthly partners joined our team in April! Thank you for those commitments and thank you for praying for our progress!
Knowing our timetable is fully in God’s hands, we’re praying that Jim can begin his assignment as managing editor for the Wycliffe Global Alliance by late summer. He can't start until we reach 100%.
