Pre-Departure, Trip 4 - Haiti Mission - Coach Jesus

"And in the end, when God takes off the blindfold, you will find yourself in a place in life you never imagined you would be. You may have thought all that time you were hurting, burning in pain, lonely, or feeling your life was wasted, was never wasted a bit. God knew all along that you would win that race and then He could use you in an entirely new astonishing way you never dreamed of." ~Lisa Copen, Founder, www.restministries.com

The past 7 weeks have been wonderful having my husband home on leave from his mission. There have been times of adjustment and disagreement, but overall lovely. However, 4 of those 7 weeks I have been sick in one form or another. Between RA and fibromyalgia flares, the stomach flu, or just a plain old head cold, I have been battling illness like a trooper. Previously during this mission, God has reminded me that he has set things up to happen a certain way for a certain reason. Granted, he won't always tell me when and why, but I have faith that there is a reason I have been struggling so much. I like to think that it's because in a few days I won't have anyone here to take care of me, and that's when it's time to suck it up and put on my big girl panties. Right now, Chris is somewhat available to care for me, so why not let him?

"Because of the extravagance of those revelations, and so I wouldn't get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan's angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty! At first I didn't think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me, My grace is enough; it's all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness. Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ's strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become." ~2 Corinthians 12:7-10 (The Message)