Marathon of A Fall

The crowds were packing the sidewalks, the cheer was deafening! I turned the final corner of the Chicago Marathon, only 0.2 miles left to go, and it was all uphill. "Uphill!" I thought, "who plans a Marathon course that ends uphill?"

For all my fright the last hill was not that bad. But the whole course of events since we arrived back from Turkey has been a sort of Marathon in our hearts. First there was the reverse culture shock, then sorting through feelings of loss; we had to restart our lives again from restocking the shelves to renewing relationships; then there was work and school to attend to, ha! Well, we made it through that first month and the emotions settled. But after that point we found ourselves on a different part of the course.

We found ourselves on our knees questioning God about the future, our next steps. The vision that once seemed bright and clear was now cloudy and dark, like a storm rolling over the race course and we had nowhere to run and hide. I the silence of those months it seemed like our dreams were shattered and that even our relationship was beginning to tear at the freshly stitched seams. But, God is good.

At the end of some very difficult days we're emerging with a fresh vision, some new excitement. Marcus is applying to a seminary that's very difficult to get into but seems to be a perfect fit for us right now. It would be a chance to get more training, grow stronger together, begin ministering together since Rachel will be done with school, and time to seek God about the next step. We're currently at a loss, does He want us overseas or staying as mobilizers? But our hope is that 4 years of seminary would not only give us time to hear Him answer but also be more prepared for when the vision is clear again.

We'll let you know how it goes!

(Oh, and Marcus has to learn 2 semesters worth of Greek by July, yikes!! - pray for him)