T-Minus 10...9...8...

The tickets are in hand, the suitcases are a mess, the ESL materials remain untouched, but our passports are nicely dusted off! Anyone who has spent considerable time out of the country will understand these routine struggles..."Do I want to wear this white shirt or blue shirt for the next two months?"..."How many pairs of shoes can I fit?"..."Do I really need this?" But it always comes back to that last question, the question of need.

It's hard to know what we need anymore, at least if you live in the United States of America. Don't turn on the T.V. or you might be persuaded of something new and exciting the you desperately need!! Or perhaps it's just the magazine rack in the checkout line convincing us of how we need to look or dress or eat or garden...!? Sometimes it is sheer madness but we've learned to live in such an environment.

When you live out of a suitcase for two-months it really makes you question all that. Especially when you get home and all those things you survived without for an extended period of time are suddenly at your disposal again. "Did I really need them afterall?" I think the question of what we really need is helpful for everyone to think through occasionally. It helps give purpose to all that we do, it frees up our resources for Kingdom purposes, and it helps us consider the wise command, "whatever you do,...do everything to the glory of God!"

T-Minus 10 days until summer departure, please remember us during this important time.

I think I'll take the blue shirt :-)

"Eager Feet"

The Road goes ever on and on down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road is gone, and I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet, until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet. And whither then? I cannot say.[1]

Two years ago I returned from a summer internship and this poem described my final sentiments. Now I stand poised to make a similar journey to the same historic land but how incredibly my Road has changed. A college graduate, a married man, four very different jobs, and a only few steps further along in the path God has laid before my feet. Much has changed, yet much remains the same. The eager feet I wrote of upon my last return still burn to be out on the road. Though I know for a while the pathway lies stateside, the earnest will not go away. When shall it meet that "larger way", whither then I cannot say. But we are filled with great joy and hope for these next few months of our journey together.

I wonder though, what path is before your feet? Are you presently in the way and pursuing it eagerly or is it that you have set up camp for a while on the roadside? Are you pressing along as a foreigner and stranger in this world or as one who has forgotten about the homeland they journey to? I read just this morning,

"They were stangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But, as it is, they desire a better country, that is a heavenly one."

Everytime I leave my earthly home for another place I am reminded once again that it is not really a "home" at all. Pilgrims, strangers, exiles on the road to the eternal country have no true home but that one they pursue. All their affections, desires, and aims point to their place of destination and no stop along the way will satisfy them. No matter how cozy the inn or how comfortable the shade on the roadside, these are pale and cheap immitations of our home.

Let us do the work of stirring each other up along the way that each may pursue the path God has laid before them and thus not waste ours lives daydreaming in this world!

Now, let the journey begin... (June 2, 2008)

[1] Tolkein, J.R.R. The Lord of the Rings. Houghton: New York, NY. 1987. (p.35).

Another Day, Another Journey

Well friends, it's been a while since I've written but by God's good grace I am still on His perfect path. How wonderful that He has a trail uniquely marked for each of us and that He is our guide through that trail's highs, lows, darkness, and light. These past seven months since I returned from Turkey have been full of highs and lows, darkness and light. Going into my last semester as a senior TESOL major at Moody Bible Institute I was embattled. The clear path He had shown me in Turkey was now clouding in mist and darkness. Never did I doubt His plan but it just grew harder and harder to see.

I learned many valuable lessons that semester and spent my last days in a manner I hope was worthy of the God we serve. And now, the true days of preparation begin. God-dependence beckons and draws me into new realms of existence. I say this for three reasons:

1) When I arrived back from Turkey I found a "For Sale" sign in the front yard of my house. Yes, my parents were moving and I was staying behind. My dad found a wonderful position at a firm out in Salt Lake City, but my parents were torn in having to leave their three boys behind. I knew that when I graduated I could not return "home" anymore. One leg was kicked from the stool that had long held me up. Now I find myself living in the loft of my Aunt's home here in Geneva. She and my grandparents have been wonderfully gracious to help me through this time of transition post-graduation, but still my hope is in the Lord alone.

2) Once upon a time I thought I would be heading overseas immediately after graduation. A fairy tale maybe, but Wisdom seems to dictate a slower pace. So, I'm job hunting but still with the forward goal of being overseas within five years. I teach ESL part time with World Relief in Wheaton, refugees from all over the world. I also do odd jobs, anything I can do to help make some more money at this point. The big fish is still out there though as I look for a full time position that might help get me settled in these next years and get through graduate school. My hopes are to pursue the 2-year Biblical Studies degree at Wheaton College before packing the bags and hopping the pond. And yet, "all I have needed His hand has provided, great is His faithfulness..." In time, the right position will come, until then I wait on the Lord.

3) Lastly but probably most importantly is the fact that I recently became engaged the most wonderful young woman I know. Miss Rachel Kay is a second year linguistics student at MBI and has a strong desire to follow God overseas as well. We met playing soccer on the beach, I asked her out last February, and since then I've been history! Many who have seen me over the last few months know that I've changed a lot, and for the better. I find everything from my relationship with God to my choice of clothing challenged by this young lady. We've grown and groaned, walked and wept, lived and loved in these past 10 months and now are planning to get married. We've set the date for July 14 in St. Johns, Michigan. And for this as well I trust in the Lord.

How much has changed in these seven months of silence and yet I know I am on the same path He directed me to in Turkey. Marriage, working, life experience are all pooling together to help make me stronger for what the road ahead might require. I hope you'll stick with me in prayer and support in the days ahead. My our Guide bless us richly so that all the world may better know Him.

Walking with you,

Marcus