Since my last post, there have been many steps forward toward my move at the end of the summer. Firstly, I met with Rachel Montgomery, who has been serving at the Mission of Hope for the past 3 years in the Hope House (orphanage). She was home for a month and it was such a blessing to get together with her. She has such a passion and excitement for everything happening at the mission, and her enthusiasm is contagious! I am so thankful for her already and know that we will become great friends during my time in Haiti.
The next big thing that took place was the accumulation and shipment of my first load of furniture/school supplies/etc. to the Mission of Hope. A few Sundays ago, we traveled as a family to the van der Mark's home in Carlisle to drop off the load. It is our hope that everything will be there when I arrive in a number of weeks! And I have a cool story about our trip... The evening we drove to the van der Marks, we began to see thick dark clouds in the sky toward the direction we were heading, and I began to prepare myself for all of my stuff getting drenched in the open trunk bed behind us. But amazingly, we just kept driving and we remained dry. Even though we headed directly into the storm, the Lord sheltered us. With His blessing, we made it all the way to the van der Mark's house and unpacked all of my materials without getting wet!!! When we arrived in Carlisle the roads were soaked and Laurens and Cheryl said that the rain had stopped only minutes before we arrived... and less than half an hour later when everything had been loaded into the garage, the rain started again. It was quite evident to all of us that the Lord was on our side! Isn't that awesome!?
Since then, it's been another eventful past couple of weeks. The Lord has surprised me with many opportunities to go beyond an ordinary summer life of working a 9-5 job and serve and grow and make wonderful memories with the ones I love. It's been the best summer I've ever had... And it's not over yet! I just got back from a week counseling at Camp Kahquah, and it was a week of giving and serving, but it was wonderful. If you have ever been to camp in Magnetawan, Ontario, you know what I am talking about. It is such a gorgeous setting and the past week of camping with all of the kids was a beautiful taste of what God is doing at camp. I was blessed by the staff and the way that they so selflessly gave of themselves up for the kids... that love made a serious impact. It was awesome to be a part of it! It was also a blast to go up the same week as by brother, Broc. We ended up being on the same team squad and with the energy of our kids behind us, we managed to be pretty much undefeated in the camp-wide challenges... Just one of the highlights of the weekend! :) Over the week, Broc and I were able to lean on each other and I was reminded of just how lucky I am to have a brother like him.
Finally, I want to end this blog by expanding on the title of this post... Dust. I just finished reading Rob Bell's book - Velvet Elvis, and a particular part of the book really spoke to me. Rob was discussing how during the days when Jesus walked the earth, young followers would give their lives to become like reputable Rabbi's and would train to be like them and gain wisdom from them with the hopes of someday carrying on their message after they died. After following their leaders around on the sandy trails day after day, it was common for them to be covered in the dust of their Rabbi.
This symbol of dedication and closeness really spoke to me and sparked a real desire in my heart to be like those followers so many years ago. My desire is to be covered in the dust of Jesus. I want to follow Him wherever He goes, learn from His teaching, live His message, and at the end of the day, it is my hope that I will be covered in His dust. Evidence that I've journeyed with Jesus.
Thank you for your prayers surrounding my school-year planning and packing. And praise the Lord for all He is doing and will do as we cover ourselves in His dust.
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