Throughout the last several months that we’ve been away from the Missionary Training Center we’ve struggled to find normalcy. Almost every week/month is different than the one previous and there are always certain days when we just can’t stand the unfamiliarity of every day life. When you have your belongings in three different houses and have been traveling for 3,000+ miles living out of your car, it tends to wear on you. And a common thought that’s crossed my mind in these recent months is this, “We just need to get to the field.” As if somehow things will be magically different once we hop on the plane and take off. However, the Lord has been so faithful to challenge my thinking in that area as of late. Coming out of the Missionary Training Center, I had urgency, vision, and determination. But as life has “happened” recently, the Lord has shown me that life will be just as messy (except 10x more) on the field as it is now. Having these thoughts has caused me at times to get discouraged, but more often than not to find myself in a position of dependence upon God. How refreshing it has been to feel the Lord’s love and commitment to me despite my weakness and frailty. 2 Corinthians 3:5 says this, “Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God…” In the area of partnership development it has literally caused me to say, “Lord, I’m absolutely incapable of accomplishing this in my own strength. It has to be through You. Lord, we’re convinced that you would have us in Paraguay. We’re going to trust You to provide the necessary finances we need.” And God has been faithful time and time again to provide more than what we need in that area and in many more areas that I just don’t even have time to write about. Recently, a missionary on the field wrote me and encouraged me saying this, it is not our job to produce but rather to stay attached to the Vine. What an awesome reminder it was to keep my eyes on Him and Him alone. To stay close to Him and remain in fellowship with Him being faithful to do what He has asked me to do THIS DAY. Not tomorrow, not yesterday, but today. Life certainly is ridiculously messy. But God is faithful and He can work even despite us. It’s a true statement to say that we’re inadequate, insufficient, incapable even. But how much more refreshing it is to realize that He has made us adequate to accomplish a work that we’re incapable of doing in the first place.