{"id":2527,"date":"2013-09-10T10:28:08","date_gmt":"2013-09-10T10:28:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/?p=2527"},"modified":"2013-09-10T12:21:46","modified_gmt":"2013-09-10T12:21:46","slug":"predictably-unpredictable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/2013\/09\/10\/predictably-unpredictable\/","title":{"rendered":"Predictably Unpredictable"},"content":{"rendered":"

If there were two words I could use to describe life where we live they would be predictably unpredictable.\u00a0 Things always go wrong and problems always arrive, I just never quite know where those problems will come from.\u00a0 Therefore there is no way to prepare for the problems that arise, but I just attempt to gracefully handle them as they come. No one problem on its own is amazing or overwhelming, but it is often the accumulation of all of them and the frequency in which they take place, which makes life especially challenging here.<\/p>\n

In the chaos, in confusion <\/span>
\n I know you’re sovereign still<\/span>
\n In the moment of my weakness <\/span>
\n You give me grace to do your will<\/span><\/p>\n

Sunday, for example, I wake up ready to go to church and then pick Joel up from the airport.\u00a0 The first bump in the road was a call that informed me that our babysitter was sick and we needed to find another one.\u00a0 Well I can think about that as I make breakfast.\u00a0 Turn on our stove and the gas runs out.\u00a0 Okay I can change that.\u00a0 I pull the gas bottle out and suddenly the door to the oven explodes into thousands of tiny pieces of glass spread throughout the kitchen.\u00a0 Hmmmm…well….now what?\u00a0 I clean up the glass, replace the gas bottle and stare in wonder at my oven door which is now just comprised of a sheet of metal.\u00a0 It should still work right?\u00a0 Sure why not.\u00a0 I never would have thought it possible that my oven door would shatter on me when I woke up that day.\u00a0 Yet when it happened I was not that shocked or surprised, because that is what life is like here.\u00a0 We live in a state of flex and often use things not in their ideal state.\u00a0 Yet we still get everything done:\u00a0 We made it to church, I found a sitter, and Joel made it home safely.\u00a0 However we rarely get anything done here without a few small or big bumps in the road. \u00a0Those bumps keep me constantly dependent on God and in all honesty that is a great place to be.<\/p>\n

All my delight is in you Lord<\/span>
\n All of my hope<\/span>
\n All of my strength<\/span>
\n All my delight is in you Lord<\/span>
\n Forevermore <\/span><\/p>\n

There is no one else for me<\/span>
\n None but Jesus<\/span>
\n Crucified to set me free<\/span>
\n Now I live to bring Him praise<\/span><\/p>\n

Joel’s Trip in Pictures<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Joel had a great time in Tanzania<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
The highlight for him was a chance to reconnect with some old friends<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
He got to see and experience some of their life there<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
A life that is in many ways very different, but in other ways very much the same <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
The training was intense<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
But also very helpful<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
With this training Joel will be doing research and making contact with villages NTM would like to work with<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
It is a huge task, but we serve a big God<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
We are excited to have him home for the moment, but pray with us for wisdom in all the decision that lie ahead of him<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If there were two words I could use to describe life where we live they would be predictably unpredictable.\u00a0 Things always go wrong and problems always arrive, I just never quite know where those problems will come from.\u00a0 Therefore there is no way to prepare for the problems that arise, but I just attempt to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":830,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2545],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2527","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-updates-and-news","7":"entry"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/830"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2527"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2527\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}