Mathew Meanderings – June 2024

Do you remember that scene in the Princess Bride where Fezzik and Inigo are trying to bring the, currently living but very recently “mostly dead” Wesley up to speed on Buttercup’s whereabouts?  Inigo realizes very quickly that to catch Wesley up, will take time that they don’t have, before Buttercup is forced to marry the evil Prince Humperdink. So instead, he decides to “sum up” the last few months… 

For us, the last few months have been very full.  Maybe full to distraction at times? Maybe more full than we would have liked. Sometimes full of conversations we didn’t want to have, but knew we needed to have.  Sometimes it was full of fun conversations, too! Sometimes it was full of encouragement from brothers and sisters in Christ.   Through it all though, there has always been God…

February was full of alumni coaching planning, meetings with interns and chapel small groups and Sunday School lessons and chapel sessions about missions, indoor soccer for the boys, and play practice for Addie.  I suppose there was a little snow in there, and probably some other fun stuff that we didn’t want to bore you with! 

March was full of ministry at church and working with the interns as they started seeing the end of the program.  We had some good friends come visit (he’s training to be a missionary pilot and taking Bible classes online.)  There were also “finishing touches” to be put on our Next Steps class.  But , to be honest, we were kind of ambushed by March.  Yes, there’s a story there. This isn’t the space for it, though.

April was full of meeting with interns and chapel small groups and more conversations that should’ve been had a long time ago.  Addie had some concerts and a weekend full of performances of You Can’t Take It With You.  We were also preparing for the Encounter trip to SE Africa in June.  Passports, packing lists, and prayer letters…  Next Steps class kicked off with 26 students trying to figure out what it practically looks like to step out of EBI into further training with Ethnos360.  Tamara had her hands full (as usual) with her interns and a staff ladies Bible study.

May disappeared quicker than we thought it would! We had “ENC – SEAF” (Encounter – SE Africa) preparation conversations with our missionaries over there and the team formed here. Our 22 year old Honda CR-V needed some TLC and ended up taking 3 days partially torn apart in the driveway. Praise God for sunny days and the smooth driveway! The 21 year old Suburban ALSO let me down for the last time.  I have been trying to get the gremlins out of it (ever since its first MI winter!) and when I had to leave a kid stranded at school during an actual thunderstorm, “we” agreed that it was time.  I shopped around and found an (only 8 years!) old Ford that I hope lives with us until I die. The rest of the month was filled with meetings at church, meetings at school, class prep, grading homework, and teaching Sunday school.  A lot of questions were asked.  “How do we do this?” “How do we fix that?”  “What does God’s Word say about THAT?” 

Just a few days ago, while celebrating our niece’s grad in MI, I caught a case of cellulitis that abruptly ended mine and Addie’s trip planning for SE Africa. I ended up in the ER and she ended up with an early end to her school year, but no trip to see what Ethnos360 is doing in SE Africa.  This was a bitter pill to swallow but we’re convinced it was a wise decision.  Addi can have the funds that have come in, held for another trip, next year. She’ll be 18, so that’ll make travel easier, too.

Also happening in just a few days, Emma and Wyatt will be moving out of Wisconsin and on to the next chapter of their story.  At the same time, ‘Tmama’ and I are staring at a new reality that we’re not entirely sure we’re old enough for. 

To say that the last 6 months have been spiritually, mentally, and physically challenging would be a bit of an understatement.  But at the same time we haven’t had any broken bones, cancer discoveries, or hospital admissions, either.  We’ve had some very hard conversations that have brought us tears and been with others whose hearts were broken by the hardness of living in a world that has been deeply impacted by sin.  BUT GOD… continues to love SO faithfully, in SO MANY WAYS that we have been able to see!  Just this morning as I was reading in Romans I was reminded again of my own inability to please God with my efforts, however admirable they may be.  But, as Paul reminds us in chapter 5, “…since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have also obtained access into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of God’s glory. Not only this, but we also rejoice in sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance, character, and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” (NET)  Even though “all the things’ are hard sometimes, we know that God is working in our lives (and the lives around us, through us!) disciplining us because He loves us, like a good father loves his children, to shape us into the image of Christ! 

If you’re looking for pictures, please make sure to visit @tmama2six on Instagram and @MathewMeanderings on Facebook…