“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” – 1 Cor. 10:31
“I hatehomeschooling!” I’m sorry to say I’ve screamed, er, mumbled that to myself on more than one occasion. Now, I don’t actually hatehomeschoolingevery day, but just on those spill-my-coffee-step-on-a-lego-bang-my-head-against-the-wall type days. And on the days when it’s hard, I wish that I had another option. The homeschool curriculum I use, Sonlight, sends out a newsletter periodically. Last week they sent an article that was saying, “On hard days, think about the reasons you chose to homeschool, and that will help you to continue.” “Hmpf. I didn’t choose this. I had no other option,” was my cynical response. But then I began to think about that. “Really? You had no other option?” No, the truth is, I could have stayed in the U.S. and sent Ty to a public or Christian school. However, we chose to come to PNG so that people who have never heard the gospel can hear about Christ’s love for them. We chose to come so that people can know the truth that they could never earn heaven on their own, that their sin separates them from God, that Jesus died to pay the penalty for their sin, so that all they have to do is believe that He died for them. That’s good news! And that’s SO worth the hard homeschoolingdays. It’s so worth the “I’m so sick of the food in this country” days. It’s so worth the “I’m stuck at home cleaning my little cockroach-infested house” days. It’s even worth the “I’m deeply missing my friends and family” days, and the “My heart hurts so bad that I don’t know if I can do this missionary thing” days.
1 Corinthians 10:31 says, “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” WHATEVER you do. So, when I’m homeschooling, I want to say, “I’m doing this because I love you, Lord, because I want people to hear about you, and because I want my son to learn well.” When I’m cleaning my house, I want to say, “I’m doing this because I love you, Lord, and I want to serve my family well.” When I’m here in PNG missing my family and friends, I want to say, “I’m doing this because I love you, Lord, and I trust you.”
Because that’s really what it’s all about- bringing glory to God. It’s not about what we accomplish or whether we feel significant. It’s about worshipping God in our everyday lives.
Thanks for your continued support and prayers for us. Keep praying the Lord will send out more missionaries to do HIS work. There are so many who need to hear about Him!
“The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” (Matt.9:37b-38)
Till all know,
Matt, Karissa, Ty, and Wyck
One thing I DO love about homeschooling— Ty gets plenty of time for creative play with his friends
September 16 is PNG’s independence day, which means the Goroka show is here- a time where people from all over PNG show up in traditional dress and perform. Sadly, we had to miss this year since Matt was sick, but we still got to see this guy 🙂
Please Pray:
– Ty’s reflux is not actually getting better :(. He’s ok, but we just learned he still really needs his medicine.
– For our trip to meet the new missionaries. Pray that the kids will do well with traveling and that everything goes smoothly. Pray for good times with the new missionaries, and that if any of them are the teammates God has for us, that He will make that happen. Pray that we can be an encouragement to them.
– That we will trust God in each step that we take, and that we will listen to His leading
– After we meet the new missionaries, we will take a couple of days just to be with the Hernandezes. Pray that this can be a good time continuing to build our relationship as a team.
Praise God:
– Homeschooling Ty is actually going much better lately
– Matt’s teaching the Bible class is going well, and he will have some opportunities to lead chapel soon
– God continues to teach us His truth
– Some friends of ours who live in another part of PNG came to visit, and it has been great to see them