Blessed are all who wait for him

“Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind.  After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.  After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire.  And after the fire came a gentle whisper.”  1 Kings 19:11-12

The Lord is not always in the big and obvious, sometimes He is working in the small, quiet ordinary.

Recently I wrote about trusting even when you can’tsee.  The writer of Hebrews call that faith.  And so I have been (trying) quietly waiting and trusting the Lord for that which I wait for (actually I wait for two things).

You see, I want to go on a mission’s trip to Uganda with my teenage daughter.  I’ve wanted to go, longed to go, since last September when I found out about a Mother/Daughter trip in 2013 to visit the children ministered to by Sixty Feet.  Children I have prayed for.  Children I somehow love, yet do not know.  Children languishing in prisons, abandoned.  However when I discussed the idea with my loving, gentle husband, well, it didn’t go as I had hoped.  Being unequally yoked means we don’t always have the same perspective on things.

Mission’s trips are one of those things.

Who can blame him really?  We are the only two girls he’s got, he loves us, wants to protect us and was afraid for our safety.  So he said “no”.  And since he was not asking me to disobey the Lord, I had to honour that answer.  Hard as it was.

Instead I prayed.  I knew someday the answer would change because the longing in my heart, it was too deep, too strong, too full of love to be from myself.  I knew it was from the Lord.

I’m not sure exactly how I imagined that it would come about, this change of mind.

Maybe a great revelation.  Maybe a great wrestling match with God, like Jacob had.  Maybe a burning bush would speak to him in the woods one day as he worked.  Maybe we’d have a wise and discerning conversation that would change his mind. 

You know a big, important, earth shattering event that would be the only thing to move this Mt. Everest that stood between me and Uganda.

Or not.

Maybe it would come, just like it did, in an unexpected whisper.  The most ordinary moment a life can have.  Here’s the scene:

It’s supper time.  You know, that busy time between school and hockey practice.  Everyone is hungry, just getting home or has somewhere to go.

Son and Dad are laughing at son’s story about sitting on his broken snowmobile, starting it up and, well, just pretending to drive it.  Since that is all he can do because it has a broken ski.

Mom (that’s me) is laying out plates on the counter, placing supper portions on each plate, swatting at vulture hands pecking urgently at said plates, checking cookies in the oven and tripping over the large, also starving (that’s a joke) dog who has invaded the space between the stove and counter where food is passing, and where I am trying to work.  She is waiting for a morsel to fall from the food sky.

It’s all so ordinary.

Until teenage daughter dances into the middle of it all with these words: “I wonder how tanned I would be after 3 weeks in Africa.”

She is not vain.  Really.  But she is random.

That might not silence your house, but it silenced mine.

“Going to Africa are you?” I inquired.

And so a discussion ensued, and before I knew what was happening, before supper even found its way to the table, a blessing had been bestowed.  The long awaited "yes" (6 months, but who's counting?) was finally given.

No nagging required.  Just prayer.

No hinting necessary.  Just trusting in the One who can and will in His perfect time.

So Uganda, if you’ll have us, and Lord willing, we’ll see you in April 2013!

“Blessed are all who wait for him.”  Is. 30:18