God is truly both of those. The longer we are here in St Louis the more we see both of these qualities in our God.
I mentioned in the previous post that my Pop (Dad's Dad) was in the hospital with an unknown condition. His sickness worsened before it ever got better. I learned much through this experience: power of prayer, power of family, and the power of love. Ultimately God is within all of this and finally I had to leave my cares before him and wait for His outcome. Pop is now home and regaining the strength he lost during his 7+ week hospital stay. The strength of this man is so unreal to me. He conquered a lot through his trials in the hospital. I'm in awe of him completely.
We continually see a way made for us here while James is attending the Seminary. We have such faithful churches back home that provide so much for us spiritually and financially. Without them we would have a really hard time here but instead James gets to focus more on his classes (instead of work) and I get more time with my husband. They aren't just paying tuition bills for us here they are allowing us to build our relationship and marriage and allow James to focus more closely on his assignments. We are so thankful for this!
I am now officially at the International Center as the only employee in the bookstore. The times there are slow but it is providing me much extra time to contemplate and focus on things I've been slacking on. A deepening relationship with my Lord is one of these. I am so thankful for such a relaxed and
fulfilling job. I have made a really good friend out of a fellow employee and I'm learning much more appreciation for retail and making it work. Sidenote: I was just made aware this morning that I will be awarded a "Customer Engagement" award which means I went above and beyond in my service to a customer. I didn't even know there was such a thing until this morning!
The longer we are here in this apartment the more I want to make it a home but I have to realize we'll just be packing up again in another year. That realization definitely pulls my heart in different directions. It also shows me how short our time here will be and how I have slacked off in making friends with some of the wives. Quite honestly, right now, I'd just rather come home and lay on the couch and watch tv with James. While, that will provide me some relaxation it isn't doing anything for my relational being. I was created to form bonds and deepen conversations with other women and I have yet to find that here except through a couple people. I just haven't given myself many situations to allow this to happen. I have enjoyed those I've met here, but I also deeply miss those we left. Sometimes I would rather hold on to them instead of reaching out to the new.
Another area of my thought process lately is Peru and foreign relationships. I do miss Peru and the people there. I day dreamed about us moving there and seriously thought about how wonderful it would be to invite our new friends over for dinner or tea. Right now this desire of ours to return to Peru is something selfish and a personal want but maybe in the future God will lead us there in His plan and reveal to us more than we could have ever dreamed.
The future is so impossible to imagine yet so wonderful to positively yearn for. Our immediate future has a somewhat predictable outcome but where we'll end up is far into the unknown of our own thoughts it would be impossible to come up with. Could there be anything more exciting than this adventure with our God?
