I'm going to AFRICA!

The light of the new day had not yet dawned and the rest of the house still lay sleeping when I tip toed downstairs this morning. I sat in my familiar spot on the couch and laid open my bible on my lap and read....

"In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah, the LORD moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing...." to release the Israelites from years of Babylonian captivity and allow them to return home. -Ezra 1:1-6 (partial paraphrase)

This was no small act. Cyrus was the first king of the massive Persian Empire, and after he conquered Babylon he encountered the Israelites for the first time. An exiled people. Forced to live in a foreign land. Forced to serve a foreign king. It would have been so easy to keep them there. To make them serve him now. But, he didn't. He let them go. And not only did he let them go, he told them to return home and rebuild their temple to the LORD, and then he told the neighbors living around the Israelites to provide them with gold and silver and livestock to take back with them to offer in the temple to the Lord. And if that wasn't enough he put some extra frosting on the cake and he returned to them all the treasures from their temple that Nebuchadnezzar had plundered.

Geesh. Talk about God moving in someone's heart and granting them favor in his eyes. 

And then I flipped over one book and read through Nehemiah's desperate prayer to the LORD...."They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand. Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man.”-Nehemiah 1:10-11

Nehemiah, a Jew, some 90 years later was cup bearer to the now king of the Persian Empire, Artaxerxes I, and living in Susa when he received word of the state of his people and homeland, Israel. His brother had told him how the Israelites were in great trouble and Jerusalem sat in rubble. They had not restored their country. They had not rebuilt their temple. They had not recommitted their lives to living for the Lord. Everything was in shambles. When Nehemiah heard this his heart broke. He wept and pleaded with the Lord for mercy and asked that God would grant him favor in Artaxerxes I eyes to leave Susa and return to Jerusalem to help rebuild it.

And ya know what.....God did. Artaxerxes I not only allowed Nehemiah to leave, but gave him access to his royal parks and supplied all the timber needed to rebuild the city walls and gates. And then, sent army officers and cavalry along with him to ensure safe passage.

Twice in one morning, I read how God had did what seems impossible to me. He moved in the kings hearts to help restore His people. Kings of the strongest powerhouse in the world. God moved their hearts...granted the Israelites favor in their eyes.

Amazing. And if God can move a kings heart in such a dramatic way, God is certainly capable of moving in the hearts of the medical board responsible for approving my appeal. He can. But I'm also fully aware that God may choose not to. That His plan and purpose for our lives may be better suited in me staying behind. But even when God says no....when our prayers don't turn out the way we want, it's not because God's not capable of providing what we're asking for. He just simply has another plan in store. That's not always an easy pill to swallow though.....staying behind...no matter how surrendered I am to His plan...would not be an easy pill to swallow.

And so again...I bowed my head and prayed, like Nehemiah, that God would be attentive to my prayer. And that He would give us success by granting us favor in the eyes of the medical board. Pleading with God. Pouring out my heart in thankfulness for His great strength and mighty hand. Praising Him for the examples He's left us in His word of His capable hands. His provision. His unmatched faithfulness. Praying....endlessly praying......

A few hours later I was sitting at church for bible study when Isaak called me. We were about to pray and disperse to our groups, when I heard my phone ring. I silenced the ringer and thought how odd it was that Isaak would be calling me, when he knows I can't talk at this time. I felt the phone vibrate in my hand telling me I had a message. I look down in my hand after someone says, "Amen" and see I have a text....

"call me NOW!" it read.

I gulped. Gathered my belongings and walked over to a quiet place. I gulped again. Because I knew this was it. The news we had been awaiting to hear, the news we have been pleading with God over for the past six weeks was awaiting me now. It was one of those moments, where ya just know. In the deepest parts of you, you know, this is it. I swallowed down my rising fear, and called Isaak back.


"I just heard from AFMOA (Air Force Medical Operations Agency)," he said.....

(*the seconds it took for him to breathe seemed to never end)

"....you're medical appeal was approved! You're going to Africa!", Isaak said excitedly into the phone.

*tears....again*

That's the only way I can find that adequately expresses my deepest thankfulness. There are no words good enough. There are not enough "thank you's" I could say. A thousand "I love you's" wouldn't be enough. Only tears.

I am going to Africa. We are all going to Africa. I just....can't even believe it. Happy would be a drastic understatement. Even now, the words of thanks just get stuck, and tears come out instead.

Tears and jumping and giggling and shouting and fist pumps and flailing around like a crazy person....have replaced every word I can say.

God is so generous. I don't deserve this amount of goodness and generosity. I feel so unworthy and so loved. And of all the days to find out....on Valentine's Day no less.

A day devoted to showing and sharing your love to the people in your life...God used this day to show me, again, His unmatchable perfect love for me. His love and devotion are so far reaching. His generosity knows no bounds. To trust us, us, with this opportunity....I can't hardly believe it. That's what it feels like. He is generosly granting our hearts desire to follow Him to Africa and trusting us with the responsibility that awaits. It is a priviledge that He is allowing us to go there.

A privilege, and a tremendous responsibility, and we do not take it lightly.

I stood in the kitchen later that afternoon, just pouring out my thanks, and the words from a song I've been singing since Christmas came back to me....

"I am not brave
I’ll never be
The only thing my heart can offer is a vacancy
I’m just a girl
Nothing more
But I am willing, I am Yours"

It seems small. After everything God has done for me....taking on my sins, paying the price with His own life, and then continuing to live out His love for me everyday for the rest of my life and beyond....to just offer Him my heart. But that's all that He asks for. My heart. And it's His. 

It's His.

God can move mountains. Mountains that seem impossible and too big to climb. We're talking Mt. Everest kinda mountains here.

But He can move them. No power can stand against Him. No obstacle or authority can thwart His plan. And it is absolutely thrilling to know that His plan for all of us involves Africa.

I loved seeing Sydaleigh's face when I told her the news after school. We have been praying over this nearly every night at dinner and bedtime and to see her face, ah, I wish I had a picture of it. She couldn't stop smiling. But it was the kind of smile she held. A smile that conveyed safety, assurance, and deep joy that only God can reach. And Marvelly too. Her little voice has been saying since January, "I want to go to Burkina Faso!"...and to know that God granted her three year old heart was thrilling. Isaak is over the moon. He keeps saying, "I'm so happy I get to spend the net two years of my life with you and the girls!" and then sighs deeply, exhaling all the built up stress and worry.

We are all thrilled. Beyond words. Just thrilled.

I can't believe it.

I love the Lord so much!

WE'RE GOING TO AFRICA!!!!!!! (insert fist pump and jumping and screaming and awkward dance moves better suited for an 80's MC Hammer music video!! Whoo hoo!!!!!)