This morning, my alarm went off as usual, and-as usual-I pushed the snooze button to sleep for five more minutes. I was awakened after only two minutes by one small thought that sent my head whirling: It's June First. Can it be that our five-and-a-half months of serving overseas has dwindled down to a measly twenty-nine days? At first, I thought that my heart would be happy to hear this news, but that wasn't the case.
All morning, I've been thinking of friends I've talked to who have yet to receive the saving love of our Sav*or, and of the fellowship I've been able to have with other bel*evers here, and my heart just breaks. Like Mary at the tomb, I just want to fall to the ground and shed tears over what I'm losing as I look into the dark space. For Mary, that dark space was the mysteriously empty tomb. For me, it's June 30th-our departure date. How sorrowful among women we would both be had Mary not encountered Jesµs that morning! Her story reminds me that there's more going on here than what I can see. You see, Mary's sorrow (as mine is today) was based off of what her human mind could comprehend. It was only when Jesµs came to her and called her by name that her eyes were opened to the glorious plan of Our Father! Because of her experience, I know that that same plan is the one that is guiding my life today. G0d's plan to save the lost brought us to South Asia, and is sending us home at the end of this month. Of this I am confident, and that's why I can rejoice!
There are a lot of "lasts" that we will be experiencing (last conversations, last village trip, last cup of delicious coffee...), but we know that G0d has it all under control! Praise be to Him!!
Please continue to pr*y for those friends who are being sought after by G0d and that His timing would be perfect in their lives. Also, pray for us, that we can fa*thfully continue to "run the race" all the way to the finish line!
Some of you might be wondering, "What do James and Ali do for fun?" or, "Do they ever have free time?" You will be interested to know that we are knee-deep in writing the second chapter of a novel! The idea came from James' ever-imaginative and amazing mind. About a month ago, he showed us (me, Ryan and Cameron) a picture of a superhero he created named Wolfman. After seeing that first picture, the four of us sat around the dinner table and excitedly discussed Wolfman's backstory. What would he be like? What would be that tragic happenstance that would draw him to a life of fighting crime? Who is his worst enemy? It was not long after the second conversation of that kind that James was choreographing fight scenes. He would do one move at a time, and I would excitedly type them out for Wolfman to use in defense against his foes. Needless to say, this novel is going to be pretty amazing, and I hope that you are as excited about it was the rest of us are. I look forward to telling you more about Wolfman as he progresses... who knows? Maybe someday you'll even be holding a hard copy of it in your hands in the middle of Barnes&Noble. You'll smile to yourself as your thumb runs over the gold "Best Book Ever Award" sticker on the top right corner and think to yourself, "they did it." ...Or maybe not.
Obviously, that's not all we do in our free time (otherwise there would be more than two chapters written...), but that example was to give you a little taste of our lives here. :)
Until next time. We love you.
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