Blessings come in the form of “Showers”, The Baby Kind!

Monday, June 2, 2014

Blake and I have been extremely blessed that the Lord has chosen us to carry out His work overseas. Of all the people that are far more qualified and better equipped, He called us. There are some days that are extremely difficult. And there are days that you miss “home” or whatever form of home you used to know. But then there are the other days, those extremely special days that you are reminded of God’s love in a way that can put all the hard days behind you, you are reminded of God’s love in a way that puts all doubts and fears aside, and encourages you to push ahead in all circumstances. You are given those extremely special days when you are never closer to home than right in the center of God’s will.

I was given one of those days on Saturday. I thought I was on my way to the grocery store with a few people. Before we went to the vehicle, we had to make just one more stop…we had to make sure one other person on the compound didn’t need to also go. When I walked into her apartment, there were familiar faces gathered around smiling at me saying “Happy Surprise Baby Shower”! I felt this overwhelming sense of God’s Love.

You see, living overseas, we watch holidays pass by, we watch some of our dearest friends get married and we miss the celebration with them! We hear of deaths, we talk to friends that are going through a hard time, and we feel guilty that we are here and not there to comfort them. Living overseas we find ourselves making some very tough decisions, and we find ourselves living out this faith in a God we believe is going to lead us and guide us, but yet in the back of our minds we constantly feel ourselves wondering if our faith is strong enough.

When we found out we were pregnant, we knew we were going to have a lot of tough decisions ahead. We know that with living overseas its expensive to travel back to the states. We know that medical care in the USA is expensive. We know that we are on a tight budget. Oh but we are so full of joy that our little one is on the way!

We knew fairly quickly that traveling to the states to deliver was going to be more costly and time consuming than other options we have. We also knew that whatever decision we made, we would know it was the right decision, because the Lord would give us a complete peace over it. The decision came that we would deliver Baby B in Cameroon. We knew it would be a safe environment, there is good medical care, and we have other Wycliffe Associates colleagues here that can support us and help us. We also knew that with this decision we would be missing out on the convenience of having family around to help us and to lean on during this process. We knew we would be missing the immediate joy of celebrating with our mom’s and families and friends, in what is sure to be one of the most joyous occasions in our lives. But the Lord has given us a sense of peace. The one we were praying for as we tried to make the right decision for us.

As I have been waiting in Cameroon for a few weeks, trying to make preparations for travel to the hospital, having check-ups, making sure everything is going well with Baby and I. I began to have doubts. What if I can’t do this without our family support? Blake and I are about to be brand new parents, and I’m suddenly panicked because I can’t remember if I have ever held a new born before! Blake knows less about changing diapers than me, and what if I can’t do it, we are our own support system! And then suddenly, I walk into a room full of familiar smiling faces of God’s love saying, “Happy Baby Shower”. The Lord is saying, “I have given you peace about your decision to deliver right here in Cameroon, because I have called and equipped these women to serve in this same place, at this exact time. This exact time when you are going to need the support and love of a family you didn’t realize you had.”

You see, living overseas, we aren’t actually missing out on anything at all. No, instead we are being equipped to be the familiar smiling face of God’s love to another person, when they are going to need the support and love from a family they didn’t realize they had.