God's Protection & Path

For the last week, we have been settling in for our last semester of language training here in South Texas. There have been a few setbacks (humanly speaking) that we have faced immediately before the semester started. God has been testing our faith and we desire to respond in a right and godly way. It is a daily mental struggle to fully trust in God's path, because we so often think that "our way" would have been better, faster, or wiser.

Now let me back up a little bit...

Last Sunday, Jordan, Ben, another MLS student, and I were in a major, two-car accident on the way to AM services. Kristi stayed home with Kaylee, who wasn't feeling well. We praise the Lord that no one was injured or killed in both vehicles. It all happened so fast. In every detail of the day, we have seen God's sovereignty in orchestrating the events. It was a rough day for me (David) due to the accident and the reminder of the brevity of life. God has been helping me deal with this one moment at a time. As for Jordan and Ben, they took the whole thing in stride. They thought the whole thing was COOL (you know...with all the police, firemen, and ambulance vehicles).

Our Ford Windstar was probably totaled (still waiting to hear from our insurance agent) and we have been amazed to see how the Lord is providing for our future vehicle needs. Many have offered their second vehicle when we need to make some errands or go to church. The Neimeyer family (Baptist Mid Missionaries to Chile) are letting us their van for the rest of the semester to use. The Rio Grande Language School community has been very encouraging to our family during this time of trial and we love them all dearly.

Since the day of the accident, I (David) have been on the phone most of the time dealing with the long and detailed process of insurance and police paperwork. I would appreciate your prayers, as this process is not conducive to my daily heavy homework load and desired family schedule.

Rejoicing in:

-God's Protection

-God's Perfect timing and plan

-Another day of life

Struggling with:

-Balancing homework, family, and dealing with the process of insurance

Please pray for:

-Wisdom in upcoming decisions due to the accident

-Mental adjustments for David as he is back in language classes

-A fair compensation from the insurance company

Due to not being hooked up to the internet for over a week, plus the recent accident, we are slightly behind on our ministry blog. It is our intention to catch up in the very near future. We thank you for your prayers and support during this time of "faith" testing. We love you all!

Continue to check the blog for updates on this development.

In closing, I wanted to share something that I read just a few days after the accident that was an encouragement. I read a puritan poem entitled, "God is the Source of All Good" during my devotional time and here are a few lines that the Lord used to encourage me amidst this time of losing our van.

"...Thou hast made me what I am ,
and given me what I have;
In thee I live and move and have my being;
Thy providence has set the bounds of my habitation,
and wisely administers all my affairs.

...Impress me deeply with a sense of thine omnipresence,
that thou art about my path, my ways,
my laying down, my end."