Alright, alright, I know that most of my faithful readers have all but given up on this blog, so I knew I needed to write and fill you all in on where and what and how we are doing now.
Many people have asked me how we could have been so faithful in writing almost daily in our blog while we were in England. The answer? It was made easy by my computer. Fast internet access, using an iMac, and a good location for our computer made blogging fun and entertaining.
No longer is it that easy! My folks have dial-up, which is (as you probably know) quite painful to use. Plus, I am using my Dad's laptop, which means I am not downloading our pictures on the same computer, and so I am sadly not able to share some very fun summer memories with you all. Alas~the woes of moving!
Another dilemma, our blog name. "Johnstons at Tyndale" no longer works, so what to do? Do I stop blogging? Do I change the name? Alas, dear friends, I am in a quandry. Any feedback would be appreciated.
Okay, on to what is new with us. We have yet to see the Lord show us what His next step for us will be. There is a church on the west coast that Jim has interviewed with, but we are just in the beginning stages with them, and do not know if this is indeed where the Lord is leading us. Please pray for us. We are growing as we see the Lord stretching us in faith to trust Him when He asks us to wait for His leading. But, as you probably already know, waiting is challenging. I am keeping close to my heart this verse, "They that wait on the Lord will renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not grow weary, they shall walk and not faint."
As never before I see and feel the challenges of 'waiting.' Jim and I would much rather ACT. But God has asked us to wait for Him. I had no idea how hard this would be. We fight the temptation to worry about a number of things; finances, housing, schooling for our children, etc. SO, I am thankful that God renews the strength of His children who 'wait' on Him. And He is doing this. Another verse, "Wait for the Lord, be strong and take heart, and WAIT for the Lord." Isn't surprising how much strength and submission it takes to wait?
Another gift in this has been the gift of faith. Truly, faith is a gift. We have prayed for this, and we have seen the Lord give us faith in Him, not by our own intense effort to believe in Him, but by His good hand. I have found great comfort in Psalm 112 and Psalm 119, and I so want the desires of my heart to be fully focused on knowing Him. I am seeing more and more that when I focus on God, the rest takes care of itself.
Right now we are thankful that we can be here with my mom and dad. The girls spend most of their days riding horses, reading and playing outside. They are very happy and content. What a blessing! Andrew spends most of his days getting dirty and changing his clothes. Another happy child. And Jim and I are so thankful to spend time with my folks, they are such a gift to us both.
Jim is down visiting his mom and dad right now, and finishing up the edits for his dissertation. In about two weeks he should be done with those, and then he will make copies for his three readers. Then he schedules his oral defense for a few weeks after that, and so hopefully will defend some time in September. We are almost there!
The next step is still unclear, but we are trusting the Lord. Please pray for us as we seek His will for our future!
Keep in touch~
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If I rise on the wings of the dawn,if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. Psalm 139:9-10
9 comments:
So glad to hear from you! I am sorry that it's not as easy to write, but I for one am so glad when you do.
As for the name, leave it for now. When God leads you to the next step, then you can change your name. The last place He led you was Tyndale House, so let your name reflect His faithful leading in the past which is a promise for the future.
James will be keen to read your entry. God's blessing to you, dear Lisa! Say hello to all the family for us. Rachel is at camp this week, or I know she'd be clamoring for a hello as well.
Lisa,
I like teacherperson! I agree with her and I am blessed when you write your heart. Waiting is hard, it does take faith, it does take strength, but when God moves both you and others know Who did the moving. He is glorified!
Jim & Lisa,
Your sentiments seem to match the thoughts in our heads, and feelings in our hearts almost exactly! We are finding it is one thing to say we live by faith, it's certainly another thing to DO IT! I have recently expressed to Mark, "I wanted to live more dependent upon God, but maybe not this every minute of every day kind of dependence!" But, I know (as I am certain you do too) that it is the best place for me to be. We'll be praying for you. We'll be praying God leads you very clearly from here.
With love,
Jill and Mark Pederson
Drew, our pastor here whom you met, always asks how you and Jim are doing. He said, "If you can, please share Isaiah 25:1 with them for me and tell them that I'm praying for them." So, here you go.
O Lord, You are my God; I will exalt You, I will give thanks to Your name; For You have worked wonders, Plans formed long ago, with perfect faithfulness.
I just wanted to let you know that I check every day just in case. Thinking of you often!
Hello! Hello! Thinking of you!
I would love to hear more about your most current adventure--homeschooling! Are you still at your parent's? So many questions, I have!
God bless you, dear Lisa. I think of you often and still check here daily. (No guilt or anything)
Are you still homeschooling? I can't imagine you are not so. How is it going?
Hi Lisa, it was awesome to see you yesterday...but WAY too short. Next time I hope you can stay longer. I hope what I gave you will be a blessing. I wanted to give you the fun science website: jonathanpark.com.
God bless you as you wait on the Lord. love JI
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