Yesterday I (Kristine) was reflecting back upon the last year and it occurred to me that just over a year ago, our life was turned completely upside down. We had just had a conversation with MAF HQ in which we agreed to take a break from ministry partnership to work on a few things before returning to MAF. What a scary and blind leap that was. We had been working towards serving overseas together as a couple our whole married life and individually before that as well. We got accepted, got a country assignment and seemingly were on our way, but life happens and sometimes God puts roadblocks in our journey. At the time we knew it was the right thing to do, but had no clue why. I must confess we are still learning. What I've realized over the past year is that God does have a perfect plan that is NOT our own and He knows what's going to happen in life, we just need to trust Him and have that blind faith to take a leap when it looks like we're heading towards a cliff.
I know that sounds daunting, it is. But had we not taken that leap we would never have been so blessed by God's grace. God provided a job for Eric at a company he's always wanted to work at and a place for him to temporarily stay until we moved up there. God provided Eric with not only a job, but good bosses and coworkers to help encourage him. God provided us with a rental house so we would not need to live in an apartment and gave us good neighbors so we needn't fear living in our home. God provided mom groups for me to be a part of and wonderful opportunities to branch out and feel welcome in our new city. Recently God helped our home in Salem, Oregon to sell and provided a new house for us to hopefully live in. We are still in the process of buying it, but it was one of those things that God directed us to it at the right time. A day later and it would have not been there for us. We recently found a church near this home that is what we both always wanted in a church, every detail so far. There are many other things I can mention, but the important thing to remember is that God provided and provides for our basic needs if we put our trust in Him.
There are things we could not have forseen that have happened in the past year. A few months after we moved to Washington my father was very ill and hospitalized. By us being up in Washington, I was able to be there for him and to support my family. If we were on our way to Indonesia, I would not have been able to be there to support them and be strong for them. My brothers both are dating very wonderful ladies. If we were going to Indonesia right now, I would have not been able to get to know them both better. We have never been able to visit with Eric's sister much because she lived in Washington. Now we live about 30 minutes away from her and even though we haven't had the opportunity to visit as much as we'd like, I look forward to changing that this year. Right now I am pregnant and due in August. If we were in Indonesia right now, I would be worried about my level of prenatal care as well as who would do my operation as I would be required to have a c-section there. Instead, I have a wonderful doctor here, have access to the best medicine and have many options for how I want to have my baby delivered. I also have a wonderful support system to take care of my daughter when I do go into labor. If I was in Indonesia right now, I would be very fearful and worried at all the unknowns.
God knows all the unknowns and plans accordingly. Sometimes it's not what we'd hoped but most times it's better. Lately we've been contemplating some of those unknowns with regards to missions. We still feel in our hearts that we are to go overseas as missionaries, the timing of that is one of the biggest unknowns. This past year we have been questioning each other and God about the details and haven't been given many answers. But every now and then.... God gives us a little direction.
Lately we've been attending a couple of Christian Missionary Alliance churches. It's been refreshing to be among church family that supports local and overseas missions and has a strong strong focus on that in the church. What has amazed me, is the number of missionaries we've met over this past year, not all CMA missionaries too, that know about Mission Aviation Fellowship and tell us about how vital they are to help these missionaries continue the work that they do. We've met people from all over the world and the stories are varied but definitely the same. MAF helps them get to the remote locations they serve, helps resources to get out there and also helps them with the technology they need to keep the mission going. All our time at MAF we had heard this and spoke about this with people, but hearing it from the missionaries themselves was wonderful. It was something we would not have been able to hear had we kept going and were in Indonesia right now. It helped renew our sense of how important MAF is and the work that they do for the Lord overseas. It also helped renew in us a sense of purpose, as we felt before.
We've been looking at different organizations but none fit us better than MAF. My husband as a pilot/software engineer fits perfectly into MAF as does my skills as a teacher. More and more we believe that we are meant to go overseas still with MAF, it is just that our timing was off. We wanted to sprint into the marathon, and it didn't work. God helped us to pull back, realize what we needed to work on and perfect before we get back into the race. We hope to update you all on a timeline for that very soon. We just recently both realized a timeline that would be perfect, we just need to run it by MAF HQ first to see what they think. We are open to where God will send us, whether that be Indonesia or elsewhere. Wherever the need is, we'll keep an open heart.
It would be wonderful if you all continued to keep in touch. We know some people have left our Facebook group, "Taking off with the Reeds" because they thought we were out of the game. If that was you, we'd love for you to join back with us. We put our most frequent updates on that page. If you aren't already following our blog, here, we invite you to join us as well. On the right side there should be a few ways to join us whether it be through Google Friend Connect, subscribe via e-mail ...etc. We hope to start keeping people updated in our life as a family and our journey back to missions with Mission Aviation Fellowship. Thanks for your support and prayers, we definitely appreciate them.
Love,
The Reeds
