Decision

As you probably know, I have been struggling a lot with coming to a decision about where to go next year. I've wanted with all of my heart to be back in Africa almost immediately after the final Christmas gift is opened, the last drop of eggnog vanished, and the final fa-la-la-la-la fading. But that is not to be. I've been sensing it for quite a while, but last week God had finally brought me to a place where I was ready to accept it, and confirmed His will with a verse.

"Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture." Psalm 37:3

There are times when God speaks and it is clear. There are moments when He uses His Word and it is as though a specific verse was written exactly for me and my current situation. This certainly does not happen every day, but when it does... I know it. This verse confirmed to me that I am to dwell in the land... THIS land... for at least a year. So in a couple of weeks I will be applying for a job in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at a hospital in Fargo. I already have found an absolutely adorable apartment and will move in mid-November, so things are falling into place. Now that the decision is made, I'm excited! I'm looking forward to getting time with people who I have needed to neglect over the past several years because of various other commitments commanding my attention. I am thrilled to be free to attend some of my sister's basketball games this winter, to think about sledding and building snowmen after the first good blizzard, to get to know my new sister and help her settle in here (BIG change from Texas!), and to have the opportunity to get involved with what God is doing right here at home. All the while, of course, I will be thinking of and praying for other places... places where my heart lies... Mozambique, South Africa, Nepal, and Nigeria to name a few, and others that I have not yet seen but know that I would love. Places where poverty and death run rampant but where God is at work. It will be wonderful to be home for a season and I will learn and gain much from being here. I am content to take this next step and let God speak for what I should do after the year when His time is right. His ways are so far beyond my ability to understand, but I am learning to accept that and even love that about him... well, sometimes:).

This is random, but I was wondering today why I'm so forgetful? For example, does anyone else ever get off the phone with someone and realize that you said basically NOTHING of what you wanted to say to that person? Why does that happen? Or does anyone else go to a closet to find something and then stand in there for several minutes just staring at nothing, not sure why you are there? I must be getting old, because I have done both of these things recently.

In the mood for some country music:)...