Which way to go?

November was a month of investigating -- talking with those who know me and with those who know both of the organizations and both of the roles that were before me. And, I kept reading. I was particularly struck by two quotes from The Missionary Call: Find Your Place in God's Plan for the World by M. David Sills.

"God calls every Christian in the way He knows is best. He made our ears and knows the call we will hear the best. He also made out hearts and filled them with desires that He longs to fulfill." (p. 195)

"[God's call] is a recognition of the gifts and abilities that God has given you mixed with the desire to go where your life can best be spent 'to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of you.' (Philippians 3:12 NIV) It is at once more subtle and overpowering, sudden and growing, understood and yet becoming clearer all your life." (p. 201)

I was struck by Psalm 77:19 "Your road led through the sea, your pathway through the mighty waters — a pathway no one knew was there!" and by the conclusion to Psalm 107 - "Those who are wise will take all this to heart; they will see in our history the faithful love of the LORD."

As I went through the month, it became more and more clear to me that God was leading me away from my role at Faith Church. And, I was beginning to get a sense that one of the two new roles might be a better fit for me than the other. By the first week in December, I made a decision.

I love Ukraine. I love the people with whom I would have worked there. God is doing an amazing thing in Ukraine and it would have been a privilege to be a direct part of it. But God has prepared me to go another direction. As a part of the Operations Department with Wycliffe, I will join a staff that is wired like I am to do “background” work... to help advance Bible translation.

Evan McBroom said, "Never underestimate how God connects-the-dots to accomplish His will." If you choose almost any circumstance or influence on my life, I can tell you how God used it to play a part in preparing me for this step -- my great-grandfather's settling in Tippecanoe county; transferring colleges; a parent who helped in my classroom; hauling 6' tables around for a week one summer; agreeing to fill in at the church "until I found another job..." All of those things and myriad others helped set the stage for this move.