Tag Archives: missions preparation

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Since I last wrote, I’ve been juggling work, school, family, and church. Working in the Emergency Department, a new and hectic environment with every encounter a potentially life-altering one, I am understandably stressed. Add to that a full-time online college career and every other facet of my life has had to make sacrifices. Just a couple weeks ago, I was feeling so overwhelmed I was sure something would have to give. Then just as I began to feel crushed under the burden, God began to lift much of the worry right off me. He showed me I was on secure footing at school, and repeatedly shows me how He is using me in people’s lives at work. I may not be the most confident Emergency Department Nurse yet, but I am useful, and most days that gets affirmed at just the right time. 

Cindy is between jobs at the moment. Resigning her former position may have relieved her of one of her major stressors but it added one for being unoccupied. You might well imagine that an out-of-work workaholic is an unhappy person. Please pray that God will open a door of opportunity for her to again find purposeful structure. It wouldn’t hurt if that opportunity came with a paycheck.

My parents have decided that, since Cindy and I are planning to leave the continent to serve long-term in Africa, they might as well leave town and seek residence near my sisters. So they are moving to Memphis next week. I have tried to pitch in and help in preparations for their move where I can, but the opportunities to help between night shift work and college deadlines have been scarce and brief. Cindy has made herself available like a champ, and my siblings have all responded like heroes. My emotions are mixed about this move, but mostly I feel like the cause of the problem rather than a source of help. Add guilt and loss onto the pile I was carrying. 

Our church family is preparing for a missions expo that will launch the week of my birthday, September 14th. We are looking forward to being a part of that, and will have an information table as part of this “Go Expo”. Thanks to our Missions Pastor Lance Sellon, CrossRoad Church, and the CRC missions team, for their willingness to allow us to participate. 

So, as you can see, prayers are needed and appreciated. We are not just sitting still waiting for Summer 2021 to arrive. It’s coming quickly, and we’re busy preparing. God is crafting me into a competent healing minister, and turning us both into what we will need to be for the tasks and times ahead. Please don’t forget to pray for us. We need you! We need God’s power and peace in our lives. I know Jesus said not to worry, and that each day has enough of its own worries (Matthew 6:34). He was right. And right now our days are filled with what feels like more than our share. 

Your fellow servant,

Todd 

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It’s hard to be positive when looking back over a year as hard as 2018 has been for me. The trials are what stick out the most: a devastating change of position from the ICU to a very stressful medical-surgical telemetry unit, a hernia and its surgical repair, turning fifty and feeling its wear, a major back surgery with all its painful recovery, and a miniature mid-life crisis mixed in for good measure. I am happy to see this year end. Reframing those hardships helps to see what I have overcome. Although my surgical recovery is still in progress, I am back at work and more confident than ever. I feel more like a grown-up and ready to be responsible for my thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and their effect on those around me. What’s more, I am learning to accept my new normal: that, while I may not be able to do the things I expected to do, there are still things I can, and God will empower me to know what those things are and to do them. 

Do what you’re afraid of and courage will meet you there.

For this New Year, I pray what I pray for every day, for myself and anyone reading this: that God will give me and you the knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry it out. Remember, we accomplish nothing by paralyzing ourselves in our fear. Do what you’re afraid of and courage will meet you there. I’m proof. I was terrified every step of the way: of going back to school, of taking every test, of applying for the Nursing Program and later for a job, of tackling that job once I got it. Still, God gave me just enough strength to meet each demand. Until here I am, slightly broken, and perpetually imperfect, ready to do the next thing, one day at a time. Happy New Year and happy new day, over and over again!