Always Within Arms Reach
Dear Family of Faith & Friends,
I'm convinced along with David –
"If I go up to the heavens, You [God] are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, You are there.
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 139:8-10).
I'm convinced along with Paul –
"He [God] has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, & has determined their preappointed times & the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him & find Him, though He is not far from each one of us..." (Acts 17:26-27).
God not only wants us to look for & find Him, but reach out for Him, depending on Him to always be within arms' reach as we grope for Him, no matter where we are. Amen?
So, in the modified schedules & cancelled activities & lost jobs & sickness & injury & death, He is there.
My update this time around is a request for prayer on behalf of my personal primary ministry--to Shannon & John.
A couple of weeks ago John was sliding off the bed stomach first while Shannon was bending over at the bedside to pick up something on the floor. They didn't see each other & none of us are sure exactly what happened, but the heel of John's foot collided HARD with Shannon's left eye.
She tells us she felt & heard a "pop," saw white, & then the pain & double-vision set in. After an ER visit, many tests, & several follow-up visits to an opthamologist, an ENT specialist, & a surgeon, the consensus is that she suffered an orbital blowout fracture.
When we moved to Michigan in late 2012, we learned quickly that three words we knew--lake, effect, & snow--have a special meaning when put together in a way we'd never experienced before that time.
We know orbital & blowout & fracture, but we had no idea how painful they were when put together. All that to say, we just learned a few hours ago that Shannon is scheduled for surgery on the morning of May 26th.
The good news is, with some mesh replacing the function of the floor of the eye socket in a delicate surgery requiring 2 surgeons repairing different injuries, all the doctors involved are expecting a full recovery. Please praise God for that with us! He's SO good & merciful.
In the meantime, we don't mind sharing with you, our supportive, praying friends, that the temptation to be scared & anxious is present, & while John & I work to help Shannon be as comfortable as possible, John's tender heart that especially loves his mom is experiencing waves of guilt.
So, it's been a hard & wonderful time. The hard part is obvious & that's true in all of our lives. We don't ever have to go looking for difficulty. The Lord told Adam & Eve & us life would be hard & His promises are true.
But we've also experienced prayer in these past couple of weeks that is different & deeper than our normal. We're confident He's hearing, collecting, & will answer our prayers in His perfect time & way.
I invite you to pray with us for Shannon's complete healing & peace & grace to endure what the Lord has set before her while He works this episode out for her good & His glory.
I invite you to pray with us for John to understand Christ's work on the cross in this time where he's examining guilt & remorse more closely than any of us ever want to.
Finally, we invite you to celebrate with us our ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY on the field with Village Missions! That would not be possible without your generosity, kindness, prayer, & support in so many ways. This time one year ago, in the early evening hours of May 21, we rolled into Audubon, Iowa. Now, we write to you from Eastern Pennsylvania. It's true for all of us that we can plan all we want, but the Lord has His way (Proverbs 16:9). Amen?
Thank you for loving us. We love you back. Jesus loves you more!
Living for Jesus,
Dave for Shannon & John
Dave’s email TeachingSomethingGood@gmail.com
Shannon’s email VinitaReading@yahoo.com