stretching.

Goodness, looking back and ahead, it has been an incredibly full while.  You know how sometimes you are just struggling, through the clear reasons seem to elude you, or don't seem to justify such struggle?  Matt calls them "dark nights of the soul", in which we are waiting for God...and then still waiting.  Matt speaks often of those times of waiting, and the importance of HOW we persevere over the importance of how they end...of getting them to end.

So I am persevering through struggle, struggle with lonely, struggle with change, struggle with loss, waiting on Him, resisting prayers that I might just feel better now and instead focusing on waiting and trusting and staying uncomfortable till He might release me.  

There have been some lovely things the last few days, like Emily's dear friends (who have, over their trips to Haiti and our time in Jersey become MY friends, too, thank you Lord!) who came for 4 or 5 days, and this Saturday when we took them to the bay.

There's these three girls, who are just delightful, of course...funny and sweet and busy.

And this girlie who just must be one of the most content babies on the earth.

So much of His beauty surrounds us.

We had to let a dear friend go this week, a man who's worked for Emmaus longer than we have, and that, of course, was awful.  And hard.  Awful hard.  It so much more fun, as missionaries, to talk about all the good things and all the progress and all the unexpected blessings and all the fantastic relationships.  And yet there is the flip side of so many hard things, and while there is much benefit and good to doing what needs done honestly and well and with love no matter how hard it is, it is very hard to be the ones having to do it.  Breaking it for the best.

It went as well as it could and has been years and years coming, waiting on the Lord and hoping and praying many times for change, but it leaves you heavy when it's over either way.

Doing what's best is frequently not what's easiest, is it.

Classes are going well, church this morning at Granny's was a gift, as always...even just watching my three with Granny and enjoying being with Christ-that-is-in-her.  The first part of the elections were finally brought out this weekend, and mostly peace prevails.  The girl's schools are finally starting up again (they were breaked for election drama), we're so enjoying finally really getting to know our first year students, six students were again at Fev this morning, loving on and teaching the children, the adults, the elderly.  So good.

Edlin's dear mother, after so many years of illness and blindness, finally had the scales fall off at the feet of our Father...you might remember her as the blind woman Matt used to go and read the Bible to every week when we lived in Vaudreil.  We are so thankful she is healed and finally living a full life with Christ with no more pain and suffering...and yet poor Edlin is so incredibly devastated.  Lily running to take his shaking hand tonight as he cried and as Matt prayed completely undid me.

All of our children are learning far more in the midst of our lives than they are when we sit down to teach them.

Another new week is upon us and I should already be in long in bed!  Keep us close in your prayers as we keep you, and let us stretch as He stretches us.