I have been riding what seems to be a rollercoaster of emotions these days. I can't speak for Sarah, but I'm fairly confident that she's in a similar place. It seems that both of our lives lately are consistently filled with lots of small but significant stresses as well as some pretty sweet blessings.
Please continue to lift us up in prayer as we both strive to:
"Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for [us] in Christ Jesus." (1 Thessalonians 5:16-17)
Today, however, I'm confident that I speak for both of us when I say that we are feeling very, very blessed.
In the midst of the planning and prep for Saturday's dinner, we were finding ourselves increasingly anxious given our lack of experience cooking ethnic foods, or for that matter, cooking any foods for large groups of people. Some of our help had also fallen through and so while we felt confident that everything would get done (we weren't totally on our own, and we had still managed to borrow enough crock pots and/or rice cookers!), we were both continuing to ask God to provide even just one person to help us. We were praying specifically for someone to step up who a) knows something about cooking Indian food, b) knows something about cooking for large groups of people and/or c) would be available to help prepare at least one of the dishes that we are hoping to serve.
I received a phone call from Sarah around 9pm this evening (yesterday evening, I suppose, given that it's technically Friday morning now...) informing me that God had totally come through for us in the form of one AMAZING woman who a) knows a LOT about cooking Indian food, b) knows a LOT about cooking food for large groups of people, and c) is willing to help us with the preparation of the main dishes--and even the grocery shopping-- tomorrow (er, today). Oh, and she's offered to help with some of the setup and prep that we'll be doing on Saturday too.
Can I get a "Hallelujah!" or a "Praise the Lord!"? Amen.
(Also, you better believe that this is going to be one fabulous Indian dinner. You should totally come.)
But wait! There's more. A few updates re: official stuff.
We have BOTH been officially approved for our VISAs to get into India! My passport + VISA arrived via Canada Post yesterday and Sarah's will be delivered via her parents in the very near future.
We are both almost entirely immunized! I say "almost" because, as it turns out, we both need Typhoid and, while Sarah had hers a couple of weeks ago, when I went to get mine this afternoon, I was informed that a) it is currently on back order and b) there was a recall on it very recently.
Please pray that Sarah's Typhoid shot was not one of the lot numbers which was recalled or that if it was, it will be a relatively smooth process should she need to get a second immunization. For me, please pray that the immunization will be made available again prior to our departure in November. Let's be honest, I'm totally praying that it will be available WELL before our departure.
Of course, we're also praying that God would continue to provide the funding that we need to get to India!
We're about 3/4 of the way there, and feeling pretty excited about how God has been affirming this trip for both of us through the encouragement and support of our families and friends, especially over the last week or so.
Want to hear more? Come out for dinner on Saturday!
Please continue to lift us up in prayer as we both strive to:
and to:
"not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present [our] requests to God. [So that] the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard [our] hearts and [our] minds in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:7-8)
Today, however, I'm confident that I speak for both of us when I say that we are feeling very, very blessed.
In the midst of the planning and prep for Saturday's dinner, we were finding ourselves increasingly anxious given our lack of experience cooking ethnic foods, or for that matter, cooking any foods for large groups of people. Some of our help had also fallen through and so while we felt confident that everything would get done (we weren't totally on our own, and we had still managed to borrow enough crock pots and/or rice cookers!), we were both continuing to ask God to provide even just one person to help us. We were praying specifically for someone to step up who a) knows something about cooking Indian food, b) knows something about cooking for large groups of people and/or c) would be available to help prepare at least one of the dishes that we are hoping to serve.
I received a phone call from Sarah around 9pm this evening (yesterday evening, I suppose, given that it's technically Friday morning now...) informing me that God had totally come through for us in the form of one AMAZING woman who a) knows a LOT about cooking Indian food, b) knows a LOT about cooking food for large groups of people, and c) is willing to help us with the preparation of the main dishes--and even the grocery shopping-- tomorrow (er, today). Oh, and she's offered to help with some of the setup and prep that we'll be doing on Saturday too.
Can I get a "Hallelujah!" or a "Praise the Lord!"? Amen.
(Also, you better believe that this is going to be one fabulous Indian dinner. You should totally come.)
But wait! There's more. A few updates re: official stuff.
We have BOTH been officially approved for our VISAs to get into India! My passport + VISA arrived via Canada Post yesterday and Sarah's will be delivered via her parents in the very near future.
We are both almost entirely immunized! I say "almost" because, as it turns out, we both need Typhoid and, while Sarah had hers a couple of weeks ago, when I went to get mine this afternoon, I was informed that a) it is currently on back order and b) there was a recall on it very recently.
Please pray that Sarah's Typhoid shot was not one of the lot numbers which was recalled or that if it was, it will be a relatively smooth process should she need to get a second immunization. For me, please pray that the immunization will be made available again prior to our departure in November. Let's be honest, I'm totally praying that it will be available WELL before our departure.
Of course, we're also praying that God would continue to provide the funding that we need to get to India!
We're about 3/4 of the way there, and feeling pretty excited about how God has been affirming this trip for both of us through the encouragement and support of our families and friends, especially over the last week or so.
Want to hear more? Come out for dinner on Saturday!
