409 Claudia St.

Psalm 17 : 18-19

Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel,

who alone does wondrous things.

Blessed be his glorious name forever;

may the whole earth be filled with his glory!

Amen and Amen!

We have said it many times through this whole journey, yet God knows exactly when we are in need of experiencing His providence so plainly.  I don't know any other way to say it but we are humbly grateful to be able to walk this road.

Yesterday morning we signed an offer on our house!!!  There is of course still an inspection to be done next week, so a few details need to be taken care of.  But long story short, we accepted a great offer on our house which will allow for us to stay in it until we leave for the airport on August 12!  There are so many other details that also fell into place in just under 24 hours of our buyer looking at our home, that it seems too good to be true.  But we know it isn't too good, it is simply God doing His 'wondrous things' in our lives.

I will share one story...
About 15 minutes before I signed my part of the purchase agreement Thursday morning, the girls were playing outside, and I was inside trying to get myself ready for the day.  Logan came in and said their was a man looking at the outside of the house.  I went out and introduced myself to which he told me he was the father, of the woman offering to buy our home.  He explained how embarrassed his daughter was that he was even at our house, but she and her mom were in the car waiting.  The father had not been able to see the house the night before, and just wanted to take a look at the outside, hoping we were not home.  I insisted he come inside, as he made the effort to look at the outside.  After they quickly looked at each room in the house, we shared with each other both of our situations.  At one point, all the adults had tears in our eyes because of how it worked out for us all so well.
Sellers don't often get to meet they buyers in this sort of way, but I was so grateful that this interaction happened.  I believe my heart was again being cared for, knowing that our home is going to be a blessing to another person.  The buyer told me, 'I knew as soon as I walked in, that this house was where I needed to live!'

Today we are praising God for this provision in our life, and humbly thankful for the prayers you have offered on our behalf.

Transition

If you want the short of what has been going on, here it is:
  - Summer has started and that means a time of transition
  - The Mulder women don't always handle transition very well... but we need to get comfortable with  
    it, it is going to be around for a while : )
  - Our house is still for sale after 23 showings... but yesterday we learned of an interested party!!!
     (we are cautiously optimistic)  Keep praying please.
  - Said goodbye to Sioux Falls Christian School for a time...
  -  Packed our second bag to head down to Haiti ahead of our departure on August 12.

*If you want to know what has been going on in my heart & mind you are welcome to keep reading :)

Transition.  We as a family are in it.  Reality is, we might be in it for an undetermined amount of time.  Last week, 3 of our 5 family members walked out of Sioux Falls Christian School and knew we would not be returning for a while.  We unpacked the backpacks, cleaned off computers, and handed in keys.

It always happens this time of year for the girls and I (Sara).  The long awaited summer vacation begins, and we experience a couple weeks where we are in transition.  I am sure this is no different for many other families, figuring out new schedules, finding ways to fill our time, and even accomplishing a few things that have been put off 'until summer.'  In the past, this time of transition is sometimes difficult because we are all trying to find a rhythm again.

This year, the transition feels a bit different.  We are trying to sell our house, we are packing suitcases to send to Haiti and bring to storage, we are creating a list of fun things to do 'before we leave...' and we are doing our best to extend grace to each other through it all.  But I have to be honest with you, and myself, I don't always do well with transition.  I think it is the lack of control and structure to our days.  The reality is, the girls and I have more hours, and flexibility in our days to carve out how we spend them.  Like I said before, this is something we always eagerly anticipate, but this is a whole new level of transition.

Today was one of those days.  We had fun things planned, we had friends to see, our house was showing twice!  But I never gave my day to God before my feet hit the floor.  Thus the grace tank was running on low towards each other.   Early in the afternoon, the three girls were all either napping or quietly reading in their rooms.  I spent a bit of time on the patio reading a book.  I have referred to this book before in a previous post, so forgive me if I am over using it to relate to our own situations. But I found myself being reminded of exactly what my heart needed today.  I want to share with you a portion from Kisses From Katie, by Katie Davis.  It speaks of the battle between God and us in our struggle for obedience to His will on our lives.  The author uses an analogy of one of her 3 year old daughter's battle to take a bath.  The little girls fights a bath every time, and every time ends up realizing by the end of the bath, they really are wonderful and necessary.

         - "I shudder to think what I could have missed in life because of my disobedience.  I am so  thankful that God in His grace does not allow me to win.  Because usually, the fight is not really about what he is asking me to do.  It is not about the bathtub, It is about me, trying to figure out just how much control I have over my little life.  At this point, not much.
             I would like to be able to say that I always do exactly what the Lords asks of me.  I would like to say that I always seek Him first when a difficult situation presents itself.  While I am getting better at it, sometimes I don't.  Sometimes I still think what I do with my life should be my decision.  God asks, and reasons, and encourages.  He gently explains that I do not know what is best for me and that I do not always get what I want.  And I just look at Him, not understanding at all what He's trying to say.  Sometimes, I even whine and sob and shriek, just like a tired, angry three-year-old.
            So God picks me up, exhausted from struggling, and plops me in the center of His will for my life.  And then a funny thing happens.  As I kick and scream and struggle, I remember: I like being in the center of God's will for my life.  God's plan is usually pretty great.  It is a whole lot better than mine anyway.  I am so glad that He does not allow me to win.
           The more I strive to live in the center of God's will, the more He asks me to give up, the more uncomfortable I become.  He teaches me, over and over, that He does know best.  The 'bathtub,' the uncomfortable places, they get only more difficult.  But I am learning to remember, before I even get there, that eventually this will be what is best for me, and more important, what is best for His glory."

I really believe the circumstances of today, that didn't go as planned, and where love did not win, were a reminder to me that I am not in control.  That I  cannot expect plans to fall into place, or events to run smoothly, or children to listen the first time.  I myself am often pitching-a-fit with God, and not looking to the Holy Spirit to guide my attitude, responses, and obedience.  If only I would daily surrender my plans for His, and live minute-by-minute seeking His will.  Tomorrow is a new day, and I will pray I do not win.

Lamentations 3:22-24 is running through my head.
 " The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness.  'The Lord is my portion,' says my soul, 'therefore I will hope in Him."

Heart Preperations

This post might be more of an update on the condition of our hearts and minds, rather than an update on logistical things... so just a warning to proceed.

Over the past few months, there have been numerous times I/we have had conversations about how we have arrived at the place we are at, in the partnership with Mission Haiti this next year.  These conversations have taken place in coffee shops, grocery stores, our own home, works places, our church and the list goes on.  I have been thankful for the opportunities to tell a bit of our story, to sometimes the most unlikely people, and am amazed at how often connections are made in other's lives.  As I reflect now, it is unmistakably by God's providence, that He has allowed our hearts to be cared for in this way.  It brings comfort to my heart knowing that this sometimes crazy adventure, is not so crazy after all, when so many people have crossed our path knowing about, or having some connections to Mission Haiti.  I sincerely believe it is God's way of carrying me through days, where I could feel very alone in what is going on in our life, as if no one can relate.

The fact is, there are so many who have cared for our whole family's hearts so well on this wild ride.  I have used the analogy a few times of God putting down dots throughout our life.  He has opened our eyes to how some of these dots are getting connected, revealing a part of the bigger picture in how He is leading us.

A couple weeks ago I had the opportunity to share a little bit at an SFC chapel.  The chapel was made up of a variety of people telling about events which reveal God's hand at work in the life of our school.  One phrase I remember saying as I spoke was, 'we never saw ourselves being in the position we are in.'  For a while when I would say this to people it scared me.  My doubt and fear would get the best of me, and the little voice in my head would question if this really was the right thing for our family.

I am happy to say with certainty, this is what we have been led to.  Haiti is where our family has been called to be for the next year.  Even as I write that, it seems a little unreal, but it is one of those gut feelings, that this is right and good.  I know this feeling is a shred of the peace we have been praying for all along.  Even though we have experienced this peace, we also experience times of question, exhaustion, worry and weariness.   I believe these are all ways in which our sinful flesh is telling us to take the easy route, and give in to the trust we are placing in God's faithfulness.

So right now we are doing our best to be responsible to the things that need to be done.  Things like training those individuals who will be filling our roles at the bank and school, things like making sure the house is in 'show' condition every day, and things like focusing on relationships with friends and family that will soon enough take on a different look, as we load the plane at the end of July.  All of these things need to be given attention, and we are grateful for our Lord's sustaining power through it all.

I want to end with a quote from a book given to me by a very dear friend.  The book is 'Kisses From Katie" written by Katie Davis.  I am only two chapters in, but already know I can recommend you to read it if at all interested.  In all the preparations for our move, and with all the 'lasts' happening, we have tried to be intentionally preparing our hearts for our role in Haiti.  I believe this book will play a role in that preperation.

         "...there were still times in those early days when I wondered Why me[us]? Why would God choose me[us] to do this? But as I think through my life, I see how blessed and loved I have been.  I think it is only normal that God would ask, even require, me to share this love with others who may not know it.  Luke 12:48 says, 'From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.'  And I have been given so much.'

I read this and identified with it completely.  We could have ignored what had been placed in our path.  I will admit, I actually prayed to God to take this opportunity all away.  But He didn't.  He worked on my heart, Tim's heart, and the hearts of our girls, in exactly the way we all uniquely needed for His plan to become ours.