A few months ago as I was anticipating our time in the States,
I was really nervous about how our time would be as I knew packing in all we
wanted to do and seeing all the people we wanted to see in 4 weeks was a tall
order. I began to pray that God would
make our time feel longer than it actually was and that we would truly have
times of rest and restoration. God has
answered this prayer for us but not exactly in the way we expected.
When I felt God asking me to wean Cora and start pumping to
give baby Alseny milk (if you haven’t read the story, you can read it here), I
felt like he told me that there was another part to the story. It was an amazing opportunity to provide milk
for that baby but I just felt that there was even more to it than that. I wasn’t sure what that meant. A month before we left Guinea my milk
completely dried up and I was so sad, wondering what would happen to
Alseny. Estel, the director of Babies
without Milk, came by to get my last bag of milk just before we were leaving
and reported that he was now tolerating formula without issue. I was once again struck by God’s perfect
faithfulness in providing for this life.
He continues to do well, as far as we know, and should be up for
adoption soon! What an amazing story of
God’s perfect provision and faithfulness.
Soon after we found out that we are pregnant again! (That is the bigger than ever part, our
family not me). This is the reason that my milk dried up so quickly and I
believe that it is the other piece to the puzzle. We initially felt really overwhelmed by the
idea of having another baby so soon but we have felt so strongly that the Lord
also wanted me to wean Cora so that this baby could be. This is part of God’s perfect plan and so
while we are still a bit overwhelmed by the idea we are at peace and so
thankful for this newest addition to our family.
I am currently just over 14 weeks pregnant and due the
beginning of January! The Africa Mercy
is a hospital ship; however, it is a ship that specializes in surgeries, not in
Obstetrics or neonatal care. Because of
this women are not allowed to be pregnant on the ship past 24 weeks. After much thought and prayer we have decided
that it doesn’t make sense for the girls and me to travel back to the ship for
the rest of the time in the Canary Islands, the sail and just a short time in Congo
before we’d be required to come back to the States. This means that the girls and I will be
staying in Colorado with my parents until after the baby is born. John will head back to the ship on July 23rd
and return to Colorado in mid November and be here with us until after the baby
is born. When the baby has a passport
and his/her 2 month shots, all 5 of us will travel back to the ship together
and continue our service.
Obviously we are not thrilled about this 4 month separation
but we are sure that God continues to be in control and that this is not a
surprise to Him. It is not what we would have chosen, but we do know it is what
God has called us to do. It is going to be a time of stretching and growth for
all of us.
We appreciate your prayers during the difficult few months
apart. We have received such great prayer support from so many during our first
year. This first year was such a challenge for us and we really relied on the
prayers of so many to complete our first year of service. We hope to continue
to do many more years as the Five Walls at Sea and are so thankful for the
people who lift us up. It sounds so cliché (much like our post title-John's idea :) ), but we know we could not do what we do without this
kind of support and will really need it as we go through this season.
