Change of Scenery

I type this entry from the comforts of my home in Texas. I left Hong Kong about 3 weeks ago to return home to help take care of my sick father. I did not know what to expect when I arrived home but I don't think I could have prepared myself for this. I was greeted at the airport by great friends from DBU and delivered home not long after. That was just the beginning of everyones generosity, kindness, and love that has been shown to my family and me in the past few weeks.

My dad is weak from the medicines and has a hard time adjusting to not being able to be independent. He has been a good 'patient' and I am so thankful that God has allowed me to be home with my family in this time. I am amazed at God's goodness through these hard times. I feel Him close to my family and I know it is His hand that holds us each day. There is no way we would be able to survive if it were not for His provision. We are so blessed by our family, church family, friends, and community. They have stepped in and helped in any and every way possible and I see God's hands and feet continually at work.

My dad is slowly recovering but we have complete faith in the Lord's plans. It seems like my dad takes a few strides forward and then has a fall back but nonetheless he is still making progress. Each day brings with it new challenges and new opportunities to trust God and press into Him ever more. While we do not welcome the trials and tribulations we are so thankful for the opportunities they bring. Each hospital visit, home health evaluation, doctor appointment, visit from friends, and concerned inquiries are open doors for us to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ.

Psalm 139

¹ O LORD, you have searched me

and you know me.

² You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.

³ You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.

⁴ Before a word is on my tongue
you know it completely, O LORD.

⁵ You hem me in—behind and before;
you have laid your hand upon me.

⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.

⁷ Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?

⁸ If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

⁹ If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,

¹⁰ even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.

¹¹ If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,"

¹² even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.

¹³ For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.

¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.

¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

¹⁶ your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.

¹⁷ How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!

¹⁸ Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake,
I am still with you.

¹⁹ If only you would slay the wicked, O God!
Away from me, you bloodthirsty men!

²⁰ They speak of you with evil intent;
your adversaries misuse your name.

²¹ Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD,
and abhor those who rise up against you?

²² I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.

²³ Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.

²⁴ See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.