Stinky Diapers, The Sun, COVID-19
Children stink. As anyone that has ever raised a smaller version of themselves will tell you, children cry, stink, sleep, and are happy equal parts in one day. It is a constant balancing act to keep any one of those verbs/adjectives from overpowering the others. Sometimes if they are happy and stinky its best just to let them be. That being said, children are also a huge blessing! They keep us humble and make us better. A few days ago, mid-morning my 4 yr old son asked me when the sun was going to come out. I said that the sun was already shining, but we couldn’t see it because of the clouds. I could see the gears turning in his head, and then in his little high pitched voice answered “the sun is out even when we can’t see it? Oh, that’s cool!”
Right now it seems impossible to see the other side of this dark cloud. All of us do not know what the future looks like right now. Voices are telling us what to believe or not believe about the virus, and about the future. We are confused and buying way too much toilet paper (this newsletter is paper, you’re welcome)!
Planes fly into clouds all the time and rarely have any problems. During most of the flights you have taken in your life, the plane flew through clouds. Planes have instruments that guide the pilots even when they can’t see anything. In fact, when you are in a cloud your senses become useless. Your gut is telling you that the plane is going up, when in reality it is descending. Your gut is telling you are flying straight and level, when you are turning to the left. An untrained pilot flying into a cloud, will on average lose control of their aircraft in 178 seconds.
The Bible is our instrument to guide us through this cloud; we know the One who made it! We have confidence that we will see Him on the other side of this cloud, because the Son is always there. We were never promised tomorrow (James 4:13-16), but God promises to be good and faithful.
Unreached people groups may not get Covid-19, but they have crop failures (economy), and deaths from diarrhea (health) and can probably relate well to us right now. However we have the Bible, we have salvation paid for by Jesus, and WE HAVE HOPE! This is not to downplay the very real impacts this virus will have on our lives, not at all. But pray and weep for those that have no hope, that have no instrument, and do not know the Son.
Mission Spotlight
Missionary Flights International or MFI serves various missions in Haiti, the DR, and the Bahamas. They fly WW2-era DC3s with new turboprop engines. With these planes, they can get into some of the roughest strips, with tons of supplies, food, or anything else the missions may need. We are currently inspecting one of their engines for airworthiness at MMS Aviation.
Prayer
Pray for my family and me as the leader of the house. The next few weeks, and months are scary and the future is uncertain.
Pray for the safety of healthcare personnel, my sister Bonnie in particular.
Pray for the people dying alone during this crisis; and family members that can’t be beside their loved ones in the last hours
Praise
Praise that Freddie broke through a plate glass coffee table, scrambled scared amidst the broken shards of glass, and only received a few small cuts.
Praise that we found a faith family that we can plug into at Crosspointe Mennonite Church.
Flyin' Bryan 