The Silver Lining

I don't know how well you know me so I confess it is hard for me to see the silver lining in hard circumstances. I'm often told it is there but I just can't see it...or feel it for that matter. So my exercise for the moment is to LOOK for the good in my circumstances and see God working despite the struggles. So although I won't elaborate on the struggles, I want to take a moment to see God even in the not so fun times and situations and say that it is not by my strength but by His alone that I am here.


Pray for Dean's schooling circumstances. We praise God for teachers that love Dean and desire for him to learn. We are grateful that he is in the SAM Academy right now and has the social atmosphere around him that he needs.


Pray for our housing. We sometimes wonder if this is the best place for us and of course I always think "does my house always have to be so old?" Still we are blessed to have a house that is very adequete for our needs here on the SAM AIR center. Although there are drawbacks to living 15km out of town there would also be drawbacks to living in town. So the silver lining in our current place of residence is that we are close to David's work and there is space for the kids to be outside and play in a pretty safe environment. We also have an awesome view of the lake and I love seeing the float plane take off and land out my kitchen door. It is a daily reminder to remember and pray for the missionaries and indigineous people that we are here to support.


Pray for us missing our families. How could there be a silver lining in this!? Well, as I miss being there for the birth of my new niece, Sydney, another baby girl was born to my neighbour here so I at least get to hold a newborn every now and again. Yes, that is a blessing even though she is not my neice. And God doesn't leave us without family when he brings us to the field. He surrounds us people to be our family. Up until now we have had decent internet and phone service to stay in touch with family. That's actually a gold lining but recently it's been difficult to connect so it's been demoted to a silver lining. At least we have more than snail mail. Can you imagine how hard it would have been for families in the early missionary days when even snail mail wasn't reliable? I cannot fathom it. We are blessed with technology and I for one am grateful.


Pray for friends. Don't know what God is doing with this one. Honestly, it seems when I get close to someone for one reason or another I leave or they leave and I'm still looking for the silver lining. One of my close friends suggested that God is stripping me of all that I think I NEED so I'm only left with him. That's hard to swallow. Maybe it's true. I guess the silver lining would be if I learned my godly lessons well so I didn't have to keep going through them!