Change of Plans

Yesterday we received a call telling us that the medical staff wanted to give us an update on what's going on. We knew what that meant. A few minutes later, our hypothesis was confirmed. We aren't going overseas.

DeLaynie has been placed at the mildest end of the autism spectrum. (Autism spectrum disorder is different from autism proper, in case you're planning on checking out on Wikipedia. You should know, however, than none of the medical sites' descriptions of children with this disorder remotely fit DeLaynie.) The medical staff doesn't want to send her to a place where another language is spoken for a portion of the day because they're afraid that will confuse her as she tries to learn English. I guess New York City, Los Angeles, and most of Texas are out of the question, then, huh?

Now, before you get all worried and spiritually burdened, you should know that I'm doing just fine. Really. People here at the training center don't seem to believe me. But at this point, it's helpful to know that we are called to serve in the United States. We had been looking at countries all over the planet, hoping to find a fit somewhere other than here, but this definitely narrows the options.

For us, staying is a sacrifice. It's the sacrifice that we've been called to lay down at the feet of Jesus, and it will be.

Don't get it in your head that I'm being super-spiritual about the situation. I really want to go, and I'm plenty unhappy that we aren't. But we aren't. We know that God's sovereignty doesn't have a glitch in it. We know that His goodness is abundant. We know that He is our portion and our good. For now, He's going to be our portion and our good in this country. We're hoping that when DeLaynie has progressed to an age appropriate level, we may return to the possibility of overseas ministry.

We should mention that we're hoping to go west (young man), where churches are dramatically less numerous than they are in the southeast. Plus, I would love to get some seminary under my pink, rhinestone-laden belt, and I really like Golden Gate, a seminary made up of five campuses spread out over the west.

For now, we have no firm plans. The next step is to see Edwin's brother, and then we head to Alabama, where we have a furnished mission house waiting on us, by the grace of God and His provision. We will serve where needed, and follow the path that God will, most assuredly, make straight under our feet, as He has to this point.