The Slow Track: The 2020 Freely Given Update
I don’t know about you, but God has apparently placed me on the slow track.
How slow?
So slow that Freely Given may only need one update this year. So slow that we haven’t posted on our Facebook page since 2018. So slow that I cringe when Nic tells people we “are” missionaries, when I feel the reality is closer to “we have been working toward being missionaries since 2001, but still aren’t quite there yet.”
Make no mistake, my life is full of countless blessings. The scenic route the Lord has led Nic and I down has been beautiful and full of adventure … but, let’s face it, it’s still been SLOW.
I trust that God knows what I need, but the temptation to doubt that trust is greatest when I consider how far behind I am in my life plans! Based on past projections, I should be speaking several foreign languages fluently, running an orphanage and clinic in a developing nation, and speaking to the UN about my efforts … You know, looking something like this:
Instead, I speak only English and I’ve been overseas only once in the last six years. My husband often references the fact that I’ve felt called to be a missionary since age 10. That is absolutely true and the desire has never once died … So, what is the deal?! Well, like I said, I’m apparently on the slow track to getting there. It would take several chapters to outline the slow and winding path Nic and I have traveled since we lived in China 15 years ago, so let’s fast forward to 2018.
When I finally, FINALLY, completed residency in 2018 I thought, “This is it! I’m done with the slow track! We are finally in the fast lane to being full-time medical missionaries!”
Nic and I organized a trip to Kenya. Less than 2 months after completing residency we were on a plane with all 4 kids and on to the next step. It was AMAZING! Upon returning to the US, Nic and I were going to write multiple blogs about our experience in Kenya, start fund raising, and work on the next mission trip. We found a wonderful place to work stateside (International Falls, MN!) where we felt our missionary hearts could be of service to the local church and community. Then, we’d plan a medical mission trip every year until we became financially independent and could be off like the Swiss Family Robinson. Piece of cake, right?
Aaaaannnnddd, here is where God decided to put us on the slow track yet again.
For the most hilarious of timing, on my first day of orientation for my first job as a brand new doctor, I asked myself, “Could I possibly be pregnant again?”
And yes, I was!
I, who did not become pregnant for the first 15 years of our marriage, was now expecting for a second time!
All those blogs I was going to write? Yeah, I was napping instead. Nic didn’t get to his blogs either, apparently busy taking care of the other four children while I worked and slept. Another fun addition was that the house we were going to rent for our first year in International Falls fell through, leaving us scrambling to find a home large enough for our growing family. (No easy task, by the way.) So, rather than blog about Kenya and plan our next medical mission trip, we were finding shelter and enlarging our family. All thanks to God, we moved into a beautiful home just about 6 weeks before our beautiful Evangeline Ethel Willene arrived.
Now let’s fast forward to about 2 months ago.
With the minor details of a new home and a new child taken care of, it was once again time to set our sites on the long-term goal. Nic and I decided our next mission trip would be to Dominica. As you may know, this is where our 3 oldest children are from and they have always wanted to return. Dominica will be safe for our littlest travelers and I still have a few connections in the medical field there. I sent out several emails to begin looking into logistics for a medical mission trip in 2021. It felt great to get the ball rolling! (Planning for the next trip greatly eases my disappointment that there will be no trip in 2020.) Time to get back in the fast lane, right?! Right? ….
Well, apparently not.
No sooner had I begun to make plans when coronavirus struck.
As you may have noticed, the global pandemic pretty much dominates the attention of the medical community. Organizing a medical mission for a visiting doctor can require a lot of logistical time and effort—and will obviously need to take a backseat to the current crisis. Like the best-laid plans of so many others, the pandemic has sidelined my planning for now.
Once again, I find myself on the slow track. And, that is where Freely Given sits for the current time—waiting on God’s provision and timing. We look forward to sharing our next step as soon as we know it!
The following homily beautifully addresses our feelings and puts our hearts right back where they should be: