How did I end up here? -- Part 5

If you missed Part 4 --click HERE.  Or go HERE to start at Part 1.

So, a bit nervous, we go to share about what we felt the Lord was saying and where we felt he was leading us to go at a meeting with our leadership.  We share first where we felt God was leading us, and we see a bit of surprise on their faces.  You see, many people see The Haven ministry as THE ministry to be apart of: its located in beautiful Portugal, beaches nearby, having fun with all the missionaries the come by, etc.  They couldn't help but ask if that was why we were choosing The Haven.  A legitimate question, yes, but a painful one to those that have been through quite a journey to even get to this point.  YES.  

We answered as humbly as we could and then shared how the Lord led us to this decision.  When all was said and done, they were excited for us and blessed us in it.  They just said one thing, "We are excited for you guys, but just so you know, FIVE other couples have applied to join The Haven and two singles."  Lovely.  Not only, are we asking to join a team (previously we were the ones being asked to join!) but now we were also going to be in a line-up!  My self-esteem took a further dive south as I thought about being lined up with five other couples!  Surely, they were more spiritual or disciplined or holy or whatever.  I was a bit discouraged.

Well, we sent the email to the leaders of the Haven anyway.  We were certain of what the Lord was calling us to and we had to go for it however challenging it was.  We get a response the next day and the day after that we are Skypeing with the leaders, sharing our story with them.  That led to seven weeks of Skype interviews.  For seven weeks we had NO idea (other than God's consistent confirmation that we were on the right track) whether they were going to accept us or not.  We weren't allowed to share with anyone which team we were applying to, just that we were no longer pursuing Russia and were looking into another team.

Can I tell you how hard that seven weeks were?  Very hard.  But, you know, God was faithful.  He gave us word after word and encouragement after encouragement that we were on the right track and that The Haven was where he was leading us to go.  We even had people(who had no idea where we had applied to) ask us if we had considered applying for the Haven team.

Well, as you probably know, we got accepted.  We were thrilled to see God's promises come true.  He is faithful.

Oh, remember our house?  That we rented way back in October of '09?  Well, its SOLD.  :)  It sold this past May.  Perfect timing and a great encouragement to us.

We are currently fund raising and as soon as we raise all of our financial support we will be on our way.  We are currently at 65% of our monthly financial needs.  Pray with us to see 100% reached soon!

If you have read this little novel in its entirety, I commend you for you patience!  Next up will be something along the lines of "lessons learned during two years of transition" or something really fun like that.  ;)

Blessings,

Janice