The Roads of My Life



Two years ago this week my family and I left our house on a bumpy road to the big city and the airport.  We were tired and worn out.  We were confused and not sure of the future - near or far.  





We were heading to the States for a scheduled furlough.  It was close to Christmas and I had high hopes that the land of plenty would have some resolution, some help, some anything.  As we headed down the country road to my parents' house, I prayed that the love of family would wrap us up with warmth and help bring on the healing we needed.

For a year it felt like we were running here and there, 
looking for answers everywhere we traveled.

In all the hurrying about, I wasn't sure if we didn't need to just stop and enjoy the ride, so to speak...


Somehow, somewhere along one of those long roads, we made some big decisions which including stopping some of the hustle and bustle and realizing that we couldn't hunt for answers all over the place.  With that resolution we came back to the dry, bumpy roads of Brazil with peace that God was indeed in control and would resolve the problems at hand in His way and time and on His road.



We left Brazil for that hopping about furlough in December 9th of 2013 and came back on December 10th of 2014.  We have certainly come a long way and many miles since both trips.  Did all of our problems and bumps in the road just go away?  Nah, but we're still going and God is taking care of the rest.

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  Jeremiah 29:11

Comments

Post a Comment

Thank you for stopping by! Leave me a message if you would.

Popular posts from this blog

What's Next?

Image
That seems to be the question every one asks us these days since we've arrived back in Sobradinho.  What's next?  What are you going to do now?  Where are you going?  A few people ask about how the boys are or things about my grandbabies or parents.  But not too many.  This week three people asked when I could start teaching English to their children again!



So what is next for The Athas in Brazil?  If you were able to attend one of our furlough meetings, hopefully you have some sort of idea.  If not, I'll try to give a brief answer to the big question.

Remember that trip we took all over interior Bahia back in the fall of 2017?  We visited over 200 communities over the course of about two weeks all within a few hours of where we live.  You can back to my post about it and review some of the details here...

Bahia Road Trip

Byron and I plan to begin evangelizing some of the nearest and neediest communities that we visited on our trip.  We came back with evangelism materials.  By…
Read more

Pressing On - Marriage on the Mission Field

Image
That's us on our first furlough in 1998.  Byron was 33 and I was 32.  No gray hairs, no flab, two cute little MK's.  We'd been married for about 10 years and on the mission field for 4.  We stayed in Winston-Salem that year at one of the mission houses of Pleasant View Baptist Church.  We stayed for a whole year.  Byron worked some for a friend with a automotive repair shop that year and I stayed at home with William who was almost 4 and baby Dalton who turned two while we were there. We traveled together to visit all of our churches that year and made several big trips to Georgia and Maryland to visit with family.

Our first term of service on the mission field had been rough.   Language school, learning the ropes, figuring out how to deal with colleagues, two new babies, low finances.  Somehow we had made it through together.  We were okay and things were alright.  Now we were first term survivors on our way back.

Byron and I had met in Bible college.  We had some classes t…
Read more

Our Graduate

Image
This Friday evening the youngest of our clan will finish up high school and move on to the next stage of his life - summer!  Oh, and then college and what not.

It's been an incredible eighteen years...


Greyson was always a cutie-pie with his blonde hair and blue eyes in a country where that was a rarity.  Word is that when he was around five or six years old on the island camp people would ask to take photos with him and that he would oblige for a small fee.  Cute and knew it?


For the most part he's been a joy, even though he doesn't comb his hair very often and making his bed doesn't come easy.  Perhaps his musical right sided brain could never deal with the structure of making a bed each day?  I'm hoping he'll learn at college!


As the last in the nest, Greyson enjoyed a few years of being an only child.  Byron and I got to take a long awaited road trip around southern Brazil with Greyson in tow.  We made some great memories and enjoy some sweet bonding moments...


…
Read more