Back to Normal???

Isa. 55:8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," saith the Lord. This is the verse I've been clinging to this last month when a lot of questions have bombarded our minds. Do I really believe in the sovereignty of God? Where was God on November 1 while my brother Jeff was driving to meet his wife Carolyn in Spokane, Washington? Had he turned his back for a brief moment when my five nieces and nephews were tragically killed? Is a death as horrible as this in God's perfect plan? Many people say, "God knows best," but at a time like this it sounded so pat, so trite, so glib. Does God know best? What else can we believe? Even in such a terrible situation, God has been abundantly glorified. He has lavishly poured out His blessing, grace, and strength in the lives of Jeff and Carolyn more than they ever imagined. Does God know best? God has used this for good. His forgiveness has been shown to many people in a very tangible way. We only see a small frame of time, but God is looking at this event in light of his infinite plan. God sees it all. Yes, I believe with a resounding "Yes" although tears continue to flow, that God knows best! One of the hardest things I have done since we came to Poland four years ago, was to tear myself away from my brother and his wife, my dad, my mom, my siblings and in-laws, my nieces and nephews. I felt my heart rebelling at the thought of leaving them grieving and returning to cold, unforgiving Poland. I had no desire to return...to my unbelieving friends, who have no hope and hence no comfort for grieving hearts. What a contrast! A week in America surrounded by loving Christian support..back to Poland where hearts are crying out in bitterness and unbelief, "Where was God?"...back to people that can't understand that even in the middle of such a situation, a believer can experience joy, peace, and forgiveness. They just can't understand. I Cor. 1:18 "The message of the cross is foolishness to them who are perishing, but to us who are saved it is the POWER of God." But we needed to return. My heart was heavy as we tried to adjust once again to the nine-hour time change. We never experienced such jet lag before. We were all wide awake at three in the morning and sleeping peacefully at eleven! The first thing I didn't want to face upon our return was our ladies tea. Once every two months, we Americans invite Polish lady friends to get together for an evening tea. They love it. It is a reIaxed time together, and what lady doesn't enjoy cupping a fine china teacup in her hand and sipping tea in candlelight and feeling like a queen for the evening. We had planned it before we suddenly had to leave to go to my brother's children's funeral, so we had to reschedule it for after we returned. My heart wasn't into facing it and all the ladies that attended. But again, God proved marvelously faithful. He carried me through on His strength, and my desire to minister to these ladies returned and we did have a wonderful (though a bit more somber than usual) evening. I do want to share with you yet the miracle of our whole family being able to fly to the state of Washington for the funeral. When we heard the tragic news, of course, our hearts turned to America, and we begin to wonder who, if anyone, should make the trip. We thought of many combinations, but in the end, taking the advice of friends, we decided to take our whole family and fly to Seattle. This was a great step of faith because there was no way to pay for such a trip. John tried to reserve tickets, but his credit card limit couldn't even handle the total bill. But, amid many miracles we were able to fly and arrived in Spokane finally on Saturday, two days before the funeral. Thanks to many generous individuals (Thanks and thanks again to all of you who contributed!!!!), our whole trip was more than paid for---travel, food, lodging in Spokane, gas, shopping, vehicle--yes, all of it. We felt so blessed and humbled how God worked all of those little details out as well. God does care for us and we have experienced it once again. And we have continued to feel a lot of support from our small team and Christian friends here. This event has indeed touched the whole world.