Be Flexible!

We were scheduled to leave Indianapolis at 2:29 PM on Thursday, October 11, 2007. We said goodbye to family, checked our bags filled with the minimal personal things we need for a year, made it through security unscathed and as we sat waiting for our plane, a voice over the intercom explained that due to mechanical problems our plane has not even left Wahington DC and would not be on the ground in Indianapolis for another 2 1/2 hours (be flexible). While the airline worked frantically to make alternative connections for those of us who had to catch connecting flights in Washington DC, the cell phone rang with a message from Esther at the Belgian Consulate in New York that our visas have been approved as soon as we could send our passports to them (be flexible).

We could...

a) fly to Washington DC and try to get a connecting flight to New York to take care of our visas in person

b) continue with our current itinerary and return at a later date to pick up our visas

c) overnight ship our passports to the Belgian Consulate in New York and try to reschedule our flight

(be flexible)

We chose c). Now we are scheduled to leave for Belgium on Monday, October 15, at 2:29 PM, this time with visas in hand. While this delays our arrival in Belgium AGAIN, we see the hand of God in this and continue to be amazed at his provision. God can even use mechanical problems on an airplane to carry out his plan. We are living what we have been teaching students all these years, that when it comes to missions and God's work...be flexible! Now it's time for us to practice what we preach. And the lesson we are learning is...God is faithful, he has not failed us yet, but sometimes he scares us to death! When we choose to remain moldable and flexible in God's capable hands, we reflect the character and priorities of our Lord, and look a little more like our leader Jesus every day.