Learning to Be Still..
We are realizing that preparing to move overseas isn't just about raising support, packing boxes, learning French, and figuring out visas. God is preparing us.
He is teaching us patience, flexibility, and how to trust Him when things don't move as quickly as we'd like. This past month brought a lot of random sicknesses, and we had to pivot from what we thought this month was going to look like and isolate ourselves. We couldn't go places or see people! It was especially hard on the kids since we were in Kansas, in our hometown, and couldn't even enjoy being around our friends and family.
While that physical isolation was necessary, it made me think about how easily isolation can creep into our spiritual lives too.
The enemy would love for us to isolate ourselves, to pull away from our community, stop letting people encourage us, stop opening God's Word, and convince us that we can handle everything on our own.
But there is another side to isolation, sometimes God leads us into seasons of solitude. He pulls us away from the noise, busyness, familiar routines, and even the people around us so He can get our attention. In those quiet places, He teaches us, refines us, exposes things in our hearts, and draws us closer to Himself.
I think about Elijah in 1 Kings 19. He had just experienced an incredible victory on Mount Carmel, and then suddenly found himself running into the wilderness, exhausted, afraid, and alone. God didn't condemn him for being there. He met him there. He let him rest. He provided for him. And eventually, God spoke to him and gave him direction for what came next.
Elijah's story reminds us that being in a wilderness season doesn't mean God is absent. Sometimes, He meets us there and uses that season to do something in us before leading us into what comes next. That's what we've been thinking about in our own season of isolation. The enemy uses isolation to disconnect us from God and His people, but God can use solitude to draw us deeper into His presence.
We certainly wouldn't have chosen sickness and isolation as our preferred method of preparation, but we're learning that God can use even the inconvenient, frustrating, and unexpected parts of this journey to prepare us for what is ahead.
We need His Word. We need His people. We need prayer. We need one another. We also need to simply be still with Him and let Him do a work in us that can't happen in the noise.
"Be still, and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10
Perhaps the most important preparation happening right now isn't something we can check off a list. It's the work God is doing in us.
We are continuing to work toward reaching 100% of our monthly support so we can leave for France at the end of December. We are praising God that we currently have 53% of our monthly support already pledged!
If you've been following along and have wondered how you can be involved, we would love for you to consider becoming a monthly partner. If you are part of a church, small group, Sunday school class, or another group that would like to hear more about our story and what we will be doing in Guinea, please reach out to us! We would love to come share.
Right now, we are in Texas for the month of September. We'll travel back to Kansas for the first part of October and then head to Oklahoma for the remainder of October.
Below are a few August Highlights:
Over the past three months one of our church family members, and dear friend, opened her home to our family right after we sold our house and welcomed all of us to stay with her. We have been incredibly blessed and are grateful for our Miss Mary Lou. It has been another reminder that God knows exactly what we need and so often provides it through the people He puts in our lives.
We’d like to say a big thank you to Dodge City Church of the Nazarene and Grace Community Church. We were given the opportunity to share our story to both congregations, talk about what God is doing in Guinea and how He has invited our family to continue in that work. It was so encouraging to meet others who are of the same body of Christ who encouraged us and prayed for us. We’re incredibly grateful that we were able to attend and invite others to join us in what God is doing through prayer, monthly support, and partnership.
We got to start SCHOOL! We are working hard to create a routine for our kids that we can take with us wherever we go. Since we will continue traveling for the next several months and eventually be starting school in France, we are trying to establish rhythms that give our kids some consistency even when everything around them changes. It has definitely been a learning experience for all of us! Jake started 1st Grade and Ellie started Kindergarten!
There was a special night where we were able to go to our town's drive-in movie theater! At this point we were at the end of week two of being cooped up in the house because of Hand Foot Mouth Disease. It was a sweet evening of finally getting out of the house, having some fun, and being together under the stars. After two weeks stuck inside, popcorn and a movie felt like a pretty big adventure! These are the kinds of moments we are learning to treasure in this season.
Thank you for continuing to walk with us. Your prayers, encouragement, generosity, and willingness to share our story mean so much to our family. Please continue praying that God would bring together the remaining monthly partners we need, and that He would protect our family as we have faced repeated sickness the last few months. Pray also for wisdom, and strength as we prepare our family for France and, eventually, Guinea.
We know the enemy would love to discourage us, but we also know who holds us. We are trusting God with every step and believing that He is using even these difficult seasons to prepare us for what He has called us to.
With love and big hugs,
Heath, Sheri, Jacob, Elinor, Hannah & Libi Tieben
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