When it snows it blizzards...

As many of you know the holiday season was interesting in the Harling household.  Fair warning, this post is long.  Here's the short version:  There are a lot of risks in life both seen and unseen; God is always in control and is always good.

Here it goes....

THANKSGIVING!

Jenn missed the memo on our color scheme :)

We had a chance to spend Thanksgiving with Jenn's parents and really enjoyed our time in Atlanta.  There was an unexpected extension of our time there when Jenn herniated a lumbar disc the Saturday after Thanksgiving.  Fortunately we have many connections in the area through her and her family.  The now chair of PAACS, Dr. Doug Lundy, who happens to be an orthopedic surgeon also happens to practice at a hospital close to the Brostrand house.  After an MRI, short hospital stay, and an injection of steroids into her spine, Jenn was up and walking again.

I was so grateful to have loving (and flexible!) in-laws who took care of Amelia and Madelyn so I could spend time with Jenn at the hospital.  Being away from the girls was hard for Jenn, and she was so excited to return home and hold them again!

    Any of you who have had back problems know the recovery process can be slow going, but Jenn continued to improve. A visit with a spine surgeon here in Greenville reassured us that non-operative management was the way to go.  Amelia was quick to understand Jenn's limitations and kept asking if "mama's boo-boo all better?"  She has since celebrated with us "mama's boo-boo is all better now!"  As of January, Jenn has officially graduated outpatient PT and is now just doing exercises at home.


On the way home from a doctors appointment at the beginning of December Madelyn and I were in a car accident which resulted in this  --> It happened about 500 yards away from home.  By God's grace no one was injured; it was definitely a scary moment.  Our insurance company was great to work with and we had the car in the shop that afternoon.  It took a bit to complete the repairs, but it's like new again.

CHRISTMAS!!

At the end of December we traveled to Findley Lake, NY to spend Christmas at my grandma's house. Amelia had a wonderful time playing with her cousin Hannah.  Of course the snow outside made it all the more enjoyable.  And when I say snow, I mean record lake effect snow fall that made national news...  65" over the course of 4 days.  We made it home just in time to ring in the New Year in Greenville.  We were glad for the extra family time.

About a week after returning to Greenville, we hopped back in the car and made our way to Charlotte, NC.  We had a week of training at SIM USA headquarters called SIMGo.  It's the second of three programs at SIM (SIMStart, SIMGo, SIMSendOff).  We detailed a little of what went on there in our last prayer letter.  Check the Prayer Letter archive if you missed it!  Our time there was challenging, refreshing, and educational all wrapped up in one.  We also managed to have a little fun:

But there were plenty of serious moments too.  One session in particular stuck in my mind with everything that has gone on in our lives between Thanksgiving and New Years.  The session was about developing a theology of risk.  The document they compiled on the subject is some 13 pages long, but very well written.  Because I can't really put it in better words myself, I wanted to copy some of the statements from the document.

We are confident that our sins are forgiven through Christ, that we have been given eternal life, and that our bodies will be raised incorruptible.
Therefore all of our decisions should be made in the light of eternity.
[Rom. 8:14-39; 1 Cor. 15, esp. v.58; 1 Tim. 6:12-16; 2 Tim. 1:11-12; 2 Tim. 4:6-8; Heb.
13:13-14; Rev. 2:8-11]

We serve a caring and faithful God; therefore we affirm that our security is based ultimately in God’s providence rather than on our circumstances. We are to fear God, not people.
Therefore prayer must be our first and last response to crisis. While many types of crisis may create fear, decisions should not be made or actions taken based on fear. Our calm confidence is our best witness to our living faith in God. No major decision should be made without reference to the character of God.
[Josh. 1:6-9; 1 Sam. 17:45-47; Ps. 20:7; Ps. 33:16-22; Ps. 34:6-10; Ps. 91; Prov. 21:30-31;
Isa. 31:1-3; Matt. 10:26-31; 2 Tim. 4:16-18]

We affirm that the mission given to us (to make disciples, baptize, and teach) is rooted in God’s eternal love for humankind and is therefore more important than a simple consideration for our personal safety. Rather, it includes a willingness to give our all, including our safety and even our lives. 
Therefore, while we have a high regard for life, our lives and that of others as God’s gift of high value, we do not rule out the possibility of making decisions which might put us in danger or result in suffering or even death. We weigh up the value of our lives in terms of God’s great love for us, the ministry that He has given to us, and the lives of those that He has called us to serve.
[Ac. 20:22-24; Ac. 21:12-14; Rom. 14:7-8; 2 Tim. 2:8-10; Rev. 12:11. Also Esth. 4:16; Dan.
3:13-18]

I've been asked on a few occasions about how safe we will be at Mbingo and I admit, I've let my mind wander through various scenarios from deadly outbreaks to outright military assault on the hospital, formulating my response to each and how I would go about protecting my family.  But I think God has used the recent destabilizing events in our lives to radically change my perspective on risk.  Being in God's will doesn't guarantee physical safety and in fact it may put us in harms way.  But nothing surprises Him and it's not just our knowledge, skills, and ability that we have chosen to hand over to God, it is our lives as a whole.

-Michael