I’ve been sitting at my computer for the past hour staring
at this screen.
I’ve started this blog many times and have erased everything
I’ve written so far. I’ve invited you to be a part of this journey with me, and
to be faithful to that- I need to invite you into what is happening right now
in Pattaya. But I’m not sure how to do that. I’ve hit a wall.
God has been teaching me about walls lately. We all
are on a journey and we all hit walls sometimes. Sometimes they are just minor
inconveniences, and sometimes they are so massive, they seem to bring life to a
complete halt.
There is a wall currently here in Pattaya, and I need share
it with you.
If I was able to share with you, you will remember that part
of my job has been to help Freedom Stones decide the future of the jewelry
project. Through my research, opportunities explored, and input, the board of
Freedom Stones has decided to close the project in Pattaya and focus solely on
the site in Cambodia. So I have come back to Thailand for my last three months
to help the artisan’s transition to their next steps and essentially close this
site.
There have been many moments of feeling like I’m staring at
a wall lately. And at the wall, many questions come:
What will the artisans do next? Will this affect their faith
and trust in God’s goodness and provision?
Could I have done more? Have I failed in coming here?
What happens next for all of us?
I listened to a sermon on the walls in our journey lately,
and they listed the three options we have at the wall. We can stop in fear and
paralysis, we can lose hope and give up, or we can walk forward in trusting faith.
The man speaking said “God’s will is for us to journey through the wall as we
trust and follow Him together. We walk forward knowing He gives us victory in
the end.”
So I don’t have answers to all the questions in my mind. I don’t’
have certainty about what is next, but I do continue to ask God for trusting
faith….not only for myself but also for the artisans and everyone else in this
journey. I ask for it for everyone who reads this.
I told you before I need you with me in this journey, and I
want you to know I still do. I have a lot of questions, but I also trust that I
serve a God who is in control and gives me victory. Please pray with me. Pray with me for the artisans as they stand at
the wall of uncertainty. Pray for this
wall: for the trusting faith that God is in control and is working even in situations
such as these.
I also pray that in whatever wall you are currently looking
at or will look at eventually- whether big or small, something difficult or maybe
just uncertain- that God gives you trusting faith to continue walking forward.
In Him, through His cross, we already have victory and that is the promise that
never leaves regardless of what wall we face.
