Friday, October 21, 2011

Journey

Lucy and Joce making cookies for everyone

Aaron, Miguel, and Fatima after a soccer game

Joanna and Aaron fight for the ball in a game of soccer


Victor and Mark baptizing Ana in the Pacific Ocean


Lucy, Mark, Joanna, and Aaron sitting in front of our home

In 3 days, my family celebrates our 2 year anniversary of living in the country of Mexico. There have been some really rough days, and there have been some awesome days. God has been there with us every step of the way. As our 2 year anniversary approaches, we need to let you all know that God is calling us back to the U.S. I believe it is taking more faith to return to the U.S. than it did to move here. When we moved here, we knew where we were moving too. We knew (somewhat) what our jobs were going to be. We knew we would have food on our table and a roof over our heads. As we plan to return, we have some ideas of what we are being led to, but nothing concrete as of yet. I have found that the faith needed to return is happening one step at a time. It felt like we were taking a step in the darkness, but once we took the first step, God illuminated one more part of the journey. When we took another step, He illuminated one more step in front of us. As we continue to make plans to return, it is becoming more and more clear that it is His will that we are following. Joanna and Aaron have matured greatly in their faith during this part of our journey. Joanna is a writer, and has written about her personal journey, so far, and I have been amazed by her perceptions about it. We decided that the best way to share about our time here is to have Joanna be our spokesperson, so here is her story, her journey.

Joanna and Ruth play in the dirt!
Joanna translating for Cirino and a work teamJoanna and Angie play a game during youth groupJosiah following Joanna's instructions in art class to make a pillowJoanna playing with an airplaneJoanna hugging CarolinaJoanna and Kayla help Ana ride SonyaJoanna helping to paint the new room
Joanna with Danny

For those of you who don't know, on October 19, 2009, my family and I drove away from our house that had a "for sale" sign in the yard, beginning what I thought would be a five day journey down to Mexico to live for at least two years.

We drove past trees with leaves that were changing colors. We drove past my old school, where, at the time, most of my friends were.

Well it has been almost two years, and I have to tell you that I was wrong. I thought the journey would only be five days, but it has been much longer. These two years have been a wondrous journey. I have had boring days. I have had exciting days. I have met amazing people with amazing stories. I have learned a second language. People from all over have come to support the organization of Fishers of Men. I have met Americans from what seems like every state. I have met Koreans and Canadians. I have eaten things I would never have eaten in my little state of Indiana. I saw the ocean for the first time, climbed a mountain, laughed, cried, saw an ash cloud from a volcano, played "futból," smiled, hugged, offended, made-up, been a clown, and loved every second of it.

I will never forget my adventures here, and God has blessed me with a TON of memories.

As I write this, in September of 2011, I know that God is calling my family back to the U.S.A. . I don't know why, but I'm anxious to find out. What I do know is in Jeremiah 29:11 God tells us his plans are to prosper us. Not my plans. His plans. I also know from Deuteronomy 31:6 that the Lord is always with me, and will be at my side every step of the way! He will never leave me!

I know his plans are to prosper me, and not to hurt me, but that doesn't mean they'll be painless. What I have to remember is that I will weep and mourn, but my grief will turn to joy. (John 16:20)

4 comments:

Tracy Cox said...

Thank you for the time you spent serving the Lord through Refuge Ranch and Fishers of Men. God Bless you all as you take that next step to the journey He is calling you to!

Ashleigh said...

Both of your posts brought tears to my eyes as I read. Thank you for sharing and thank you even more for hearing the call of the Lord and following His lead no matter where or how hard. My you be richly blessed for that! It is a beautiful testamony and example to all of us! Know that I will continue to keep you in my prayers in the coming months!

Kara Eisenga said...

Many blessings on your family's next journey. I recently blogged about this same thing... not MY plan, but God's. Sometimes it can feel so good to be led and to just follow, knowing with peace that His plan is best. And sometimes it's the opposite, scary. More beautiful is when both can happen at the same time.

Kara
www.chosenfamilies.org

Kathy Heil said...

Thank you for sharing your journey. What a wonder journey it was. Good luck to the Marshall family in their future endeavors. You have done wonderful things and will continue to do more in the future. Hope to see you sometime in the future. Good Luck