Each year our family gathers together over the Christmas period. Only twice has our while family not been together. Once was years back when our son and his wife were overseas, and I found that hard. Then this Christmas for the first time ever we did not have our daughter with us on Christmas day. She and her husband are overseas on a short term mission in a third world country.
I admit when they first told me what they were thinking of going on mission, I was less than impressed. All I could think of was that our family wouldn’t be together over Christmas. But the mission had to happen over the Christmas period as that was the only time those on the mission team could get a few weeks of work and university commitments.
Over the months leading up to the mission, the Lord had to deal with my selfishness, made worse since my daughter and I would be unable to talk to each other by phone as we so often do during a week. We are good friends as well as mother and daughter.
To make matters even worse, Mick was sick and I was still unable to drive with my arm so we were unable to drive up to Sydney to spend the night and then take them to the airport the next day as planned to see them off. That was hard for all of us. We all had our own little conversations with God, some rather angrily and tearfully expressed, about why that happened as it did. We concluded maybe we needed to rely more on God and less on each other.
It’s been hard as the only contact we have had while they are on mission is text messages and the occasional email, when the phone line is working which tends to be erratic. These emails to all the prayer supporters of the team tell us a little of what they have been t doing and how God has been at work in their lives, taking them out of their comfort zones and challenging them in so many areas.It really was a Christmas of giving to others.
When our internet went out for a few days last week we didn’t even have that but thankfully modern technology sent the occasional text message though on the phone. What a blessing modern technology is!
Still, I’m sure we’ll have lots though to talk about and photos to share when our daughter and her husband get back. It really has been a time of putting the needs of others and the gospel message going out, above our own personal wants. Till then we are praying for them and the team as we know they are also praying for us.
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