A New Thing!

Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!
Isaiah 43: 18-19a

The verses above serve as the theme in the conference that my family and I are in until Sunday this week. I cannot help but marvel at how appropriate it is in our situation. Most assuredly, we are about to embark on a journey we’ve not taken before. Not only is Eric, our second son about to leave us as he goes to university in the fall but we are also going to live in Canada for a year having lived in Thailand for the last seven. The last time we were living in Canada, Evan (our oldest) was the only teen at fourteen and Eric and Eli were still boys. Ethan wasn’t even born yet! As we live there again, Ethan is the only boy and the rest have all grown. Times have surely changed!

As I ponder what our lives will be like, I realize that the Lord has done a new thing already. For starters, we’ve learned what it’s like to wait until the 11th hour. Since February, we’d advertised our house to be rented out but it wasn’t until last Sunday (the 6th) when we finally got all three sets of renters confirmed and committed to stay at our home. Since our departure date is June 16th, that left us with just 10 days to act with certainty with regard to what to do with the house (do we pack to store or pack to give up the house?). Whew! I should point out that the landlord waived off 9,000 Baht from the rent as the person wanting to rent for the month of August couldn’t pay the whole amount. In exchange, we’ll live in the house an extra year when we come back. God is good to help us sort this out, a new thing indeed!

Since the beginning of the year, Eng started to look for a Thai person to hire as new staff for his office but it wasn’t until Friday when he finally hired one. Praise God for His provision. It took awhile for the perfect person but she's finally found!

We’ve been praying for a replacement for Eng since last year but there still isn’t one. At the moment, three different people at the office will be doing his job while he’s away. It isn’t the most ideal set up but with God doing a new thing (11th hour answers), perhaps the Lord will provide just a little bit later.

With just 8 days left before we leave, we’ve been to the airport 3 times already to see friends off. They won’t be coming back. SIGH. In the next few days, we’ll see three more friends off. It’s been hard but again, the Lord’s so gracious to help us realize how blessed we are to have had those relationships. The new thing is that our hearts are helped to be more grateful than sad or upset about the losses. It is heart warming.

As we face our last week finishing off the conference, then packing and continuing to say “goodbye”, we’re preparing our hearts for even more new things that the Lord will do. I prayed with an old friend today and she commented that it wasn’t an accident that we’re leaving on our seventh year. She prayed that we’ll have a restful year, just like a Sabbath. Maybe it’s the new thing, maybe not, we await it eagerly anyway. The Lord is good and always up to something good. We can trust Him to lead and guide us. Please help us to forget the former things. We await your new things, Papa God. =) Let it come.

Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.
Psalm 127: 4-5a

Eli, Evan, and Eric, with Ethan in front, just before Evan boarded his plane to go back to Toronto.