Owsleys in Brazil Blog

Surfing Lessons

 

Psalm 69:1-3 reads, Save me, O God!  For the waters have come up to my neck.  I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me.  I am weary with crying out.

Often the storms of live threaten to overwhelm us.  Earlier this year I was encouraged by the words of Oswald Chambers when he wrote, “Huge waves that would frighten an ordinary swimmer produce a tremendous thrill for the surfer who has ridden them…  A saint doesn’t know the joy of the Lord in spite of tribulation, but because of it.”

We have been hit by many waves during these past two years.  Like timid swimmers, we dreaded each onslaught, but the Lord has been so patiently teaching us to “surf.”  Along the way we’ve learned the thrill of what it means to truly trust Him.  The latest piece of hard news didn’t knock us flat because we finally got it through our thick heads that Jesus can get us through ANYTHING.   It’s a joy to rely completely on Him and to watch and see how He’ll help us ride on the crest of this newest challenge.   

 

God Connections

        Spring Arbor University has an exchange program with a university in China.  This spring two young women came to teach and do translation work.   Because of my upbringing in Taiwan I felt a strong connection to them and wanted to get to know them better.  So I invited them to our house for dinner.  It might seem odd, but I was afraid to tell them about my Chinese connections.   First of all, I’m ashamed that I’ve forgotten all my Chinese, and second, I know that China and Taiwan do not get along very well.  Also, since they were not believers, how would they feel when I told them my parents were Christian missionaries? 

        Over the meal we began to share our stories.  In spite of my fear of offending, I began to disclose my family history.   They loved it when I told them that my father was fluent in Mandarin.  They were amazed that I was the only one in my family who had never been to China.  When I mentioned that I’d been born in Taiwan to missionary parents, they went right on eating quietly as if that were no earth-shattering revelation.   (Whew!)  We had a lovely evening together.

        The next day one of them sent me an e-mail.  “You’ll never know how excited I was when you told me you were from Taiwan.  My favorite Chinese author is from Taiwan and she’s had a huge influence in my life.  Also, I loved it that your parents were missionaries.  My mentor from China was raised in a missionary school.”

        I couldn’t believe it.  The things that I thought would separate us were the things that God used to connect us!  Just another reminder that “as the heavens are higher than the earth, so His ways are higher than my ways, and His thoughts higher than mine.” (Is 55:9)

 

The Sweetness of God's "No"

Several years ago I received a call from a Brazilian friend who had been trying to get a visa to come to the United States.  She hoped to work or study here so that she could improve her English.  She kept me informed about various oppor-tunities and asked me to pray that the Lord would show her which to choose.

Finally, I received a call telling me that all the doors had closed and that she would be staying in Brazil. But instead of despair, I heard joy in Deborah's voice.  She surprised me further by saying, "God's no is as sweet to me as His yes."  I thought about that phrase for days.  Would I ever come to the place where God's perfect will was so much in line with my own that I would love His no as much as his yes?

Now I find myself pondering her words anew.  We have been in the States for over a year and we are homesick for our life and ministry in São Paulo.  But as we seek the Lord's will for our return, He seems to be delaying us yet again.  Can we doubt that His plan for us is perfect?  Of course, not!  We are learning that when He says no, it's because of His great love for us.  It's His goodness that "delays" us until His purposes can be fulfilled in His perfect timing. 

Prayer & Therapy

My friend just had knee replacement surgery and I went to visit her in a rehabilitation center.  I arrived just as she was going into therapy and was invited to sit with her until her therapist was ready.  She told me how hard it has been to do therapy each day and that the various workers have pushed her until she was in extreme pain.  She laughingly called the dark haired one “the black witch”.   To the patients, the health workers were “out to get them.”  Yet as I looked around the room I saw half a dozen physical therapists patiently and tenderly working with each person.   

Today another friend shared with me that she was seeing a counselor to help her face some painful issues from her past.  She was not enjoying it, but knew it was necessary to help her achieve healing and freedom. 

Often the Lord works with us to straighten out the broken parts of our lives and we cry out for mercy, thinking He’s oblivious to our feelings.  But instead of being oblivious, He’s absolutely cognizant of what we are going through and of what we really need.  In our darkest hour He knows what we are experiencing and tenderly enables us to make it through.   As we trust and pray, we are learning “knee placement” therapy. 

 

Job Descriptions

Oswald Chambers wrote that our first job is to know God and all other tasks fall into place after that.  You’d think that after all these years of walking with Jesus that I’d have that figured out. 

Most people have a vague idea what missionaries do.  They live in another country, sharing the love of Christ through preaching and teaching, and then come home every four years for a furlough.  The word “furlough” was misunder-stood to mean vacation so a few years ago the term was changed to “home assignment” to convey the reality that the missionary is still on full-time duty. 

Clearly, when we are in Brazil, we are doing our job and, clearly, when we are on home assignment we are doing it too.  But what about the year we were “on hold” while recuperating from a stressful time on the field.  If you’ve read this blog for any length of time, you know that this time of inactivity was a challenge.  How could we write ministry newsletters when we weren’t “doing” anything?   But as often as I asked the Lord that question, He sent words of affirmation from prayer partners or through devotional books we were reading.

The most recent encouragement comes from Priscilla Shirer’s book on Jonah.  She writes that what we consider to be an interruption to our plans is often just a new assignment.  Shirer says, “God graciously gives divine interruptions to His children.  He presents them an opportunity to partner with Him in purposes they could never conceive.  A life interrupted by a holy God is a privilege.” (p. 16)

So in between our field and home assignment was another one, just as surely a divine appointment as the other two.  He called us who were weary and burdened to come to Him and find rest.  And, yes, it has been privilege.

 

Decide to Abide

I was in Wal-Mart the other day and saw them removing the Christmas decorations and replacing them with exercise equipment.  Next to those items were boxes of gum, the kind that helps you quit smoking.  Obviously, retailers are appealing to America’s love affair with New Year’s resolutions.

In Brazil we rarely hear of such things.  In a culture where financial success is elusive, most folks have pretty basic goals:  to get through the year without debt and without illness.   Never-theless year-end customs do exist.   Some believe that wearing white clothing will usher in a year of good luck.  Others think that eating lentil soup on Dec 31^st will bring them wealth.  And if someone is particularly superstitious, they may go to Rio de Janeiro on New Year’s Eve to light candles on the beach to Yemanja, the goddess of water, in the hope that she will grant their requests for the coming year.

But the best custom of all takes place in evangelical churches.  Many of them have a late night prayer meeting followed by a potluck supper.  We can’t think of a better way to welcome in the New Year than by praying together as a church body.  It’s wonderful to put our faith in the true and living God rather than in clothing, soup, or candles!  He alone knows what the New Year will hold and we can trust Him unequivocally to do what is best.

 

 

Shelf Life

In Brazil we buy milk in one-liter boxes which can be kept on the kitchen shelf up to a year.  It’s called UHT milk because of the “ultra high temperature” with which the milk is heated to kill bacteria before it is put in sterilized boxes.  We like the convenience and look for good sales so that we can buy it by the case.  Of course, with teenage boys around it never lasts long!

 

During these past 18 months in the U.S.  I’ve been tempted at times to feel like we’ve been “put on the shelf”.  Thankfully, I’ve been learning that the Lord has His purposes for making us sit still.  We’ve been blessed on many fronts as we’ve stopped our frenzy of missionary activities and have had time to hear His precious voice.

 

Hannah Whitall Smith wrote, “If the Lord sets you to guard a lonely spot in perfect stillness from all active work, you ought to be just as content as to be in the midst of active warfare.  It is no virtue to love the Master’s work better than the Master’s will.”

 

We are praising Him for patiently teaching us to love His will above all things.

How Are Your Vital Signs?

I recently visited a friend from high school.  While catching up on family news she told me that her grandpa was “actively dying”.  She must have noticed my confusion because she went on to explain, “It means that each of his organs is slowly beginning to shut down.”

The phrase seemed intriguingly Christian:  “Whoever will lose his life for my sake will find it” (Matt 16), and “Except a grain of wheat fall into the ground and die…” (Jn 12) are just a few of the New Testament passages related to dying to self.  Yet, we tend to think of death as a one-time activity, a final act of surrender.  What might it mean to actively die as a Christian?  I think we have learned a little about it during this year of transition from Brazil. 

“Lord, do you mean we really can’t return as soon as we’d hoped?”  Trust Me.

 “Lord, Nathan wanted so much to graduate from PACA.  What now?”  I’ll take care of him.

“Lord, we feel rudderless without being involved in active ministry.  What do we do?”  Leave it to Me.

 “Lord, the healing process is so slow.  Do you hear our prayers?”  Trust Me absolutely.

As we’ve surrendered each of these dilemmas to the Lord, you could say we have been actively dying to our own wishes and plans.  But, of course, instead of feeling “dead” we are more alive to God than ever.  It’s one of the beautiful ironies of our faith.  The more we let go, the more we have.  As E. Stanley Jones wrote, “Sometimes we must lose everything to gain Everything.” 

A Musical Life

Since Dan and I are not gifted musically, it is a constant source of amazement to us that our son Steven loves to play the piano.    But we have been learning that God has more than one way of making music.  As we wait on the Lord’s direction for our future it’s tempting to feel frustrated – like when you make a phone call and are put on hold for too long.  The Lord is helping us to see that His ways are perfect even when we can’t see the reasons.  These words from E. Stanley Jones have been an encouragement:

“I have learned that if you are blocked on one road in life, you can always find another that will open up to you.  If you can’t go here, you can go there.  We don’t have to be afraid for if we can’t do this, we can do that… There may be a pause in my program, but a pause in music is music in the making.  So every pause can make us tougher and more mature.”

We are rejoicing that Jesus can take the pauses in our life and make them into beautiful music!

Karate and Providence

Recently Andrew and Nathan were rough-housing in the kitchen and accidentally kicked in the side of one of the pre-fab cabinets.  (Oh, my!)  Dan measured the area and took in a sample of the wood to Lowes to order a replacement board.  Neither of us is very handy with tools and we were wondering how the whole repair job would pan out.  

Imagine my surprise when a man came up to me in church and said, "I heard you need help fixing one of your cabinets. Just call me when the piece comes in." I felt like shouting Hallelujah all the way home.  I was reminded that if the Lord cares about our dumb fix-it needs, He certainly cares about our future.  We continue to trust Him to show us His perfect timing for our return to Brazil.