IMMOBILIZED! But Not Really...

The past few weeks I have sat with Eric and Holly at their dining room table making to-do lists (you know I love to-do lists, but these ones are a bit different than my usual). During these meetings, it has become commonplace for one of us (usually Holly) to interrupt the list-making with a shout- "IMMOBILIZED, IMMOBILIZED!" According to official Special Hope protocol, this alert indicates that one of us has reached an increased state of overwhelmed-ness which causes immediate paralysis of all mental and physical capacities or, as the yelling would suggest, complete immobilization. While no one ever actually becomes frozen to their chair without ability to think- there are moments when it feels like all of the to-do's have suddenly caved in around us, leaving us trapped in the dining room.

At times, the idea of all the to-do's is almost laughable (the shouting is often followed by laughter), but at other times they make it feel as if we are so much farther away from Zambia, and so much farther away from the orphans God has called us to care for (it makes me cringe to end this sentence with a preposition, but it doesn't carry as much weight when I structure it properly).

Yet, in the midst of being weighed down by lists, I have been encouraged by the very character and nature of God. As I get overwhelmed, or begin to feel immobilized by to-do's, the Spirit reminds me of this from Isaiah 40...

"The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom"

No matter how tired I get- He will never grow weary. No matter how weak I feel, His strength will never run low. No matter how my mind must strain to take it all in, He will always be the one holding it all together. I have learned to love this about Him- that He is so wholly other than me, and yet considers me to be a part of His plan for loving these orphans.

Ultimately, I don't have to worry about the "hows" of this calling. I don't have to remain immobilized over immunizations, baggage allowances, visa applications, support raising, etc. For every thing He asks me to do, He will also supply all that I need to be faithfull and obey.