God Not Only Has This But He Gets ALL the Glory!!! (Amazed and truly overwhelmed with gratefulness)

Okay, so the last few weeks have been a bit of a rollercoaster. Well, actually it has been the last few months, but I digress. After my heart went into arrhythmia and then as the pastors were praying for me the heart returned to normal pattern, we went ahead and flew to Nairobi to see my doctor. I had been anticipating making the trip with my heart in arrhythmia. In fact, I had been nervous about making it there. So flying there, feeling normal, felt almost like a vacation. We went to the doctor who gave me the all-clear although we had to hang around a couple of days to complete his tests. We consulted with him as to my options. With my heart going out of rhythm with increasing frequency (this time within only three months) I was not sure we could stay in Uganda. I really felt God had brought my heart back into rhythm before we made this last trip because I had nearly not survived the one before. I did not think it was wise to expect miracles every time. I asked the doctor what were my options in dealing with this. He said I basically had two. I could just live with the condition as it continued to get worse, (for me that meant leaving the field) or I could have an operation called an ablation where they go in to the heart and kill the senders that are causing the problem. This surgery is not guaranteed to work and has its risks but was my only other option (although has a high success rate and minimal recovery period if successful). The only place in Africa the surgery could be done is in South Africa. Other than that, we would need to go back to the states to have it done. We used the time we were in Nairobi to go see Josh and Janae. It was so good to see them. As we were there a missionary friend of ours, who is now serving there, came up to us and said that he felt God was directing him to offer his car for us to buy. It was a very nice car, but they couldn’t license it there in Kenya and they didn’t really need it that bad. The car is a Landcruiser which is a good vehicle to have in Africa, but it is not one we have considered because it is worth more than we would normally consider. I told my friend that we would pray about it and asked him to pray about a price. Neither Michelle nor I felt we could afford the car, as at that point we had no money, but as I believe this was something God was going to show His hand in, if God provided the price to our friend, and He wanted us to have the car, then He would be the One to provide the money. As I was feeling mostly normal, we decided to take the bus back. The trip was long, and although it went fine, as it was the seventh trip on the bus I had made in about as many months, I was getting really tired of riding that bus. We got back to find our van had been worked on and although it would still need a new engine and was only really good for getting back and forth to town, it was at least running. Our friend in Kenya informed us of the price he was feeling lead to. It was not an extravagant price for the car but was more than we would normally consider. If we were to get that car it could only be God. We found there were other options open for cars available. They were not as nice as the car in Kenya but they were less expensive. We might have been tempted to go with one of the cheaper cars, but in truth, we didn’t have any money at that point for a new vehicle. As we could at least get around a bit with the van, we decided to wait until the first of May, and then see what money God had provided. The amount God provided would direct us to what vehicle to look at. A lot of people had good advice as to what we should do, but I would tell them that with this, we really needed to wait on God and see what He wanted us to do. (We so much enjoy waiting. Okay, you probably couldn’t hear my sarcastic tone there but you get the idea.} Waiting until May seemed a bit long but as we did not intend to ask anyone for the money we didn’t know how long it would take to get the money needed. We wanted to give God time. Yes, this was our lack of faith showing, but I am only human. Anyway, we would wait till May. Only God had other ideas. No sooner had we made that decision than the van broke down again with the same problems as before. Arrrrrrgh!!! At about this same time, Michelle began having medical problems of her own. She experienced parts of her body on her left side would go numb for hours while she was having pain in other areas and then the numbness settled in to stay. The immediate concern was she was having some mini-strokes. After seeing four doctors and having many tests it was determined that she had some bone spurs in her neck which were pinching her nerves. (Discovered after about two and a half weeks’ time.) She has been prescribed some exercises to help and will eventually need surgery but that will wait as long as possible as it is rather risky. With the van being out of action, we were needed to use the bodas (motorcycle taxis) for transportation. Going down our bumpy roads on the back of a motorcycle was not doing Michelle’s neck any good so we decided that we would move our deadline up to the start of April and ask if anyone had a car would could borrow. Even in the midst of our difficulties, God was still showing His hand. Here we saw it in the support of God’s people. One Christian friend helped us get the van to run again, others offered their cars for us to use. We also saw some money come in for the vehicle. It was not enough to buy a car but it was enough to show us God was working. God also worked it out so the insurance would cover my surgery. Arrangements are being made for me to go to South Africa in May. As we approached the end of March, we were wondering what God would do about the money for the car. We didn’t know of any more money that had come in but still felt God would provide. Then we got word today that one of our faithful supporters had felt God put on their heart to help us buy the car from the missionary in Kenya. We didn’t even know how they knew we thinking about that car, but through them not only will we be blessed with a vehicle better than we had hoped but the missionary in Kenya will be blessed as well. We are so thankful. But the best part of it is that God has shown how He can take care of those who trust in Him!!! These last few months have indeed been a bit of a rollercoaster and for us we know it is not over. We still have health issues for both Michelle and me, as well as preparing for furlough and I’m sure things I have no idea of yet. But I hope you hear in this our adventure - God is good, and He is there for us even when we can’t see Him, and even when it feels like the world is conspiring against us. This is not our home and we are not promised that things will always be nice here, but we are promised that our God will never leave nor forsake us. To God be the glory in all things great and small!!!