"The tooth fairy is NOT real, but the book fairy IS REAL."
This is what my 3 year old nephew said at the Orange County fair back in July. We went to the fair with my sister's family on the promotion day of "free admittance and one free ride with a new book donation" with books we got from the dollar store. But when we got to the gate, they said they were no longer taking books for free entrance. We were all disappointed, but the cost of admittance was a bit much for us, so we went to find out if we could get our parking fee refunded. After walking around asking different fair attendants if they knew how we could get reimbursed for parking, a parking attendant directed us to a building where the fair offices were. As we walked towards the building, a fair attendant who'd seen us walking around with our large crew pulled up beside us in a golf cart and asked if we had brought books for the special deal because she had extra free tickets she was offering us in exchange for our books. She said, "I'm the book fairy" and my nephew was then convinced that though he doesn't believe the tooth fairy is real, the book fairy sure is. He was excited! :) I thought it was super cool that God allowed favor to be given to us that day in the form of a "book fairy" lady who gave us free tickets and made our kids day.
Life doesn't always go as planned and sometimes there are disappointments. But our God is faithful and in His grace and mercy, He often brings unexpected blessings out of or through our disappointments and delays. He never leaves us or forsakes us, and He is always at work in our lives. He is worthy of praise.
Along this journey into missions we have seen time and time again God at work, even when delays happened or things went wrong. Of course in the midst of those happenings, it has sometimes been a little frustrating as we have found ourselves wondering why it was happening and often can't see the purpose right away, we are not able to see the big picture. But as God has taken us on this journey, His purposes and plans have been far greater than we could ever imagine or plan ourselves. We are more convinced than ever that He is in control and we can trust Him in this adventure and even laugh when things don't go as planned. Our whole family has learned to look for and be aware of God's work and unexpected blessings, big and little, and to praise Him in every circumstance. God has proven himself to be faithful in taking care of our every need and fulfilling His purpose for us every step of the way which has served to deepen our faith. It's pretty awesome to be walking along this journey with Him.
Rick Warren wrote an article about delays and in it he said this, "Why do we wait? It teaches us to trust in God. We learn that His timing is perfect. One of the facts we have to learn is this: God’s delay never destroys His purpose." Another quote from Rick Warren, "in the delay he matures you and prepares you for what is to come...it's one of the ways he pushes you toward the deep end of faith." Not only do delays serve to deepen our faith and teach us to trust God in all circumstances, but also God's delays often prepare us for the journey as they help to build our anticipation and longing for the plans God has called us to. I have seen this as God has used delays and the time it has taken to raise support and prepare to go to Colombia to increase in us and all our kids anticipation and excitement for our move to Colombia. It is exciting to see!!
Right now we are in one of those delays, an interruption in our plans as we are anxious to get to Colombia, get settled, and begin the work we know God has called us to do. Yet we are trusting in God's purpose and preparation for us as He puts everything into place. I tell people that we are on God's time and are eagerly awaiting His time for us to get to Colombia. We came to L.A. to apply for visas at the Colombian consulate and expected to be here for 2-3 weeks. A plus for us was that my sister and her family are in L.A. so we could see them before we leave for the mission field. We have most definitely enjoyed our time here in L.A. visiting with my sister, brother-in-law, nieces, and nephew. It has been wonderful getting to spend time with them all and reconnect. I thought it was neat when we found out that there was a Colombian consulate here in L.A. because I was wishing that I could see and spend time with my sister and her family before we left for the mission field. And my parents and older sister were even able to come down for a weekend to visit too so our whole family could be together. What a blessing! My sister, her husband, and their kids have been welcoming and giving as they have graciously opened their home to us, even as the expected 2-3 weeks has turned into almost 2 months while we wait for a document to be approved by Colombian officials in Bogota so we can get our visas and be on our way. (We don't really know how much longer it will take but currently it is being reviewed and awaiting signatures of Colombian officials.) We've shared good times and laughter together, and been blessed and encouraged during our stay here. Going from 5 people in a home to 13 people, six of them kids ages 2-8, can be overwhelming and a little crazy but they have not complained. I am grateful for my sister and her husband. I am grateful that the cousins all got this chance to get to know each other and have fun playing together. Please pray a special blessing for them, especially for their kids who are sharing their toys with our little kids and beds with our teens. I am grateful that for the most part all the kids are really enjoying playing together and getting along, but of course there are those moments when they get tired of one another. Prayers for them to have continued patience to get along are appreciated.
During this time of waiting, our organization is blessed to be connected with a pastor in Bogota, who has been helping to get our paperwork processed there. He is doing the leg work there to help expedite the process of getting the document approved. As soon as we get the document we are waiting for in our email, we are ready to head to the consulate with it in hand to re-apply for visas. Of course with the delays we've had thus far, we hesitate to make predictions about the timing. While we wait on God's perfect timing, we are seeking to serve and grow right here where we are planted until the time is right for us to go. Please pray for the officials processing the needed document and that it would get the signatures needed and be approved quickly. Please pray that the Colombian consulate here in L.A. will process our visas expeditiously once the needed document comes through. Please pray for all of us while we wait - for patience, peace in our souls, positive spirits, and increased faith. Pray that the enemy would not be able to come against us to discourage us. Pray for our kids as the stresses of not truly being settled sometimes manifest in attitudes and behavior problems. Pray for us that we would have much patience, express much love, and have discernment and understanding as we teach, train, and disciple our kids. We are enjoying our time here, but are anxious to get to Colombia and begin language school. We are all ready to be settled and doing the work we know God has called us to do. But this is missions as we learned about it at ICC(our missions training) - adaptability, flexibility, expecting the unexpected, knowing that God is God no matter what and He will accomplish His plan.
PRAISES!
God has blessed us amazingly and we are grateful for His favor. I want to end this blog sharing with you some of the blessings we've experienced during this current delay and give God all the glory. Thank you all so much for your prayers for us. Please join us in praising God for the things He has been doing during this delay:
For the time spent with family. We've been able to have relaxing and fun family times spent at home playing games and away from home at the beach, parks, and other places around L.A. And it's been a blessing to worship with them at church.
Making new friends who we've been able to share our mission journey with and have good fellowship with and getting new prayer partners; we can never have too many people praying for us.
A lunch date that allowed us to reconnect with our friends, Steve and MaryEllen Crocker, who we met 14 years ago at our military assignment to the Azores. Not only are they committed to praying for us, but they are sharing our prayer needs with their circles of friends, which is quite encouraging.
Andrew, Crystal, and Ashlynn got to serve as counselors at the week long church camp our niece attended, when unexpectedly the campground they were going to got flooded and the church planned their own camp at the last minute and held it at the church with daily excursions to the beach, park, pools, etc.
Andrew and Crystal got to enroll in online classes with Grand Canyon University and get settled into a routine as college students before we leave.
Finally, the most recent blessing we saw come out of this delay was getting to see and visit with a couple of former students from our youth group at our home church in Washington, McKenna Community Church; Cameron, Candy, and Monica; and Cameron's and Candy's mom. Cameron messaged Chris and told him that he was here in California visiting with family and asked if we could join him and his family at the beach last Saturday. Turns out that his uncle started a ministry at the beach in May that he did every Saturday throughout the summer. He set up tables and canopies, grilled hot dogs and hamburgers, and shared food and Jesus with whoever stopped by. He got there super early on Saturday mornings and fed the life guards breakfast while sharing Jesus with them. He shared so many amazing testimonies of how God used his and his family's time at the beach every Saturday throughout the summer to allow him to speak into people's lives, share the Gospel, and bring change to people. They ended the night with a bonfire and worship, praising Jesus. It was a really neat outreach and we were blessed to be a part of their final day of doing it. And while we were there, Cameron got to share his testimony; and Chris and Tony, Cameron's uncle then baptized him in the ocean. He gave his life to Christ a couple of years ago at a youth conference we took the teens to. It was a neat experience for him, for Chris and for all of us who were present. It was the first time many of his extended family members had been able to hear his testimony and what a powerful witness to God's grace and mercy he gave.
God bless each of you. Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers. We'd love to hear from you during this time of waiting to be encouraged and reminded that you are praying for us. And I'd love it if you could share verses about God's faithfulness and sustaining power. Please feel free to share them as a comment on this blog, on our facebook pages, or in an email to us at cchaylett@southamericamission.org. We will keep you posted about where we're at and share our praises of any other unexpected blessings or opportunities that come out of this delay.
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