Script and Scalpel

We are in transition. Our lives are in limbo. We are playing the waiting game (although calling it a game implies a good deal more enjoyment than waiting deserves).  For months we had been hoping and planning to make our move to Papua New Guinea when Ben’s family returned to PNG from their six-month home assignment in the States.  Well, December 29th has come and gone and we’re…well, we’re still in Ohio.  Not that its a bad thing, really.  Leaving four days after Christmas would have made for a very hectic holiday and we are really so thankful for the (somewhat) more relaxed time that we enjoyed with our family over Christmas and New Year’s.   And, we’ve so enjoyed living with Katherine’s parents (truly, we have!) for the last six months since we sold our home in Columbus.  Doing life together with them and Katherine’s brother has been a gift that we will look back on with fond memories for years to come.  But now we are feeling the pull to the other side of the globe.  Unfortunately, we continue to be at the mercy of the PNG Embassy in Washington DC.  They have our passports as well as the mountain of paperwork required to be issued an entry permit into Papua New Guinea.  And now, we wait for their “okay.”  We wait for the stamp in our passports that gives us permission to buy our plane tickets.  We’re hoping and praying this happens soon enough to allow us to fly within the next month.

These days come with great anticipation.  We are excited about the opportunity to be a part of this plan that God has for our lives.  We’ve waited for this culmination for many years, knowing that one day we would board an airplane (not knowing at the time that we’d have two young boys in tow) for a far-off land to answer the call of God on our lives to serve him as medical missionaries.  Honestly, this reality that we are living is a bit surreal.  After four years of college, four years of medical school, and five years of residency training, this departure has been a long time coming (to say the least).  But here we are.  We’re on the brink of quite a big adventure and we’re ready.  Sure there will be a good deal of unknown to conquer, but our confidence is in the One who sends us and he has promised to be with us, even in the waiting.