Dear Family and Friends,
Days tick by like the second hand on a clock. Under scrutiny they mark their regular rhythm but as soon as you look away, caught up in life’s activities, the pace quickens until quite all of a sudden an hour has passed, or a week, or a month, or a year. Being fond of closure, in contemplative moments caught between barrages of activity I (Adria) like to think about closing out another year. I like to mentally tie up loose ends, finish outstanding projects, and feel like I saw progress in life and ministry that reflects a calendar year’s worth of time.
However, although God Himself created time, setting its internal workings to tick tock at just the right tempo, His eternal hand reaches all of time. He is not bound by time, nor is He concerned about finding closure in one year. His plan extends into eternity. This is both comforting and extremely frustrating for someone who likes to check things off a to-do list. So, what I would like to do—give you a nice and neat little summary of this year—I cannot. But what I can do is tell you the highs and the lows of this year and ask that you take a step back with me and put this year in the context of an eternal plan designed by our heavenly Father.
This year…
God called us to pursue adoption. He began to teach us about our own spiritual adoption and to open our hearts to new ideas about family. We are still anxiously waiting to see how God will grow our family.
As of June our staff now consists of 5 people. We are often over-extended and feel inadequate, yet God is teaching us to rely on Him and trust that He will bring more laborers.
God provided 5 Summer Staff to run a wonderful program for 40 consistent kids!
After four years of building relationships a family across the street finally brought their kids to participate in our Summer Program! God is working in their family. They have since married and are opening up to the idea of church in their lives.
In October we were hit by three consecutive thefts that left us reeling with nearly $200,000 of damages. We are still working and waiting to see how God takes care of us.
It is easy to let each of the open-ended issues wave over me with anxiety, or to feel so tired that it is hard to focus on the goal. But, one of the comforts that the season of Advent brings to me is that we are in the hands of an eternal God, with an eternal plan, who knows first hand what it feels like to live inside the confines of the time He constructed. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6.
Andrew and I pray that this letter finds you all able to rest in the peace that we are offered through our Messiah, regardless of what our highs and lows were this year and what open-ended issues might linger into the new year. We are grateful to be walking this journey with each of you and your prayers and support are truly part of God’s provision to sustain us.
Rejoice, the Messiah is born!
Andrew and Adria Medlen
