We’ve been at a rampant pace of visiting with churches and individuals. It’s both invigorating and draining. Draining because it multiplies all the details that go into being a young family. Invigorating because God infuses us with joy and hope anew every time we share His calling us to Budapest. Our sense of urgency grows with every meeting.

Already we have had several instances where God has providentially brought us in contact with people who have a personal connection to Budapest – of all places!! He shines so glorious when His plans are revealed along the path! So we are moving forward with expectant and joyful hearts. We continue to pray for supporters who will give their hearts along with their funds to send us to Budapest.

And we are looking forward to the day when we will step away from all we own, part from family and friends, and cross both land and culture to share the great unending heart of God to see His grace go to all the nations. He is not only preparing our team, but the nation as well. Hungary is sensing that they are upon, if not over, a moral precipice, and looking for answers.

Swenson, a medical doctor, gives an insightful look at the emotional, physical, relational, and spiritual damage going on today in relationship to how overloaded we are.

In one sense this is not a new observation. But there is one axiom he offers that I found quite challenging. He says that all progress moves towards complexity.

This flies in the face of conventional wisdom which views progress as only bringing about advancements with no downside. In Swenson’s view, progress, for all the truly helpful things that it brings, also packs a huge downside: left unchecked it will overrun our created limits. We can only handle so much. Progress has no regard for our emotional, physical, relational, or spiritual health. It is only concerned with more, faster, better, now.

It’s been a great read so far, causing me to think about where my margins are now, and how I will protect them on the international mission field, a place where both vitality and burnout seem to loom large.

One way I struggle with this is taking rest. Not just being blessed by practicing the Sabbath rest, but giving myself appropriate rest throughout the weeks, months, and years. I once worked for five years straight without taking a vacation. I’m not boasting…I was foolish and short sighted. I’m a driven person and love to work hard, but the downside is that it’s easy for me to skip meaningful rest. Christina is the same way. On one hand we take ourselves so serious we’ll work like crazy…and on the other hand we devalue ourselves so much that we fail to take care of the one body we get in this life.

When we were in training with WorldVenture, one of the things they emphasized was our need to rest. These folks know better than we do the pressure of preparing for, and serving in long-term missions (almost everyone we met had at least 10 years overseas missions experience). So we’re taking to heart something we gathered from Wayne Cordeiro – schedule your rest first. Before anything else gets on your calendar, put down when, how, and where you will rest (individually or as a couple if married). As we’re doing this I’m finding it really reduces the anxiety caused by the task before us. Knowing that we have a plan to rest makes the diligent, hard work more joyful.

Then there’s the seminary transition. Lord willing I’ll complete my final courses in August and wrap up my first seminary degree. My time at Western has been life changing. Because I was a distance student I wasn’t able to develop friendships with as many professors as a residential student normally would. But, the few men there I did have the opportunity to connect with have deeply impacted my understanding of Scripture and my walk with Christ. I went to Western to be strengthened in the essentials, challenged in everything, and to spend time with men whose lives make me want to be more Christlike. All of those things took place. And now, I’m transitioning from seminary life. I look forward to attacking the “things to do after seminary” list!

And then there’s the health transition. I had an MRI done on my head yesterday and I’m hoping to get results today. There’s some eye issues and we did the scan to see if there’s swelling or a growth behind my left eye. This presents a transition all its own, depending on the outcome. We’re praying that God will graciously bring a method of healing that will relieve the pain and not require too severe of a solution. My hope is to be matured in this process as He intends (Rom. 8:28) and to not be delayed in relocating to Hungary.

So it’s transitions all around right now. I’m so thankful for Christ! He truly is the unshakable rock that holds the foundation of a believer’s life together. Stress, nerves, and anxiety all come in waves at different times. But they are nothing compared to the joy of having Jesus as my Savior. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about Luke 9:51. It reads “When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.” I find that a powerful verse. Jesus, knowing that mockery, false accusation, pain, betrayal, crucifixion and death were waiting for him, nonetheless “set his face” to walk straight into it. This is my Savior. The living God who walked straight into the storm that he might bring everyone to Yahweh. It brings stability and grounding to my heart in the middle of many transitions.

So I scanned a painting that my daughter Grace created when she was 5. It came out pretty cool…but of course I’m quite biased.

The cool part was that while I was checking out I was presented the option of donating the digital pic of the artwork to Flip. For every 15 custom skins sold the donate camcorders to needy kids. Grace’s design is below:

And taking the twelve, he said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise.” But they understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.” Luke 18:31-33

“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.” 1 Corinthians 15:3-7

“We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” Romans 6:9-11

Glorious resurrection day.