Just One More Thing

We are back safe and sound in Mexico. After settling in we are now looking toward our move to Puebla and joining our teammates. Before we move on from our Oregon theme however, there is just one more thing.

When we left for Portland there were two things I really wanted to do. The first was to see the boyhood home of Jim Elliot; the second was to see the Pacific Ocean. The Lord was gracious; He gave us both.

Dr. Mary was the one who made the Elliot visit possible. We had tried at least three times to locate his home but came up empty handed each time. One day at lunch someone mentioned to Mary of our interest. She not only told us where it was located, but immediately drove Diana and I over to see it. A few days later we packed up the kids in the old beat up van of WorldView for a family trip. Once there we took some pictures and prayed together in a corner of the yard. We weren’t on a pilgrimage nor did we find special spiritual favor by being there. It was just an opportunity for our family to be connected to missionary history and a godly man in a very tangible way.

The opportunity to see the Pacific came the day before we were scheduled to leave Oregon. It was one of those “after a month of intense study, do we really want to do this” times, but sanity ruled demanding we take advantage of this once in a lifetime opportunity. We were not disappointed. The color of the water, the cliffs and trees jutting out to the ocean, the coolness of the breeze, the rocks towering up out of the ocean, made it breathtaking. The beauty of it all pushes the words up out of the heart and into the mouth, “You, Lord, are amazing.”

He is so good to us, withholding what we deserve, giving what we don’t deserve and often showering us with what we simply want.