We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on God

This has been an odd week in our house. My husband spent all week at two school camps, one after the other. Our youngest son was at the first camp and he got back on Wednesday. So for 2 ½ days it was just me and our middle son here at home. Distinctly weird.

Life goes on, however. I’m thankful for a quiet week at work, so I was able to take a non-desk day on Wednesday. I did household jobs and also rode to the “big park” for a picnic. And today have enjoyed time over coffee with a friend and also being able to attend a school prayer meeting that I have only managed to attend one other time in 2022.

During the week I also had time to spend talking to a couple of other friends on audio/video calls. So refreshing. God’s reminding me of those special people in my life who care very deeply. One of my friends I haven’t been able to talk to or have much interaction at all with since I last saw her in Australia in 2018. It’s a precious friend with whom you can pick up again after gaps like that.

Plum blossoms are out everywhere. While not
as common or popular as cherry blossoms,
 they are still gorgeous. Certainly there
 was a buzz in the park as people gathered
to admire them.

Something that’s giving me hope is that it seems like we’re starting to make greater progress in finding a way forward from the difficult situation we’ve been in over the last couple of years. It’s hard to describe this clearly here, in this public space, where I don't feel free to share all the details. I will say, though, that there’s been a lot of emotional ups and downs (more downs than ups) and at times the future’s looked bleak, as you may have picked up from various blog posts I’ve written. A dear friend I shared the details with didn’t mince her words when she described our situation as “walking through crap”. 

But in the last week tiny cracks of light have appeared: a couple of friends/colleagues who have volunteered to find out information for us as we prepare for the future, enquiries have gone out to different places that might net some practical help, and the knowledge that we’ll have (hopefully) feet on the ground in Australia in just over three months time. And someone who’s given us a generous donation that will help cover some of the extra expenses coming up.

I was reminded last week at the retreat, of this verse from 2 Chronicles 20 part of a prayer by King Jehoshaphat: “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you” (second half of verse 12 NIV). I included it in my very first blog post this year; it’s a good one to remember! Indeed we’re waiting with bated breath to see what God will do. Of course there’s no guarantee of a good result (from our limited human perspective), but we know that God is infinitely reliable, even if we don’t understand what he does, or like the timeline that he’s working by.

Also, something even more tangible to contribute to the hopeful feelings—we've booked two different campsites for the last week of March. Plan A and Plan B. We were feeling a bit nervous after so many plans fell through on our last opportunity to go camping in autumn last year, so two options are available and we'll cancel one as needed.

I’m grateful for lots to be thankful for this week, and more to look forward to also. What are you thankful for this week?