if the Lord wills

 

Despite being mostly homebound and experiencing some momentary despair about support raising, we've surged up to 77%! We are once again reminded that the Lord is writing the story and not us.

Pledge today! Shelter in Place. Last month we asked you to join us in praying that we'd see a 15% increase in our support within the month. Little did we know the extent that the pandemic would turn the world upside down. I'd worked it out in my head how the ensuing months would go and how we could leave at the end of July. James 4 says:  Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” This verse was meaningful to us when we first started this process and so much more so now. It's as the Lord wills and not how we would do it. With everything that's going on, I (Jeff) was pretty low. It seemed like such a backbreaker. But God has reassured us through conversations with friends and family and times of prayer -- He is in control. So, if we have to shelter in place, let's go to God as our shelter and "abide in the shadow of the Almighty!" (Psalm 91:1) So far we've managed to entertain ourselves during the shelter-in-place order. God is at work globally through the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, he has his eyes on us. What an unexpected blessing it has been to have this time as a family before our move to Brazil!  Thank you for partnering with us. We'd love to know how you are fighting off cabin fever or, more seriously, how we can be praying with you! Please reach out!  Love, the Dowdys