Teacher Training in the Bush

I have to admit that I was really nervous going into leading a teacher training for teachers out in the bush yesterday.  For a few reasons... One being I have been out of the game for 3 years.  Had to kick myself back in to teacher mode.  Thankfully, the three things they wanted me to talk about are three parts of teaching that never really leave you.  I was also fortunate to work to work in a top-notch school district with AMAZING co-workers, whom I learned more from than any amount of schooling.  All of their wisdom, ideas, and techniques have stuck with me.  Thank you to those wonderful people.  You know who you are. :-)
The three topics were ethics of being a teacher, classroom management, and lesson planning.  My second reason for being nervous was I wanted to be relevant to them. The 1st topic didn't really present a problem because that topic is pretty much the same for Zambians and Americans.  I spoke about the high calling of being a teacher and how we need to have high standards for ourselves.  No matter where you are on a map, teachers are an important part of society.   All teachers are role models whether they like it or not.  We have the power of being able to greatly help or harm their students because of this.  Our words carry great weight.  And our actions speak louder than words.  I warned the teachers that students are always watching.   Our students want to know that we are who we say we are and that we value education.  If we don't have a love for learning and convey that love to our students, most are unlikely to develop that passion on their own.  The only difficult part of this lesson was motivating them to take on this task.  In America, because teaching is a paid job, most are going to be pretty ethical teachers.  We have to be on time and be prepared or we will lose our job. There is an external motivation system in place.  Here, out in the bush, these teachers are VOLUNTEERS.  All of their hard work and effort has to come from within, an internal motivation system.  Just plain out of the goodness of their heart, they need to show up on time everyday and pour into these students so that some great change can occur in this country.  Would most American teachers do this?  No paycheck? No benefits?  Working another job just so you can also teach for free???  I can't say I would be signing up for that. (Side note-I am not saying that American teachers don't also have an internal motivation system, many do, but we have both!)  I tried my best though to encourage them to be the change this country needs, to keep showing up and investing in the future.  To trust that their hard work is not in vain and that I greatly admire them for continuing on despite the hardships.  I wish I could have had more answers, more help for them...Please pray for these teachers.  They need it.
The 2nd topic was classroom management.  Oh the joy of trying to teach many students with different backgrounds, learning styles, and personalities.  I tried to keep it simple with this subject since they don't have near the amount of resources we have for classroom set up, behavior systems, etc.  I spoke on 7 guidelines to have for managing your class.  1, take charge from the beginning.  Let students know  you are the boss and you expect them to be respectful, to listen, to participate, and to do their best.  2nd, go over these expectations multiple times. Don't let little things slide.  3rd, have established consequences for not meeting expectations.  These should be developmentally appropriate and students should know what will happen, instead of being surprised. 4th, avoid disruptions by moving about and keeping an eye on students.  I know once I started talking to another teacher who popped in, my classroom would go from quite to earthquake level noise real quick.  5th, praise constantly.  Make a big deal out of the good.  6th, be proactive.  Have your lessons and materials ready to go before the day begins so you are not trying to do that while teaching.  7th, be fair.  There is no one in the world that respects someone who is unfair.  This is the short version, but wanted to give an idea.  Doreen helped me with examples to give and we also explained a few individual and class systems to keep behavior in check.
Last, but not least, lesson planning.  I might be weird, but I always loved planning lessons.  I enjoyed the challenge of looking at what my students needed to learn and how I might help them learn it.  There wasn't much time left for this session, but I was able to show them a basic template and explain the importance of planning ahead.  Doreen told me that they loved it!!! I was so glad, because I wasn't sure what experience they had with it.  I learned that in government schools, they have to plan the whole term at once-13 weeks!  And the exams are only in the last week.  They were happy to know that while you should know your overarching subjects and goals, that lesson plans need to be fluid and meet the needs of your students.  They also enjoyed learning about how to give smaller and different types of assessments during the term to get an idea if students are getting it or not.
All in all it was a fabulous day.  They were so grateful and it was such a small thing on my part.  I never thought that I would be doing a teacher training in the bush in Africa with chickens wondering in and out of the classroom and bathroom breaks in a hole in the ground.  But I loved it and I hope I get to do it again.

A few of the teachers

Doreen helping me illustrate a point

Gotta love an old-fashioned chalkboard, never even had one of these when I was teaching!

Some of the attendees

Eating our village chicken, nshima, and relish lunch!

More of the teachers

My awesome friend Doreen who volunteered her time to translate for me!!!

Easter Sunday in Zambia

Our Easter celebration in Zambia was definitely different than our normal American one, but the reason to celebrate is the same no matter where we are.  God sent His one and only son to die a gruesome death on the cross only to rise on the 3rd day, defeating death, and making the only way for us to have a relationship with Him in this life and in the next.  I cry tears of sadness and joy every year as I ponder this great sacrifice and the amazing love shown through it.

We decided to head out to the International Bible College of Zambia for their Easter service as our dear friends, the Miller family, had just arrived from America to start their missionary work there for the next 3 years.  My parents were here visiting, so they came along obviously, as well as the Smith family, who we serve alongside here in Chongwe.  It was such a treat to worship as a mix of Zambians and Americans.  As my dad notes, there is something very spiritual and touching about the way they sing and praise God here.  No fanfare or anything fancy, just simple and soulful.  I will post the clip I took on Facebook, couldn't get it to go on here! :(

After the service, I attempted to get a few pics of the kiddos, but they were way to excited to play with the Smith and Miller kids to stop and actually pose for me.  Oh well. Such is life.

We were able to have my dad snap some pictures of the 3 families all from Ankeny Free Church that are serving here in Zambia after our picnic lunch of pbj's, chips, and apples.  Can't believe we got a few with everyone looking and smiling!

And after arriving back in Chongwe, we got one family pic before my kids crashed after a busy morning of fun.

I will always remember our Easter in Zambia.  Praise God for giving us the reason for this day of celebration.

“I am the resurrection and the life.  Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” John 11:25-26

The Body

Proverbs 27:9 The heartfelt counsel of a friend is as sweet as perfume and incense.

Healing. Praying. Crying. Listening. Thinking. Changing. Resting. Growing.

Words that describe the past few weeks for us. But there are many more words which have been written and spoken to us that have dominated this time thanks to many of you, our friends.  

The body of Christ. 

Without mentioning names, I want to share a few of the sweet, whispers of grace, love, empathy, and acceptance that people have given us over the last few weeks. These are more than words to us.  And we know they are more than words to you.  We have received correspondence from people that went far beyond simple "well wishing"  or "I love you's" (which are good too!).  We've read relevant and incredibly pointed messages by other Christians who were willing to make themselves vulnerable by sharing their own personal stories and struggles in order to comfort us.  The willingness to go deeper by a few people, some of whom are admittedly distant friends, shows the defining character of what being a follower of Christ is all about.  The words that many have shared have been incredibly encouraging during this season.  While we may be geographically isolated from all things familiar, we have been made to feel at home through the warm embrace of empathy, compassion and brotherly love bestowed upon us.  We are not "super Christians" for being missionaries in far off places; but are simply fellow brothers and sisters within the greater Church who, like anybody else, need to hear and experience the love of people during times of need.  

Job 4:4 Your words have helped the tottering to stand, and you have strengthened feeble knees.

A small sampling:

-regardless of mistakes made or things done - there should be no shame in what you have done. Remember to err is human and to forgive is divine! Give yourself grace and forgiveness in all of this - God already has!

-it would be easy to be prideful and just take the boys even though you know it's not right because you're worried about your reputation, but you guys are being humble and doing the right thing and that is very respectable.  God has a purpose for these boys, and He may have been using you guys as the tool to get it started.

-what I can tell you is we trust your decision and motives and you have our support 100%.  I know things didn't transpire as expected and there are things you regret but this decision takes much more guts to admit where you felt you didn't wait on God then the alternative and move forward on something because of pride when you feel it is not Gods will.

-We admire you for your courage to not only go over to Africa and adopt, but to stand strong when your plan did not exactly match God's plan. We admire you for realizing what was best for the boys, for listening to God, rather than relying on selfish pride. Thank you for your honesty...yet another thing we admire about both of you. 

-I wish I could give you a hug right now!! I have no doubt at all that the best decision was made. God is good, all the time. Can't wait to have you all back home to hear all the stories that I'm sure you have. You guys are awesome & we love you. Stay strong in Christ & everything is gonna be just fine.

-We don't always understand His ways, but they are always better than ours. You are listening to Him and that isn't just good, it's an amazing example to all who read about your journey. God is being glorified through this whole thing and that is pretty awesome!

-You are so welcome for the support & prayers... your family continues to be in my prayers!! I know others might not understand, but please know that I respect your family for making those choices... I pray that others understand too. Please don't be embarrassed about what happened. You listened to Him and there's no shame in that. We've been there...

-I shout from the roof tops to you and Mickey, I just want to give you both the biggest hug ever, no, this was not In your plan, but it was God's plan!! I just love how God works! He had decided to move you all the way to Africa to teach you two that God needs to come first and then each other! I love your story, don't be ashamed/embarrassed, nothing, you hold your head up, Girl!! You are a Jesus Girl and I love you so much for standing up for what is right for you, your marriage, your children and those precious boys and of course God!!

-Your journey has been a beautiful example of following Gods voice, stepping out and being ok when it doesn't work out how you/we thought it should, that that doesn't make u failures but actually humble enough to admit that it is ok to take another road, one that is in everyone's best interest. We have had many difficult decisions that we have had to make that left us feeling like failures, or not able to hack it, and in the last year God has been diligent in showing us his heart, and healing expectations we put on ourselves that were not from Him. Not sure if that makes sense, but seeing you handle the situation with such grace has been healing for us as well.

-What God did with us is so similar to your story that you will be amazed! I am just so thrilled that the Lord has united our hearts for such a time as this. I hope that brings you some comfort to know that someone else has walked this road and gets it. Know that I will be praying and know that His grace is sufficient. He will see you through all of this. So much love to you, sweet sister in the Lord!

-I want to start by thanking you for your honesty and openness.  We are not only not judging you for your choice, but would agree that you probably made the best decision for all involved.  Things don't always turn out the way that we think they will, and we can't always know what God has for us.  After hearing all that you have been doing in Zambia, I would say that God has been using you in a huge way.  It also sounds as though He has used you in the lives of these boys, even though it doesn't mean they will be a part of your family.  The fact that you have been obedient and endured through so much says a lot about your love for the Lord.  We can "somewhat" relate to all you have been experiencing these past months, and we know what a difficult process it is. When faced with huge decisions such as these, I think human pride would be the only thing causing you to push forward when you don't have a peace with it. 

-You are doing such great things in Africa. You are brave beyond our measure. We are so proud of what you are doing and even more proud that you could admit that this isn't right for your family. Such honesty is so rare in the world.

-I literally got chills reading this post! It is hard to accept our plan not being the best one sometimes. It takes courage and faith to understand and be patient while waiting for God's plan to be revealed. It is amazing how your connection with these two boys gave opened up another door with another couple. It is amazing how He works!

-We will continue to pray for you as you continue this journey. It is never over, and sometimes it takes moving away to a faraway place to be able to get away from the noise and truly listen to what God is saying.


This is just a small offering of the encouragement we have received over the last few weeks.  


Colossians 3:12-14
So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. 


We say thank you to each of you.  You have put on love for us, and unified us together as fellow, broken people serving an almighty, perfect God.  

Our Plan is not Always God's Plan

Hello everyone.  So sorry for the absence of an update on the adoption and how things are going.  Free time has not been much of a reality with 4 kids, ages 6, 5, 4, and 3 running around.  As you can imagine.  We also needed to sort things out through much prayer and needed some time to heal a bit.  But we do have some important news and thoughts to share.

We, after much crying out to our Father and serious discussion as husband and wife, have determined that it is not in the best interest of Joe and Emmanuel to be in our family.  While we feel called to adopt and planned for it to be a major reason for our move to Zambia, we know that God's plan is sometimes different than our own.  While this has been tough to swallow and digest, we believe His ways are always better than ours.  We also believe in James 1:5 when it says, if you need wisdom, to ask God, and He will give it to you generously.  Boy, has He done that this week.

As we parented Joe and Emmanuel these past two weeks and really got to know them, we found that they have some serious emotional and psychological issues.  Needs and issues in their hearts and minds that need to be dealt with now and for years to come.  We had to think hard about our abilities and resources to help them.  The reality came to us that it did not seem right to take them out of their culture and home country at this point in their life and throw them into a completely different culture where no one speaks their language in only 4 short months.  They are at least a year away from being able to speak and understand English well. They need more time here in a stable environment where they can talk about the things they have been through with people who understand.  The things they have experienced in their short lives are such that Mickey and I, nor anyone in our hometown, would ever be able to relate.  This was a difficult realization, because pridefully, we wanted to believe we could do it.  We also, as Americans, tend to think we can help by just bringing them to America, and while that can be true in many cases, we have found that it isn't the case with Joe and Eman.  We feel very strongly that God has communicated this to us.  These boys deserve the best and while we thought we were the best for them, we now know that we aren't.
Of course, we also had to look at our original family unit.  God has already blessed us with 2 young children.  As we thought about the great needs Joe and Emmanuel have, we knew that they would need most of our time, and that wasn't fair.  Our children, Evan and Alea, still need us and we have a great responsibility in parenting them.  In our minds, we thought that having all the kids be so close together in age would be perfect.  We quickly found that while this might work in some instances, it was not working for us.  We wish we would have thought this through more and prayed about it more when we were first thinking about adopting them, but honestly, at that point, we felt like since they were what was in front of us that it must be God's will.  We now know that this wasn't necessarily the case and more prayer and thought should have went into that.   Mickey and I also had to talk about our marriage.  Where we have been, where we are at and where we are going.  It is not easy to admit, but we know now that we weren't ready for this.  We wanted to be, but after much honest discussion, we are sure that we need time to work on our marriage in many ways right now.
To be clear, we feel the same way about adoption as we always have.  We feel the same way about God's power as we always have.  It is true that we can do amazing things if God is in it.  God can and does accomplish what we cannot do on our own.  But we also know that there is a season for everything in our lives.  We know God has put adoption on our hearts and while we thought it meant this year, He has another season in mind.  And this time around, we know we will be able to use all we have learned from going on this journey this year.  God doesn't waste anything.  It is all for our good.  As a friend wrote me this week, His refining fire is beautiful indeed.   
We want to thank everyone from the bottom of our hearts for all your support, love, and prayers.  While we didn't get the answer we thought was right, God has given us His answer and He is always right.  You better hold on to the seat of your pants for this next part!  Mickey and I visited with our social worker this week to let her know everything that I just told you above.  She understood completely and agreed that it would be a lot for the boys to move so soon to a new place so different than what they know.  She also informed us that in no way would this adoption be done by August, when we need to be home, but that is another story.  She suggested to check out a place called Tree of Life by Family Legacy.  It is an orphanage run by a organization out of Texas.  We told her we would stop there on the way home.  When we got there, we couldn't believe it.  What an amazing place.  And we actually got right in with the director.  This never happens in Zambia.  We shared our story and the director confirmed to us that this would be a wonderful place for Joe and Emmanuel.  The orphanage is designed for street children from Lusaka, and would provide them with the counseling, schooling, and familiarity they need.  As we went home after the visit, Mickey and I decided to pray about this possibility.  Our hearts were telling us that we really wanted Joe and E to be in a family, but we were really impressed with how Tree of Life is run.   After taking time to pray, we got a phone call the next day from the director.  He shared with us that he was having dinner with friends the night before.  These friends were American missionaries who are the coordinators of Action Zambia in Lusaka.  They have been in Zambia about 4 years and plan to be here at least the next 4 years.  For some reason, the director felt led to share with these friends, that we had stopped in to Family Legacy today to discuss 2 boys possibly going there.  This couple's jaw dropped.  They informed the director that they have been waiting for a year and a half to adopt a sibling group of boys ages 4-9.  They haven't heard anything from social welfare during this time, so they felt called to just wait on God and trust that it would come in time, even though they know as well as us how much work gets done by social welfare here.  Needless to say, the director informed us that they wanted to meet us and the boys.  We met with them today and they, without a doubt, want to adopt Joe and Emmanuel and we, without a doubt, feel like they will be perfect for Joe and E.  I cry tears of joy every time I think about it.  Isn't our God amazing??? They have already adopted a sibling group of 2 girls about 3 years ago from the same orphanage as J and E!  This couple speaks Nyanja, as well as counsels street children.  They also live in a Zambian community, where the boys will still be around their culture for sometime, as well as have Zambian sisters!  I don't know about you, but I am pretty much just in awe of how God has worked this all out in a week.  I want to write more about this, and will soon, but for now will leave it at that.
We still have the boys right now, as social welfare had asked for our help in finding the best solution for J and E.  We told them we didn't want to take them back to where they came from at any cost and to please let them stay with us for the time being.  Very grateful they allowed this and that God's perfect plan has been revealed.  We will work next week with social welfare on all of this.
Finally, this little blog post doesn't really do justice to all we have gone through and learned during this time. We apologize if this all comes as a shock.  Believe me, we are the most shocked of all. We never thought that after everything we have felt and gone through in the last year, that this would be the outcome.   Sometimes, when something is good and right, like adoption, you don't understand why God would close that door.  We are still trying to fully understand this, but God is working to help us.  If you have questions or thoughts for us, please share, but please know while we are extremely happy with the outcome, that this is still a sad time for us as we say our good-byes to these boys that we have loved for about 5 months now and deal with some of the reasons we felt like we weren't ready to adopt.  We ask for your grace and understanding at this time.  Once more, we thank you.  Your prayers have helped two boys who had no one, now have the family that we truly believe God had ready for them all along.

Our Life in Recent Pictures

The Zip Line-courtesy of Mick's parents-very fun for the kids, all though we are one broken bone in -:)

My shopping buddy, Mick usually takes Ev somewhere else, grocery shopping here is a full contact sport and I  have to be on top of it!  haha

Baby Grace, as we call her affectionately, this little girl is just the sweetest!

It was a joyous day when the container arrived, the guys worked hard to get everything unloaded and set up!

Dinner time at a table??? I had forgotten what that felt like.  

Dorie, our dog, has bound a bed in our little cart thing that we used to tote all of our luggage through airports. Silly dog.

Eman is all smiles with Emma

Ev played this game where he scared the kids while flying at them on the swing, the preschoolers loved it!

Heidi using her awesome gift of teaching the Word-I am so blessed to be able to work alongside her here!

Joe doesn't smile too often, so glad I captured this!  

Some kids out at Kalungula where we have planted a field and a garden now.

Love

Mick getting some airtime on the trampoline with the kids-this thing has been a lifesaver here for getting energy out of kids and adults!  

Pastor Prince and Kalungula School

When it rains here, it pours...

I tried about a hundred times to get her to smile normally, but this is her normal and I love it!!! 

I miss Iowa so much, but oh does it feel good to soak up the rays here everyday...Sorry friends back home, it will be warm before you know it!

Adoption: The Latest

Honestly, not even sure how to explain our day on Friday to those who don't live here.  I am sure you are getting a glimpse of how things in this country are run after following this adoption journey.  I think I have lost count of how many times we have been told that we would know on this date or that date...Friday was definitely the worst kick in the gut for us.  This time frame that we were promised, this date that we had set in our hearts and minds apparently didn't matter to social welfare at all.  We went to Lusaka and went directly to find our social worker, who again was not answering her phone, and found out she would be gone all day for a funeral.  After finding that out, I decided I would try and go meet the director, even though technically we were supposed to wait to hear from her.  We head to her office building and I go in.  As I am knocking on her door and not getting any answer, I ask a man walking by, "Is she in today?" Response I get, "she is out of the country".  

Excuse me???  

As the reality set in, knowing that we were going to have to wait yet again, I felt pretty defeated.  I couldn't help but think that she will just keep doing this over and over, and that we would NEVER get an answer.  So, I decided to try and do something about it.  No more of this waiting/stalling game.  I asked the man if there was someone else that I could meet with who might know of how the search for other applicants was going.  He directed me to a nearby office.  Of course, when I went there, she was at lunch so more waiting. Ha!  That's all I can do is laugh sometimes.  But after a quick grocery run for us in the waiting, we headed back so I could meet with her.  
Once again, I wasn't expecting what happened.   I shared our story with the lady, and the "interrogation" started.  It was all very similar to what happened when Mickey met with the director 3 weeks ago.  She stated that they needed to find someone who could give these two boys 100 percent attention, and there is concern about us having two kids of our own.  I tried my best to explain that we would not even consider adopting if we didn't think we could love these two boys as our own and give them everything we have just like we do for our bio kids.  I told her that God calls us all to care for orphans and that when something is from God, everything is possible.  We know God will fill our hearts with love for these boys...He has already shown us glimpses of that.  Next, she asked whether or not we had kids "that side", meaning America, to adopt.  She felt like it would be too difficult to mix cultures.  Again, I explained to her that God says in His word to care for orphans and He doesn't specify a specific country or only the ones in your culture.  We have actually been asked this before, and honestly, we just don't get it.  All that should matter is that a child who didn't have a family or perhaps was mistreated by family, is now in a loving home.  Case closed.  I also explained how my husband has been involved in Zambia for some time and that we will continue to have great involvement in this country.  We specifically chose Zambia because of this so that our adopted children would never forget where they came from and that they would have a daddy who was trying to help people there.  Lastly, she once again stated that we shouldn't have visited orphanages, because now the kids are sad and we are sad, and that wouldn't have happened if we would have waited for them to call us.  Excuse me while I chuckle.  First, I wanted to let her know that there was an easy solution for that, just let us have them. :)  But of course, I apologized for not having followed any procedure. I explained that we did everything with a social worker, so we didn't know that we were doing anything wrong.  
Of course, there was a lot more to the conversation.  I felt very on the spot, but also felt like God supplied with all the best answers.  To end the conversation, she basically just said, we would have to wait until Monday when the director would return.

This brings us all to today.  We called our social worker this morning and she actually answered her phone!!! Hallelujah!  This is a major feat here.  She informed us she needed the official birth records and to meet her downtown so we could meet with the director.  She explained she would inform her that the search for other families came up empty and show her the birth records so she would see that our bio kids and J/E are not the same exact age.  We were so excited.  We got dressed up and packed up for town.  The birth records were with the dad's sister, so we grabbed those, and headed to our social workers office.  She tells us the meeting won't happen until after lunch, so just hang out.  But of course, after all day of waiting in Lusaka, she tried to meet with the director but she wasn't around.  

Now, we are told, it is all supposed to go down tomorrow morning.  You can imagine how skeptical Mickey and I are, but we are hopeful.  If it is a yes from the director, we can go pick up the boys  Wouldn't that just be glorious???  On the flip side, the director could say that even though there aren't any current families for J and E, that she still doesn't find it in the best interest for the boys to come with us.  

So, we are asking for your prayers again.  We know you all want an answer just about as bad as we do. :-)  And we pray we will have one tomorrow!  

Finally, as I got home this evening from another long day in Lusaka, I turned on some worship music.  There is nothing like turning up some tunes and worshipping my Savior that gets my heart turned around.  This song was the first to come on and I feel like it could be the anthem for this whole adoption process.  Click on the link below if you want! 

We Won't Be Shaken by Building 429. 

Hopefully this will be our reality soon! 

Thoughtful Thursday-Suffering

I am going to try each week and post something that God is having me ponder-hoping you will join me with an open mind and take a moment out of your busy day to really think.  I know many of you are saying to yourself right now, just sit and think???  Who does that anymore?  If I have a spare moment, I am going to get on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/Google, or work out, or watch tv, or read a magazine, call a friend, make dinner, and this list could go on and on.  But maybe, just maybe, you could find a few minutes on Thursdays to read this post and take a moment and ponder with me.  

Today, I am thinking about the cause of suffering.  Why our lives take sudden downward spirals sometimes.  Why bad things happen.  

Whoaaaa...you might say.  That's pretty heavy,  And no, I am not going to go super in depth on these questions today and actually, it is pretty simple when you think about it from God's eyes, but I just want to touch on what I have been learning about this subject in the particular case of Paul and Jonah from the Bible.  I have been reading about the life of Paul, the greatest missionary of the New Testament, in the book "To Live is Christ" by Beth Moore.  Man, did this guy go through a lot in his life time.  After his conversion to total faith in Jesus Christ as the son of God, he went as many places as he could to boldly proclaim this message.  Just like now, not everyone wanted to hear this good news.  He was beaten, thrown in jail, shipwrecked, ridiculed, and stoned for his faith.  Yet, he pressed on.  He didn't care what it took, he wanted to spread the truth of Jesus to all.  Now, you may not know much else about Paul except for what I just told you, but for purposes today, I want to look at just one aspect of him.  His obedience.  When God told him to go, he went.  When God told him to stay, he stayed.   At one point, God told him to go to Jerusalem, not exactly a friendly place for a Jewish Christian at this time, but He knew better than to disobey God's command. He quickly got arrested there and sent on to Rome.  On the boat ride there, a massive storm struck.  They were shipwrecked and eventually found their way to the island of Malta after several stomach churning days on the sea. 
Now, let's look at Jonah.  Jonah was a prophet in the Old Testament.  God asked him to go to Ninevah to bring people back to God.  Jonah quickly took a boat in the opposite direction because he was scared to go to Ninevah. He chose to disobey.  Because of this God caused a great storm and eventually a big fish to swallow up Jonah for a few days. 

Both men suffered, yes? Actually, they suffered in very similar ways.  But the major difference is Paul was obedient and Jonah wasn't obedient.  Wait a minute, you mean obedience to God doesn't guarantee us a storm free life?????  Nope!   (Hate to break that news to you prosperity gospel. :-) )  


This all brings me to the few thoughts that popped into my head after reading about these 2 men.  

First, the comparison of these two men showed me that God loves us no matter what.  He delivered both of these men from their storm, whether or not they were obedient to His calling. That's pretty cool, as we are not perfect and not always obedient to what He wants us to do.  It is pretty comforting to know that His love is unconditional.  He did not give Jonah what he "deserved", but gave him another chance.  
Second, our behavior as followers of Christ is crucial during a trial. Jonah did not use his trial (during the trial) for good.  He slept during the storm and when he realized it was probably his fault, he said, "pick me up and throw me out into the sea...I know it is my fault."  His attitude was poor me.  Paul, on the other hand, demonstrated such faithfulness and obedience to God, that God sent an angel to him letting him know that God would save him and all aboard.  He was actually an encouragement to others aboard-kind of funny since technically he was a prisoner being transported on this ship.  When they finally washed up on an island, they were greeted with love and hospitality.  They even spent 3 months there, where Paul was able to preach and teach about our Savior.  As you can see, Jonah's attitude did not bring people to Him.  How many times have you done the poor me thing?  I know I have been there many times, rather recently too!  And it is a terrible witness.  But the way Paul endured the trial, with trust and peace, this brought people's attention to God, which is always a good thing.  Am I right? Our attitudes as believers during a trial can make or break our witness for Him.   
3rd, I thought about why God did all of this.  The answer is pretty simple.  He wanted His will done.  God wanted Jonah to realize His disobedience and trust that God's plans are always the best, even when they are scary or tough.  God wanted the people aboard the ship with Paul to experience what it was like to be saved by God, and he wanted a little, unreached island to know about Him too. 

So, I will end with this.  Suffering is not fun.  You better believe Paul and Jonah did not enjoy the trials they had to endure.  Just like our trials are awful and heart breaking and scary and tough and unenjoyable. When we are in the trial, it is really difficult sometimes to understand God's purposes.  I can say though looking back at the trials I have been through in my life, that God has used every single one for a purpose.  Not one single trial was God punishing me or for no rhyme or reason.  God is good, He would never do that.  But He does HAVE to allow trials in our life at times for the sole purpose of bringing people close to Him.  Whether it is just us he wants close as in Jonah's case, or in Paul's case, a whole boat full of people and an island, He LOVES us all so much that He will do whatever it takes. And I don't know about you, but suffering is worth it if it brings me to a closer relationship with Him or if it brings someone else to know Him as their Savior.  

He is worth it all.  And we are worth it all to Him.

James 1:12
Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which [the Lord] has promised to those who love Him.

1 Peter 4:12

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you;