{"id":1712,"date":"2016-04-24T17:17:09","date_gmt":"2016-04-24T22:17:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/clauson\/?p=1712"},"modified":"2016-10-11T20:37:25","modified_gmt":"2016-10-12T01:37:25","slug":"looking-back-looking-ahead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/clauson\/2016\/04\/24\/looking-back-looking-ahead\/","title":{"rendered":"As I come and I go…"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pastor Colleen of Roseville Covenant Church in MN asked us to share openly with the church about how we are feeling as we come to an end of our one year home assignment and get ready to go back to Oaxaca, Mexico.<\/p>\n

This morning Nils shared how we are really excited about being back in Mexico, seeing how God has continued to work there while we’ve been gone and of course introducing Maya to our dear friends there…<\/p>\n

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However, what can overwhelm us and even produce fear and anxiety in us is the process of moving back – packing up our\u00a0house here, saying “see you later”\u00a0to family and friends, realizing there are many uncertainties and changes we will be facing in the next few months, like what house we will call home for our next term\u00a0in Mexico.<\/p>\n

You’d think we’d be experts at this change thing as missionaries, I mean, as I’ve written about in the past, we’ve lived in 10 different homes in the 16 years that\u00a0Nils and I have been\u00a0married, we’ve lived and served in three very different cities in Mexico and we’ve been involved in unique ministries and worked with different ministry partners in each of those places, but…<\/p>\n

Change is still hard and scary sometimes. \u00a0When the fears of facing change yet once again\u00a0started\u00a0creeping up\u00a0for me this last month, I looked out my window at\u00a0the singing cardinal and the blooming\u00a0magnolia tree and daffodils in my yard…<\/p>\n

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and they were a reminder of\u00a0how God\u00a0cares for all of His creation. I heard Jesus’s invitation once again to not be anxious about tomorrow, but to trust in Him.<\/p>\n

It helps me to also remember God’s faithfulness to us in the past, how He has always provided a home wherever we have been, and so I sing the hymn Great in Thy Faithfulness or in Spanish, O Tu Fidelidad.<\/p>\n

Actually, God often helps to calm my anxious thoughts through music, and so this morning as I was thinking of sharing openly about my fears, God brought to mind one of my favorite Covenant choruses from Psalm 121, written by Bob Stromberg.<\/p>\n