In an Instant

On a Wednesday night in early May, our family was traveling eastbound on a major road in Orlando. Traffic was the normal flow. The SUV in front of us was abruptly stopping, later to find out the car in front of him was “break checking” the driver in front of us. We were in a car accident and airbags deployed. Our car totaled!

While at the scene of the accident, I was starting to experience pain. While not overwhelming enough to take the ambulance, our youngest son Zachary and I did go to the ER that night. Zachary was released after being evaluated for the bump on his head, while I remained in the ER the entire night. At 2am the doctor came in and said the CT scan taken to assess pain from the accident came back normal, but we did find something else, “a nodule on your left lung. We are going to take another CT scan, it could be cancerous. But you need to see a pulmonologist.”

That 8 hour span changed our lives in an instant. May-July Leslie underwent 4 CT scans, 4 blood draws, 2 ER visits, ongoing medical practitioner visits and various medical tests. BUT, God had a plan. The nodule healed — gone on its own! WHAT A PRAISE! Going from “I may have cancer to it’s GONE!” (The pulmonologist and the entire tumor board he presented my case to were quite surprised as well. A follow-up CT scan is schedule for 6 months, just to be sure.)

In a similar way, the GOSPEL changes lives in an instant. Eternal separation from God to forever home in heaven with Him. Freedom through life giving grace and forgiveness. In an instant, Jesus’ death paid for ALL, each man’s sins, and making possible salvation from God’s wrath.

While we still experience the ravages of sin, we have hope. Minutes after this car accident, standing in front of the mangled front bumper and engine compartment, I had this look of “what are we going to do!” My husband replied, “God must be up to something!” That simple statement garnered hope in my physically pained body.

In May Leslie lead a training (Ministry Partner Development Launch) for 33 Lake Hart Stint (Leadership development program) participants. This training equipped them with the latest tools to cast vision for their new ministry assignments, dispel lies from the enemy, best practices in engaging potential ministry partners, as well as prepare them for their transition.

Mike gave a talk on transition which gave the participants a framework for the emotional realities of the broad changes happening in their lives. Mike and I had a BLAST equipping these staff to be fully funded, financially faithful and fully engaged in the mission!

Some comments from the participants:

Thank you so much! I expected more practical about our specifics (my MPD role, our specific goal, etc) but it tended more motivational. The content was good!

Knowing our audience and my eyes opened to see strategies related to our audience. That feels exciting and fun!

SO GOOD to name & normalize what comes with transition & change. Do this [transitions talk] again!!

Really appreciated Mike's talk on transition with the actual emotional realities in the MPD process.

PRAYER REQUESTS:

-For Mike to receive wisdom and discernment from the Holy Spirit as he makes weighty decisions regarding the staff he cares for and overseas.

-For the 19 staff Leslie has coached this summer in her MPD ReConnect groups, they’d experience God is fresh ways and persevere in their present circumstances.

PRAISES:

-Benjamin, our oldest, made the decision to be baptized in May! (photo on rt.)
-Mike’s talk on Transition was impacting and requested to be included in future trainings.