I couldn’t believe what I was hearing! We were meeting our teammates, the Clay family, for the first time. Naturally, our conversation drifted to our children (we both have four), and Ruby mentioned her birth times with each of her babies. I was amazed as I realized her birth times were identical to mine and in the same order! What are the odds of that? I treasured this confirmation of God’s calling us together.

Not long after that, a dear friend called and shared that her family (the Tserings) had just signed up with AFM as well. Ten years earlier, we had both committed our lives to missions after hearing a compelling presentation pleading for the needs of the unreached. Our paths had drifted apart over the years, but now here we were, 10 years later, the Lord having led our families to missions at the same time. Again, I felt God was confirming His calling and timing.

As a family, we have learned not to put our faith in signs, but in God’s heart. We treasure His sweet assurances, but we also realize that sometimes He chooses not to give dramatic signs. What we can be sure of is His faithfulness to lead even if it is with just a simple open door. Surely, our Lord has the power to open and close doors when we ask Him to! Our part is to trust and walk through them. “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths” (Prov. 3:5-6).

—Ruth Church

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