In March we could see God’s plan falling into place. We met our support goal, so we could go to summer training. We had received almost all our documents for our visas, and Jason was planning to visit Papua New Guinea for the April opening of the Gogodala training center. Then COVID-19 hit, and everything screeched to a stop. Churches closed, travel was canceled, and training was postponed.

Whoa! What was God doing? Well, when you have kids, there’s always something that needs to be done, so we turned our attention to connecting with our children in ways we hadn’t been able to do for a while. Our homeschool routines became consistent. We were able to contact supporters. We realized we had a large stack of books that we needed to read. Suddenly, we had plenty to do! I’m thanking God for giving us this time to prepare. I guess He knew we needed it!

Waiting can be hard. Throughout my life I’ve wished I could skip waiting. As a child, I wanted to be grown up. In school, I longed to graduate. When I was pregnant, I couldn’t wait to give birth. Even now, I sometimes look forward to things our family will be able to do when our kids get older. I usually forget that what I do now determines how well things will go when the next phase hits. Will I have the skills and spiritual connection I need for my new responsibilities? Will I wish I had used my time better? God doesn’t give me time to kill. He gives me time and opportunities that I can maximize faithfully so I can be ready for the next thing. Right now we’re not sure what God will do next, but we’re striving to be faithful in this moment.

• Twitter