Have you ever been working on a puzzle and you are looking for that one piece, which has been eluding you the whole time… and then you find one that has the same colors and designs and shape, but one of the prongs is just a little to small?

As I stated in the last post, we are starting to look for an organization to go to Romania with. We are still in the process of researching different organizations. How do we go about that? Well…we are making it up as we go. To find what organizations to focus on, we compared their values, beliefs, biblical basis, missiology, and serve in Romania. Then, I sent a few organizations a long list of questions covering: how they work with nationals, philosophy on team, accountability, their vision for the next 5 years, furlough, retirement, children’s education, support, fundraising, etc. I felt I might need a disclaimer with the questions, apologizing for so many, and giving them a head’s up that this is what they will have to deal with from me.  However, have had some great and encouraging responses to the questions.

We had one organization who especially showed interest in getting to know us better. We had an opportunity to meet a couple that are missionaries with this organization for breakfast yesterday.  Knowing we were going to meet them, we contacted some missionaries, that Jeff worked with in Romania, who worked with this organization. They were helpful in highlighting the positives about the organization and also what to pay attention to and ask questions about when we got meet with someone directly from the organization. Then, yesterday, we meet with the couple that came to Pasadena. They we very nice and informative about their organization, what we should be doing as we look, who we should talk to in their organization, and what was truly important to their organization.  We feel that this organization is perfect in every way for us, however, they are not located in Timisoara and not looking to move there. We feel confused because this seems like the organization to be with for life, yet trying to accept that it’s not. God has prepared the way for Timisoara through so many previous trips for Jeff, contacts, relationships built, etc (more than we can ever know).  We are in this process of figuring out what our call looks like right now, which has its many high’s and low’s, and we are holding onto the fact that God has prepared the way and will reveal it completely at the right time.

We are still missing that puzzle piece that is complementary to our puzzle.  It’s frustrating, confusing, and exciting. God is the master puzzle maker and uses amazing and complex brushstrokes and shapes to create the most beautiful masterpiece and then opens our eyes to find a few pieces at a time in our life. I can admit to screaming, “why don’t you just give me the box lid with the full picture on it! Oh, it would make life so much easier?”  But I am constantly reminded that it is about the journey and to learn and grow from it. And now, in this frustrating wait, I have to remind myself to trust God and this journey.

~Lauren