Monday, January 2, 2017

New Year's Eve in Honiara


"No matter how imperfectly we've ended the year, in sadness or joy, frustration or contentment, we gently set the previous twelve months in its place in our family's story.  We put ourselves in our place, too -- behind a God who is good and holy and full of love for the version of us that enters the year ahead.  A God who knows what will unfold."  ~Kimberly Coyle


Celebrating God's goodness in 2016 and looking forward to even more of His faithfulness in 2017.  That's what we did on Saturday night with the few SITAG families in Honiara.


Last year brought two (including us!) of the three families from America back to the Solomon Islands.  And 2017 promises more changes for each family.  We have no idea how the year will unfold, but we know that we have our SITAG family to help flesh out God's unfolding plan in our lives.

 
The "big kids" graciously took care of the little kids so the grownups could play cards undistracted.  Our evening finished early, with sounds of the Christmas season lifted high, as we reminded ourselves of God's promises in the Old Testament and the ways He has worked in lives for centuries.
 
 
"If a telescope zooms our gaze in on one particular thing, God's Word is like a wide angle lens that shouts, 'Remember!  God is THIS BIG!  He is a God of the big picture!'  When we're busy dialing in on legitimately important things like jobs and health and deadlines, it can do us lot of good to remember what God did at creation, and what he promised Abraham. 
 
 
Remember how He kept his hand on Joseph, bringing Israel into Egypt and eventual slavery, then delivering them from slavery at the hand of Moses.  All the while He promised on every page that an even bigger plan was unfolding!...Opening God's Word and studying His character is like lifting our eyes from the viewfinder long enough to remember that the God who calls us His people has been hanging the stars in the heavens since time began."
 
~Raechel Myers & Amanda Bible Williams

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