Pieces of Heaven

Here it is 5:30 in the morning the day we leave for our Papua New Guinea outreach.  The room is quiet, a rooster is crowing somewhere outside, and there is a lovely breeze gently blowing our curtains.  Ahhh....my favorite time of the day....  Life these past couple of weeks has been so busy I haven't had time to blog, but I wanted to get one out before our big departure.


I was wondering what to put here on this blank page.  Kinda reminded me of high school English class. You know, "Write about something creatively.  You have twenty minutes."  All the amazing things you could think to write about are sucked out of your brain at that moment!  Don't worry. I'll think of something.  :)  I think the hard part is paring all my thoughts and all of our experiences down to one page each time.  How can I sift through everything we've been learning, hearing, walking in?  My reminder to myself?  I don't need to.  One step, one story, one adventure at a time, right?

The other day I was walking through our common courtyard area on my way from supper.  What struck me was the lovely mix of people I passed.  There was a beautiful, blonde girl skyping with a loved one in Norwegian.  (No, I don't speak Norwegian, but her tones and facial expression helped me  quite a bit.)  On a phone a few feet from her was a young man chatting away in Korean, probably to someone far away.  Walking quietly around the perimeter of the courtyard was an older Chinese lady reading her Bible out loud in Mandarin.  (I saw the blue Bible.  It's Chinese.  I have one.)  Then there was me.  I'm American, speaking English living next door to a family from Brazil.

As I have walked through this campus for three months the diversity and blends of all the people are what touched me the most some days.  I love how God made us all so different!  I love how God made us all the same!  What a beautifully aromatic sense of heaven.  All nations, tongues, and tribes coming together to worship The King!  Pieces of heaven right here, right now....

We are moving into the next leg of our journey, our "Season of Singing."  What does God have in store for us in the "Land of the Unexpected" as Papua New Guinea is mysteriously called?  Who will we meet that will strengthen us, touch us, mold us into Christlikeness?  Who will we meet that we will be a blessing to?  What piece of heaven will we get to know?  We're all excited in this not-so-quiet room. We're ready for the next part of our adventure!  We're ready to be not ready, to be tipped off balance a bit so we can sense the Lord near us as he steadies us and holds us close.

Thank you for praying for us so far and please continue.  Your robust, heartfelt chats with Jesus on our behalf have made such a difference for us, and if I may be so bold to add, to you too.  We take you with  us into this land where we will meet people now that you will meet in heaven some day.  Cool, huh?

Gotta go catch a plane.  Love you all!  Be blessed this day.  Look for your own pieces of heaven in those around you today.  Love them, listen to them, hug them.  Sounds corny, I know, but I think corny is good now and again.
Aloha, Susie