Yes, Diane, I am in DiCoccoville....

... sorry I left all of you.

... the past few days have been... intense. I have walked past the computer a few times, thinking to lay out various pieces for you to sort through with me... after all, that is what this journey of togetherness is...

... but each time I begin to think of how I will craft this conversation... my head spins... and I walk away.

Not because I don't want to share with you. Not because it is bad stuff.
Just because it is a lot of stuff... all random and haphazard when you look closely at the pieces, but we have found it has made the most extraordinary picture when you look at the whole. Which reminds me quite a bit of the quilt I have been crafting while I have been away from DiCoccoville this past week. Remember when I was down with yellowfever/typhoid/hepatitis and I said I wanted to make a quilt? I have been. Perhaps our GOD knew, even then, that I would need this tangible picture of how HE is stitching together our journey and there is purpose and even beauty in each random moment. Nothing doesn't happen for a reason. At least not lately.

... I'm making my quilt out of old jeans. For real. Old jeans cut and sliced and sewn together in completely scattered and random ways. It will, eventually, be lined with fleece. It will be soft and heavy and as comfortable as... well, as my favorite pair of old jeans. And, you know, this IS a good parallel for our Africa journey now that I am thinking it through (for up until now, I didn't even coordinate the two events in my own heart and mind). There are jeans of all sorts, that have come from all places. Some have been a part of us for a long time and hold special memories... some have been given to us just recently . Most were hand-me-downs (the sharing of bounty)... one was a gift... one pair is brand new. Some are embellished with flowers and embroidery and jewels, some are plain, there are a few holes here and there...

... but when they all get stitched together into one flowing piece, they will be a fantastical wonder of warmth and comfort instead of the individual pieces of treasures and gifts and hand-me-downs and even trash they began as.

... our week has been like that in a way. Especially Tuesday. That was the day of wonder. Moments of treasure, moments of trash. Haphazard ... confusing... a swirling vortex of questions, doubts, that dang orange head, and , for real, tears of exhaustion giving way to tears of release and overwhelming awe as GOD has given us the privlege and of having people literally tripping over each other to affirm our journey, and our prayers.

How can I even explain this? And yet, I feel I need to, even in some glossed over way, because I have committed to open this journey up to you. So... in absence of a good three hours over cocoa at Wealthy Street together... go make yourself something hot to drink and come back to the computer ready to hear a story of GOD.

(sidenote while it is brewing... )

Billy felt it absolutely essential for me to include a photo of Avery's outfit from yesterday... a day when MOM let her get dressed.
Somehow to let him off the hook I think.

********************

So... Billy and I were challenged by someone this week. Challenged about our trip and our children and our finances. And what that challenge did was breathe life into a few nagging doubts that had been shoved way back in the corner of my own mind. The ones that you know are there, but you push them down to quiet them because in your head you know they have no place to speak... so we prayed. It has been a few days for praying the Psalms. GOD, I don't know what you are doing... but I know you are good so I will rest in that. I specifically prayed for , what I called "stones of truth" to line our path. GOD, you have said you will set our feet firmly on a rock and that you will hold us close under the feathers of your wings. Please do.

Stones of truth.

******

I have written, erased and rewritten what was to follow three times now.
In the end, I don't feel I can use this forum to tell this story and protect it's richness without treating too casually the hearts and actions of individuals who have so lovingly followed GOD"s nudging to bring their specific voice to our dramatic day. Somehow , condensing them and pasting them on the internet (even though it IS in this little world of DiCoccoville that we all know and love) seems disloyal and cheapens them somehow.

I will tell you this though:

There was a issue raised by the individual who challenged us Monday night that directly questioned our acceptance in one of the two areas we will be visiting in Africa. God answered this clearly and immediately in a way that felt like warm honey dripping from His lips. First thing Tuesday morning we received an email all the way from Africa telling us what a "gift of love" it is that Billy is bringing his family to share. Then we got another email letting us know that there are open arms waiting to hug us when we get there. We received a THIRD email that day. Our friend and mentor responded to these two letters (he is on the "cc: train that accompanies everything that gets sent back and forth) by saying that he felt a spirit of love and acceptance and that our visit seemed to them "a fresh wind instead of a burdensome weight". He had no idea... but those were exact words used during the Monday night conversation suggesting that maybe we were...
That was all on Tuesday (remember: 'the day of wonder')... in the two days since then, we have gotten emails from two other individuals in Africa speaking of their excitement for our visit and anticipation of spending time with Billy again.

In four days time - our finances (otherwise known as "the Africa bucket") were literally catapulted from our having 15% of the money we will need for a trip like this... to having almost 60% accounted for. With an estimated budget of $18,000 to cover 5 people for 3 weeks... you can see how this is no small thing. Tuesday brought us almost half of that leap. Anything I could say to try and explain how we are swept away by this extravagant display of God's affirmation would sound trite and not begin to describe my heart.

There is more... so much more... a pivotal conversation with Rebecca... love abounding from Kate and Ken and Jae and Mom...all 10 pairs of the dress shoes that had been given to us to sell on ebay having a bid when I peeked in on them Tuesday afternoon...

... and as I sat by myself in front of the fireplace at the end of the day (which magically burst into flames after I threw our support letter into the pile dead wood that had refused for an hour to catch, and said with a sad resolve, "this isn't their trip, it isn't our trip... it can only be God's trip") trying to process the whirlwind of a Tuesday... this path that was now gleaming with jewel encrusted stones of truth... I read Thya's email that she had sent that very day :

"when we sit back and listen it's amazing how our brains

can imagine several ways God will work things out

and then we see how God actually does it

and it's nothing like we could EVER imagine...so much better."

and she segwayed into the passage in

I Corinthians 1 where Paul talks about how sometimes GOD does the exact opposite of what everyone expects simply to remind us that he is GOD. He uses the foolish, the weak, the things that are not... to nullify the things that are. And He does all that and more so that we have only one option... to stand in awe and KNOW who is undoubtably crafting the quilt.

.

I always have loved Tuesday presents.