“Trust in the LORD and do good; Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.”
Psalm 37:3
It has been a whole year since moving from our home in Adak Village to our “new” home in Gulu City. Believe it or not, it is a little painful to think of our time in Adak. All the hard things that made us leave are intermingled with precious things. There were many relationships forged in the fire of trials, many friendships made with little neighbors after years of struggling to establish boundaries, many tasks accomplished on the “work” side of ministry, and countless testimonies of God’s mercy, grace, healing, provision, and overall goodness to those who called on His name. It has been hard to remember that God created us as emotional beings, and that mourning a loss is normal. Taking time to thank God for the good things He did and is still doing in Adak has kept me from swinging to the other end of the pendulum, feeling overly justified in leaving because of all the hard things that happened there. However, it seems an appropriate time to share how we have been doing, especially in the areas that led us into moving.
In Adak we were constantly sick. For our entire 6 years in Adak, the longest our family went without a case of clinical sickness was 6 weeks. Our time in town has been drastically different, all praise to God! Our health and physical strength have improved, and sickness is now very rare for us. We are no longer waiting for hours on end, multiple days each week to get blood test results and treatment. And despite living away from Adak, I am able to be more intentional with relationships when I go back because I now have the energy to walk through the “bush” to visit friends. We have the energy (and time!) to carry out our tasks, as well as do fun things. We even decided to get bikes for our family as everyone’s birthday presents this year. We have been able to ride as a family to and from church, something we would not have had strength for in Adak!
Other than being healthy, another benefit we have enjoyed here in town is uninterrupted homeschool time. In Adak we wore many hats, from ambulance driver to construction manager, clinic administrator, Bible teacher, clothes patcher, and cake baker. All of these hats we wore with patience, knowing that one day it would be passed on to someone else… once someone else knew how. But all of those hats kept knocking on the door, often without notice, and normally when you were least prepared. It was easy enough to bear it all, even while we were sick. However, it had begun to interrupt our humble beginnings of homeschool, and every knock at the door meant 20 minutes of trying to get the kids back into the rhythm of school. I am very thankful that at that time the kids were still young and school could be more flexible. Now Emma and Maddie are in 4th grade, Noah is in 1st, Cynthia is in 1st and Special Ed., and Charlotte is trying to force me to teach her how to read (she turns 4 in October). During their standardized testing this year we found that they are doing very well. I would not have been able to keep up with all the different levels if there was still so much traffic at the door.
We look back in amazement and thankfulness over what God has done in the last year. We are excited and prayerful over what God will do here in the years to come!
In Christ,
Matt & Noelle & Family
