The Long Summer!

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Romans 15:13
 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.


The backstory to this update Gilmer wrote:

We arrived in the Philippines on June 4th. Since then it has been a summer of changes, disappointments, Gods provision, and most of all flexibly on our part. We have moved to 4 different houses in 2 months and taken, plane, boat, and car trips in order to get our family moved down to Davao City. 

 It has been a strange and stressful summer but the Lord has sustained us and even blessed us during this time. The kids started school and we should be moving into our rental house this weekend. There is light at the end of the tunnel!!! 


Hi Everyone,

What an adventure it has been and it looks like the adventure is not done yet- maybe it has just begun.

It seems that we are being challenged with the word TRUST; to trust that Lord knows what He is doing and that God operates in His own perfect time. Another word is FUTURE. To make sure that all our decisions and dealings presently with people will solidify the relationship we have with them in the future. After all, everything is about investing in the advancement of God's kingdom- for His glory.

The container, that was full of our stuff from Manila, came Wednesday last week. We hired people to help us unload it into the house. 

Unfortunately, the house wasn't ready for us to move our things in. The owner of the house is still not done moving so her stuff is all over the place. We understand her predicament. So we worked with her in putting her stuff in one area so we can start bringing our things in. It must be so hard for her to move out and clean her house that she built herself. This is where she has basically lived all her married life until now. She is so stressed to the point of her being sick now for a couple of days. 

So our challenge is to be mindful of her situation and find ways to minister. That is hard to do when we only have less than a week left to live in our temporary house. Here are the choices we are facing.

Do we consider this as an irritant or an opportunity. To be irritated would drive us to exert our rights and what we think we deserved; in translation- it would mean to keep the pressure on so she will move out faster. Or, do we consider it as an opportunity- meaning Romans 15:2,3,5-7. I think it means that no matter how we feel we are still called to glorify God through building others up. Looking back I (Gilmer) have to admit that I have failed to do that one way or another. 

The owner is sick and is so stressed to move out of the house quickly. Yes, we have tried helping but she is so independent that that doesn't work. She said she will be out of the house by this weekend, she needs a miracle to accomplish that so we could pray that she will have one! We have until August 23th in the house we are temporarily renting right now. My brother is here to help us so that is a blessing. We too need a miracle to get the house ready. Crunch time, trying not to freak out. 

Pray that as we try to settle down in Davao City we will remember to live by the principle stated in Romans 15:13. By the way, this was my devotion at 3am this morning. No I am not that crazy to get up that early. Luke woke up and although I succeeded in helping him go back to sleep, I failed to go back to sleep myself. Fun times!


Thank you for your prayers. More updates soon when we get settled and start to work with the churches and groups interested in partnering with us to train and send Filipino missionaries.



Last week our container came and we were able to unload our things into the new house. We should be able to move there next week, to start unpacking.  



School started last week, yes Caleb (notice his tortured face) was a little nervous- but after the first day he was very happy to be there!

Luke turned 2 over the summer! Happy Birthday Lukie ;)

Nice and cozy on the plane trip here.

Our flight to the Philippines. Waiting yet again for a delayed flight.

Notice the big boat in the background?
Nothing to do with our trip here I just had to share with you all. And you thought your commute was crowed! I love how they all waved for me as I took their picture. 

Just a few early experiences back in the Philippines. The top one is our new city Davao.  

Blessings,
Gilmer and Julie Paden (and kids too) 

Comments

Michelle Barents said…
Thanks for the update, Gilmer. We will pray for you as you continue to wait...
August 20, 2014 at 10:06 PM
Anonymous said…
Gilmer those to words are so difficult to deeply understand. Nick and I have been challenged by the same exact ones.

Your circumstance is far more difficult than ours so I cant thank you enough for the encouragement.

Bless you all. Praying for your family tonight.
August 21, 2014 at 11:12 AM
Unknown said…
I have been challenged by the word Trust too. I continue to try to find a job not get down on myself for not having a job yet. All in God's time. Praying for you.
August 25, 2014 at 2:35 PM
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