Team 4:5

 

"Should-haves"

I should be landing in Tucson in a few hours. I should be getting to see my daughter after a long 6 months apart. I should be getting to watch her graduate from High School and celebrate turning 18 years old. I should.... There are so many of "should-haves" recently. I'm sure all of you have the same feelings we do about things we wanted to do, things we needed to do, and what we are missing right now.  I've actually been waiting to send an update because there were just so many unknowns. I was sure if we waited a bit, we would have something to say.  Well, now it's been 2 months in quarantine and we still don't have any answers. So I guess it's time to just tell you what we DO know.  Wait... Not much really!  We don't know when we will be allowed back to normal life. We don't know if Nhaya will be able to come home this summer. We don't know if school will be able to start on time not to mention what we will do all summer stuck in the house together! It's times like these that we are so grateful we can rest in God knowing, even when we don't. Don't get me wrong, that doesn't mean we don't have hard days. We sure do! Having everyone home for this long and navigating online school for all the boys has been difficult. We feel the loss of canceled plans that we worked so hard on. Friends we can't see but are just a short drive away. Restrictions that don't allow us to go out of the house more than 3x a week and stay to one designated area for groceries and pharmacy only. We are not even going to mention the masks. Oh the masks. It looks like they will need to be our friends for a long time! What I want to communicate, amidst all my ramblings and my sorrow for what was lost is that we can trust God during this time. I am so thankful for that! We don't have it all figured out but one thing we have learned over the years is that sometimes that's the best place to be. When we are looking for what God is going to do, then it's likely we are going to be able to see it much easier. So, like you, we wait in hope and prayer that this wont last forever and our "should-haves" can turn us to looking to the One who understands.

Big Things Ahead Nhaya will have a "drive-thru" graduation next week. (Literally, she will drive up to the stage, get her diploma and drive away.) She plans to attend Grand Canyon University in Phoenix this fall to study World Missions.  We are so proud if her and all she accomplished this year! We are thankful for her school and the many who are encouraging her even when so many plans have been canceled. Please pray for her during this difficult time and as she tries to figure out what her summer will look like (she was suppose to come here and help us run our short-term missions teams).

This is what life looks like these days.  Zoom work meetings, Zoom school, Zoom church, Zoom Bible Study. It's the Zoom life!

Please keep us in your prayers as we figure out what things will look like for us in the next few months. There is no end in sight for the "stay at home" order and it's already been 2 months.  Thank you for being part of our journey. We are praying for all of you as you face difficulties of your own. We would love to know how you are doing and how we can pray for you specifically.  Blessings, The Paden Family (Gilmer, Julie, Nhaya, Caleb, Josiah and Luke)

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