CO

3)  Make that Colorado.  Our Bartholomew would be the first one in the state of Colorado.

I sent this earlier to my family, but I want to say the same things to you who are our dear friends, too:

B.J. received the contract to Loveland last weekend, and Wednesday night he signed it with the intention of "sitting on it” for a few days.  Last night he contacted the school board in Colorado and told them that he had signed it.  We have been lead to make this decision not just by looking at external factors (“The ‘pros’ and ‘cons’ are pretty much a wash in the end,” B.J. kept saying), but by an internal peace that comes only when one follows the path of life that the Lord has prepared for him.

Thank you all for your love, your prayers, your advice, and your encouragement.  Anna, B.J. suspects you had something to do with all the students that contacted him this week – thank you.  We cherish every note, every conversation.  I know that you do not all understand our reasoning, but that’s OK.  God knows our desire to honor Him and follow His leading:  “I will bless the LORD, who hath given me counsel: my reins also instruct me in the night seasons.  I have set the LORD always before me: because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.  Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices: my flesh also shall rest in hope.  For Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt Thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.  Thou wilt show me the path of life: in Thy presence is fullness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” Psalm 16:7-11.

B.J. and I have often talked about moving somewhere new.  We believe – as Rev. Bruinsma’s recent SB articles emphasize – that not only pastors and missionaries but also lay people and school teachers must sometimes be willing to move for the good of God’s Church.  So even though part of me thinks, “This is crazy!” part of me is excited, too, to experience all that lays before us.

That is not to say that this decision is not a painful one.  Sometimes I lay awake at night, tears flowing, feeling like someone’s kicked me hard in the stomach, it hurts so much to think of leaving the people and the places that I know and love.  For Leah and Willem, too, there are sometimes anxious thoughts and tears.  Yet B.J. and I have peace with our decision, peace that passes human understanding (Philippians 4:7).

My prayer is that you’ll have that peace, too.  We trust that God works good even through this decision: good for us, good for those to whom we go, good for those we leave behind, good for the little ones we bring along.  He knows the thoughts that He thinks toward His people, and they are thoughts of peace, not of evil, thoughts to bring us to an expected end.  Then we’ll all be together, in Father’s house, to stay.

With much love,

Sarah