\u201cYou don\u2019t know the first thing about tomorrow. You\u2019re nothing but a wisp of fog, catching a brief bit of sun before disappearing. . . . Make it a habit to say: \u201cIf the Master wills it and we\u2019re still alive, we\u2019ll do this or that.\u201d James 4:14-15 (MSG) <\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t know the first thing about tomorrow. You\u2019re nothing but a wisp of fog, catching a brief bit of sun before disappearing. . . . Make it a habit to say: \u201cIf the Master wills it and we\u2019re still alive, we\u2019ll do this or that.\u201d James 4:14-15 (MSG) <\/p>\n
Arabic-speakers say: \u201cIn Sha\u2019Allah\u201d (God willing). In this passage, James is saying \u201cIf the Master wills it . . . . \u201c \u201cIn Sha\u2019Allah.\u201d This Lenten season, we Searles are in a moment of turning, an \u201cIn Sha\u2019Allah\u201d moment.<\/p>\n
We are in the United States, our home away from our home in Poland, awaiting news that will shape where we go next: perhaps to international work, singing a new song; perhaps to work in the United States, in more familiar rhymes and rhythms.<\/p>\n
Our children ask: \u201cWill we get together this summer?\u201d We answer: \u201cIn Sha\u2019Allah\u201d (\u201cGod willing\u201d). Our families ask: \u201cWill you visit this year?\u201d We answer: \u201cIn Sha\u2019Allah\u201d (\u201cGod willing\u201d). Our friends and colleagues in Poland ask: \u201cWhen will you come back and say goodbye and sell your car and sort your stuff?\u201d We answer: Soon, \u201cIn Sha\u2019Allah\u201d (\u201cGod willing\u201d).
We can only say with James: \u201cIf the Master wills it and we\u2019re still alive, we\u2019ll do this or that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Our belongings are in Poland. We will return to pack up (sometime), say our goodbyes well, lock the door behind us, turn in our keys, and board a plane (for somewhere) \u2013 like wisps of fog.<\/p>\n
Since last May, we have been itinerants and occasional laborers \u2013 people on the move. We\u2019ve visited scores of congregations and slept in a new bed almost every night. We\u2019ve shared worship in diverse styles with diverse people in a variety of places and spaces, getting a brief taste of what your lives are like and sharing ours.<\/p>\n
Itineration \u2013 traveling from place to place and speaking in congregations \u2013 is a heady, joyous sharing time. People say that itineration \u201cputs a face on mission.\u201d For mission co-workers, itineration \u201cputs a face on senders.\u201d As we crisscross America, we meet those who make sending possible. We are gifted with the opportunity to share news of what God is doing in the world with those whose giving hearts and hands make that work possible.<\/p>\n
And now, as we discern our next call, we are in residence in Louisville, in furnished \u201cfurlough housing\u201d at the seminary. Living in America is like slipping into a pair of old slippers long boxed up way back in the closet.<\/p>\n
Furlough housing feels infused with the prayers and hopes and commitment of scores of missionaries before us. Comfortable as Louisville life may be, we (like them) are listening for a call to the threshold between cultures, where we daily learn to walk with partners in ministry \u2013 to walk in new shoes.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t know the first thing about tomorrow.\u201d Amen to that, James!
\u201cYou\u2019re nothing but a wisp of fog, catching a brief bit of sun before disappearing.\u201d So we are, wispily rising and shining in Louisville for a brief bit of sun and trying to make it our habit to say: \u201cIn Sha\u2019Allah\u201d \u2013 \u201cIf the master wills it and we\u2019re still alive, we\u2019ll do this or that.\u201d
In Sha\u2019Allah, we soon will discern a new path.
In Sha\u2019Allah, you \u2013 our senders and enablers \u2013 will continue to make opening new paths possible.<\/p>\n
Keep praying with us won\u2019t you?\u00a0 Keep praying for vision to see the path where new walking shoes await us. And keep praying that those new shoes will fit us well and break in quickly.<\/p>\n
Liz and Doug Searles, wisps of fog in Louisville, KY<\/p>\n
Submitted by Elizabeth and Douglas Searles, Global Ministries\u2019 missionaries to Poland, jointly appointed by Global Ministries and PCUSA to walk with the Evangelical-Reformed Church in Poland.<\/p>\n