Letting Go

A brilliant and beautiful couple from Canada "retired" about three years ago after a lifetime of mission work in Ethiopia, part of it directing the large team of workers there. The wife asked God, "Will there be any legacy from Ethiopia that will inform and enrich the remainder of my life?" She says, "I did not want to clutch the past possessively. I read an article on transition which advised that we can only move into the future if we are willing to give up what is behind and live open-endedly into God's future plans for us." She did that by faith. God is so cool! A whole community of Ethiopians has moved into their retirement town, and our friends have formed rich and growing relationships with them. Moreover, they've been invited to a six-month teaching assignment at the Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology the first half of 2008. More evidence that, when transitions come, it really is safe to "give up what is behind and live open-endedly into God's future plans."

The doctor and nurses shared our disappointment in the rising cancer numbers. But there's an upside. This new chemo is very kind to me (I hope NOT kind to the cancer). I have to get it every week, but it's a shorter process, and yesterday I came back home feeling fine and ready for an afternoon at the office.

I haven't talked about slavery lately, but I haven't forgotten. I continue to boycott chocolate that isn't certified to have been produced without slave labor. I continue to pray for those who are actively rescuing slaves of various kinds. I've included a story about that from West Africa in the issue of the magazine I'm currently working on. And tomorrow evening we will host here the monthly meeting of the Carolina Clapham Group (named for the place and group of William Wilberforce and his friends who spearheaded the long and hard process in England that finally led to the abolition of the slave trade in the British Empire in 1807). This group is actively praying and seeking to make our own impact, both locally and globally, on the tragic trafficking of slaves in our world today. If you live nearby and would like to come, please call me. If you don't know how, send me a comment below (click on comments) with your contact information, and I'll get back to you. I won't publish your comment, though, so your contact information will remain safe.

Yesterday's photo was a digital fake. Read on down for more details. I'm so sorry about that.

Thank you so much for your love and prayers.
Carol