Merry Christmas from the Culps!
We’ve had a somewhat eventful couple of weeks. Vehicle issues, finding a place to move, planning travel, and what in the world do we plan for Christmas? We had planned a small get-together with some family for Thanksgiving, but that was cancelled because everyone was nervous about Covid numbers and stuff. We talked about whether we should travel for Christmas, but all of this exhausting uncertainty just leads to a lot of sitting around!
I booked tickets to go back to Uganda and Lohutok next year. We’re moving in mid-January and then I get on an airplane at the end of the month and will be gone for six weeks. Since I’ve been doing extra work to earn the extra rent money and counseling fees that aren’t in our budget, trying to plan for six weeks away was fun. Basically we are praying for a few extra year-end gifts to cover some of that gap and take some of that burden off of my hundred-hour work week.
A couple of Sundays ago we were at church and the pastor was preaching on one of the Psalms. He was using Aslan from the Narnia books as an illustration of safe strength. He talked about how as a child you know your father is strong, and therefore dangerous, but you feel safe around him. He’s safe for you, but dangerous for anyone who seeks to do you harm. Since then, we’ve had a few issues (it feels like it’s daily…or hourly, am I right?) with Ezekiel and Caleb fighting. Usually those fights start with one kid trying to overpower the other, and the other fighting back. I used the illustrations from Pastor Sam’s sermon to explain to the kids why God gave us strength, so when one kid is bullying the other I can say “What is your strength for? Are you using it to make God happy or sad?
The illustration of God’s safety and strength is a comfort because, although we don’t like our circumstances and are not particularly satisfied with the way our lives are going, we know that God is in control of it all and that He has good plans. Those good plans don’t always feel good at the time, but they are good nonetheless. As we get into the Christmas holidays, 2020 style, and grieve the things for which we had hoped, we’re keeping that in mind. He doesn’t give us stones when we ask for bread, He doesn’t give us snakes when we ask for fish, and He is already on the other end of this season with complete understanding and control of the outcome.
Merry Christmas!
Justin, Amy, Ezekiel and Caleb Culp
