Questions, Answers and Life Changes

Questions and how we answer them can alter the course of one’s life.  I googled “Jesus and Questions” the other day and up came a list of over 100 questions that Jesus asked.  How folks answered those questions changed the course of their lives.  That is true for all of us.

Questions for us started over 35 years ago.  “Would you become my foster parents?” Would you consider a pastorate in Lebanon, Ohio?” “Would you consider a pastorate in West Carrollton, Ohio?” ‘Would you consider going to Kyrgyzstan for six months and just showing up?” We said yes to all these questions. I first thought of them as changing the direction of our lives.  I think a better way to put it is that as we said “yes” to each of these, we were directed to stay on the path God intends for us.

About seven years ago our journey into the international world of hurting, wounded and suffering children and adults began. It was a world we had never seen, but from our first steps into Kyrgyzstan ruined us. As Kay Warren says, we have been divinely ruined.  Being divinely ruined means that we no longer see life as we had before. The things that were important, no longer are.  The thing that truly matters is the God directed privilege we have speaking into the lives of people and see them heal and grow. Being divinely ruined is a permanent condition David told me a while back. Once one is ruined, he is ruined!

We have been involved in both US and international work in child welfare for a while now.  We see so much need and so little time to get it all done. AND, we know we cannot do it ourselves.  In spring, I wrote a prayer in my journal that had been on my heart.  It had three parts:  Lord, simplify our focus, expand the message you have given us by allowing us to train others and finally, provide resources to meet the needs to do the work..

Shortly after that prayer, we were asked another question.  “Would you consider coming on full-time with Back2Back. (www.back2back.org is an incredible ministry group working in Mexico, Haiti, India and Nigeria.) We said an enthusiastic "YES!" This isn’t a change of direction. We believe God continues to direct us on the life path He intended for us.  Our partnership with LAMb International will continue and hopefully be enriching for all of us.

Many things will change.  We will be stepping away from training work in Ohio that I have been a part of for over 20 years.  We will be gone much more than before.  We will be challenged to grow in ways we don’t even know about.  The journey continues and we are so excited to begin our work in January with these incredible men and women of Back2Back walking on the path God intends for them.

David is sharing during our first trip with Back2Back in January.  We are looking forward to working more closely with Gabriel and his staff in Matzatlan.



Johanna (Lamb co-founder) and I share with the young people preparing to become trainers in Mexico.

Questions are powerful.  They potentially open doors to new things God has for us. It all depends on how we answer them.