Carney's preparations for serving in South America

Thanks for checking out our blog! Here is where we'll chronicle the "learning opportunities" God provides for us as we seek His will in partnering full-time with Christian Veterinary Mission in Bolivia

24 December 2012

God--Ultimate Puzzle Doctor

Puzzled? The body of Christ is an amazing collection of unique characters--it is a bit puzzling!   Each piece is fitted together with care to make a glorious scene.  What happens if one is missing or turned backwards?
 Like a puzzle, we each have our own role to play in sharing the picture of God's story. We aren't all sky or eyes or grass or whatever--each piece is unique.  Even better, though is that we start our as blank cardboard of a shape and God creates a masterpiece as we allow Him to paint our lives in His masterpiece and be placed where He can best use us.
If we resist or ruin the piece that we are, God's purpose can still be fulfilled.  He can work in a few ways when that happens--repaint us and use us in the same place, or if we aren't willing to fulfill His purpose at that time, a new piece can fill the space we left.
 I recently ran across a puzzle piece replacement service on the web (puzzle doctor).  You send them the pieces around the missing one and they recreate the shape of the piece and custom paint the remainder to match the puzzle.  This is a metaphor of the second way God can work around our disobedience.  God's will shall be accomplished, but it takes a bit longer having to rework another piece to fit where one already was.  How much better if we, the bruised and disobedient piece allow ourselves to be found, cleaned and returned to the place God created for us?
Shine your part of the picture brightly and with joy that you are right where God wants you.  If you aren't, allow Him to clean you and restore you to His great plan!

11 December 2012

Photo Card

Picture Joy Christmas
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08 December 2012

Our December Update Letter--click to see in HTML
Hurried Humbug!

Christmas songs lilted on the air and trees twinkled with lights.  Christmas is here! Oh, wait, it began in October.  I was very tempted to complain about the commercialization of Christmas and the long wind-up to the event, and about how we miss so many important moments of life by starting Christmas essentially as soon as summer ends. Convicted.

How long did God prepare mankind for Christ’s birth?  Since the beginning of creation we have been told about God’s plan of redemption—look at all the prophecies!  I guess complaining about Christmas coming too early is not really fair.  God desires that we live every day in expectation of His coming!  The caution is to ensure we are enjoying the moments of today while we look forward with eager anticipation.

It feels like our family has spent an eternity planning and preparing for life.  We have been nearly a whole year in this deputation process.  Some days it feels like forever with our move nowhere in sight, while others feel like the year has flown by.  As we have been able to see more extended family over the holidays it seems to come in a rush.  We are marking all of the “lasts” for a while and really striving to live each moment here fully, not always planning and wishing and thinking about arriving in Bolivia.

Our much anticipated arrival is soon we hope, but it doesn’t end there!  We continue to look to Jesus’ example in this aspect as well.  The story of Christ doesn’t end with His arrival and ours won’t end there either.  Jesus spent time learning the language and culture of Israel well before beginning His official “ministry.”  That is what we plan to do as well—language and culture acquisition are critical to our effectiveness.  Wise men from far away lands came to visit Jesus during this time, so hint, hint, you can come visit us too. (You don’t have to bring frankincense, but some baking soda would be appreciated!)

Enjoy the preparations as much as the event! The decorations and arrangements don’t have to be perfect (Jesus wasn’t a planned c-section at the best hospital in town), so enjoy time with people celebrating relationships more than perfect decorations and meals.

Pray with us that this Christmas will bring opportunity for all of us to share the joy of Christ with others.

We are progressing steadily in our budget raising process—please pray for our patience in these preparations.  We want each meeting with people to bless them as well as us and the Bolivians.  Pray about partnering with us on a regular basis.  Pray too for our family as we begin our goodbyes over the next few months.

We wish you a joyous Christmas!


Caleb and friends enjoying a chilly hike