Blessed be the Name of the Lord!

The way is plain.

You do not need to see far ahead. Just one step at a time with Me. The same light to guide you as the Hosts of Heaven know — the Son of Righteousness Himself. 

Only self can cast a shadow on the way. Be more afraid of Spirit-unrest, of soul-disturbance, of any ruffling of the Spirit, than of earthquake or fire or any outside forces.

When you feel the absolute calm has been broken — away alone with Me until your heart sings, and all is strong and calm.

These are the only times when evil can find an entrance. The forces of the evil surround the city of man-soul, and are keenly alert for one such unguarded spot, through which an arrow can pierce and do havoc.

Remember all that you have to do is to keep calm and happy. God does the rest. No evil force can hinder My Power — only you yourself have power to do that. Think when all God’s mighty forces are arrayed to aid you — and your poor, puny self impedes their onward march.

“Take therefore no thought for the morrow…Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” Matthew 6:34

Well…I’m not a fan of this format, but what’s done is done.  :)

Night before we left, we had a Beignet party!

At about 11:00 on Monday morning, our friends, Kenny, Gus & Raymond came from Oklahoma to help us get loaded up (they brought a trailer for our luggage) and get to the airport.  What a God-send.  It would have been physically impossible without their help!

Did we really get everything loaded? Did we forget anything? At this point, does it even matter!??

Is everyone here???

"Yes ma'am, I know it's hard to believe, but it really IS all our luggage. And yes we really ARE taking it all to Ukraine with us."

If you didn’t read the story a couple of days ago about the great blessing of checking our luggage all the way through to Ukraine, please be sure and take a look.  It’s about two posts ago.

That's a lot of luggage check tags!!!!!

And after all this...we still love each other. And even like each other a lot, too!

Matthew on the long-haul flight.

The long-haul flight was uneventful.  Micah slept most of the way (after dinner).  Matthew slept on and off, but was well-behaved.  Ethan wanted to sleep the whole way but he had trouble sleeping sitting up.  He would sleep a few minutes, then wake up and fuss a little.  It wasn’t terrible like the last time he was on a plane.  He was exhausted when we got to the hotel in London (but so were we all!!).

We got to London and just as they had told us in Dallas, we did not have to get our bags.  Funny thing though, when we were walking to the area where the hotel shuttle would pick us up, we saw a lone bag sitting by a luggage belt.  It was one of our’s!  The zipped had been broken (thanks TSA) when it was inspected and was re-tagged to be picked up in London.  How we were to know that, I have no idea!  But thankfully, we saw it and took to hotel with us…spilling stuff along the way every now and then.  Here’s what we had with us to take to the hotel…  7 back-packs, 6 duffle bags, 2 double strollers, 1 single stroller, 1 big suitcase with a broken zipper, coats and a bunch of very tired children!  It was a feat to get it all on the shuttle, then off the shuttle and up to our room in the hotel (very small elevator and hallways that were just ALMOST wide enough for the strollers.  :-)  BUT…we made it. 

We all crashed for about 3 hours (and slept like logs).  Then we decided we would go downstairs for late lunch/early dinner.  But the prices were just too much and there was really nowhere for us to sit.  So we opted for a ten-minute walk down the street to McDonald’s.  We were all VERY hungry…so it tasted GREAT!!!

Then we walked back to the hotel and gave baths.  They really enjoyed this because the tubs were small, but very deep.  They were allowed to play in the tub for about as long as they wanted…which is no the norm.  At home, bath time is kind of in and out.  We should probably allow them to really enjoy their bath more often!

We had early bedtimes…we were still so tired.  And we had to get up at 4:30 the next morning to be out on the street for the 5:00am shuttle back to the airport.  So it was Tuesday afternoon in reverse to get back to the airport.  As Mary said…difficult moments, but not terrible all in all.  Only this time, we had 4 extra tote type bags with the stuff from the broken suit case.  :-)

Waiting on dinner at McDonald's.

Micah - expressing how we all feel. Tired from the journey thus far, and a bit apprehensive about what lay ahead.

Does this boy look tired or what???

Our crash pad for about 14 hours.

To be continued…

Oklahoma time).  The kids did great! Really the whole trip was amazingly smooth, 

we had our rough moments, but they were short lived. Sveta and Yuri had a wonderful welcome meal prepared for us and told us after that they were going to go home, close the gate, happy that a family they loved was living next door.

We’ll post a longer update post in a bit.  Right now…breakfast and back to unpacking!  :-)

Bless the Name of the Lord!

Sitting at McDonald’s in the Dallas airport, choking on tears, I asked Mary, “why do I have such little faith?”

All through the night last got I had worried, tossed and turned and awoke very early this morning. Worried. Fretful. Thinking that our luggage situation was too big for God to handle. Oh, I never would have said that I thought He was unable to handle it, but in my fret and worry, I was as good as saying it.

I’ve been high strung and tense about this luggage all week. Weighing, repacking, harping on having so many carry on bags. Making myself (and admittedly sometimes those around me) miserable about it.

As we neared the airport this morning, my stomach began to church, my nerves began to tighten and my faith wavered. Wondering to myself if it was possible that this was a colossal mistake. After all, if we can’t even face the mountain of luggage, how will we face whatever happens tomorrow. Silly, I know. I never claimed to have it all together. Rationally speaking, my fear was founded…because when you see the pictures of the luggage, you will see that there, indeed, was no way that we could handle that luggage in London.

In case you didn’t know, the plan was going to have to be that we would pick up our luggage and somehow get it to the hotel in London and then back to the airport the next morning. Somehow. We called the airline and asked what other option we had and were told that there was no other option because of how long our layover is in London. We weren’t happy about it but what could we do?

We pulled up to the airport with the big van, a pickup, and a covered trailer for our luggage. A dear friend paid two skycaps to help us and to move them through checkin so we wouldn’t have to mess with them. What a blessing.

We got up to the counter and thankfully there was no one in line so they started on us. They were very kind and eager to help us get checked in…not put off at all by our number and the amount of luggage. Huge blessing.

A couple of minutes into the process they found out we were moving to Ukraine as missionaries and asked why we were staying overnight in London. We told them that because of the schedule, we would miss our Kyiv flight by thirty minutes. They said they were sorry about at. They asked us why we wanted our luggage in London and I said that we didn’t have a choice. The kind lady said just a moment and clicked around on her computer and then said, “I can fix this.”. She proceeded to recode our tickets and checked our bags all the way through to Kyiv and informed me that we would not have to touch our bags in London.

I’m not kidding you when I say that I had to choke back the “ugly cry”. I was so devastated by Gods goodness. And my unbelief.

They started putting the bags up on the scale. I was so glad to see that the first bag was right at 50lbs. My weighing had paid off! Until the second bag went up. They glanced it and said nothing. Tagged it and moved to the next one…which was also overweight. Yeah, I had done great! The point is that bag after bag went by overweight and not only did they kindly say nothing, they didn’t make me shift things around or pay the overweight fee ($200 per bag!).

Again, I was amazed. What I had fretted about and worked myself into quite a dither about was a non issue.

If that was the end of the story…I could say…WOW WHAT A MIRACLE!

But after they got us all checked in and the luggage was gone, she said, “boy, you have a lot of carry on bags. I could check four of them for you through to Kyiv and will override the charge and just give them to you”. Once again, I literally had to choked down the ugly cry. You know the one that comes from your feet and if it comes out becomes uncontrollable? Yeah, that’s the one. I wonder what she would have thought of me then?!

So there we were with everything checked in plus four of our carry on bags checked through to Kyiv. No having to worry about it.

But not the end of the story.

We got security and they were so nice. Mary’s brother, Robert, who works for an airline went through security with us to help us get to the gate told them we were moving as missionaries and they said…wow, you need all the help you can get!

Robert pushed our stuff through the X-ray for us while we got coats off, computers out, liquids out, strollers folded, etc. At DFW they use full body scanners. They take a long time. They also had a normal walk through type magnemometer or whatever that thing is called. They kindly allowed us to use that instead which was much faster! Then they helped us move all of our stuff off the belts over to a spot where we could reassemble everything. So helpful!

But that’s not all.

We got to the gate and of course they allow people who need extra time to board to go first. We got up to the boarding pass scanner and they said…could we help you with some carry on luggage? Could check some through to Kyiv for you at no charge to help you. We checked five more bags on to Kyiv. I was speechless at God’s greatness.

All the time that the perceived storm was billowing around me concerning our luggage, I wondered how God could allow such an impossible thing in our path of obedience. Was He asleep while we were drowning? The truth was…He wasn’t worried and fretting and wringing His hands wondering how it could possible work out. He had it already planned out and planned for.

What a great and mighty God. Great and mighty!

I sit here on the plane…enchanted by His love for me and my family…astounded by His grace…comforted by His peace.

We arrive in London in about seven hours. We will stay at the hotel for the day. The kids can watch tv, play cards, whatever… Then off to bed early. And we will leave for the airport about five tomorrow morning for the last leg of our journey.

Blessed be the Name of the of Great God!

Surrounded by luggage.  Seriously.

Wondering what the next few days will be like as we travel.

Praying.

Having faith.

Hoping.

Thank you for praying for our family today, Tuesday and Wednesday.

Monday – we fly to London where we will have to pick up ALL of our baggage and get it to the hotel in London since they won’t hold it at the airport or airline.

Tuesday – we stay in London for the day and then we head back to the airport EARLY Wednesday morning to get all our luggage checked again and back through Heathrow security to make our 8:00 a.m. flight.

Wednesday – we fly to Kyiv and we will arrive there at about 1:00 p.m.  where we will be met by someone to help us through customs and passport control.

Thank you for praying!  Next time you hear from us, we will be in Ukraine…I hope.  :-)

The Malone Family is BLESSING THE NAME OF THE LORD today.

We got up this morning with the yearning to go to church and worship with other believers.  So we thought about going to the local Baptist church here in Ferris but we quickly realized that not only would we probably have to take the littles into the service with us, but also that we wouldn’t be staying in the service long.  So we did some quick checking online and decided that Irving Bible Church was the place we wanted to go.  So we kicked it in to high gear and got pancakes and sausage made, all the kids showered and dressed and ourselves showered and dressed and loaded the van for the hour trip.  

Honestly, it felt weird driving up to a church we had never been to.  We were a bit apprehensive that they would, indeed, find a spot for our special littles and that we would even be able to go to the service.  We got there and there was no one at the welcome desk yet so we just piled on to a couple of couches and waiting about 30 minutes until the next shift started.  When the welcome crew got there, we were welcomed warmly and were reassured that they would find just the right spot for all five of the littles.  While I was filling out papers, Mary had gone to get something to drink so all the kids were left on the couches about 10 feet away.  The Children’s Minister, who was obviously on the lookout for newbies, zeroed in on the kids and struck up conversation and talked to the littles, then came over to meet me and reassure me, again, that there was a place for the kids.  A bit of the sparkle in his eyes left when I told him we were one time guests… but he was just as eager to make us feel welcome.

We got the kids situated and headed into the worship center where the service was beginning right on time.  It was a bit odd to be on the congregation end of things for me, but it was also nice to be able to just be in God’s presence without worrying about any technical aspects of the service.  It was REALLY nice, in fact.

The worship time was awesome…  The band was great musically and really had a backseat to the presence of God.  It was just right.

One of the songs we sang was “Forever Reign.”  God really spoke to me in this song in several layers of my life.  You can listen to the song below if you want.

The sermon was from John 4 – the “Woman at the Well.”

Part of the sermon focussed on the fact that Jesus offers LIVING WATER from a beautiful, pure cistern.  And it was juxtaposed against the fact

The icky cisterns we sneak back to sometimes.

that we often go to our broken and gross old cistern to drink instead of relishing in the refreshing springs of our Lord Jesus.  He used the metaphor that we keep our old cistern on hand so every now and then we can have a sip from it…thinking it will bring fulfillment or whatever…when all the while there is a pricelessly wonderful cistern at our disposal.

It was a great reminder to run to Him.  That HIS love is more than enough.  The nothing compares to Him.

We also sang “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing.”  One of my favorites.  The line that says “Prone to wander, Lord I feel it.  Prone to leave the God I love.  Here’s my heart Lord, take and seal it, seal it for Thy courts above,” gets me every time.  It’s a perfect textual description of who I am…  who I am not… and who I want to be.

Blessing the Name of the Lord.  Waiting on Him.  Worshipping Him.  Trying to be all that He wants us to be…and that He knows we CAN be through Him.

I got the opportunity to go down to Houston on Wednesday to work one a web project and came home late Friday night.  It was a great diversion that focussed my mind on something besides the fact that I don’t have a job.  That’s been harder than I thought it would be.  Indeed, when the door closed behind me at the church Sunday night, the click of the lock echoed in my head all the way back to the house and throughout the night.  Then driving out of Moore on Monday evening seemed so final.  Lots of sad goodbyes to people and things.  

So now we wait.  We wait on the next chapter to begin.  We wait on the Lord.  Our options of how we deal with it are endless.  We are choosing to worship Him during this time and expect Him to show His mightiness.  Again.  And again.  There are moments when we are terrified.  There are moments when our grief of what was and will no longer be becomes suffocating.  There are moments when the enemy whispers in our ear terrible lies about ourselves, our situation, our future and other people.  But we wait on Him.  Our Father and Sustainer and the real Lover of our souls.

As you wait with us…would you pray?  God knows our future and our current needs.  He knows His plan.  Yet…somehow the prayers of the saints make a difference.  So thank you for praying for us.

Psalm 62

1 I am at rest in God alone;

my salvation comes from Him.

2 He alone is my rock and my salvation,[2]

my stronghold; I will never be shaken.[3]

3 How long will you threaten a man?

Will all of you attack[4]

as if he were a leaning wall

or a tottering stone fence?

4 They only plan to bring him down

from his high position.

They take pleasure in lying;

they bless with their mouths,

but they curse inwardly.• Selah

5 Rest in God alone, my soul,

for my hope comes from Him.

6 He alone is my rock and my salvation,

my stronghold; I will not be shaken.

7 My salvation and glory depend on God;

my strong rock, my refuge, is in God.

8 Trust in Him at all times, you people;

pour out your hearts before Him.

God is our refuge.Selah

9 • Men are only a vapor;[5]

exalted men, an illusion.

On a balance scale, they go up;

together they [weigh]* less than a vapor.

10 Place no trust in oppression,

or false hope in robbery.

If wealth increases,

pay no attention to it.[6] [7]

11 God has spoken once;

I have heard this twice:

strength belongs to God,

12 and faithful love belongs to You, Lord.

For You repay each according to his works.[8]

Blessed be the Name of the Lord!