Forget none of His benefits

A post from Pete (and Becky - it's like we have one brain in two heads!)

Our church is learning Psalm 103 together this year. The first two verses say,

“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name.

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits.” (Psalm 103:1-2 NASB)

Before heading back to the farm, it’s good to reflect on “His benefits” in this season of our lives. We look back with amazement on how God brought us here and where we are now because of “His benefits”.

2006 - and we had NO idea of the tsunami of change approaching!  Anne was living and working in Chicago, trying to make a go of life on her own. Becca was at ISU studying accounting as an undergrad. Joel had moved to New York for a change of setting and had recently developed an interest in a woman he had met online named TeeTee, who lived in LA. After a whirlwind courtship they decided Joel would move to LA, they would get married and then figure out how to make life and marriage work. On a Monday we received word that a Friday wedding was planned. “Not without us!!!” we said.  We coordinated travel plans with the girls and everyone flew out Thursday in time for the wedding. All through this time, Becky and I were praying, asking God to give our children both mercy and grace, each in the path that he or she had chosen, through the struggles and joys they each faced.

2007 - still no inkling of the sea change ahead. In February Joel began working for Google. In April of that year some spring break travel plans fell through for Becky and me, and on a lark we decided to visit Joel and TeeTee in LA for a few days. When we arrived Becky had a broken toe and I could only turn my head one direction - not a promising start for a “getaway”. But around this time Joel had discovered that his Google office was looking for a statistician. Since we had always dreamed of working together (a dream still not altogether satisfied or forgotten), he asked me to apply. I think he mentioned it three times during the visit and finally Becky suggested I should get it over with: apply, it would end right there and everyone could happily go on as they were. So I did.  God must have been laughing about this time!

I’ll pass over the process - but Google made an offer, Rush made a counter offer and, after torments of analysis, prayer and seesawing, we found ourselves making the decision based primarily on one factor: how can we best love our kids?  It seemed that being near Joel and Tee to encourage, pray and support them was the greatest need of the moment, particularly with the impending advent of Micah.  It was a huge risk and step into the unknown. And we kept praying for all of our kids.

forget none of His benefits …

Benefits often don’t look like benefits. Becca probably struggled the most with us being gone. We had originally hoped she would join us as soon as her undergraduate studies were done. But opportunities open, plans change and apart from visits, she wasn’t able to join us in LA until she'd gotten her Master's in Accounting - and those were hard years for her. Anne was likewise struggling with consequences of the economic downturn - losing her job through consolidation. From the bottom of a “pit” she called sobbing, asking if she could come visit. Becky urged her to come and by God’s grace she never went back to Chicago. And we kept praying.

forget none of His benefits …

Eight and a half years later …and now some of those benefits are clearly visible!

Joel and TeeTee have weathered their share of storms and have learned how to provide each other with safe havens, where they can disagree (because they are very different people) without threatening or feeling threatened. God’s given them two very wonderful, very different little boys who are fiercely loyal to each other and a whale of a lot of fun. They know Mom and Dad love them deeply and are excited to see what tomorrow will bring.

Anne received from God the gift of Kenji who loves and appreciates her and is glad she is his wife. A new job opened to her a whole new direction and purpose in life.  Somehow through their love for each other, books and friends, God opened the door to Jesus and both of their lives are in the midst of an amazing transformation. Anne has become the first of the children to return to the farm (how’s that for unlikely!) and both Anne and Kenji are discovering that their lives have purpose in Jesus and are exploring what doors He might open for them.

Becca received from God the gift of Stephen, a man who deeply loves her and who provides the stability around which her world rotates. Job experiences have led them both in new directions. Wherever they are, they love people and reach out to others through their home. Many of the difficulties of the ISU years have been transformed into life lessons to share with others.

I could fill pages with answers to prayer that Becky and I have seen for each of the three families, husbands and wives and children. Beyond that, God has given us an amazing spiritual family through our church, preserved the farm in our absence, allowed us to renovate the house and provided resources for retirement that we would never have had if I had stayed at Rush. And we keep praying.

What do we pray for? Well, after we’ve thanked God over and over for the things He’s done in the lives of our children, we pray for His continued protection, grace and work.  We also confess we have a selfish request: we’d like to have them all near us again as we live on the farm. We make no demands. We have seen that God’s answers to our requests have far exceeded in goodness anything we have asked for. Also, we don't presume to know God's will for our children. So we make our requests and bow before His sovereignty with joy.

God brought us to LA, carried out His redemptive work in our family and is now taking us back to the farm for the next - most likely the last - chapter in our adventure. We can heartily say with the Psalmist,

“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name.

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits.” (Psalm 103:1-2 NASB)