{"id":536,"date":"2025-01-31T10:58:13","date_gmt":"2025-01-31T15:58:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hirtfamily.net\/chris\/?p=536"},"modified":"2025-01-31T10:58:13","modified_gmt":"2025-01-31T15:58:13","slug":"a-place-to-abide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hirtfamily.net\/chris\/2025\/01\/31\/a-place-to-abide\/","title":{"rendered":"A Place to Abide"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

God is our refuge and strength,
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0always ready to help in times of trouble.
2\u00a0<\/sup>So we will not fear when earthquakes come
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0and the mountains crumble into the sea.
3\u00a0<\/sup>Let the oceans roar and foam.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Let the mountains tremble as the waters surge!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Psalm 46:1-3<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

A home is a place to abide in, to take refuge in as a family. It’s something we can easily take for granted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have been endlessly thankful for the many homes and families that have welcomed us into their spaces over our years in overseas mission work.  We could share for hours of the love and generosity from so many.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just a brief look back: Chris and I were married in 2002, and we felt the Lord wanting us to stay flexible for international mission work, therefore we did not accumulate all-the-things or \u201csettle down\u201d.  Everytime we have visited the US we have happily either rented, lived with families, or been blessed with a place to stay.  We have never owned our own home, and in Thailand we rent a home from a Thai pastor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In our current circumstance of being in the US for cancer treatment, God is making a way for us to purchase our own home in Grand Rapids, MI.  Over many years the Lord has asked us, and allowed us, to remain flexible.  Though now, in our storm, he is providing stability, a tangible refuge for our family, which is an enormous gift!<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
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February 2024 – Cambodia Bible dedication<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

All 5 of us sincerely desire to return to Thailand.  We fondly remember attending a Bible dedication just less than a year ago<\/a>. We are thankful our work can be done from the US in the meantime, though we often wrestle with the inbetween and the unknown of our return.  Yet, in the midst of this uncertainty God is inviting us to abide in the midst of the unknowns and uncertainty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For those that do not know, when we left Thailand in October, we left our rented home of 14 years and most of our belongings.  We know he will use our home in Thailand to bless others.  Currently, we have missionaries using it as they live in our city and have a respite from difficult work.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ultimately, Christ is our home and any place we live is His to be used for his purposes.  The places he allows us to live are gifts from him as we walk the journey he has for us.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
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December 2024<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Through some friends we were introduced to homeowners who were previous missionaries and planning to move – the home was not yet on the market.\u00a0 Through God\u2019s lovingkindness he is providing a home that is in excellent condition at a fair price, something unheard of in our local housing market.\u00a0 Praise God with us for this family and the doors the Lord opened to allow this blessing.\u00a0 We plan to close on the house and move in the next few weeks!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The picture at the top of this post is of our home in Thailand (left) and our new home (right) in Grand Rapids, MI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are praying and trusting God for what our family needs, both the biggest things like complete healing for Chris, and the smaller things like, \u201cI thought we saved those dishes\u2026where are they after 15 years?\u201d.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Please continue to pray for our children, they are excited about what God has provided, it is above and beyond anything we could have imagined.\u00a0 But this gift naturally stirs up concerns about our return to Thailand.\u00a0 In our previous visits to the US the lack of permanency was a sure-fire reminder we would return, and probably soon\u2026.this feels much different.\u00a0 They continue to need prayers for friends and courage when they are lonely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We will take on Round 4 of TEDDI-R the week of February 10th and then we will try to wait patiently for the tests and results the week of Feb 24th.  The results will determine if Chris moves directly to CAR-T (in Chicago about March 4th) or undergoes radiation for a week and then moves to CAR-T.  We will keep you updated along the way and continue to value your prayers and encouragement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Short Summary \/ Bio<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We have served as missionaries with Wycliffe Bible translators in SE Asia for 14 years.  Our kids have grown up in and call Thailand their home.  In September 2024, Chris was diagnosed with CNS lymphoma which left our family in a crisis and brought all of us out of life, ministry and school in Thailand so that Chris could start treatment in Grand Rapids.  Even before Chris got cancer, we\u2019ve felt a strong desire to establish ourselves more permanently in Grand Rapids, even as we long to continue ministering and return to life in Thailand.  In December, we felt God prompt us to look for a home to buy that would provide stability for our family in the midst of so many unknowns.  We\u2019ve never bought a home before, so the process has been exciting and terrifying all wrapped up together.  As we trust God, He has clearly led us to a wonderful home that we believe only he could provide in the midst of a challenging housing market.  We have never been in debt or had a mortgage before, and we own almost no furniture.  In the past God has provided for all of our needs – I know we can trust him in the practical matters of acquiring furnishings and paying off a mortgage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether or not you live in the Grand Rapids area, please send us an email if you\u2019d like to know more about our situation and\/or would like to help us with furniture and practical needs for our new home<\/a> – we are happy to share!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

God is our refuge and strength,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0always ready to help in times of trouble.2\u00a0So we will not fear when earthquakes come\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":539,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-536","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hirtfamily.net\/chris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hirtfamily.net\/chris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hirtfamily.net\/chris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hirtfamily.net\/chris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hirtfamily.net\/chris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=536"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hirtfamily.net\/chris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":538,"href":"https:\/\/hirtfamily.net\/chris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536\/revisions\/538"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hirtfamily.net\/chris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hirtfamily.net\/chris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hirtfamily.net\/chris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hirtfamily.net\/chris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}