“Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,
I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13b-14)
We are still in America. We do love America. But we love Kenya too, and we miss it terribly. It is home. It is our familiar. We are loving some beautiful experiences as a family in America, seeing so many amazing sights, but we miss our Kenya home and our Kenya family. We are looking toward what is ahead when we get back to Kenya!
And after the first half of this year, there are some things we would love to forget, as I am sure there are for you as well.
In chaotic times like these, it is easy to get distracted and we sometimes might misuse that verse. Life is not all about forgetting the bad and looking forward to the good. Rather, we are urged to separate ourselves from what is behind – our former way of thinking, the “behind” of the time before we chose to live for Christ – and chose to look forward to the future in Christ, the prize, not the better times, but the eternity in the presence of our Lord in the glorious Heavens.
As the Mroczko family is here in America, knowing this is where God has placed us in this season, our prayer for our family is that we would keep our eyes focused, not on the details and circumstances of this place and time, but that we would focus on Him and how He is at work around us. This is where we need to press on, press in. We are not always seeing it so easily…because we don’t look. Our eyes go to the circumstantial. But our family is trying to be intentional right now to see the greater prize, the one for which He has called us heavenward.
For us, that means that as our environment and surroundings change, we see the constant steadiness and reliability in Christ. Being intentional to see the little mundane things of life that we can take joy in and recognize that the never-changing, always gracious God of the universe has given us His presence on Earth to comfort, encourage and bless us.
God continues to provide encouragement for what He has called us to do. We are thankful for the team of supporters and prayer warriors that we have behind us. We are thankful that God is faithful and that His Word is alive and active and offers hope and mercies, new every day.
We have also been holding on to II Corinthians 4:17-18::
“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
Thank You, God, for allowing us to have a part in Your eternal purposes right where we are, as well as in the lives of those HCO ministers to in Kenya, the babies, the staff, the community. Thank You that we have the opportunity to serve and honor You wherever we are.