Calling his bluff

Lately it seems satan has tried to kick it into high gear. To put it in the words of Beth Moore, satan’s thinking “I never intended it to go this far!” Perhaps he thought he’d let us pursue this for awhile, we’d see how hard it is, and give up.
Out of nowhere a few people have commented to Brian that they just don’t think I can do this, I’m not ready, it’s too hard for the kids, this is Brian’s thing, this is not a family call, etc. You can read Brian’s perspectives post for a little more on concerns people bring up.
Way back in June (forever ago it seems) when Brian was in Zambia, he seemed to be hesitating at the “door” to saying yes this is what God wants us to do and we’re going to do it.
Sorry, I am not good with links, so here is an excerpt-also read 6/11, 6/25, and 6/27 for more background)

I (Kelly) will say that God is amazing, again! Monday I felt lead to type my last post on decisions. That morning I had a dream where I saw Brian just kind of saying, “I just don’t know yet, there are some things…”. That is all I remember, it was right before I woke up. So on my walk I prayed about that-what does it mean? Anything? Is it prophetic? Does it mean no? Before he left, we both felt certain that we would know for sure what we were going to be doing when he got back. So was my dream a glimpse into the future? Was his not knowing the sign we were looking for? Half a world away, Brian was wrestling with his decision. He felt the last few days were really tough (Mon-Tues). He felt overly critical of everything, discouraged, not happy, he just felt he needed to get away. So today he did. He hiked up Mt. Kazemba and spent the day praying and fasting, seeking confirmation from God.
He wanted answers. He wanted to know why he felt so unsettled. He has been writing lots of pages in his journal. It will be very interesting to see the things he has been wrestling with God about the last two weeks. So he is up on the Mt. asking God why he was struggling so much with the decision, why he was struggling to say yes. God seemed to being asking Brian, “Every door I have opened for you, you have walked through. Why are you standing in the doorway here?” God told him it was because Brian wasn’t sure if I wanted it. (It’s awesome when God asks and answers too!) It is not going to be easy, but it will be fulfilling. But Brian didn’t like the thought of seeing me struggle (ever the chivalrous man that he is!) as we are over there. I think part of that was because he remembers how we have struggled with Joseph. God told him that you only grow through trials, so who does he think he is to not to allow his wife to grow? (Which as I thought about this later, I thought, oh boy! So there will be plenty of trials!).

Basically God told Brian, yes, it is going to be hard for Kelly and the kids. (I never expected it to be a bed or roses anyway). But we agreed this is where God wanted us and we have gone forward. Up on the mountain Brian had to open up his hands and let me and the kids go-give us back to God. Yes, it is our job as parents to protect, nurture, teach, and lead our children. But we need to open up our hands, lift them to God, and trust that He is the ultimate protector, nurturer, teacher, leader for our family. We can’t hold on to them so tightly that they can’t grow, can’t make mistakes, can’t make their faith in God their own.
Now here we are 7 months later, still pursuing, still obeying, despite the hard times. And all of a sudden satan said, “I never intended it to go this far!” He’s had to put himself into overdrive to try to get our focus off God again. How has he tried to do it? That’s right-by trying to bring up fears and concerns about the kids and I. As I was thinking the other day about a few comments that came our way, it just struck me. Duh-this is satan’s new (old?) game. Well, right then and there I told him it wasn’t going to work-I was calling his bluff!