Inching Forward

The report today:

'They said your [case] is in "the next group". They sent another group to court today, so I am hopeful that "next group" means next week.'

Praise God!  We have been very encouraged by all of you who have prayed and have supported us via YouCaring and otherwise.  Our God is a good God, most of all seen in the light of the knowledge of the face of Jesus Christ.

(PS- We have been experimenting with not having internet at home, because it saves money and time.  That's why Papa has been manning the blog for the past few weeks.  Mama still gets emails and such a few times a day, but she quipped recently "with no internet and no mirrors, I have no excuse to waste time!"  She and the boys are well.  We planted some flower seed this morning, hoping to capitalize on the recent rain and the turn in the weather.  Autumn in Arizona is odd, but pleasant.)

Travel - (Not travel dates, sorry.)

I'm not sure if I ever shared this on the blog, but we were absolutely floored by the excellent service we received from Golden Rule Travel.  This was (I think) a Musser-referral, and after one phone call and a quote ~$800 less than anything I could get on Kayak, we were convinced.

Here is their site: http://goldenruletravel.com/

They emphasize missionary, charitable, relief, and adoption travel, but I don't know if they are exclusive to those categories.  They were prompt, easy to deal with, and (did I mention?) much better positioned to get cheap fares than little ole me.

Thank you for your prayers, thank you for your support on YouCaring, and we'll see what comes from the courts this week.

In Christ,
Papa

(who is missing this place and missing Ana most)

Also, happy (old-style) independence day!

Rain

We are missing Ana.  Mama by proxy, Papa more immediately.  It is a beautiful gray day here in AZ, and we are praying for progress.  Thank you for your prayers and support.

    Shower, O heavens, from above,
        and let the clouds rain down righteousness;
    let the earth open, that salvation and righteousness may bear fruit;
        let the earth cause them both to sprout;
        I the LORD have created it.
Isaiah 45:8

He is our God, and we will wait for Him to move the slow wheels of bureaucracy.

That Nature is a Heraclitian Fire, and of the Comfort of the Resurrection

This is dear to me.  Read it aloud, or at least mouth the words - the sound is the poem.  Apostrophes generally signal emphasis.

Cloud-puffball, torn tufts, tossed pillows 'flaunt forth, then chevy on an air-
built thoroughfare: heaven-roysterers, in gay-gangs 'they throng; they glitter in marches.
Down roughcast, down dazzling whitewash, 'wherever an elm arches,
shivelights and shadowtackle in long 'lashes lace, lance, and pair.
Delightfully the bright wind boisterous 'ropes, wrestles, beats earth bare
of yestertempest’s creases; in pool and rut peel parches
squandering ooze to squeezed 'dough, crust, dust; stanches, starches
squadroned masks and manmarks 'treadmire toil there
footfretted in it. Million-fuelèd, 'nature’s bonfire burns on.
but quench her bonniest, dearest 'to her, her clearest-selvèd spark 
Man, how fast his firedint, 'his mark on mind, is gone!
Both are in an unfathomable, all is in an enormous dark
drowned. O pity and indig'nation! Manshape, that shone
sheer off, disseveral, a star, 'death blots black out; nor mark
is any of him at all so stark 
but vastness blurs and time 'beats level. Enough! the Resurrection,
a heart’s-clarion! Away grief’s gasping, 'joyless days, dejection.
across my foundering deck shone
a beacon, an eternal beam. 'Flesh fade, and mortal trash
fall to the residuary worm; 'world’s wildfire, leave but ash: 
in a flash, at a trumpet crash,
I am all at once what Christ is, 'since he was what I am, and
this Jack, joke, poor potsherd, 'patch, matchwood, immortal diamond,
is immortal diamond.

-Gerard Manley Hopkins, c.1888

Please keep the Mussers in your prayers - our God hears and answers.

Thank you to those who have supported us on YouCaring.

Twists & Turns

Hello Friends,

Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement.  Yesterday, we got a new air conditioner!  This means things will be nice and cool for Ana when she comes home to Arizona, but it also means a large chunk of money.  It has been a singular year for our family in many ways, and we trust God to provide.  We also don't want to turn away anyone who wants to help, so to that end we have created a YouCaring fundraiser.

    The desire of the righteous ends only in good;
        the expectation of the wicked in wrath.
    One gives freely, yet grows all the richer;
        another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want.
    Whoever brings blessing will be enriched,
        and one who waters will himself be watered.
Proverbs 11:23-25

Papa has to confess to pride - he always wanted to stay comfortably on the "watering" side of this proverb.  But, God works in many ways to make us more holy, and He gives us no excuses for pet sins.

Thank you again for your prayers and support; please don't stop praying for the Mussers. (I'll probably just keep saying that for some time.)

In Christ,
Papa

PS - Mama is now just generally a happier person since the AC is not trying to fall off the roof and is sending its air into the ducts, instead of into the sky.

Organic Musings

There is a very good reason why the pictures given of our relationship to Christ are always organic.  We are branches on the vine.  We are living stones in a growing temple.  We are the seed growing to produce abundant yield. 

This is true in all relationships.  If the sap is not constantly flowing, we dry up.  If we do not regularly spend time with our spouse, our children, our friends, our pastor and elders - the relationships dry up and wither. 

It's hard to do this with Ana right now, because she is not on this continent.  But we pray.  And God, who hears and answers prayer, knows how to minister to her no matter where she is.  And we ask God that her baba would remember to show her the picture book we left.  That she would get to snuggle her knit rabbit and hold her knit owl.  And maybe when she comes home and sees Took and Porgies with their knit rabbits and knit owls, she'll make a connection.  We've been her family for a while now - and we're looking forward to being her family for as long as God gives us.