The Calling

A boy with a dream...

A teen with a hope...

A man with a promise...

For as long as I have known my husband Don, he has had a dream of flying. It is not one of those come and go dreams but a steadfast promise buried deep within his heart, put there by God and nurtured throughout his life to date. As a young boy Don grew up around aircraft while his Dad mustered cattle in the Northern Territory. Memories like these never fade.

As a teenager he learned to fly before he could drive a car and was awarded a scholarship to achieve it. He worked hard and became an aircraft engineer to learn all that he could about the machines that had become his passion.

As life changed and the responsibilities that come with family became important, Don's dream to fly was smoldered. Finances were tight and many challenges have kept him grounded, while his heart yearned to soar. Don't misunderstand me, my husband is the kindest and most loving man I know and he would never put himself before God or his family. That is why I love him so.

Over the 10 years we have been married God had done mighty works in our hearts and lives. For so long we resisted his voice but three years ago we gave up the striving and gave everything we had to God. The affects of this radical obedience has been life changing. After the tumultuous last few years, God has bought us to a place of rest, a home called God's Rest, and here we have found the most amazing township, a loving church family, and Don has a very supportive team of workmates and a job he loves-maintaining Blackhawk helicopters. We are the most settled we have been in a very long time.

At this time God started to talk to me about homeschooling my 4 year old son Jack next year when he starts school. "Are you sure Lord?", "You've got to be kidding right?". We do after all live only 200m from the Primary School. Fortunately we have learned by now to just say yes, even if we can make no sense of it at the time. Homeschooling it is. Yes Lord.

While helping friends move house, Don and I both started getting itchy feet. Surely not, we say. We looked at each other and he says "What are you thinking?", and we both say MAF! At church on Sunday God spoke to us through the sermon about the dream that is buried deep within your heart, placed there by God and we knew he is confirming his call. MAF-is Mission Aviation Fellowship, supporting rural and isolated communities both in Australia and overseas. They train aircraft engineers and pilots to put them into service for God where needed. Ah, now I know why I need to homeschool.

For so many years Don has avoided MAF because his passion to fly was driven by his own wants and desires. And now here is God saying, it is the dream that I have placed in your heart, it will never go away because I want you to serve me! We want to burst with excitement! We know it is from God because we love where we live but now we have to give it all up and as Jesus says.."Come follow me..."

I wonder if you will join with us in our joy, nervousness, excitement, mayhem and thankfulness. I wonder if you will pray with us and encourage us on this new walk we are about to begin.

In the next few weeks we will be putting our home on the market and preparing for a new life. Here is the promise God has given us:

"And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or property for my sake, will receive a hundred times as much in return and will inherit eternal life." (Matthew 19:29)