“He will watch over  your coming and going both now and forever more!” (Psalm 121:8) He is the God who sees us.

I’m in my hotel room in Kathmandu, Nepal. I’ve been here slightly more than 24 hours. And it’s good. My partner, Carol, and I have gone over our teaching notes, figured out our strategy for Day 1, met one of the interpreters, and his cute eight year old son. We prayed and committed the week into our Heavenly Father’s hands. Now we are ready for God’s plan to unfold early tomorrow (Monday).

This content feeling has not come without struggle and testing. As I sat down tonight to write this post, I felt a little like the Enemy was trying to harass me.  The reason was, this is my second try at writing this post, and because the internet connection is not consistent, or very strong, I could not get my pictures inserted into the post–after multiple tries. (Argggg!) And listen to this–my first draft was almost finished when I touched something on my keyboard by accident and–POOF!  It disappeared into cyber space in less than 3 seconds. After 30 minutes of searching in vain to find it–I gave up. I’m a little sad, because it was REALLY profound, and you would have loved it. Now you get to read my ‘second’ try. (sigh) I have to laugh, even if it is a bitter-sweet laugh.

I meant to share a little about our difficult journey getting from Colorado all the way to Kathmandu–how we suffered long hours in the airport in Newark, on the plane and in noisy waiting areas; endured two delayed flights–and missed countless hours of sleep and regular meals.

After I lost my first draft, I had a sobering moment when I asked my self, ‘Aren’t things like this also a part of the cost of going? The going out to reach and help those whom the LORD has called us to?’ What did I expect? I remembered other hard times I had faced in Nepal. (Now that’s another blog post!)

I have to admit that as uncomfortable and inconvenient as it may be, God’s Grace was there to help us. AND His Holy Spirit is with us, this very moment, indwelling us–empowering us to endure with out complaining (I’m REALLY working on that one!).

When I woke up early this morning, still a bit numb from jet-lag, and unable to go back to sleep, I decided to count some of the blessings received through and during the long delay in getting here. (Since Wednesday morning, early.)

• God in His faithfulness, provided a comfortable night in a hotel, in Newark–paid for by the airline,
• We got about 5 glorious hours of sleep in a clean bed.
• He provided a new friend (Carol) and teaching partner to share interesting conversation with while we were waiting.
• He provided Airport vouchers for food that tasted decent!
• He fulfilled His promise to get us to Kathmandu–flying us more than 13,000 miles, over 3 continents, and a number of sources of water to our final destination–Kathmandu.
• And to top it off, we both we had a restful night in our new ‘temporary home’, the Lord’s Mirage Hotel, Kathmandu, for the next two weeks.

‘Man makes his plans, but God directs his footsteps.”

And directing them He is!  Today, Sunday, August 16, was a gentle gift of rest. God reminded me of His Love, and that He is with me and Carol–and that He will guide us through all that is to come, and that we need not be anxious for anything.

Psalm 121 came to mind. I pondered it again, personalizing it for myself–gaining courage and blessing. Here’s my version–in case you too, might want to personalize it.

“Linda, lift your eyes to the hills. Where does your help come from? Remember–Your help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will guide you and not let His purposes for you to slip. He will watch over you and will not fall asleep–forgetting about you. Indeed, Linda–He who watches over you will either slumber nor sleep. The LORD will keep you from harm. He will watch over  your coming and going both now and forever more!”

Thank you for joining me today on this Journey to Nepal.

If you’d like so see some interesting pictures and daily comments, check out my Face Book page, Linda K. Bridges. Carol and I are posting city scenes, interesting Nepali food and other items of general interest.

Join us by praying for me and my partner, Carol King as we facilitate this course together. Would you  pray that God will meet each participant at their particular point of need, as they seek to regain emotional and spiritual relief from the pain they carry as survivors of the recent Earthquakes? Pray that they will leave feeling equipped to go back to their homes and impart some of what they learn this week–and help others face the future with hope.

Thank you for stopping by my blog today. Thank you for your prayers.

Please come again.

Linda Bridges

Linda is a career missionary and Bible teacher for more than 35 years, having lived on foreign soil in both Austria and Thailand. Through her ministries she has traveled and taught the Bible in more than 20 countries, most recently in Nepal and Ukraine. She is also an author and children’s storybook illustrator and loves painting, writing poetry, and blogging.