Losing and Gaining Wisdom

Dear Friends,

Last week we had the great opportunity to take care of Gabe, he is one of our single-Airmen friends who lives in the dorms on base. Wisdom teeth seem to be a big deal, and military dentists either really need the practice or they have some sort of secret goal of attaining the "largest collection of teeth" world record. Because where there are wisdom teeth present, they remove them! (Good for the airmen too, because it comes at no cost, an they won't really miss them anyhow.) So Gabe lived on our couch eating pudding, 'instant breakfast' drinks, codeine, and pureed mashed potatoes for a few days.
Wes often recalls a story from his early days in the AF. He was found to have wisdom teeth and promptly scheduled to have them removed. During a conversation with his sister back home, she asked who would be taking care of him during and following this procedure. With sadness Wes recalls that he did not have anyone to take care of him. Someone from work would take him to and from the appointment, but then he was on his own--alone in a dorm room on pain meds with no one to check of his progress, drugs, or the lumps in his mashed potatoes. This is why we are here, why we live among the airmen and soldiers, why we do more than preach a Sunday sermon or counsel marriages. We are here to meet practical needs, to help people who are far from home, and to love them like Jesus. And we love to do it.

(stretch...take a breather...come back)

The gaining wisdom portion of the story is just as painful as the 'losing wisdom' section. As most of you know wisdom is not available in the $.25 machines at the grocery store. It takes some struggle and hard times. While things overall are going well for us here, the counseling aspect of our ministry is getting quite the work out lately. I'm not sure if this is just something that happens as normal growth after being settled in minstry at a place for 5 or 6 months. Or maybe the pressures of military life are coming to a head for our community. Either way, we are being stretched in our relationships and ministry and it's good. It's hard but it is good.
Please pray that we would leave a good mark on the lives and marriages we affect. Pray that we would gain and give godly wisdom.

Thanks for sharing with us!
God bless,

Elaine