The Salsky Update: Three Weeks

So today marks the 3 week countdown until Andy and I leave Boston. For some reason today I have only started realizing what we are doing. It is finally hitting me that we are crazy! We are choosing to leave the comforts of life here... my amazing job at a world-class children's hospital, Andy's great job with potential for more at a middle school down the road, our incredible church and church community, sweet friends, and our family close by. We are up and leaving it all to live 3000 miles away. It's not like we're being paid to move. No company has hired us and offering to cover the moving costs. In fact, I'm still waiting for confirmation that I have even been hired at Phoenix Children's! We're not leaving Boston because Phoenix is so much better. We are going on a word, a call, a promise from God that a revival is going to happen in Arizona and he's asking us to be a part of seeing it happen.

I said to Andy last night, "If things don't work out, then we are fools." And you know what? We already know that we're fools. A famous Christian missionary once said, "Everyone is someone's fool. Whose fool are you?" We decided long ago that we are going to be fools for Christ. So, here we are. If this isn't a journey of faith, then I don't know what is! If I ever get discouraged or second guess our decision, I can't help but think of... the girl we met on ASU's campus last year who said, "Revival is coming! We have asked God to send laborers, and here you are!"... a well-known Christian prophet who said last year that the next great revival to hit America will be in Arkansas, Alabama, and Arizona... the Christians we have all met in Tempe who love God but haven't found a church or a community of believers that they feel connected to yet... the picture God gave me of a well in the middle of the desert with thousands of people lining up to get a drink of water from...

Though I am a little scared for the unknown, very sad to leave family and friends behind, and quite unsure of how this will all play out, I am certain of these things:

"He will be our guide even to the end" Psalm 48:14

Jesus said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:18-20

"Delight yourself in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him..." Psalm 37:3-7

"The poor and needy search for water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. But I the Lord will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. I will make rivers flow on barren heights, and springs within the valleys. I will turn the desert into pools of water, and the parched ground into springs. I will put in the desert the cedar and the acacia, the myrtle and the olive. I will set pines in the wasteland, the fir and the cypress together, so that people may see and know, may consider and understand, that the hand of the Lord has done this, that the Holy One of Israel has created it." Isaiah 41: 18-20

"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10

God is good, and he's calling us to be a part of seeing the poor and thirsty in the desert be filled with the Living Water that is Jesus. And we're not here to say that our church is the only one that is doing this. There are lots of Bible-believing, Jesus-preaching churches in that area, but for whatever reason, God needs more laborers to bring in the harvest.

So, here at the three week countdown, I am a nervous yet excited, sad yet hopeful. The emotions haven't hit me yet, but I have a feeling they will come with abandon at the end. Until then, we're trying to get time with all of our friends. I am looking forward to a much needed "girlfriends weekend" this friday and saturday with my closest girlfriends in Marblehead. We haven't started packing, but that will be soon. I'll leave you with a few photos of what we've been up to.