Launching Arrows

Ray often uses the illustration of children being arrows in our quiver while teaching on the family. The archer (parent) takes those arrows (children) and polishes, shapes and shines them until they are straight and ready to be launched. Sometimes they are launched permanently. Often times the archer shoots the arrows out on a practice run. Yesterday we launched our first arrow. Rachel went to Honduras for a mission trip where she hopes to get to work in many different areas of ministry. The family she will be staying with are doctors at a mission hospital and will be watching over her while she is there. In fact the family's oldest daughter is Rachel's violin teacher, part of our church and flew with her to Honduras. Though Rachel will be gone for a month it seems like such a huge thing. She will be with someone all the time and under the care of a family who has five daughters of their own. Yet I know this is a huge step in independence for her. Our prayer is that she will grow more dependant on God and not herself. She looks forward to the day in which she will be a wife and mother, but in the meantime, there are many opportunities for her to serve the Lord and her parents.


Here is the first of many (I hope) updates from her:


"Everyone slept in today, so we are just getting started. It is so hot here. You would like to sleep here because lizards crawl all over the walls all the time. Animals run free-I woke up at four to the sound of very loud cows and a rooster. There are ponies all in the road, and on the interstate they are just tied to the ground inches from the road. Later this morning, Natalie is going to take me on a tour of the hospital and other places, I'll go meet people and see what I will be doing. After that, there is a Spanish class that meets 3 days a week, so I'll go to that if I can. On Friday's a lady has a ministry to children who live at the dump in the city, I'm planning on going with her."