Dealing with Disappointment as a Christian

We all deal with disappointments differently. The Lord is truly growing our family in many amazing (and difficult) ways. We have ups and downs. We have highs and lows. We are being humbled and taught by Him in more ways than we ever imagined. And we are learning that our faith and trust can only be in Him! "Praise the Lord!...I will praise the Lord as long as I live;...Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation....Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God, who made heaven and earth." (parts of Psalm 146)

While I was searching for different verses on disappointment I ran across this article. I did not write this but I wanted to share parts of it. Please pray for our family as the Lord is teaching us to trust not in man but in Him alone!

Jill

The Christian Response to Disappointment

If you're a Christian (or a human), you're well-acquainted with disappointment.
All of us, whether new Christians or lifelong believers, battle feelings of disappointment when life goes wrong. Deep down, we think that following Christ should give us special immunity against trouble. We're like Peter, who tried to remind Jesus, "We have left everything to follow you." (Mark 10:28).

Maybe we haven't left everything, but we have made some painful sacrifices. Doesn't that count for something? Shouldn't that give us a free pass when it comes to disappointment?
You already know the answer to that. As we’re each struggling with our own private setbacks, godless people seem to be thriving. We wonder why they’re doing so well and we’re not. We fight our way through loss and disappointment and wonder what’s going on.

After many years of hurts and frustration, I finally realized that the question I should ask God isn't "Why, Lord?" but rather, "What now, Lord?"
Asking “What now, Lord?” instead of “Why, Lord?” is a hard lesson to learn. It's hard to ask the right question when you’re feeling disappointed. It's hard to ask when your heart is breaking. It's hard to ask “What now?” when your dreams have been shattered.

But your life will begin to change when you start asking God, "What would you have me do now, Lord?" Oh sure, you’ll still feel angry or disheartened by disappointments, but you’ll also discover that God is eager to show you what he wants you to do next. Not only that, but he’ll equip you with everything you need to do it.
In the face of trouble, our natural tendency is not to ask the right question. Our natural tendency is to complain. Unfortunately, griping to other people rarely helps solve our problems. Instead, it tends to drive people away. Nobody wants to hang around a person who has a self-pitying, pessimistic outlook on life.

But we can't just let it go. We need to pour our heart out to someone. Disappointment is too heavy a burden to bear. If we let disappointments pile up, they lead to discouragement. Too much discouragement leads to despair. God doesn’t want that for us. In his grace, God asks us to take our heartaches to him.

If another Christian tells you that it's wrong to gripe to God, just send that person to the Psalms. Many of them, like Psalms 31, 102 and 109, are poetic accounts of hurts and grievances. God listens. He'd rather have us empty our heart to him than keep that bitterness inside. He is not offended by our discontent.

Complaining to God is wise because he's capable of doing something about it, while our friends and relations may not be. God has the power to change us, our situation, or both. He knows all the facts and he knows the future. He knows exactly what needs to be done.

When we pour out our hurt to God and find the courage to ask him, "What do you want me to do now, Lord?," we can expect him to answer. He will communicate through another person, our circumstances, instructions from him, or through his Word, the Bible.

The Bible is such an important guidebook that we should immerse ourselves in it regularly. It's call the Living Word of God because its truths are constant yet they apply to our changing situations. You can read the same passage at different times in your life and get a different answer--a relevant answer--from it every time. That is God speaking through his Word.
Seeking God's answer to "What now?" helps us grow in faith. Through experience, we learn that God is trustworthy. He can take our disappointments and work them for our good. When that happens, we come to the staggering conclusion that the all-powerful God of the universe is on our side.

No matter how painful your disappointment may be, God's answer to your question of "What now, Lord?" always begins with this simple command: "Trust me. Trust me."

Pumpkin Patch and Corn Maze

We recently went with our homeschool group to a neat pumpkin patch and corn maze. What a wonderful treat! In the middle of nowhere (Canton, MS) there is a huge corn field with an amazingly intricate corn maze that even got the adults lost. We rode on the back of a tractor trailer to the pumpkin patch where the kids were able to pick their very own pumpkin. We also were able to shoot corn from a corn cannon (a big hit for my 6year old boy), plant corn and grass seeds in a cup to bring home to grow, learn all about the current and past uses of corn, and watch a lady make a real wool bracelet. What a wonderful day we all had! Gotta love those homeschool field trips!

The Mississippi State Fair

Our family had a wonderful time at the State Fair recently. We always love the sights, sounds, and smells of this fun event. Of course we ate way too much (but we did NOT eat the Krispy Kreme donut hamburger that I pictured below...it was just so bad that I needed to take a picture). We saw lots of animals and were able to pet and feed them. We also rode a TON of rides. The biggest joy was that Gidgi and the McDonalds were able to go with us. We will be serving at African Bible Colleges with the McDonalds. They currently live there and are home on furlough for a year. What a blessing they have been to us! I'm sure they'll tire of all of our questions soon! How grateful we are that the Lord allowed us to get to know some of our Malawi family before we even arrive. He is SO good!

Jill

ABC Christian Academy

Many questions have been asked about what we will be doing in Malawi. While we can not begin to imagine the answers to these questions, I do know that the Lord is calling us to ABC and He has a plan for us. One of my responsibilities will be teaching at the ABC Christian Academy. The Academy is for children ages preschool-high school. It is one of the premier academies in Malawi and offers an excellent Christian education to all who attend. There are somewhere around 29 different nationalities represented among the students and not all of the children are from a Christian background. Because it is one of the best schools in the country, business men, politicians, diplomats, etc. who are in country will send their children to this school to get the best education. There, we will be able to teach the children about our Savior. We pray that we can reach the parents and the rest of the family through their children. What an amazing missions opportunity. Here is a video which will help to explain a little more (the video is about 3 years old but you will get the idea).

If you or someone you know is looking to impact the world for Christ in a wonderful Christian environment then please pray about African Bible Colleges and the ABC Christian Academy. We can't wait to join the ABC family and begin serving our Lord this next Summer. There are still many needs that need to be met so please pray about how you might help spread the Word to the "Warm Heart of Africa"!

Jill

Our work...in the meantime

When we first found out that we were staying here longer than we'd first expected I must admit that we were a little bummed. Our hearts are already in Africa. But very quickly the Lord was gracious to show us some of the many reasons He has for our delay.

First, we have much more time to pack and get organized. I'm able to slow down a little and not be so worried. We have been collecting boxes from Wal-Mart or from gracious friends who are saving them for us. As we get boxes we are filling them. I alread have 5 boxes sitting in the warehouse at ABC waiting to go on the container (which doesn't leave until April!). So I feel I'm doing pretty well. How blessed are we that the container is being packed and loaded about 5 miles from our house. As I pack a box I just take it on over. That is a true blessing!

We also have time with our precious college students this school year. Many of them are just now finding out about our big news. We did not go public with our calling until Memorial Day weekend when we announced it to the church. The college students were gone by then and are just now returning. So we get to have a wonderful year teaching and mentoring them as well as answering all of their questions. I feel like we'll have more of our students over at ABC in the future. Already we have sent Melissa Morgan who is now in charge of the Pharmacy at the ABC Clinic. We are SOOO proud of her! She's going to be amazing!

Also, we get time to say our goodbyes and have our "lasts". We'll be here for our last Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter for a few years. Our family will have time to prepare their hearts. That is such a blessing from the Lord. We know that a lot of people don't exactly understand why we're doing this "insane" thing. Hopefully with a little time the Spirit will be able to help them see. A lot of times we're not called to "understand". We are simply called to "go" and that's what we're doing. Jonah had NO idea why in the world the Lord was calling him to Ninevah. He didn't fully understand it and therefore he decided he wasn't going to do it. Well, we all know how that turned out. Thankfully, the Lord has not called us to anywhere like Ninevah, but we are still going to go out of obedience to Him. We consider it a blessing beyond words or explanation. We are thrilled and honored to be obedient.

One of the amazing results of us staying a little longer is that Jeremy has now started online seminary classes at Southwestern. We've known for many years that the Lord would call Him into seminary and missions. WE just had no idea that He'd call us to both at the same time. He's a little concerned about what he's gotten himself into...haha...but I"m so proud of him and I know he's going to do great!

Lastly, we have more time to raise up our precious financial and prayer support. Many people have been beyond amazing in how they've chosen to support us. We can see many of the sacrifices that our partners have made to be able to follow the Lord's proding on their hearts to partner with us. We are blessed and honored beyond measure to have such faithful supporters. We are now at around 30% for our monthly gifts. The Lord is so very faithful! That's my favorite name for Him right now. Every time I turn around I see His faithfulness and am simply amazed at Him.

If you have anywhere that you'd like for us to speak please send us an email at Kysersinmalawi@gmail.com We'd be honored to speak to any Sunday School class, church pastor, group of friends, or just individuals. It doesn't have to be in the Clinton area. We are more than willing to travel. We know we have friends all over the Southeast and we'd love to get to see some of you. We are here this year to help tell the Lord's people about His work in Malawi, Africa. There are some amazing things going on over there and He is truly at work. We'd love to share with whomever would like to hear.

Please feel free to ask any questions you may have about this ministry. We'd love to speak with you. We are excited about what He's doing in our lives and can't wait to see what He's going to do next. He is so faithful!

God bless!

Jill

Meeting more ABC Family

This past Thursday night we were able to go out to eat with another family that we'll be living with in Malawi. The McDonalds have been a part of our journey from the very beginning (whether they know it or not). As soon as we began feeling the call to ABC I befriended two wonderful ladies on Facebook and immediately started bombarding them with questions. One of these ladies was Leanne McDonald (Amy Stauffacher was the other). They have been so very patient with all of my crazy and silly questions. I'm so blessed to be able to bounce ideas off of these sweet ladies. What a joy it was to learn that the McDonalds were coming home on furlough for a year beginning this summer AND that they live less than an hour away! It's such a small world.

On Thursday night we met at Cock-of-the-Walk with Jan and Thad Harper and Josh and Rebecca Harper. The 3 McDonald girls and the 3 Kyser kids hit it off! By the end of the night they were outside feeding the ducks, putting on skits, and Molly Grace even came home with us to spend a couple of days! My kids are so excited to actually know some of the friends who'll we be serving with on the other side of the world! And Jeremy and I are excited as well. This is such an amazing family and we can't wait to meet the other families we're getting to know through the internet!

A Timeline!

Jeremy and I were able to meet with Paul Chinchen this past Sunday evening. Paul is the President of African Bible Colleges and was in town for a meeting. We are blessed to be so close to the stateside offices (literally 4 miles from our house). We've been able to meet so many of the people we'll be serving with in Malawi. Our meeting with Paul helped to answer many questions about what we'll be doing, what we can expect, and when we should try to be there. We questioned him for over 2 hours (I'm sure he was exhausted) but learned so much in the process. During this meeting we concluded that we'll shoot for leaving the States next Summer. This will give us time to fully prepare for the huge move and be able to secure our financial funding and prayer support before we leave.

Between now and then I'll continue homeschooling my beautiful children (grades 3, 1, and preschool this year!) which is such a blessing! We'll also be speaking to churches, SS classes, Bible studies, or anyone that will listen! haha! So if you have an idea of where we can speak please let us know. The Lord is so very faithful and He's already filling up our calendar. Praise God.

We'll also be able to send all of our things on the April container leaving from here. What a blessing that we don't have to send our household good all the way across the country to get them onto this container. I'm sure the Lord placed the stateside offices in Clinton just for us! haha!

So for now, we continue doing what we're doing...but on a less hectic pace. While it's bittersweet (we'd be there tomorrow if we could) we know that the Lord's timing is always perfect. Next on the to-do list: get house ready to sell. Ugh! That's just not fun! I'll update more later. God bless.

Jill

P.S. If you'd like to be added to our prayer list please email us at kysersinmalawi@gmail.com