We’ve been in Georgia now for 2+ weeks and have just a few days left here in Tbilisi. This trip has done anything but go according to the plan we initially made! Originally we were going to bring Grace’s good friend Renee along with us but due to a positive COVID test the day before flying out she wasn’t able to come. This was of course super sad for Grace as she was very much looking forward to sharing the adventure of Georgia with a friend, and sad for Renee as she was looking forward to using her new passport, but they both handled it really well and rolled with the punch. Then only a few days after arriving in Tbilisi our dear friends who are full time missionaries here, Barry and Carolyn Corder, got the news that Carolyn’s mother had passed away very quickly and so they had to return to the States. We had originally made plans to spend some time with their family while we were here but again did our best to roll with the shifting landscape and help them navigate this difficult time as much as we could. So… then we had also made plans for Tom and Emily Hoffman to join us for the middle week of the trip when we had scheduled to travel up to the high mountains of Svaneti to lay the groundwork for Daniel’s trip back there in a month. (He will be helping to facilitate a Wilderness Ministry Institute training in early August up in Svaneti for Georgian youth leaders). Well, just because we’re on a roll with things not going as we thought at the very last minute Tom wasn’t able to come and Emily arrived solo!

Emily, Reeta, Grace and Daniel in the Svaneti mountains.

So there you go. We make plans and God adjusts plans. We ask why things are going a certain way and God says hang tight, all in good time. We pace floors and knock on doors and God extends his hand to us and says, “I am here.” It is enough.

As always the people of Georgia are amazing and so hospitable…we don’t take the privilege of being here lightly. We are grateful to be here, exercising flexibility with all the shifting plans and expectant for what God has in store.

Back in Tbilisi...