More Musings from Chicago…

...a lonely husband's thoughts on human circumstances and the Sovereignty of God.

Not wanting my wife to have all the new millennium fun, I thought I would leave the Dark Ages and take a crack at this new-fangled blog thing.

A lot of you wonderful people have been asking how to pray for me and my family. First of all, thank you. We FEEL your prayers. Without a doubt that is the most important thing you can do for us right now. Again, Thank you!

In terms of specifics, what can I say; it can be very easy for me to feel sorry for myself sitting alone in a basement office day after day, sleeping with my feet dangling off a girl's bed in the home of a church elder with the people I love the most in life being more than 500 miles away. Can you believe it...I am actually tired of eating out!

I want "normal".

But, God in his sovereign grace has decided that I don't need "normal" right now.

So, what do I need? What does my family need? I don't know.

But, I can share with you what I am learning...again.

You could say that my family is going through a classic "valley" experience.

Valleys are interesting places. The only place you can look is up. And when you do look up, you see a whole lot of things that are bigger than you...reminding you of your actual place in this world. For some reason, being in valleys give us all more perspective...about really big things and how we relate to them.

So, you ask, what are the really big things I am learning about?

In short...Valleys!

You see, in His graciousness, God has brought me back to those wonderful people: the Puritans. What’s not to love? Has their ever been a more God-soaked vision of the world and all that is in it?

This prayer in particular has been both a comfort and a challenge…

The Valley of Vision
Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly, Thou hast brought me to the valley of vision, where I live in the depths but see Thee in the heights; hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold Thy glory. Let me learn by paradox that the way down is the way up, that to be low is to be high, that the broken heart is the healed heart, that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit, that the repenting soul is the victorious soul, that to have nothing is to possess all, that to bear the cross is to wear the crown, that to give is to receive, that the valley is the place of vision. Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells, and the deeper the wells the brighter Thy stars shine; let me find Thy light in my darkness, Thy life in my death, Thy joy in my sorrow, Thy grace in my sin, Thy riches in my poverty, Thy glory in my valley.
Taken from The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions, edited by Arthur Bennett

Sovereign Grace Ministries has actually written a song based on this prayer:
(you can listen to it by clicking the link Sovereign Grace Ministries next to this post)

So how can you really pray for us right now?

Of course, you can pray that the house would sell and that we could be back together soon.

But, what do you pray in the meantime?

On behalf of my family, I would ask that you pray something like this:

That while the Bechtles are “hemmed in” by the circumstances of life (and our sinfulness to boot!), we may experience new heights with our God and Savior.

And that we may revel in God’s glory in our “valley”,

And as we do so, we may be an example to those who have been, are, or will be traveling these same valley floors.

…just a humble request from a lonely husband (who really doesn't have it all that bad after all).

Chicago Report

With great difficulty and Jon's help we finally arrived in Chicago on Thursday night, October 12. The week prior to our trip I became extremely ill with a sinus infection.... to the point of needing Jon to come up to Minnesota to help us prepare for and make the trip down to Chicago. Thankfully, he was able to rent a car early Wendesday morning and arrive here in the early afternoon to rescue all of us.

I enjoyed a Women's Retreat at EBF on the weekend and continued to recover. Jon and the girls enjoyed a nice weekend in Wheaton with my family and welcomed Ben and Helen for a visit on Saturday.

Jon and I were able to get a night and day away dowtown Chicago where we were pampered at a great hotel in Old Town and enjoyed some great dining, recommendations of our siblings. (Thank you.)

The rest of our week was spent with each of us making some commutes in and out of Evanston trying to spend as much time together as a family as possible. We were all able to attend EBF on Sunday morning, which gave us a great taste of our future life and ministry. All though this transition has not been without its challenges, it was so confirming this week as I stepped into life at EBF, how at home I feel there.

I personally benefitted from lots of rest, which aided in my recovery, as my family took care of the girls and provided me with a much needed break.

On the Minnesota front..... our home remains on the market, a few visitors came through while we were gone, but no promising interest.

We are looking into a possible temporary housing option in the Evanston area that would allow our family to be together for at least 5 weeks or so.

Please continue to pray with us for God's leading in our transition and housing provision. We long to be together as a family and living near our new church home.

I have many new pictures to post, but continue to have difficulty posting them...... keep checking, I'll get them up eventually.

Thank you for your continued prayers for us.

I can't believe it's October already.....

We have appreciated the prayers of so many friends and family over the past several weeks. Jon is settling in to his new ministry in Evanston and the girls and I remain in Minnesota. Jon was able to spend four days here the 3rd week of September which was wonderful! We also enjoyed a visit from my mom, which was a welcomed break and support for me in caring for the girls.

This season has certainly been challenging for all of us in many ways. Our home continues to be shown on a some-what regular basis, but no offers as of yet. As we approach the 90 day mark of our home being on the market and the over 30 day mark of our family being separtated, we are contemplating our next steps.

The girls and I will travel to Chicago on October 12th and return on the 23rd. I will be joining the Women's Retreat at Evanston Bible Fellowship and we'll all be able to participate in some of the weekly activities while we're there as well. It will be great to be together as a family again.

Once we return to Minnesota we will spend approximately two weeks here and then plan to "move" to Wheaton and stay with my parents temporarily until our house sells, or another housing option presents itself. This seems like the best decision at this point, to have our family closer together. Elizabeth will be able to enroll in Kindergaten in Wheaton, and there's a possible preschool opportunity for Emma. It will be nice to have some routine and structure while we're there.

So, this is the plan for now..... of course all plans are subject to change at this point, but we just thought we'd publish our latest plans. I do have some new pictures of the girls that take a while to upload, so I will post them in the near future.

Thank you for your prayers ....