Parenthetically, another of Punk's cute sayings is "DVDoh" for DVD! :)

This morning at Bible study we were praying in small group about Pence being released from Liberia. Afterward, one of the ladies said she kept getting the word "liberator" while we were praying. She asked God what it meant--was He the Liberator (we know He is!), was He sending someone to liberate Pence, should we pray that a liberator would come on the scene? After a while, it became clear to her that this time in Pence's life is preparing him to become a liberator, that part of his destiny is being formed and crystalized in him during this time. She even alluded to Moses as a liberator and the difficult times and circumstances that prepared him for his destiny.

Sunday, our pastor quoted another pastor as having said, "I pray I do not die one minute before the moment God has appointed for me, and that I do not live one minute longer than that moment." I think I need to adopt a similar attitude toward Pence's deliverance. There are spiritual reasons (both dark and God-appointed) why Pence is going through this time. There are positive aspects to it and God is at work in the formation of his identity and destiny in ways that I cannot fathom. I do not want to jeopardize the positive things God is currently instilling into that boy by viewing this time as entirely the work of Satan thwarting Pence's destiny. I still fully believe there are demonic influences at work, but my eyes are now open to what God wants to do in Pence while He works to get him home to us.

God's ways truly are above our ways and his understanding far outstrips ours. I'm prone to such small-minded thinking ("Satan doesn't want him home"), but God's thoughts are so big (forming Pence's identity and destiny through this and who knows what else He is up to?!). I find it humorous to imagine that someday I will require a color-coded calendar on the wall to orchestrate the many activities of my active family, but God has no need of such a thing to effect much more significant plans in the lives of his family and the workings of his kingdom. Can't you just see Him sitting on a cloud with a fistful of dry-erase markers trying to find a place to "pencil in" the awakening of heavenly perspective for Rachel or the creation of a liberator's heart in Pence?!