Not Only Am I Moving.... So Is My Blog

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Update On God's Faithfulness: New Direction

Since I first went to Papua New Guinea (PNG) in August 2012, I have had it on my heart to share a story of the diversity, beautiful people, the health care situation, and community development. While I wrote articles and stories for the missions organization I am a part of, it was not to the depth I wanted to cover.

Since I was about eight-years-old, I have wanted to be a writer. First write books, then foreign correspondent, then a sports writer..... on and on and on. 

After not getting to return to PNG this year on our medical ship, I was a bit heartbroken and longing for the Land of the Unexpected. August rolled around and I Skyped a dear friend who recently moved to remote Gulf Province of PNG to be a doctor at the local mission hospital.

I could tell she was smitten with her work and patients. She gushed over the wide variety of work she did while getting to build a relationship with the people she saw. She told me story after story of surgeries by headlamp/torch when electricity cut, patients arriving in their dugout canoes, miraculous healing from Tuberculosis, and the 80+-year-old woman who helped start and was still running this hospital.

I could hardly contain my excitement on the other end of the line! This was The Story. The story I had been waiting to tell. 

"Beth?" I asked, "How would you feel about me coming out to Kapuna and writing a book about your work there?"

"That would be awesome!"

At the time, she did not understand the magnitude of how serious I was, but we talked and dreamed of me coming for a visit.

The only thing standing in the way was my current commitment to the organization I am a part of. My original commitment was almost up, but I had staffed a school with the understanding I would do a second one.

I was in a bind. I wanted to move forward with the book and believed it was right, but I also wanted to keep my word and promises. So, I prayed.

A few weeks later, I was pulled aside by one of my leaders and told he felt it was right for them to release me from my commitment. I had not told him about my desire to move-on, so I took this as God answering my prayer! I knew then, that I was free to follow God into the new direction.

I still needed so many answers and gaps in planning to fill in. Money was also a big necessity since I live off of support and barely pay my bills, how was I to get extra money for a flight to and from PNG, plus visas, etc...

Recently, I found out I could apply for a free six month visa. Then, to top it all off, I was given double my normal support by a few people. Financially it put me at half my goal, in less than a week.

I'm excited to be moving forward in a new direction! Not only do I believe it is right to proceed, I feel the provisions and answers along the way are proof of God's faithfulness in His calling.

If you would like to receive regular updates or hear more about my crazy life in missions, feel free to contact me at eefoley@gmail.com. I LOVE MY LIFE!

(Side note: Many of you may be asking, "What happened to Cambodia and your dreams to work there?"

Answer: I am still proceeding with the Cambodia plans. PNG will be 4-5 months of serving, getting to know people, and writing. Then, it will end in perfect timing to return to the States for a friend's wedding. Here I want to spend a few months wrapping up my book while reconnecting with family, friends, and church. After that, I believe, it will be time to proceed on to Cambodia. There will be a lot of work that needs to be done getting to Cambodia for the long-haul.

I am trying to hold all of my plans with open hands. I want to take steps of faith forward, trusting that God will guide. If He adjusts my heart and my plans along the way, then I want to be willing to follow.)

How Beautiful Are the Feet: A Tale of A Girl's Shoes

Staring at my purple, painted toe nails today, my mind flashed back to my five-year-old self. With my blond curly head bent down, I was tapping my purple jelly shoes together with delight. My tanned little toes peeked out. 

I was waiting for my dad to come home. He’d been in Venezuela for a month.  I remember running up as he emerged from the car, showing him my new shoes. I was so proud of those shoes, but more than anything I was proud of my dad. 

A girl’s shoes mark out important moments, phases of life she passes through. Each pair has a story to tell, unique to the female who wears them. 

My generation is marked by the white high-tops and rainbow laces I had when we moved back to America in the mid-90’s. Soon after, I wore saddle shoes with my dresses. 

We move forward to that incredibly awkward stage of middle school. I am blushing at the thought, but I must be honest, I had sports sandals. This is even harder to say….. here goes…. I sometimes wore socks with. They went with my tucked in t-shirt, tapered jeans, big bow in my hair, and the TrapperKeeper I carried to every single class. 

Let’s move on. 

Then came an absolute saving grace in my life, my first pair of running shoes. These marked me leaving the “smart, quiet, nerd” phase of my life and entering the “athletic, smart, quiet, nerd” phase. Until I had that pair of running shoes, I really did not belong. I had few friends, little confidence, and I hid behind my books because I knew I could. No one questions an anti-social smart person. But, in my heart, I wanted people to see me. I just did not know how. 

My running shoes took my feet over miles and miles of country dirt roads. They helped me run through severe anxiety and depression in my high school years. They helped mend a broken heart. They took my legs on a journey while I worshiped God in my heart. 

After getting a runner’s body, noticed for being a decent athlete, and a lot more confidence, I entered into the “boys think I’m cute, athletic, smart, a little less quiet, nerd” phase. Thank you, running shoes! 

I’ve been through hard-worn serving shoes, grass clipping and paint covered old runners, life guard’s flip-flops, and (on to my favorite work shoe) the corporate world’s gorgeous stiletto high heels and patent leather pumps. These marked my many hours labored, many hard earned dollars, and my adult life emerging. So many important lessons took place in those shoes. 

Now, let’s squeeze our feet into the tight (and ironically enough purple) rock climbing shoes. These afforded me hours of great fun, much sweat, and building great friendships while working off stress. This is my mid-20’s where now the rock climbing, running shoes, and snowboard boots are next to shiny, designer heels. Becoming much more comfortable with who I am. 

Two years ago, I was staring down at my fuzzy socks, with a pair of flip-flops slapped over them.  Yes, I COMPLETELY REVERTED to socks with sandals! 

But, in these shoes, I entered my best phase yet. You see, my feet were cold in the night, our sleeping shed positioned on the side of a hill in this small East Timor village. It’s where my heart became full with a passion to see communities developed, lives changed, injustice and poverty struck down. 

A year later, I completely abandoned shoes as I trudged and slipped through the vast, muddy river shores in Papua New Guinea. Any shoe would have been suctioned off my feet in the knee deep sludge.  

Then, I think of the bright colored, high heels of the girls who I met in Cambodia. There are girls who would trade in their pretty shoes for a life of freedom; shoes that do not take them into the night. 

I have begun to realize how important shoes are. They keep so many disease and injuries at bay. (And, just this minute I found a shoe useful for killing a cockroach). They tell a story of who we are, where we’ve been, and where we are going. 

I recognize the privilege of not only owning pairs of shoes, but getting to learn so many lessons in them.  

Isaiah 52:7 says, “How lovely on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who announces peace, and brings good news of happiness, who announces salvation, and says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!’”

I recognize how important shoes are, but my prayer is that no matter what is on my feet. In poverty, in wealth, in good times and bad, my feet will always lead me in God’s ways. That no matter what mountain or terrain in the world I tread upon I can proclaim, “Our God Reigns!”