South of the Border
Be careful what you ask for...
Spending 32 years of her life with her husband and family in overseas living environments was more than this Mississippi gal could ask for in life. Stacy Johnson loved the adventures, ministry opportunities, and the people. But now after all these years, her parents were ailing, her husband’s parents were ailing, and quite frankly, she was aging.
The Denomination was still deciding on where they would send the Johnsons after so many years overseas. They were fully aware of their family and health situations, so anywhere in the States was preferable to Japan or China or Indonesia.
As a Southern gal true and blue, Stacy made her preferences known to God –anywhere South of the Border. To a lifelong Mississippian, that meant anywhere below the Mason-Dixon Line. There was something about the century and a half old feud that, even after all these years, just went against the grain of her being. Though she didn’t verbalize this request to her husband or to the Denomination – because it would seem so silly – she knew that God would know all the reasons for such a request.
Two weeks before they were scheduled to return to the States, the email from the Denomination came in. Tracy read it and pulled up a map of the United States. Later that evening, she broke out her journal and began writing, all with a wide grin on her face.
God answered my prayer and has a vivid sense of humor. Denom. is calling us to a place called Maugansville, Maryland, pop. 2294. Two miles from the Pennsylvania border – from the Mason Dixon Line. Clearly it is South of the Border.