So…where’s the hub?

“Why doesn’t Lanny go with you?”

Well the simple answer is he doesn’t feel called! Just because I am doesn’t mean he is or will be.

But I thought about how Lanny IS called to these trips – just outside of the box! Let me explain.

Lanny and I are a team, which means we support each other. We come up behind and alongside one another in the things God asks us to do. Remember when I shared he was on board with the team lead role right away? It was me that struggled! He was behind me on it because he knew that God would cover us. He knew it would take teamwork to get me ready and out the door by June 10. Sometimes my husband sees my calling much more clearly than I do.

Lanny participates in these trips in ways most people will never see. But I’m going to open eyes to what he does do, you’ll see just how called he is!

In the months leading up to the trip he is the one who listens, prays and affirms, the first one who hears my joys and sorrows and everything in between. Oh, there are others but he is the first one – he gets the “full meal deal” of my emotions, my frustrations, my fears, my insecurities. The rest of you get an abbreviated, if not completely worked through, version! (And all of you can shout Hallelujah!)

It was January 2009 and now we were in the year of departure. I had just come through a really hard couple of months with my lifelong bestie passing away quickly and suddenly from pancreatic cancer. The house was a wreck, I was behind on work for my clients and Kenya, all I could think about was Kenya and nobody else was there yet and I was a mess. Overwhelmed, grieving, juggling, lonely. Lanny got the “full meal deal” one night at Starbucks. Something had to give but I couldn’t figure out what I could take my hands off of. I have to work – we need my income. I have to lead the team to Kenya – God told me to. And the reason the house was a wreck? Something had to give! But a messy house stresses me out; I mean it messes with my mind. So Lanny took over the house. He released me from it. He said, forget the laundry, forget the dishes, the bathroom, forget about it all, I’ll take it on. Now, mind you this is a man who works a 40+ hour a week job and already does so much around our home. But he knew we were called to this role and he knew there would be sacrifice, because there always is with God’s purposes. So he came up alongside of me and helped me let go so I could focus and not allow the house to be a distraction.

Does he physically go on the trips? Nope but he goes on these trips with me! He’s with me every single step of the way beforehand, and he’s here for me when I get back and walk through the “aftermath”. He’s just as much called as I am.

May God’s favor and blessing rest on Lanny for his commitment to our marriage, to the places God leads us, to the calling God has placed on both of us and how he walks it out! Lanny Peninger rocks my world!