The God of "The In-Between"

Margaret Feinberg in her book, “The Sacred Echo,” states that God is the God of “The In-Between.” What is that you ask? I’ll tell you from personal experience that it is true. God is present in those times when we don’t know what will be or what we should do, where we should go at a given junction in life.

I think God likes those in-between times. In fact, I think He loves them in our lives because it is in those times that He is very important to us - that in those times of fog, ambiguity, confusion, wonder, fear, uncertainty are the times where our antennae are tracking Him closely - waiting to hear from Him, see some sign from Him, grasp something tangible from Him or hear a word, any word, from Him.

And if you don’t think that these are days of uncertainty for us (“us” meaning “the Shattucks), you certainly have not been reading our updates or in communication with us re: our immediate future.

In summary, this is what it looks like:

• on May 26th, the 20 foot container arrives and we have 6 hours to pack it with all of the household belongings that we’re taking back to the USA with us.


• on May 31st, we fly out of Vienna to the USA


• We’re leaving a country that we love dearly, that we have worked hard to serve, reach with Jesus Christ, and still see much work to do


• We’re returning to our beloved home country that is racked with weird diseases, political ”discomfort,“ fear, economical instability, rising unemployment, and whose cultural nuances, values and such are stranger to us than ever before (having been gone for 13 years!)


• There are questions re: our future. I want to pursue a doctorate (will that happen?). Linda wants to work for a while as a nurse, but she needs to return to school for a semester to re-acclimate to the nursing work environment.


• How will this move back impact our supporters, their support (prayer & financial) and such.

So many questions, so few answers - for now. Though there is much uncertainty, we are certain of many things, some of which are:

• God is still on His throne!


• The Lord Jesus still loves His creation and especially His children!


• He is still leading us!


• He will reveal our next steps in His time and in His way.


• We look forward to seeing what He’s got in mind!


• It is ALWAYS an adventure to walk with Him!

”Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.“ Phil. 4:6,7