“Is the Internet not working?”

Then,
“School’s cancelled.”

“What? Why?”

Whispers began to spread —
“It’s not safe.”

Everything felt suspended in mid-sentence.
Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs reached out to me… but I couldn’t reply.
No connection.
No news.
We could only wait.

The very day this happened was the exact day we were scheduled to move again—
our 4th accommodation in 5 months.

Yet, as we moved from a friend’s guest house into a quiet little home tucked behind an abandoned mansion, a realization dawned on me.

Instead of the usual blistering heat,
the house felt like dipping into a cool oasis.
Instead of noise, there was stillness —
so deep we could leave our windows open at night, something that we could never do before in the colorful raucous night life of East Africa.

As I looked at the enormous, empty mansion towering before our home, I felt God whisper—

“I am your fortress.
You are hidden under the shadow of My wings.” (Psalm 91)

As the world pressed paused—
and schools closed,
roads emptied,
and a family we knew had to evacuate for a while,
our girls looked around and said,

“God is so good. We love this place.
It’s like we are on holiday.”

And it struck me so deeply —

Peace is not the absence of trouble,
but being held in the midst of it.

What had turned others away from this place —
the presence of a strange, abandoned mansion looming over it—
became our shelter from dust, noise, and heat.

A place we never could have afforded
was offered to us at a favored price in our transition —
a grace we didn’t earn, but needed.

For the next 7 weeks —
until whatever comes next —
we are here, hidden and held.

So even in the uncertainty,
in the shifting,
in the not-knowing —
we know we are safe.

Not because life is steady,
but because God is.

🕊️
If your world feels shaky,
if the headlines feel heavy,
if your heart is tired…

I hope you’ll always remember—
you’re held.
You’re protected.

Sometimes what looks unlikely, hidden, or odd,
could be God’s unusual shield for you.
There is a shadow under His wing
wide enough for you, too.
🤍