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God's Faithfulness

One year ago today

One year ago yesterday, I was painting our fireplace, spending some time with the Lord.  Out of the blue, I “heard” Him whisper in my spirit, “You’re going to be a minister’s wife again, and I’m going to use you in that way.”  I responded with a quick, “O.K.” and went on with my painting.

One year ago today, God picked us up and put us on that path.  The whole story is here and here.  And all of the details inbetween can be read here.

Over the years, God has called us to walk a few unexpected paths… A 14 year illness, and a 3 year battle with the ACLU to name a few, but this current journey is one I never in my wildest dreams would have pictured for our family.

But here we are… and Here God is… And we are truly blessed by Him.

I’m celebrating this anniversary, because one year ago today, my walk with the Lord began to grow steeper and deeper, and I give Him all praise and glory!!!

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The Summer of My Contentment

Do you set goals for your summer?  Each May, I try to set a few general goals for the upcoming Summer months…usually they are easily attainable goals for peace, rest, renewal, and enjoyable moments with the Lord and my husband, children, and family.  Things like:

  • Extra time in my Quiet Time with the Lord
  • Special moments of Spiritual growth for my children
  • Cleaning out of a few things
  • Getting a great tan
  • Reading some good books
  • Watching fam movies
  • Playing family games
  • Having friends over
  • Staying up late
  • Sleeping a little later
  • Spending time with extended family

Added to these goals for this particular summer, I planned on moving and setting up a new household, getting our children settled into a new town, registering them for school, and joining James in serving the Lord and the people in our new church.

It’s great to have a few goals of our own, but but the Bible tells us that it’s God’s plans that will prevail.  And if I’ve learned nothing else this summer, I’m learning this truth! 😉  “We may make a lot of plans, but the LORD will do what He has decided.”  Proverbs 19:21 (CEV). 

Or, as the Message puts it: “We humans keep brainstorming options and plans, but God’s purpose prevails.”  You can’t imagine how many options and plans I/we have brainstormed lately (that, btw, have not worked out at all like we planned)!!! 

At this current time, instead of settling into our new life in Cleveland, MS, we haven’t sold our house, or found a new one, and are living between three homes in three cities (Nashville, Batesville, & Cleveland) in two states and traveling back and forth with our goods packed in large Rubbermaid tubs! In a year, we have gone from being a well organized and detail-y scheduled family that felt like we “had it together” (whatever “it” is…) to a family who has no idea what lies beyond the plans for tomorrow.

And do you know what?  More than any other lengthy period in my life, there is this consistant, deep sense of the Lord’s Peace blanketing my heart and mind.  I can honestly say that I am more content than I have ever been. I guess it’s becuase I’ve finally realized that I can not plan or control or change one tiny thing in our lives right now… not one bit.  There is nothing left for me to do but to 100% trust God. Everyday. Every place. In Every way.  And all is well.

Reality check: Isn’t that just how God wants us to live all of the time?  Not just when our lives are “unstable” – but when our calendars are full and we feel like we “have it all together”?

God’s ways are perfect, and apparently I wouldn’t have learned what God is teaching me in any other way but to be completly stripped of my own plans and my own thoughts and my own calendar.  I may not understand much of the “whys” and the “whats”, but I KNOW that the Lord loves us and is working behind the scenes of silence on our behalf… for our good, and for His glory! 

We praise the Lord that our children are doing so well during this time.  They, too, are at peace, and are having fun in each place we land. 

Looking back on this summer, I think it will be labeled “The Summer of my Contentment” because, like Paul, “I have learned how to be content (satisfied to the point where I am not disturbed or disquieted) in whatever state I am”  (Phil. 4:19). Ha Ha.  Although I’m hoping to soon be in the “State” of Mississippi for good, I desperately pray to retain this level of trust and contentment for the rest of my life!

Much love to each of you~ Hope you are enjoying your summer, in whatever “state” you are in. 😉
Jennifer
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Blessings of a Different Kind (some things I’m pondering right now)

Hi friends~  Do you ever think you’ve settled into something with the Lord, submitted to Him over it, only to turn right around and grab it back or go back to your old ways?  That’s what I’ve been doing lately.  I will put on His armor, stand myself behind the Shield of Faith, make up my mind to Trust God for the day, put on my garment of expressive praise (Isaiah 61:3), and head joyfully into my morning.  But at the first sign of something not “going my way”, before I can even process what’s happening, I’ve thrown off that cloak of praise and put on a heavy and burdened spirit. 

Soon, I’ll change back to praise, and then back to heaviness… over and over so many times that I remind myself of that Quick Change Act from America’s Got Talent several years ago.  It was fascinating to watch someone quickly change their outfits in the blink of an eye, but changing the covering of my heart this quickly is leaving me grumpy and frustrated and an open target to discouragement!

What I’ve been processing lately is the fact that there is a fine line between believing that God blesses his children as they walk in obedience to Him, and expecting Him to do it in a certain way.  Does this make sense?  We believe God to be and do all He says He is and will do.  Because we believe it, we also expect Him to act on the Scriptural Truths about Him.  But in our day and place in this world, I’m beginning to think that we believers seem to have put God’s “blessings” into categories, and ranked them according to what we prefer.  In doing so, I realized that I am a spoiled child of God.  I want what I want when I want it, and if I don’t get it, I pout and cry.  I think, no, I know this is one of the things God is wanting to work out of me during this time.

This is so heavy on my heart because I’ve actually heard myself say things lately that I KNOW are not true to the way and nature of God.  As much as we know, James and I are walking in obedience to the Lord, yet if you looked at our lives, very little seems to be working out for us right now.   We are so thankful that he has a job, but our family is not together, serving the Lord with him.  Every effort made on behalf of selling our house has thus far failed.  We are empty of resources.  And on top of that, James was on his way home to see Nathan in a ballgame last week and had a wreck on the interstate.

To every one of these situations, I have made a list of blessings from the Lord.  I see that He has been SO good to us.  He is taking care of us.  He is feeding, clothing, sheltering, protecting, loving, strengthening, and sustaining us.  His timing is perfect.  I know that.  He is Jehovah Jireh.  He will provide for us.  He protected James in that wreck, and James walked away unhurt – his truck was damaged, but not James.  God even provided a vehicle for James to borrow until the truck is fixed.  Blessings, blessings, and more blessings!  I look around me at others I’m praying for, and realize how blessed I am.  I truly am so thankful!!!

Here’s my problem: I’ll praise Him for these gifts in one breath, then fall apart in the next.  And I think it’s because in my “thoughts”, the way the Lord would bless us in our walk of obedience and faith is to work everything out quickly and nicely once James had a job…so we can all give God glory for the beautiful unfolding of His plan!  I thought He would quickly sell our house, put us together as a family, keep us from having to deal with additional difficulties during this already difficult period of our lives, and provide a place for us to live and serve Him happily and joyfully all of our days. 

I “thought” He would bless us in that way because He promises to bless those who are walking with Him.  But as I process this, I’m reminded of Isaiah 55:8-9 (Msg)

” ‘I don’t think the way you think. The way you work isn’t the way I work.’ God’s Decree.

“For as the sky soars high above earth, so the way I work surpasses the way you work,

and the way I think is beyond the way you think.”

I praise the Lord that we can’t control Him and His thoughts!  The bottom line for me is the word: Entitlement. It’s an attitude a lot of us have with the Lord.  “I’ve been a good little girl, so now You be a good Big God and give me _______.”

Oh, how wrong I have been!  Several times this week the Lord has brought me to scriptures about humbling yourself under the mighty Hand of God.  I realized that humility and entitlement can not exist simultaneously.  It’s humility God wants from His children.  An attitude of entitlement is an attitude of a spoiled brat.  (And we all know how UN-pleasurable it is to be in the company of a spoiled brat!) An attitude of humility is an attitude of realizing we deserve NOTHING, seeing EVERYTHING as a gift from God, and thanking Him in ALL things.

God has blessed us.  Please let me make it clear – He has overwhelmingly blessed us and been so very real and wonderful to us on this journey. I truly don’t mean to moan and complain.  In comparison to so many, I have nothing to complain about.  But I’m just keeping it real, and I’m saying all of this to get to the real point that I’ve been digesting lately. 

See, I thought that if we were walking in obedience to the Lord on the path He put us on, there wouldn’t be so. many. roadblocks. I knew there would be life-trials and faith-building times, but I never thought there would be so many huge deterrents all piled in one portion of the path.   Usually when we face such large deterrents, we begin to question our calling.  “Did I hear the Lord?  Did He really call me to this path?  Am I missing something?  Am I not obeying Him fully? and on and on…”

I’ve asked God those questions many times and the answer continues to be a resounding “YES! You have heard me correctly.  I have called you to Cleveland, MS, to serve me in the FBC and in the town.  You are not missing anything right now… except a consistant level of TRUST in ME!”

My friend, Amy, shared something with me a few weeks ago that has made all of the difference in the world to me and the way I can now view the Lord and our situation.  She had just finished studying the book of Acts in Community Bible Study and summed up what she learned.  It went something like this:

When we look at our circumstances and start to question our calls, think about Paul.  He hit one roadblock after another – arrests, prison, shipwrecks, trials, rejection… nothing seemed to “go right” for him on the paths God called him to walk.  But that didn’t mean that Paul wasn’t called to those paths.  Instead of complaining and questioning his call, Paul continued to boldly walk the paths God set him upon, and he did it in the strength and of the Lord.  Paul didn’t have an easy way at all.  He had very little relief inbetween major difficulties.  However, God used Paul in a way that has, is, and will continue to impact countless lives in every generation. 

The serving the Lord and impacting the generations may come from being on a road full of blessings of a different kind… and not the “obvious” ones we tend to look for and to expect.  Did God bless Paul?  Of course He did.  He gave Paul salvation, an intimate knowledge of God, the awareness of God’s presence, protection, deliverance, victory, wisdom, strength, help, the meeting of his immediate needs, friends…etc.  Paul was obedient.  God blessed Paul.  But Paul’s life was not an easy one. 

When it’s all said and done, I’d rather walk a path full of daily roadblocks forever, if it meant that my life would be used by God.  I just need to remember this the next time a discouraging road block is thrown in the path, and not be so quick to throw off my garment of expressive praise!  I don’t want to win America’s Got Talent with my quick-change act!  I want to win “Jennifer’s Got Faith”  with my wardrobe of consistant praise!  🙂

Please share your thoughts.  I’m still pondering.  Have you ever thought about this?  Do you have anything to add?  Is God teaching you these same things right now?

I’m praying for you, my friends, and will close with a verse for all of us:

“Your God has commanded your strength [your might in His service and impenetrable hardness to temptation]; O God, display Your might and strengthen what You have wrought for us!”  Psalm 68:28 (Amp)

Hi friends… its me again, editing to add one more from my QT this morning:

“Light is sown for the uncompromisingly righetous and strewn along their pathway, and joy for the upright in heart, the irrepressible joy which comes from consciousness of His favor and protection.”  Psalm 97:11 (Amp)

Light along the pathway, and joy from being conscious of God’s favor and protection.  That’s what God has for each of us today, and I just had to share it with my friends!

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A quick hello and a little praying for you…

Hi friends~  I hope you are off to a great start on your week!  We are thrilled to be in our last week of “school and waking up extra early” in the mornings!  🙂

I’m pondering a few things I’m dying to share with you… because I know that I’m not the only one seeking these answers.  I’m still processing, praying, and seeking…but in the mean time, I wanted to share this: If you need a litttle encouragement for your day, maybe this will be a blessing boost and reminder to you… It was to me this morning.  What are You doing, Lord? (Especially the Oswald Chambers words at the end…)

(Don’t ya just love it when your own blog gives you either a sweet reminder or a swift kick in the pants???)

Have a great day, everyone… I’m praying for every soul whose eyes read this page!  May the Lord strengthen you and remind you of how very much He loves you and of how very present He is – even if you can’t seem to see Him right now. 

“I can never escape from your Spirit!


I can never get away from your presence!
If I go up to heaven, you are there;

if I go down to the grave, you are there.

If I ride the wings of the morning,

if I dwell by the farthest oceans,

even there your hand will guide me,

and your strength will support me.

I could ask the darkness to hide me

and the light around me to become night—

but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.

To you the night shines as bright as day.

Darkness and light are the same to you.”
 
Psalm 139: 7-12, NLT
With prayer for you and praise to the Lord for this Truth!
Jennifer
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The sweetest Gift

This past Wednesday I was invited to attend an little informal “end of the year” gathering at the park for the parents and children in our local Community Bible Study.  This is the class I taught for three years, and I was looking forward to seeing some of the children and their moms one last time before we move. 
As I was driving, I was telling the Lord how much that entire group of women meant to me and how grateful I am that He gave me the privilege of serving them and serving Him with them.  They (Especially the Servant’s Team and the Leader’s Council) were a huge part of my life from 2006-2009…Many are heart-friends for life. 

I asked the Lord if He could help me get some of these ladies from the Servant’s Team and Leader’s Council together before we moved.  I’d love to look at their beautiful faces and hug their sweet necks one last time.  I tried to imagine just how that would work out, and couldn’t come up with a sensible solution (because of schedules and so much busy-ness of everyone.) So I simply said, “Lord, if you want this to happen, would you please work this out and show me what to do?”

When I got to the park, the Lord did the sweetest thing… It was such a gift!  One by one, many of the ladies I named to the Lord came walking up.  I’d squeal and hug one neck, only to turn around and squeal and hug another.  It was the most amazing thing!  I had only thought of gathering these ladies just moments earlier.  But God had it purposed, planned, and had orchestrated each of their lives to be present that day well in advance. 

Here we are for one last picture together:

Carmen, Jill, Misty, Stephanie, Amy, Ms. Barbara, Stacey, me, Jane, and Stacey (Dianne left early). Oh God is so good to do these kind things for us! 

What just struck me as I was writing this post is how I had made my request only moments before God answered it… but He had the answer planned and prepared before I even thought to ask.

Matthew 6:8 tells us “for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.” 

What a precious and tangible reminder that the Lord KNOWS what we need, when we need it, and how it will all fall into place.  He reminded me on Wednesday that His timing is impeccable.  He knows the requests I’m making in relation to our move and family, and He is working in ways I cannot yet see to bring about His plans for our life-transition.  And in the mean time, along with that reminder, He gifted me with a great blessing.

My friends… God knows what we need before we ask Him.  I pray that we can all rest in that Truth!

Thank you so much, Jesus… for Yourself, Your calls, Your plans, and Your surprise gifts along the way.  I’m so thankful to be walking this path with You!!!  I love You with all my heart… and… I trust you…

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