A while back as I was in my quiet time and the big move was on my mind, I asked the Lord to just show me how to know Him more. Not come to Him with requests, venting or anything else (nothing wrong with presenting prayers and requests, though!)...just how to KNOW Him better. I realized that the toughest part about moving was leaving the people in our community of friends and neighbors....because we knew our friends and they knew us. That's what makes a relationship a relationship. It's not just an exchange of goods and services (though I LOVE taste testing chocolate chip cookies!), but it's knowing others and being known. And so I wanted to figure out how to know God better. To love Him more as I knew Him more. More of Him.
And today it started to come together.... In Romans 4:20, it says of Abraham "..but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God." That verse is in the middle of the passage describing how Abraham trusted God, believed in His word and how that all added up to righteousness. It's a passage that always makes me slow down when I read it....it's a lot to chew on because I'm so not there...yet. I read that on September 11th.
And today I read in Luke 11:33-36 "Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness." Some might interpret this as the whole idea of how we see life in terms of 'glass half full or glass half empty'. I want to take it a step further... it's 'having an eye' to see God in everything. Some of my friends are gifted with 'an eye for fashion/interior design'...they see a space, a piece, a color...and they can put it all together to create beautiful spaces. Just the same, when this passage in Luke talks about your eye being healthy, I think it means to have an eye that sees God and His faithfulness in everything.
And here it comes full circle...when our 'eye is healthy' and we see the hand of God at work in everything around us, we can't help but give Glory to God and just like Abraham, our faith will grow strong. And that, I believe, is how we are to know Him better. I'm pretty confident that our heart's desire to just know Him and actually doing it make Him smile. I'm confident because that is what I'm missing most right now... to be known by folks where we are now living. We're surrounded by plenty of people - Richmond is a big place! But to be surrounded by folks and to be known by folks/friends is so different. If our desires and the way we crave to be in relationship with others is a semblance of how our God designed us to be in relationship with Him, then I'm going to keep my eye open to see more of Him.
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Sunday, September 1, 2013
Our first DITY move.....
I had no thoughts of continuing a blog after Whole 30, but since our arrival in Virginia there has been so much that I wanted to give thanks to God for and so many folks to share it with so here goes....
First off, I would not recommend a DITY move as the least stressful method of moving a family of four kids and two dogs. Just sayin'. That said... we had so much help from friends and if there was ever a time for our family to do a DITY, this was it!
From watching our kiddos, providing meals, packing boxes, loading boxes and furniture, cleaning out our garage, praying for our sanity, and throwing a farewell ice cream partay, our friends were there EVERY step of the way. Truly, this was a team effort. Did I mention we are a family of six (that's a lot of food to make and four extra kids to watch!)?? And our friends aren't exactly in what you a call a 'slow' season of life. Classes had just kicked off and yet our friends provided in every way.
If I had known what the day of our drive was going to be like I would have just crawled back under the covers.... isn't God good in NOT letting us know the future?? :) I'll just say we had loose ends that took up more time than we allowed for and our drive was way slower than what we had in mind (our max speed with the trailer was about 55 mph), hence our arrival to our new home at 1:15 a.m. and finally getting to bed after 3 a.m. The only way I stayed awake for the drive was the prayers of many, drive thru starbucks and perfect snacks from friends. Seriously, I was t.i.r.e.d.
Homesickness (for friends, neighbors that I know, playground for the kids, familiarity with streets, etc) has hit me several times a day since our arrival....but I am reminded constantly that God has plans for us here as well.
The day after our arrival I went to the grocery store with the kids while Rich unpacked....and my first stop was another drive thru starbucks. Twice in two days - that's a record for me. I almost cried on the way there because I had no idea where I was and took a wrong turn within 3 minutes of leaving the house and I was plain 'ol tired. But the gal at the window, who was at least 15 years younger than me, called me 'darlin' and I had to smile. She also told me which grocery store was the best... and I ended up agreeing because as I was parking, I found a special spot for us. :)
This is what I found at the end of our grocery trip.... BLUE BELL!!!!! I have been craving this for YEARS. I made a commitment and a promise to the kids right then and there: we will try EVERY flavor before we move! :)
First off, I would not recommend a DITY move as the least stressful method of moving a family of four kids and two dogs. Just sayin'. That said... we had so much help from friends and if there was ever a time for our family to do a DITY, this was it!
From watching our kiddos, providing meals, packing boxes, loading boxes and furniture, cleaning out our garage, praying for our sanity, and throwing a farewell ice cream partay, our friends were there EVERY step of the way. Truly, this was a team effort. Did I mention we are a family of six (that's a lot of food to make and four extra kids to watch!)?? And our friends aren't exactly in what you a call a 'slow' season of life. Classes had just kicked off and yet our friends provided in every way.
If I had known what the day of our drive was going to be like I would have just crawled back under the covers.... isn't God good in NOT letting us know the future?? :) I'll just say we had loose ends that took up more time than we allowed for and our drive was way slower than what we had in mind (our max speed with the trailer was about 55 mph), hence our arrival to our new home at 1:15 a.m. and finally getting to bed after 3 a.m. The only way I stayed awake for the drive was the prayers of many, drive thru starbucks and perfect snacks from friends. Seriously, I was t.i.r.e.d.
The day after our arrival I went to the grocery store with the kids while Rich unpacked....and my first stop was another drive thru starbucks. Twice in two days - that's a record for me. I almost cried on the way there because I had no idea where I was and took a wrong turn within 3 minutes of leaving the house and I was plain 'ol tired. But the gal at the window, who was at least 15 years younger than me, called me 'darlin' and I had to smile. She also told me which grocery store was the best... and I ended up agreeing because as I was parking, I found a special spot for us. :)
And as I left the grocery store, the kind gentleman who was bagging our groceries helped me to the car with them and then proceeded to tell me that I'm not allowed to tip! say what?!?
Today we went to a church that Rich researched on line and I was kind of nervous about going.... we only have a few months here so I was really praying that it would be one we could plug into right away... and one where our kids would feel comfortable. As we registered our kids for their classes, they were each handed a stuff animal to help them find their classrooms....and guess what Ada Jo got? A Zebra!!!!! For some reason, she loves zebras and if you ask her what they say, she says 'zeeb, zeeb'. Thank you, Lord.
I'm missing our friends like crazy, but am encouraged with all the ways God reminds us that He is with us....no matter where we go. Psalm 139:5 "You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me."
We're working on making this place our new home for however long God chooses for us to be here. Many, many humble thanks to all our friends and family.
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