OBEDIENCE
TRUST
PATIENCE
HUMILITY
DEPENDENCY
SACRIFICE
THANKFULNESS
COURAGE
PEACE
COMMITMENT
TRUE WORTH
HONOUR
These are just some of the things we grew in with the Lord this past year as we made the journey to Harrisburg. I'm sure we're all constantly growing in these things but there are seasons in life where the growing is multiplied and increased to where we can feel the growing pains of it. Like it was with the Israelites, it wasn't about getting to the destination of the Promise Land but it was about the journey along the way where God had a step by step plan of what He wanted to do in us before letting us go to our Promise Land…haha, comparing Harrisburg with the Promise Land is pretty funny but who knows, maybe in the end it'll prove to be our lil' promise land.
Our friend (shoutout to Karalyn Kohan!!!) always reminded us that it wasn't about our timing but His, that there were certain things that needed to happen in our life before we went - that it was like the building of a house. If one step of the building of a house was missed, it throws everything off. That we could easily just go down there and not wait on God but the same grace wouldn't be there - things wouldn't flow as easily.
So God gives us the call. We assume (void of asking God) we're gonna go after Amayah's born in May so we start making plans to move down. Nothing opens up as far as housing so we're wondering what's going on. Then we have a dream where God basically says don't be in a rush to get down there, that there's lots He wants to do in our lives before we go. So we wait and in the meantime, struggle with various things and learn the following…if your waiting on God for something, we pray you'll find some sorta encouragement and wisdom in reading our story…
OBEDIENCE + FAITH
this is a powerful combination like prayer and worship. God once said to me that prayer and worship are like a bow and arrow - a powerful weapon. From glory stories in the Bible to the glory stories of people's lives, they always boil down to simple faith and obedience. Just hearing God's commands and going for it. We grew in these areas because when doors weren't opening right away, we had to fight doubt and unbelief - the two forces fighting this generation. Following in obedience despite having to wait, despite doubting whether we heard right or not…fighting to believe and all the way, God was faithful in reminding us we were right on track with Him. One of my favourite verses in the Bible that have to do with this is when God told Samuel to basically let Saul go because "I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who will do according to what is in my heart and in my mind." 1 Samuel 2:35 and that faithful priest was David who I deeply admire. Walking in faith and obedience to what is on God's heart and mind, not our own.
PATIENCE & PERSEVERANCE
so much happened this year that grew patience and perseverance in us - especially with having a second child. We felt the pressure (from ourselves and sometimes others) of not waiting on God and just going for it but doors would always shut and we were forced to persevere and keep believing God's word to wait and trust. And we could sense how as we persevered, it was strengthening our faith and our dependency on God grew more and more (James 1:4NLT is a fine word).
HUMILITY
one is always humbled whenever going through a time of waiting cause your constantly reminded that it's not about us, not about what we can do to make things work but it's about God and what He can do. So many times pride rises up trying to make us feel better but most times we fall flat on our face cause God gives grace to the humble and opposes the proud.
DEPENDENCY
the world says to us, amongst many other things, "be mature, have it all together, look cool to others, figure things out for yourself!" People always asking, "what are you doing? when are you gonna go to PA??" And we love 'em, we know they mean well but living in the kingdom is the opposite of the way of the world and we know we look foolish and weak to those who are intellectual and savvy because we choose not to pretend to know everything or have it altogether. A defining moment for me this year was when someone prayed, "your trying to be mature and look like you have it all together and your trying to figure things out for yourself but God is saying true spiritual maturity is the opposite. It's clinging to Him like a child, leaning on His wisdom and understanding not your own. So stop trying to be mature and just be like a child." Whew. Literally took my breath away cause all the pressure I was feeling, the expectations of others, it all lifted in the freedom of knowing my Father just wanted me to chill, sit back and be like a child in His arms. And one doesn't have to watch children for too long to get a picture of what the Father's talking about - minus the diapers of course. It's about having the maturity of a grandmother but with the heart of a child.
SACRIFICE
when we choose to live a life dependent on God, it takes risk and sacrifice. This past year, we had to constantly lay down our own desires at the altar, sacrificing the comfort of our own home, sacrificing our "reputation," worrying about the risk of failure, the list goes on.
THANKFULNESS
self-pity and discouragement came knocking and the only way we could fight them was through thankfulness and gratitude. This led to praise and worship, being able to still thank God in the midst of adversity. To be able to give God His due praise, knowing He's worthy of our praise despite earthly circumstances. At the end of the day, we know what we're going through pales in comparison to what others are going through so we have to remember not to take life so seriously.
COURAGE
it's paralyzing how fearful we can be as humans - fearful of trusting, fearful of not having control, fearful of what people think about us, fearful of finances, fearful of taking chances, fearful of the weather, it's crazy how fearful we can be - whether we're christians or not!!! So especially when it comes to taking steps of faith, when God asks us to do crazy things, it makes our deepest fears rise up and gives Him the opportunity to help us overcome them. Takes a while though to even realize we have specific fears. Sometimes that's the whole reason why God asks us to do crazy things cuz He sees the weeds of fear and control that need to be uprooted.
PEACE
anxiety and worry came knocking too and we had to fight to remain in God's peace and joy. Philippians 4:6 became our strategy…fighting worrying thoughts, reminding ourselves of the truth and really praying through those anxious thoughts.
COMMITMENT
staying committed to God and His desires despite every urge to give up and run. And with all the changes, our marriage was definitely tested and we had to fight to be committed to one another in love - forgiving quickly, learning how to communicate better, learning how to trust one another more, the list goes on.
TRUE WORTH
we'll constantly be re-learning this one and finding our worth in God rather than a home or what our bank account says. God said to me when I was griping about finding a home…"do you want your children to grow up finding their worth, comfort and security in material things or in ME?" ouch. nuff said.
HONOUR
honour isn't learned or gained overnight, but I believe it's something that is best grown in trials. It's easy to honour God and others when life's good but how do we honour others when we don't receive honour back? Many (even those of us in the body of Christ) are quick to honour and praise people based on physical attributes like money, title/position, social status, or heck, the clothes others wear!! It's something God's opened our eyes to this year - to be able to notice those who are able to honour us even in our lowest moments, those who are able to still believe in us despite not having it all together. For example, Simeon and Anna were able to honour Jesus when He was just a baby, when he hadn't performed a single miracle yet. It says in Isaiah there was nothing that should attract us to Him. They saw with eyes of the Spirit, not with their earthly eyes that look for earthly reasons to honour someone. We were challenged to learn how to honour others based on what God says about them, not what their physical means say.
That's all she wrote!!
- tami
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