Without hesitation...

The birds are chirping. The rain is coming down. Love the sound of the rain on the tin roof. I'm in my comfort spot on the screened porch enjoying the peacefulness of the afternoon. Lots of thoughts running through my head. A lot of "stuff" has been going on that we have been in great prayer about. A crossroads you could say. Being patient and waiting on what God has planned. That "I want to hear you God" part isn't always easy to wait on either. There are times when I feel the need to throw my hands up in the air and shout "I QUIT" but what I really need to do is his my knees and pray harder. Or, maybe He is answering me but I'm just not listening. There is movement for what stands before us and provision for what stands behind. We can't always have it our way. For now we must celebrate those provisions and embrace whatever movement God has in store for us. The let down when things fall through cannot stop us. We cannot give up on those things because we know that God has the story already written and each occasion is a building block for another. Whether we see it or not! Our job is not always to see but to simply...trust. We have come this far in life sometimes in a sprint but most times in a leisurely jog. Going along doing our business being who we are and not giving it much thought. Racing to the "finish line" in our sprint in some areas to get them over with and then looking around at all we missed along the way. The lessons we didn't grasp. The thanks we didn't give. The "do overs" we don't get in this life. The days are worth cherishing. Giving them all we've got and embracing the craziness that comes with it. How many opportunities have we missed? How many times could the love of Christ been shared but we hesitated. Are we as passionate about sharing the one thing that truly matters in this earthly life as we are about everything and anything else? I don't want to hesitate! I don't want to miss those opportunities! I want to trust that when one or two or three doors close that God has the power to open one, two or three more. We only have to believe. We only have to trust...we only have to keep faith that God's plan is a perfect plan. Our plans may fail...but his NEVER will.

The Quiet...To Be

There always seems to be a lot going on. Whether we mean to be busy or not some how we manage to stay that way. A whirlwind of lists and things we need to do and places we need to go. For some time I have been thinking about some friends of ours who opted for a little different path in life... I guess you could say the quiet life, the off the beaten path life. A life of what seems to be mere simplicity. Some days the noise of the day drowns out the respect of the day. Some days it's so loud I can't even gather my thoughts to enjoy the day. Now, this is no ones fault but my own. Leading a busy life leads to a hectic day. With four boys often going in 4 directions it's easy to get "too busy". Now back to the friends. They re-did a little farmhouse back in the woods. You wouldn't even know they were there on their little farm unless you knew they were there. Make sense?!? They essentially live in their own little world. I am all for being somewhat social... Although we don't lead much of a social life. But, there is something to be said about the ability to just run away... To get away... To disappear to your own little world where you can breathe. Where you can rest. Where you can drowned out the noise of life. To find yourself. To spend time with God. To listen to God. Some days I long for that quiet spot. Not alone... I'm not wanting to run away from my family. But as a family to un-wind, re-group, and remember why we were put on this great big earth. To find God who often gets lost in the shuffle of the day of good intentions. I don't want our lives to be about "good intentions" but instead about living intentionally in this world. I want to feel Gods presence in this world. I want my boys to feel His presence daily and know that we were put here for one mission. To serve! To be! To be what? To be Gods servant. To share His love. To spread His word. To reach corners of the earth that are unreachable. For the words "where he leads I will follow" to be more than just words. For it to mean action. To take action in this great big world but still find time to listen. Often times wondering if God is telling me His plan over and over and over. Showing me His plan but sometimes I'm just too busy to catch it. Too busy to listen. He has a plan. A great big plan for each of us. Seek Him and know His plan!