Life, Styles & Pressure

"We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps."

Proverbs 16:9

The above Scripture has been rolling around in my head for a couple of years now.

It comes and goes as Holy Spirit pleases it to.

Things are moving and shifting. Winds of change are blowing.

Perhaps it's just the natural flow of things - life.

Perhaps not.

The Voice is whispering ever so softly but I can't quite make out His words.

 The month of May marked the one year anniversary of Lessons from the Desert.

I suppose I should have thrown a party.

My very first post conveyed the message of how we arrived in Yerington without specific details.

I have been pondering this much lately.

 "The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation.

 I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.”"

Genesis 12:1-3

These are the verses which God gave to Bob when He told us we would be moving to Yerington.

With that in mind, we sold the house, packed up our children, dog, various possessions and moved.

Bob didn't have a job lined up at the time so most of our friends thought we had lost our minds.

They didn't realize that we had given ourselves fully to God and His plans and purposes for our lives. According to Western Culture, we were being irresponsible; reading more into what we were reading in Scripture and hearing from the Voice than we ought.

We were going off the deep end.

No, they didn't understand that we had purposed to allow God to choose our steps.

The past seven years have been quite a journey.

In our minds, we had arrived in Yerington and were here to stay.

Then about three months into our new adventure, the Voice said, "Don't get too comfortable."

My answer was something like, "What? You're kidding me!"

It didn't take long for me to realize that no, He wasn't kidding.

For over seven years now He has been working on us; pruning, clipping, shaping and molding - making us more and more into the image of Christ. He has revealed to us that He has called us to a Sojourner lifestyle.

A sojourner stays in a place for a certain amount of time;

makes a temporary stop; never gets too comfortable in one place.

This is quite contrary to both Bob's and my nature. We like routine. We like to get comfortable.

Or at least, we did.

People think we're crazy. People assume we've backslidden. People don't understand that to obey God is the only way we can live. To give into the pressure that man attempts to place upon us would stunt our growth. They simply don't understand.

God has called us out.

He has trained us and equipped us;

emboldened us to stand apart and to be, do and say all that He directs us to.

No, they don't understand.

Sometimes, neither do we.

But this we know, God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of Power.

 He who began a work in us IS faithful to complete it.

Because God is for us, we fear no man, nor the words, snickers or sneers of man.

Obedience is our only option. Anything less is error.

Are we going to be moving?

 We don't yet know. But we're open to it.

Are we content to remain in Yerington for the rest of our lives?

Yes. Absolutely. If that's what God wants.

Our times are in His hands.

With all of that being said, we realize that we are also experiencing a new season of life;

a season where upon our oldest daughter is entering into her own season of adulthood.

It's a bittersweet season. It's an exciting season.

With her graduation date set for June 12, she's beginning to feel the pressure.

Every adult she encounters asks, "So, what are you going to do after you graduate?"

(Why do we adults do that to children who are just transitioning into adulthood?)

Every time she's asked this question, I suck in my breath, hold it, pray and exhale very slowly while she, sucks in her breath, glances in my direction, smiles and quietly answers.

For years Jenna wanted to become a Fashion Designer.

Visions of New York, Paris and Madrid danced in her head.

Then about two years ago, things began to shift and change. She began to seriously seek God and ask Him what He would have her do. She determined to allow Him to guide her steps.

In-as-such, He began moving her in the direction of missions; to become a missionary.

So, when she tells people that she would like to go to a missions college and become a missionary, they say something like, "Oh a missions trip will be a great experience for you."

You see, they don't understand.

She wants to become a missionary.

She has been called to live a missionary lifestyle.

What does that look like exactly?

We don't know. God is still revealing the details to her.

He has planted within her a desire to help exploited children.

Whether this will be in a far away country or in her own backyard, we're not sure yet.

It doesn't matter.

She knows what she has been called to do and we're going to do all we can to help her get there.

Every person has a calling - a destiny.

It is not my job to determine, speculate, suppose or assume what your destiny is.

If God has placed you in my life, it is my job to uplift you, encourage you, pray for you and love you.

And -

If He has placed me in your life, I hope you would do the same for me.

We have been created for Loving relationship -

Both with Him and with one another.

Will you purpose with me to Love the Way Jesus commanded us to?