Hey y'all! It's almost the end of the month, so it was time to get back to the blog! (I'm trying to keep my goal of one per month! So far, so good!) Plus, today came with some reflection time for me.
Most of you know, eight years ago, all of my immediate family went through a tornado. Or, to be more specific, a tornado went through us! Ha! If you want to read more about that, check out my post here. We were amazingly protected and preserved through this major event.
Today was also the volunteer appreciation picnic hosted by the pregnancy resource center I volunteer at. I spent a couple of hours of fun and fellowship with some great friends I have met through this ministry opportunity.
Well, the coincidence of these two events got me thinking. Really, that storm marked more than a miraculous preservation of our lives. It was a beginning of an overall shift in the focus and direction of our family. Not long after that event, we went mostly full time in the work here at the school and church. We said goodbye to the financially stable, full-time job and stay-at-home mom lifestyle and said hello to going to work together at the school every day and focusing our energies on growing and nurturing that ministry.
You see, it became time to think, "Why are we here?" God preserved us miraculously...He has a plan for our lives...are we living it? Is there more we could be doing? Turns out, the answer was "yes." And since that time, we have seen even more evidence of God at work in our life. Stepping out on faith was just easier when we had just been shown evidence of God's active work in our life!
In the Bible study I've been attending the last couple of months, we've been studying the fruit of the Spirit. This week's fruit was faith. And one statement really stuck out at me. The two enemies of faith are fear and familiarity. And it was the second one of those that caught my attention the most. How easy is it to become too "familiar" in our Christian walk? We know the Bible, we may have grown up in church. It's so easy to just make it our "culture." To simply exist rather than be active. Our faith cannot be really strengthened if it is never exercised. So, sometimes, God needs to shake up your life to see if your faith is able. Able to hold. Able to believe. Able to trust His plan even when we can't see what is good.
So, my faith grew because of that storm. I was able to trust that God would provide for our still-growing family even without a "real" job. I was able to face with faith the next storm. I was able to deal with relational challenges, personal sorrow, and the day to day busy-ness of our new life without thinking, "Why is this happening? I can't do this any more."
Because I knew why. God had more for me to do, and to be able to do it, He needed me to grow up in faith. To overcome that trap of familiarity. So that when He whispered, "You need to do this for Me," I was able to believe and move forward. When He said, "You could teach that class," I didn't say, "But I'm already doing so much...how can I do more?!" I simply moved. Because I knew how I could do it. And it wasn't me. It was Him.
So, if you are just coming out of a "storm" in your life, it's a good time to think about what your faith level is. Is God sending you through some "growing pains?" Is He challenging your faith because He has even more planned for you? It's a good possibility. It may be that God is getting you ready for your next big adventure. I promise you, it will be amazing, and you won't want to miss it! :)
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