Waiting...

Waiting. Another lesson I continue to learn is about waiting. I had a timeline for my life. An unspoken one but a timeline nonetheless. A few years ago, I began to see my precious timeline crumbling. All the plans I had made weren't turning out as I had hoped. But that's where the mistake is made. My hope was too securely wrapped up in an earthly hope rather than placed in the one true Hope of my Savior. I put too much stock in my own ability to plan my life. I didn't allow room for my Savior and God to make the plans, for Him to show me His best. So now I am learning what it means to wait on His timing rather than trusting my own perception of an ideal timeline.

I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry.

Psalm 40:1

When the cloud remained...the Israelites...did not set out.

Numbers 9:19

Sometimes the "cloud" remains and we must sit and wait. And while I sit and wait I do the next best thing. Sometimes, the next best thing is trivial (or at least that's how it appears to me!) like doing the laundry or cleaning the house. Other times its helping with a kids outreach or taking an elderly couple to lunch. And while I do these things I learn to wait for what my heart desires, all the while trusting God for the best, learning day by day that He is much more capable of directing my steps than I am. (shocking, I know!) :)

And in this process, I am seeing His hand as He directs my steps. I am seeing His blessings and faithfulness. So even though this thing called life isn't always going the way I want it to go, I am choosing to rejoice and be thankful for my God, His faithfulness, and direction...and maybe while I'm waiting, the Lord is busy working in and through me to accomplish His perfect will in me! :)

The One Who Provides

I am thankful the Lord has shown me more and more of who He is over the last months. I am thankful that He is teaching me that He is Jehovah-Jireh. He is teaching me that in all things I can trust Him to provide my every need. He made provision for my salvation and if He is capable of that great provision than He is able to see to all my other needs...physical, emotional, spiritual. He knows what I need more than I even know. He knows what I need when I'm all alone. He knows how to provide for me in every situation. I do not need to fear what the future holds....it reminds me of the verse in I John..

"There is no fear in love but perfect love casts out fear..."

I John 4:18

...I have experienced the greatest love possible through my Savior. This perfect Love casts out fear. This Love can take away all my fears of what the future holds. Fear of being lonely. Fear of failure. Fear of not being cared for. Fear of being single forever and ever.. :) Fear.

Fear can be so debilitating. I don't want fear to keep me from being productive for the Lord and His work. I don't want to look back over the years and have regrets, knowing that I allowed unfounded fears to paralyze me.

And so I rest in knowing that I serve a God who cares about the big things (like my salvation!) and the little things (like flowers for my birthday). I can put aside my fear of the unknown, knowing He holds it all in His hands! He cares for me. He loves me. He is Jehovah-Jireh, the One who will provide.

Impossible Odds

Sometimes when I'm reading the Old Testament, I read of the victories the Israelites had in battle and I think to myself, "Of course, they won...they had the Living God on their side...duh!" But have you ever stopped to think what it must have been like to be the Israelites going into battle? They didn't have horses and chariots (that would give them the power of man and animal to trust in rather than in the Power of the Living God). And then I read Judges 7 about Gideon's victory over the Midianites. He had 1 soldier for every 450 Midianite soldiers. I'm no warrior but I'm pretty sure its not a good thing to be so outnumbered when you're headed into battle! Also, they went into battle with a vessel and a trumpet. Definitely not ideal weapons for war. Who trembles at the sight of a trumpet or vessel? But Gideon obeyed. He went out in faith and he prevailed! (Say what!?) How can that be possible for him to come out victorious with such impossible odds? And yet, the Bible records it and so we know its true and that the glory for this great victory goes to God alone, certainly not the men or their weapons!

I wonder what Gideon thought? They had more men but the Lord whittled away until they were at a disadvantage. And what did he think of the Lord's choice of weapons? I can wonder about Gideon's response but I know what my own response is when I feel the odds are against me, when I feel inadequately equipped according to my own feeble perceptions for the task at hand. I am reminded that, like Gideon, I need to obey the Lord's commands and respond in faith. Oftentimes, it seems the Lord asks us to respond in obedience, even if we are not actually adequate for the job...for in our own inadequacies is where we learn to rely more fully on Him and where He gets the most glory for the success. If the Lord has asked me to do it, then I must obey in faith and trust Him with the victory! May we be reminded today that even in the midst of impossible odds, there is victory when we respond in obedience and faith to the commands of our God and Savior.

The LORD is my light and my salvation;
Whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the strength of my life;
Of whom shall I be afraid?
When the wicked came against me
To eat up my flesh,
My enemies and foes,
They stumbled and fell.
Though an army may encamp against me,
My heart shall not fear;
Though war may rise against me,
In this I will be confident.

One thing I have desired of the LORD,
That will I seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the LORD
All the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the LORD,
And to inquire in His temple.
For in the time of trouble
He shall hide me in His pavilion;
In the secret place of His tabernacle
He shall hide me;
He shall set me high upon a rock.

Psalm 27:1-5

Am I going anywhere?!

Do you ever wonder what the point is? The point of going through the motions of every day...the scrubbing of the floor and cleaning the dishes, bathing the kids again...getting up for yet another day at work. We've each got our own ideals and expectations of how this life is supposed to go...and somehow each one of us ends up with some sort of disappointment when it doesn't go how we expect. But do not fret over those unmet expectations...do not worry over those many disappointments. For God is leading us. And He is leading us somewhere, with great intent. All those things...big and small...that seem to stretch us, those trials and challenges that we wish would just leave us alone already...they are with purpose...a purpose to make us who we are supposed to become. So, be of good cheer...God is leading...He's got the map...we are to follow, and learn and grow...for God is leading us somewhere!

God is leading me somewhere--I don't know where, but that's not the important question. The thing I should be asking myself is, Who am I becoming? And I don't think I'm becoming just one thing--like a mother only. I am becoming the woman that God created me to be in work and family and relationships and experiences and challenges, setbacks and trials. there are so many things that are a part of who we are becoming.

Now and Not Yet, Jennifer A. Marshall (p. 46)

Tel Aviv Jaffa (aka Joppa)

Israel, the continuing story....

From Haifa, we traveled along the coastal plains and found ourselves in Tel Aviv Jaffa, known in Biblical times as Joppa.

View along the drive from Haifa to Tel Aviv

(through the bus window!)

The gorgeous Mediterranean sea

(also through the bus window!)

Today, Tel Aviv is the biggest city in Israel and is thought to be one of the oldest seaports. Did you know all embassies of the world are found here? Why? If they were in the capital of Jerusalem, they would have to choose between Jewish or Palestinian quarters. In order to avoid offense of either group, embassies have landed themselves in more neutral territory...Tel Aviv!

Here is a monument in honor of Jonah and the great fish!

He sure looks like a happy fish, doesn't he?

Here is a rooftop restaurant in Joppa...it looked so inviting, I wish there had been time to stop and have a snack! We saw various rooftops in this area...it brought to mind various passages of scripture where rooftop experiences happened.

Here is our group...walking along the paths of Joppa...such a neat experience...and quite the miracle that we didn't lose anyone during the trip! :)

Here is the Joppa harbor. This is the place that Jonah came to when fleeing the Lord from Tarshish (Jonah 1:3). And when Solomon was building the temple, cedars were brought to this harbor from Phoenicia before being transported to Jerusalem (II Chronicles 2:16).

Here's another pic looking over the harbor area..love it!

St. Peter's Church: Peter had come from Lydda to Joppa to raise Dorcas from the dead. While in Joppa he had a vision on a rooftop (Acts 10). This church marks the traditional site of Peter's vision.

A magnificent doorway into St. Peter's Church (Oh how I love neat doorways!)

Here is Micah, trying to get that perfect picture. Yep, this is how most of us looked throughout the trip. We just had to reconcile the fact that we were in fact tourists...embrace it...and maximize that tourist look....cameras clicking at every opportunity! :)

Perhaps, this is what Micah's picture looked like. At any rate, this is a glimpse of the inside of St Peter's Church!

I know these pictures are dark..but we literally stepped in the door, snapped our pics...then kept on movin!

The following pictures are just a glimpse at city life that we observed as we walked...

A street vendor...

Just a neat church steeple along our walk...

Here are some street entertainers we watched as we boarded the bus (aka our second home for the week!)

A cute little shop...too bad our guide kept saying "no more shoppin" :)

Waiting at a crosswalk, this horse walked by...no rider, no owner in sight. No one was sure what to do with a random horse...and he seemed to be obeying the traffic rules so why bother him!? :)

I'm-a back!

Perhaps you've been wondering where I've been for the last 16 months...or maybe you haven't missed me at all! Either way, I promised my friend Liz that I would start posting on my blog from time to time so here I am...fulfilling my promise!

I've really missed blogging. I've missed the blog to capture various events in my life...the little and the big....to capture the lessons I'm learning...the new ones and the ones I just can't seem to grasp but the Lord keeps teaching me patiently...to capture the funny little things that happen every day but my pea brain just can't remember after 2 minutes! Then again, with facebook who has time to do a full blog post any more? :)

I haven't blogged much because there didn't seem to be much to share...and at other times the pressure to put together the "perfect" post just proved to be too overwhelming! Sometimes it just felt like the things that were on my heart, the things the Lord was teaching me, didn't belong on a blog for all the world to see. (Some things just need to stay between me and the Lord and my few besties! :))

So, here I am...trying to capture my life again! I'd like to finish posting on my trip to Israel...maybe post a few of the lessons the Lord has taught me in the past months...and some things the Lord is teaching me now. My life isn't all that exciting so feel free to join me in my mundane-ness...or not! :)