Well, 2010 is drawing to a close. There has been a lot that's happened in the last year, and the common theme throughout is faithfulness. With Steve's ship out date drawing near, I am not getting nervous or scared of the new changes coming, but I'm excited for the adventure. I know we serve a God who is faithful and if I am faithful in following him I will experience blessings far greater than I could ever know. And that is why I'm ready to move. To finally see his plan come to fruition and start this adventure.
I've been reading a book called Love & War by John and Staci Eldredge (it's been off and on for about a year now oops!). I picked it up again the other day, and what is the chapter about, but the need for a husband and wife to share in adventures together. I realized in that moment that this is exactly what God has planned for us. While I've been a little apprehensive about moving our future children from town to town or across the country perhaps, I have to remember this is God's exact plan. He wants Steve and I to share adventures. John & Staci talk about how couples need to make time to share experiences like hiking, horseback riding, or sailing. Adventures don't have to take the form of outdoor experiences though, just something that the couple likes doing together...disc golf is an adventure for Steve and I (especially if those disc accidentally end up in the woods!). The Eldredge's say that too often couples put all their time and energy into rearing children and when the children grow up and move out then they have nothing left in common anymore and more than likely end up divorced. So our Coast Guard adventure is more than just a career, it is a way to strengthen our marriage. And that is how I am going to look at it from now on.
As we are planning to move into a new house, in a new city and more than likely a new state, verses that I've come to stand on are Joshua 24:14-15:
"Now therefore fear the LORD and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."
We will serve the Lord...through involvement in a new church, to making new friends, to our new jobs and future children...we will serve the Lord...through our shared adventure moving around the country, and our shared activities and hobbies. I am excited to continue following this plan and walking by faith. For me there really is no other way to live. I've had struggles before in trying to manage all the details, but He is a God who takes care of those details. That too has been evident in our lives the past 12 months and why should I think that he won't take care of the details in this upcoming move? Matthew 6:25-31 comes to mind regarding this:
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."
So, my new year's resolutions are to rely more fully on the God of details and not on my own way of planning things. It is just too stressful; He really does take the stress out of life when you just let him plan and you follow. Why should I make myself sick by worrying about what will happen 2 weeks, 6 months, or 5 years from now...each day really does have enough trouble of its own. I will continue to focus on the day at hand, life is really a lot easier that way, and this way I won't miss out on those little moments that I might otherwise when trying to plan out my life far into the future. I will continue to walk by faith, live by faith and share my faith with others as we head into 2011. I'm excited for what God has in store for us!
