Stepping Out...

Ending a wonderful weekend is a very bitter-sweet experience. Bitter due to the fact that the reality of having Kyle home during the day with us is over, sweet due to the fact that the previous few days were full of fun, laughter, friends, family and lots of love.

The Lord has been speaking a great deal to Kyle and I about tearing down the walls of self-protection and self-preservation we have gradually built around ourselves over the past five years. Not only until recently did we clearly see the reality of these walls or the consequences of their presence. You see, for the first fourteen years of our marriage, we lived in the same small rural town as much of my family lives. We attended the same church with Kyle serving as worship leader & deacon and I as women's ministry coordinator & Sunday School teacher. We served where we were needed and stepped in nearly every place we were asked. Our kids were active and involved in church activities, a homeschool group and little league. We were always on the go running from thing to thing...place to place. That was until we moved here... Forty miles from my family... Country living rather than community living... Twenty miles from any town... At that point God really began to speak to our hearts about "simplicity"... He began to compel us to look at how we were investing our time and He directly asked us if we were truly living for Him or if we were simply going through the motions...living the "American way". We listened to His voice and bit-by-bit through His guidance made decisions to change the course of our lifestyle. Through that time we somewhat entered a "spiritual seclusion"... Placing our focus totally and completely upon God Himself. Exchanging the busyness of daily living for the freedom of being a family. Letting go of "activity" and grabbing hold of simplicity. It was exactly what God wanted us to do. We were exactly where God wanted us to be. We're still there...yet He is calling us to "step out" and "work out" what He has shown us, taught us and how He has changed us.

Through this time, we have truly learned about who God is and what it looks like to seek Him, hear Him, know Him and follow Him...He Himself, not just a principle. Through this time, we have truly learned to let go of the fear that has so easily entangled us and cling tight to the freedom, assurance and certainty we have in the Creator of the universe and the Savior of the world. Through this time, we have truly learned the essence, meaning and reality of family. A family built on the one and only Cornerstone...Jesus Christ! It's who we are... What we do... How we live...

We are recognizing opportunities to "step out" and "work out" and the reality of that is exciting even though somewhat unfamiliar. We see God moving us out of the "seclusion" and into something new. We hold tight to the essence of "family" yet move forward into a spacious pasture prepared. A pasture where we are called to invest our lives for the sake and glory of Jesus Christ. We release the idea of self-protection and self-preservation in order to rest in the sovereignty and perfection of our Heavenly Father...the only one who provides divine protection and preservation.

This past weekend was such a blessing for our family. It was a time of "stepping out" and it was wonderfully fulfilling! God has great things in store...

Not to us, O Lord, not to us,
but to Your name be the glory,
because of Your love and faithfulness.
Psalm 115:1