I had one of those weeks... the kind that only comes around once in a while. The kind where you step back at the end and say.... Wow, God, I remember when this week would have been a battle... but this week was beautiful.
God blessed me with an ability to take the kids and attend a conference retreat with the Mission Service Corp (part of the North American Mission Board) in Gold Canyon, AZ at the base of the Superstition Foothills. I love the names of everything around here! I feel like I am in an old western with modern conveniences! The time of fellowship and sharing was such a blessing. The workshops offered tools for ministry and the testimonies reminded me of how this missionary life may be rough sometimes... but it is always rewarding when we see the Kingdom come through the work God calls us to.
I had hoped to progress in some schoolwork the rest of the week but Brenden was sick Wednesday (his sisters were determined to nurse him back to health!), another meeting popped up on Thursday and here we are, Friday, and I have resolved to just consider this week an impromptu vacation (for the kids anyway!)
It was a combination of that realization and an event the night I came back from the conference which opened my eyes to the growth in grace God has brought me to. I know I am not "there" yet, but He has brought me so far.
An email Tuesday night telling me my storage unit was going into auction for non-payment. An intersection of God ordained events which left our funds shored up shorter than expected, my eyes were opened to ask the needed questions: Can I really let go of things in this world? Can I really trust God for EVERYTHING. Like we ask so many in the Truth Project: Do I really believe that what I believe is really real.
There was some heartache at first, as I ripped away from my flesh to truly embrace the Truth. It didn't take long to see the answer was YES. God is in control. The many testimonies of his care and provision prove this.
The storage problem has since been straightened out and, no, we are not going to loose everything. But I know now, for certain, that the hard answer is: it is OK if we do.
but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal.
- Matthew 6:20
It is in that gentle grace... the slow steady breaths through the week... trusting that God is in control of ALL things... even the goofy looking things that make you feel isolated or like the ground is shaking... yes, these things too are under God's grace, God's control. The upturn of expectations and schedules and ideas yet simply walking through, trusting God's grace to lay them all day where they need to be.
Not all weeks are like this. But this week was. How did I walk through, maybe it was the peace found in the conference retreat, maybe it was simply so many steps before which brought me to a place of steady breaths and gently walking, maybe it was simply God and simply embracing that Truth... HIS Truth... he will never leave nor forsake.
I pray you know these simple truths, His wonderful and, yes, amazing Grace in all the moments on mountain tops and valley lows.
Blessings,
Linking up today with:
Those are beautiful pictures Amanda. Thanks so much for linking up over at WholeHearted Home this past week.
ReplyDeleteJudith, thank you, it is a blessing to share and see others who are sharing at Wholehearted :-)
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