A moment of clarity

It's really easy to affirm right theology when you are sitting around reading about it. Actually living it day to day, as we all know, is quite a bit harder.

As I write this, I'm sitting on the front porch of a small country home in Petersburg, Kentucky. The kids are all occupied so I have a few minutes to think about what we have just embarked on. The craziness of the last few weeks, well, months has not allowed me time to fully process how our life is changing right now. But here, in the quiet, I'm thinking about it a little bit.

It started when I went to the church right across the street for church this morning. It's a quaint little country church, charming inside and out. But inside, it was dead. I listened to a man who claimed to be a preacher talk about himself for 45 minutes with little mention of the Bible or Jesus Christ. I'm not trying to be picky here, but dude, you just wasted everyone's time in this room. No one grew in their knowledge of God. No one learned how to love others as God so faithfully loves us. It was empty. Dead. Meaningless.
It made me long for my home church, Beacon of Hope, where the Word of God is faithfully preached and the saints there are equipped for the work God has prepared for them! I have purposely not dwelled on the fact that I won't be back there for a bit. It's hard, sad, painful, heartbreaking to think about. I love my family there as much as I could imagine loving a group of people. They are so very dear to me and I can't hardly bear the thought of not being there every week with them anymore.

Yet, I really am excited to be a part of our church in Virginia. God made our path so clear and unmistakable that we would have been fools not to go. It seems to me that God has really prepared the church for us and us to serve at the church. I am getting a tiny taste of what faithful missionaries all around the world have gone through as they have left the ones they have loved to follow the call of Christ. What's really amazing is that God shows His goodness in so many ways when we choose to  listen and follow Him! I am amazed at the way that he has provided for us in this journey. He has provided people on both ends that have helped make the transition easier. He has given us such a love for the people that we are going to serve with while sweetening the love we already have for our dear family at Beacon of Hope.

So, in the midst of all of this, I could be tempted to ask God why He would ask us to leave a place that we were loved so much and had so much love for others. I could question why we had to leave Minnesota when there is still so much work to be done in the city of St. Paul! But, you know what? God knows that! He will lead us where He wants us to serve and give us the tools we need to do the works He has prepared for us. He will bring the workers that He has prepared to the places that need them. We are commanded to trust Him as we follow, and in this situation He has been so gracious to let us see many of the ways that He is working through our move to help us lean more on Him and become more like Christ in the process. I am humbled and amazed.

My purpose in writing this is to remind myself--and whoever happens to read this-- that God knows best, and He will give you joy if you trust in His plan for you, rather than trying to take the reins yourself. He is GOOD and withholds no good thing from us if we pray that His will be done. I pray for a willingness to listen, obey and step out in wisdom and faith to serve the body where He chooses. Even if it may not be where we had planned on being.

I will miss Minnesota terribly--our family, our friends, the snow-- but I am confident that the God we serve will give us joy, as He promised, as we serve Him in Virginia. This is where the rubber meets the road. This is where what I say that I believe can strengthen and equip me to serve if I trust God in these things. I pray that we will continue to trust in God's goodness and providence and we make this big transition. I pray that you all will, too! The goodness and mercy of God are evident in so many ways--look for them in the big and the small things, and He will give you joy!