Great and mighty things....

I sit in the dark, shadow's of boxes are all around me. Signs that a big change and move is on the horizon. Much like a Kansas sun rises over a field of wheat, the glow coming before the sun...telling you to make way, the sun is coming. I spent my childhood in Kansas. I have wonderful memories of cheering on the jay hawks on weekends, listening to my Dad teach as the youth pastor of a flourishing church downtown, learning to ride a bike with my Grandfather holding on behind me, watching parades, playing in the fountains on the KU campus, spending the night with my parent's best friends in the KU couples dorms, watching my Dad graduate with his Master's from KU. Truly, I had a wonderful childhood in Kansas.

Then my Dad got a job in Alabama, SOUTH Alabama, back woods, Alabama. I would tell my friends in Kansas, where I was moving and immediately get a "Where?". No one had ever heard of it. And yet, in that small southern town, as a pre-teen, I made long lasting friendships. People who pointed me in the direction I would take my life. I have great memories, riding my bike to piggly wiggly to get a gallon of milk for my Mom. Sure, it was quite the culture shock. But, I can see God's hand, protecting me and shaping me in those years.

Then my Dad got a job in NORTHERN Indiana. Amish Country to be exact. I was entering high school. I was really not happy about that move. I remember our Pastor's wife saying to me as we were saying our goodbye's at church "Maybe God is moving you to meet your future husband?". I thought she was crazy. But I did what all good southern girls do, and said a "Bless your heart" and hugged her neck. She was right. I can't say I particularly ever fit in, in Indiana during highschool. And I visited Alabama any and every chance I got. But, I did meet my Husband. And for that, I am so incredibly thankful.

And here we are, back in the south again. Won't lie, I love living in the south. I love the warm temperatures. I love hearing my children say "Yes, ma'am.". My youngest boys have picked up little southern drawls. And it's the cutest thing you ever did hear. My girl doesn't stick out wearing her big bow's to church, and my boys fit right in with their matching shirts. I was born in Florida, and you can take a girl out of the south, but you can't take the south out of a girl!

The time is fast approaching when we will be loading up the last box onto the truck, and moving to another city. I've done this many, many, times in my life. I believe this is move number 13 for me.

But one thing is for sure, in all of those moves, I have seen God's hand. He put me exactly where He wanted me. He will be faithful to do that again.

This move especially was completely unforeseen. It's been a huge step of faith for us.  I prayed Ephesians 3:20-21 over this move. Believing God would go before us. Believing He would provide just the house. Believing He could do Above and Beyond all we could ask or imagine. Boy did He!

Remember how I said I grew up in Kansas? Well wouldn't you know, a dear friend, who babysat me as a child, lives in the same town we are moving to! The church we attend, has a campus right up the road from our new house! Why do I tell you all of this?

Because, God's promises are true. His word is the same, yesterday, today and forever. He goes before us. When my anxiety and worry hit a fever pitch, I sat down, and wrote every anxiety on a 3x5 card. I literally tossed one at a time onto my desk saying "I choose to lay this at Your Feet. You paid it all, so I don't have to. I choose not to dwell on this a moment longer."

 I laid every little thing before the Lord. Giving it all over to Him.

AND HE DID ABOVE ALL I COULD IMAGINE!

Be encouraged friends. If you feel a silence right now, that is deafening. Looking for the music, trying to find a song. Maybe you've piled on expectations and lot's of blame, maybe it's been done to you. Maybe you did it to yourself. Maybe life has been so hard for so long, you can't remember a time when it wasn't painful.

This life is hard. I know this well. I am telling you right now, if I were to make a list of everything that has happened to us, some we did to ourselves, some done to us, it would read much like a ticking bomb. One tick away from exploding into a million pieces. And it should have.

But God. He restored what was taken away, He healed what was so hurt and scarred.When it felt like it would never end, He would bring us Hope. He spared us from sorrow upon sorrow. He has been so faithful. He will do the same for you.

I look at my little boys who beat the odds, my girl who persevered, my oldest boy who is a fierce protector, my loving and hard working husband, a new home that is more than we could have imagined. It all scream's of God's goodness. Blessing upon blessing. More than I could ever deserve. He promises to restore what the locust has taken. What they swarmed and devoured. His promises are true. His word doesn't change. 

"Call to me, and I will answer you, and show you Great and Mighty things, 

which you do not know." Jeremiah 3:33