ENJOYING THE RIDE

It was a year this past November when we drove from our driveway in Ocala in our RV in search for God's will in our new family ministry.  We were excitedly nervous but anxious to get "rolling" and at times impatient, God, why is it taking so long to pay off this RV?  You created this world in days, certainly you can just make this debt go away.  We were certainly ready, we had our ministry plans in place, made the initial hard decisions on possessions, goals, finances, etc.  If only God would let us go we could really have an positive impact for the kingdom, why is this taking so long?

We have moved the RV ministry command post around a bit, but with the job being in DeLand, FL we try to stay within an hour or so drive so we have been parked in Tampa, Ocala, Flagler and now in DeLand.  I had a lot of windshield time to bicker at our God.  "We made the sacrifice, we are being obedient, doing everything we can so God, are you going to do your part"?  It has just been recent He made it clear that it is not about what we want.  Not about our timing.  Not about what we may accomplish for the kingdom.  It is about what He wants for us.  It is about His timing in everything.  It is about what He will do and we simply need to be grateful He allows us to be involved. 

So now in retrospect, we were not ready to roll full time and still not ready.  We learned that our ministry plans were not sustainable and would have had little actual long term benefit.  We learned that the ministry is not about our sacrifice and not about living in an RV.  We also have learned just how great and powerful our God is right here where He places us at this time. 

Moving to DeLand in October was difficult, leaving friends, school groups, church's, ministries, drama club and comfort behind.  In 2 months we have connected with several church's, school is going well, we are involved in new ministries and in the local community theater. 

We now have a speaking engagement for a Pastors breakfast January 6th and a class starting at a local church for the Dignity Serves Curriculum.  Met a guy at the theater who is involved at Disney and a large homeless ministry wanting to speak to Wear Gloves about support.  Madi is loving her involvement at the theater and due to her hard work has a dance/singing part in Christmas Carol.

Thank you God for yet another lesson on waiting for You.  We see Him working here in Volusia County and if we are involved in nothing else it is more than we could have ever accomplished on our own.

What a great God we serve.

The American Dream

I was taught from a very young age to;  do well in school,  get good grades so you can get into the best college (with scholarships), or to try hard at various sports or music to get into the best college (with scholarships),  so I can graduate from college, get a high paying job, buy a home, then buy a larger home with room for the growing family and all our stuff, then buy more / better stuff, make more money, get more stuff...  You get the picture.

Our family was living this lifestyle.  Always trying to upgrade our things;  car, furniture, landscaping, etc.  We found that we were spending 60 hours a week in an office, 30 hours a week maintaining;  cleaning the pool and house, mowing, weeding, trimming, fixing up, re-arranging, decorating, entertaining, blah, blah, blah....

Is this the life that God intended for us?  There are only 168 hours in a week.  Were we really supposed to be spending over half our week working to maintain this lifestyle?  The "quality time" we spent with our kids was usually while we worked in the yard or did other chores together.  And whatever we had left, that tiny bit of energy at the end of the week, we would give to God on Sunday morning.  woo-hoo.  How could we possibly sing those hymns on Sunday morning, "Here am I, all for Thee, take my life, it's all for Thee".  We were giving the Lord our leftovers...He is worthy of all our first and best!

As the Lord is shaping and focusing our ministry, our daily prayer is that we continue to offer Him our first and best of all that we have.

Jeremiah 9:24 "But let him that glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD which exercise loving-kindngess, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight", says the LORD.