Our Faith Journey has been far from boring...and I can't honestly say I'd want it any other way! It certainly has had its share of up's and down's, high times and low times...but following God's call has truly been the greatest adventure of my life! Detours, a.k.a different plans than mine, in this adventurous Faith Journey are starting to be anticipated! You'd thought a LONG time ago that I would have just EXPECTED the detours as a given!!
A recent detour is one that I'm absolutely thrilled to share... I get to be a stay-at-home wife/mom! Honestly, this is something that I never thought I would do full-time. Part-time has crossed my mind, but full-time was just something I had not really given much thought to! Over the past few months God has been pressing it on my heart to stay-at-home and to get back to the BASICS! Sadly to admit, I kept ignoring Him!! To begin with, Brad being at the time, bivocational, financially it was not even a possiblity! Needless to say over and over again, God kept telling me I needed to stay home and be more of a help to my husband and also to his ministry. And for starters, my own ministry starts in the HOME!!! God began to make our household so chaotic; Our house has been a disaster, I have had tons of laundry I can't get caught up on, the dishes have been piled high (it just so happens that our dishwasher broke in the midst of God trying to get my attention!), I still have boxes that are sitting in my downstairs closet that need unpacked, I haven't went to the grocery store to stock up in months...you get the picture! Our household has had VERY little organization and been far from a serene environment! Those of you who know me, know how much I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE organization!!! Saying that I LOVE having a clean house would be an understatement! God, used the fact that I have been working and going to school full-time, being a wife and a pastor's wife, and being in the last months of my pregnancy to get my attention! Did I mention that on top of my husband working over full-time in ministry every week, and working at the hotel, that he was picking up MY slack, all the while I thought I was "JuGgLiNg"!!! Talk about a "BoZo on this bus"!!! God was yelling loudly that I can't juggle it all no matter how hard I kept trying!!
During this time, I also did NOT have peace about sending our baby to daycare (even though she would have went to work with me and where I work is the TOP childcare center in this area)! The baby would have been in GREAT hands, but 'My Man' and I felt TONS of conviction about having someone else raise our child throughout the day, which ultimately would mean they would be a primary influence spiritually in our child's life! That just seems so BACKWARDS to us!! 'My Man' and I want to be the primary influence in our child's life, and felt God telling us, "When it is all said and done-you both will be held accountable for how faithful you are even with this child!!!" Believe me, in all areas of our life, we want God to be able to say, "Well done, my good and faithful servants!"
After God having to use all of these things together as a megaphone to get my attention, I finally fell on my face before Him! It was obvious I had to rid things out of my life and get back to the basics!! With-in a week of 'My Man' and I praying that God would make a way for me to be able to be a stay-at-home wife and mother, God opened up a door which would allow 'My Man' to be full-time at the church without having to continue to work at the hotel- which would also allow me to stay at home! God kept giving me signs all around that it was the right choice to stay at home! Satan of course kept trying to put doubts in my mind... even to the point of trying to use christians who would ask me how we would be able to make it! Satan tried to use any possible way to make us question God...me mostly!!! I kept praying and praying, and God kept reaffirming over-and-over again!!! Yes, we will have to live tightly, but we both know it is the right thing for us to do!!! This detour will force us to trust God even more, that we wont be able to rely on secular checks to provide! I'm excited to see how God moves and makes a way! This detour is one that surely came by suprise, but it is one scenic route I don't want to miss!!
