I have missed this particular outlet and know that God's timing is always perfect and there are seasons in our lives as well. Much has happened during this time and as the Lord leads, I'll share some of these experiences.
Monday, we did some fine tuning with our computers. I must confess that I had many floppy disks that needed to be copies to our desktop. You may be thinking, "wow, they still have floppy disks." Yes, we do and God has blessed us with new systems by which to be able to do ministry in a more efficient manner. I digress. The point is that sometimes, the direction the Lord leads us may seem strange and unusual. Yet He has has a plan and He promises to work it out for our own good.
Monday afternoon into the evening as I copied folders and organized them, it was as if the Lord allowed me a quick overview of the past 12 years. He used the information in the various folders as a gentle reminder of His grace in our lives and how He has and will continue to work out His plan for our family. Although a tedious process computer wise, it was spiritually refreshing.
Now we can utilize the information we actual have. For you see 12 years ago, when Christine was first born, it was a very stressful time in our family's life. As a mom of a premature baby, it was a growing time for me personally. Now these many years later, I can look back in such gratitude and rejoice in God's protection, His faithfulness and His great love for me and my family.
For you see even the most difficult situations God uses for our good and for His kingdom work. The peaks and valleys we each have in our lives are never wasted. God can and oftentimes, brings such beauty from ashes. I know many of you can testify of this wonderful reality.
The Christian walk "is what it is." To borrow a popular phrase that Keven Garnett (Boston Celtics) used when he was interviewed during the NBA Finals. It's a walk, a process not a sprint. I am afraid in the American church in particularly, we want shortcuts and everything yesterday. No where in the Bible do we read that our conformity to the image of Christ is instantaneously. Yet we easily become impatient and try to second-guess our Heavenly Father. In Isaiah 55, we read that "His ways are great than ours." easy for us to live in a spiritual lah-lah land. We sort of tune out that still small voice of the Holy Spirit and attempt to do everything our way rather than God's way. This occurs when we allow the enemy to deceive us or we just turn disable the discernment button.
My challenge to each of us, is that we ask the Lord to give us a fresh perspective and a hunger for Him alone. That we will read God's Word first and foremost before trusting man's opinions. There's lots of good resources available to us but if we neglect the main course . . . God's Word, we err.
My heart is full and I am excited to see how God will use Oikodemeoo Ministries. Please join me and pray for me as we resume this journey together.
To God be the glory!
Kathy
Romans 12:10
