Trusting the Father … Again

I am a planner by nature. I love to make spreadsheets and calendars and organized plans. But God seems to have a way of making His own plans and He doesn’t always send a memo in advance. My mom says that God keeps us on a need-to-know basis. Obviously, we have a choice to follow His plan or stick with our own. It is often hard to let go and trust, but oh how sweet is the reward when we do.

Last week I had to let go and trust some our friends in Ecuador to pack up all of our belongings and move us OUT of our rental house while we were still in the U.S. I know it seems silly, but maybe at least the women can relate … it was really a struggle for me to know that someone else was going through my cabinets and I had no control or knowledge over how things were packed. How many times do we try to keep “control” of our lives instead of truly giving that up to God?

This move was an unexpected change in our “plan” (there’s that word again). We had expected to be returning to Ecuador right now, not spending 5 more months in California!!!  But when we truly let go and trust the Father, He will take us on some amazing journeys.

Our journey has led us to meet some amazing brothers and sisters in the Kingdom who are passionate about the work in Ecuador and are helping us to find sponsors for planting churches. Bobby has been challenged in his studies at Fuller and has been encouraged by his professors to take more courses now. He is a top candidate for receiving a study grant for working with the Quichua Indians in Ecuador. And just yesterday, Bobby was asked to work on the church planting initiative for ALL Latin American countries (not just Ecuador)! These are all really amazing stops along the journey that we never planned for.

Many people think that trusting God completely should be easy for us – after all we’ve done the whole “sell your belongings and become missionaries thing”. But submission is something that every Christian must work on daily with diligence. I challenge you (and myself) to try a radical step of Faith this year an do something that requires relying on the Father. You will be stretched and will grow in Him.

Psalm 73:24-26 (New International Version)

²⁴ You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will take me into glory.

²⁵ Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire besides you.

²⁶ My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.

Psalm 25:4-5 (New International Version)

⁴ Show me your ways, O LORD,
teach me your paths;

⁵ guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my Savior,
and my hope is in you all day long.

Time of Renewal – AL Youth Camp

In July, the children and I were blessed with the opportunity to fly home and attend the Alabama Church of God Youth Camp. I had said this was something our children really needed for their spiritual growth since they are more often being the ministers than being fed here in Ecuador. However, I realized quickly that I needed it as much as they did.

I don’t know what it is about youth camp, but it is such a magical week of being changed by God. All my life, youth camp was always a life-shaping experience. There is something about being away from your “normal” and being surrounded by God stuff. It is almost impossible not to grow and be changed in this environment.

Thanks to our friends, the Patrick’s, I was able to be at camp that week too, hanging out with the staff. I was blessed, broken and filled up just as much or more than any of the children were. This reminded me of how important it is to refill ourselves spiritually on a regular basis. No matter what your everyday looks like, this is such an important part of our Christian lives that we MUST guard and make a priority.

So I challenge you guys – just as I am challenging myself, to be vigilant about taking a time of renewal. It is something we easily cast aside for “another time when we’re not so busy”. But it is something that if we don’t do, we’ll wither little by little spiritually. Obviously, we can’t all go spend a week at youth camp, but there are ways to make renewal time a priority. Here are some ways I am personally working on that:

• Quiet morning or evening time – For me, I am a night owl, so I try to take advantage of that quiet time after everyone else is asleep to reflect, read the Bible and pray.
• Family Worship – We have just begun adding some worship time to our family devotions. We don’t do it every day – but we are trying to do it weekly. We just play some worship songs on the computer and “stop the rollercoaster” for a few minutes to reflect on God’s glory. This has led to some beautiful moments for us.
• Nature Walks – I am the type who always sees God in nature. I love to just walk and observe the beautiful rolling mountains, the fluffy clouds in the sky, the birds, etc. To me, this leads to time with God, reflecting on his magnificence.

I know we are all so busy and have so many things distracting us (like Facebook!). Try this week, to do one thing – even for a couple minutes – to help you find spiritual renewal.

Yet those who wait for the LORD will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired,  they will walk and not become weary. Isaiah 40:31 (New American Standard Bible)

Blessings,

Tamitha

God is with us through it ALL

Our family has really been under fire from the enemy these last couple of months. Each of us has experienced various illnesses and other physical and emotional attacks against us personally. But I stand in the midst of trials to say that our God is triumphant through it all. I won’t spend time here explaining all the various events we’ve endured recently, but I would like to talk about HOW we’ve made it through. Hopefully this will bless someone today.

• Remember God is WITH us through this.
• Get up and FIGHT! So many days, I’ve wanted to just hide under the covers. And, in honesty, some days I HAVE! But overall, we have to continually remind ourselves to NOT PANIC, NOT HIDE, but to put on our Godly armor and STAND with Him.
• Let go and Let God! (yeah I hate clichés but this one fits) When we are praying and listening to God in the midst of trial, we have to HAVE FAITH that He will see us through in His own way. It may not look like the ideal in our minds, but we need to have faith that He knows what is best for us. I heard a really cool speech by Phil Vischer (the Veggie Tales dude) where he reminded us that we have to let go of OUR dreams and ideas and plans and give it all to God and let Him make what He wants out of them. Sometimes we have to kill our dreams to do what God really has planned for us.
• Lean on someone else! As Christians, we are called to bear one another’s burdens. Don’t try and go through this alone. We have found great help from the friends and family we’ve shared our struggles with and received so much help and love from them.
• Don’t get stuck in the mud… think ahead! Try to remind yourself that these struggles are temporary and that there will come an “end to the tunnel”. You WILL make it through this. We learn to endure things we never thought we could before. God strengthens us in ways we never expected. Remember that He can change our sadness into joy in His time.
• Keep laughing! Now I’m not saying to put on a phony smiley face and pretend like life’s OK when it’s not. BUT, for our family, laughter is a big part of who we are. Even in the midst of the most frightening situations, there are things you can laugh at. So work to find those and enjoy them for the fleeting moments that are possible. Laughter is healthy
• Keep your eyes on Jesus! Remember Hebrews 12 and fix your eyes on Jesus.
• Guard yourself! The Bible tells us to always be on guard … to not give the enemy a foothold (Eph 4:27). How do we stay on guard? Stay spiritually READY! Don’t let things slide like prayer time, studying the Word, etc. Take it from ME … when we do let things slide, we are hit harder when things start going wrong.
• God is bigger! Back to Veggietales … I love the episode where they sing “God is bigger than the boogie man… He’s bigger than Godzilla or the monsters on TV… oh God is bigger than the boogie man and He’s watching out for YOU AND ME”Does it get any better than that? *giggle* God’s Word clearly states that all authority belongs to HIM. The enemy is NOT sovereign… he is NOT more powerful… GOD IS!

So if you find yourself in the midst of troubles and trials cling to these thoughts and keep on walking with God. Here are some verses that will help: James 1, 1 Corinthians 10, 1 Peter 4, Job.

Thank you for everyone who has been lifting up our family in prayer. Even though it’s been tough, we KNOW you are praying for us and we know that God is with us. It is evident that His hand is upon us when we see all the ministry doors He has opened for us just this year. (More about those below)

Blessings,

Tamitha, Bobby, Jonathan & Jordan

BTW… if you haven’t already, join our group on Facebook
http://apps.facebook.com/causes/252025