Sunday, February 11, 2018

Change and Challenge

Today was the last Sunday.  I have worshiped with the same congregation for the past 6 1/2 years and LOVED it.  Oh, we had our moments but they are beautiful people seeking the Lord.  They helped me remember that the Gospel is not about me - it is about what Christ has done.  I was able to teach their children, study with the women, commiserate in parenting, watch us all grow, sing and laugh, cry and pray.  Last year, about this time, they announced they were launching a church plant in our area - with a good friend of ours as head pastor.  We knew we had to go.  This is the longest I have been with one group (school, church, job, etc); excepting the church I grew up in.  It is hard to say goodbye - so many good things.

This is the last semester.  Likewise, we will be ending the homeschool journey, for now, for some of my kids.  Recently, Facebook reminded me that I posted about the school my boys will be going to attend in 2012.  Yes, I have been waiting for about 6 years - hoping and fearing - that the school would come our way.  Now, it has.  One of my favorite charter school models is opening a school 10 minutes from our house.  It's like having a community school with an educational model that I love.  I have had my kids at home with me - just about everyday - for almost 12 years.  It's been a blessing, a challenge, overwhelming, tiring and amazing.   (I went on a retreat a few weeks ago and it was the first time I had been away from my whole family for over 48 hours - in 11 years!) 

Both of these things are JUST RIGHT but not easy.  Leaving the church that I love (although there are about 40 people going with us) is not easy.  Leaving days of freedom, parks and play for someone else's structure is hard.  I still believe in homeschooling - but this season my kids will be in school.

Both of these new groups will require building and work.  A new church and a new school - ground up construction.  They both have formats in place - liturgies, curricula and schedules.  We get to be a part of breathing life into them - from bones to life.  What a challenge?  What a privilege?  So glad we have a big God! 

For someone who has lived in the same town for 20 years you would think I would have settled by now. So many of us felt like we would find our "normal" and it would stay that way.  I don't think that is what God has for us - at all.  How would we grow, change, be challenged, rejoice and mourn if everything went as we hoped and planned?  If our plan is working - why do we need God?  If we can answer all the questions that come our way - why do we need wisdom?  I realize that my current "challenges" are truly joy compared to my friends who are facing disease, death, distance from children and family, addiction, deployment, unemployment and more.  My heart is with you!

I have learned the blessing of keeping in touch with people from all seasons of my life and enjoying their fellowship.  It is wonderful to watch what God is doing in and through them, even when we don't see each other as frequently.  Just because I don't see you doesn't meant that I am not thinking about you and praying for you. 

Praying that if seasons are changing for you that you can enjoy the bittersweet.  Rejoice and remember the good and trust in God for the next step.  May he be the lamp unto your feet.

Update: My husband fixed our water softener TODAY.  Turns out a line was loose (imagine that happening with 3 boys playing in the garage) and that's why water and salt were spilling all over our garage.  It was hardly even a "fix".  Glad it is done.

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