Preacher’s Wife Teaching Life

PROVERBS 138:8 - "The Lord will work out his plans for my life - for your faithful love, O Lord, endures forever. Don't abandon me, for you made me." (NLT) I wanted to share this story with you because sometimes we pray and listen and ask and wait upon the Lord and we do exactly what He wants us to do. And sometimes we walk into what He wants without even knowing it. We have no idea how anything will turn out but we know we are fulfilling His purpose. Every step we take leads us to where He wants us. Every once in a while, we take a detour but we essentially end where we are destined. A month or two ago, I stumbled upon a job opportunity while I wasn't even looking. It was the type of job that checked all the boxes for what I would be looking for if God needed me to take that step. I feel comfortable in the life He has given me but was (and still am) open to a change. This change came in the form of an opportunity at a local junior college to work in the Math Tuto...

This is just an observation/ revelation thats developed over the last couple months. It might be specific to your call in life so take what you want and forget what you don't want.  The more you provide for yourself, the less Jesus has to. Not that you shouldn't provide for yourself, but if there's more of you, there's less of him. For example, I used to hear stories all the time about how people were given new cars or houses or large sums of money. I never understood why Jesus didn't do this for me. I'll tell you why: I didn't need it.  It was when we had nowhere to go and no money to have a home, he provided every resource we needed to not only have a roof over our heads but a beautiful home. A home that's paid off and customized to our needs.  Work hard and do your best to obey his commands but also don't be afraid to live radically in his name if that's his call for you. 

My goodness so much has happened in the last 5-6 months. In the past 6 months, we've been gracefully asked to move from our homes for renovations two times. We've seen the grace of God through people with giving hearts and have had a time of restoration that we really needed. We moved to a very nice house right outside our home town with no chance of affordable internet and we chose to save money and not have cable. Doing this made us feel disconnected from our world in many ways but also provided a time for my husband and I to grow in our relationship together and with God. Through prayer, we discovered wounds we never knew we had and through healing, we've grown and matured in our walk with Him. Our time in that house is up so we moved our stuff into storage and are staying with my husband's mom and step dad for the next couple weeks until our future home is ready. If you are a friend of ours, you've seen we've been building a "cabin" on our land. ...

Growing up it seemed like we (Christians) were taught to "just keep believing" to "just have faith" or to "keep trying." We were taught to basically stuff it. God has been revealing to me over the past couple months that it is ok to feel emotions towards him. It's ok to get mad, get sad, get disappointed about that things that upset you. It is when we start saying things to God like, "YOU did this" or "YOU didn't do that" or "if YOU would just do what I wanted" that we've crossed the fine line from having emotions to accusing God of wronging us. God has never wronged us; he provides, loves, and suffers for us. Be open about how you feel towards God but don't place false blame and accusations against him. Thank him for the blessings he has given you and trust that everything will turn out just the way he wants it.

A lot of times I struggle with the things God has promised Jarrod and I not happening. I get upset because he hasn't given me what I deserve. He hasn't given me what he said he'd give me. I was praying about this Sunday and God brought this to my mind: Faith is not expecting something you think God owes you. God owes you nothing. Faith is waiting on what he has promised he will provide for you. Knowing that you will be provided for and you will not need anything more than what he's given you.  Be careful to not get believing in God's promises confused with wondering why the heck he hasn't given you something you  think you deserve. Remind yourself daily what he's already provided in your life and thank him for it. Our God is an awesome God and knows exactly what you need when you need it.