Embracing Inconvenience

"I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children." ~ Matthew 11:25

We are in a season where our car rides are a little lengthy as we commute from one town to another.  I have asked the Lord to give me a fresh perspective on this since the thought of one more 45 minute ride with two active outspoken little people in the back can sometimes feel dreadful.

Then I was reminded once again how convenience driven our western culture is.  This is something the Lord lovingly brought to my attention before we left for Africa.  I felt like He wanted me to be intentional about moving convenience down (waaaaay down) on my list of core values.  If we take a careful look, Jesus was never driven by it.  In Mozambique, our ride to town for groceries and anything really was no less than 40 minutes in a vehicle with no a/c in 90-100 degree heat.  I'm not saying that those things don't wear on you after a while or that we're wrong for luxuries like air conditioning, but I often rob myself of the blessings that are hidden in the mundane, inconvenient, patience producing moments of my life.  

If time is precious, then it holds or possesses great value.  When we live for efficiency and trading time for immediate results, we may be unintentionally robbing ourselves of a storehouse of treasures.    

That brings me to my new perspective about our frequent long car rides.  Instead of feeling trapped in a tight space with two sometimes demanding little boys for longer than I would prefer, I am seizing the opportunity to have quality, life-building conversations with my sons on a regular basis that I will cherish forever.  I'm choosing to once again kick convenience to the curb, slow down, and look for God's activity in my life and theirs.  

Here's a little story from a recent commute:  It was Samuel's fifth birthday, and we were driving to an appointment and having a great conversation.  I was reflecting with him on all that God has done in his life this past year saying things, like "Can you believe you're five?"  "It seems like you were just turning four." "Do you remember your Jake party last year in Mozambique?"  "Wow, you've been a lot of places in your life."  "How do you feel about being five now?"  Samuel answered me, "Mom, you know I was made for adventure don't you?"  So clearly, so confidently.  "Mom, that's how God made me.  I love adventure, and I always have."  It's true y'all.  The kid has very few fears.  This is the kid who jumped in the deep end on the first day of swim lessons before it was his turn and with no idea that he didn't know how to swim.  This is the kid who was willing to go to preschool in a third world village with a bunch of other children who didn't look like him or speak his language.  

Even knowing that my boy is pretty brave, I've suffered from "The Mom Guilt Syndrome" (can anyone else relate?) relentlessly hearing those accusatory voices coupled with fear in my head offering me lies like, "What are you doing to these kids? Dragging them all over the planet with no real "home?"  "You're robbing them of a typical childhood" and so on and on and on...

Guess what I heard when those words came out of my five year old's mouth?  I got a lump in my throat, first of all.  Then I felt the love of God wash over me with such compassion and the whisper of His voice...
"I love that child more than you do, and my purposes are prevailing in his life.  You have not damaged him by following me.  In fact, your obedience is blessing his life and molding him to be who he's purposed to be.  Guilt is from the enemy to stop you from following me."  

I just want to say this, Moms and Dads...We can't go wrong by letting our children watch their parents trust The Lord with all of our hearts.  God's often not in it for our comfort, and I'll bet He's sometimes not in it for theirs either.  He loves all of us too much for that.  Let's raise the next generation to consider obedience over convenience to be quite normal.

Now, back to the inconvenient long car rides...so thankful for them and glad The Lord made space to heal my heart through the words of my adventurous five year old!

What have you viewed as "inconvenient" in your life lately?  What blessing could there be wrapped inside?

Anyone carrying "mom guilt?"  May your heart be encouraged by these words today.  It's in our weakness that He is strong.  He knows our frailties,shortcomings, and circumstances.  There is Grace and an ultimate purpose in all of it!

Savoring our Longings

It has been one year since we landed in Africa.  We could use the words monumental, joyful, painful, stretching, uncertain, hopeful, and transformational to describe the past 365 days or so.  My biggest prayer now is that EVERYTHING that was planted this year, everything that was sown in our lives would reap a harvest.  Not just for us but for others.  That there would be purpose in it.  Lately I've been pondering the idea of savoring our longings.

My tendency is to jump out of my longings, fix them, and piece something together that will help my two feet land on the ground quicker.  However,  I've been reminded over the past couple of weeks that there's something beautiful and deep and rich about surrendering in the middle of our longings and soaking in them and allowing Heaven to really come to earth and be fulfilled rather than in my own human strength coming up with something I can piece together myself short changing the process of God in my life.  I have always felt something for Jonah's prayer that came while he was inside the belly of the fish.  Can you imagine his longing to be...um...out of the belly of a fish? However, that circumstance was really his salvation.  "But you brought my life up from the pit" he says.  A few verses later in the same prayer he declares..."Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs."   

Jumping out of our longings too soon causes us to forfeit God's best for us.

For some it could be waiting for the spouse God has for you.  Tyson and I waited ten years before we met.  Ten years of our lives were in a season of singleness.  That was a long season of longing for both of us - in different ways, but we were both longing.

This past year in our lives of moving our family to Africa, unexpectedly getting so sick so quickly and then returning back to the US because of it, grappling with all the implications of that, finding the balance between letting ourselves heal and feeling the need to move forward and all else in between has put us in a new season of longing.  Most recently, a desire to feel firmly rooted and secure about our new direction.  That's been my longing as a wife and a mother for sure.  I'm faced with a choice...

Sometimes, I'm mid stride leaping over to self-sufficiency when the Lord, in His kindness pulls me back into His heart where I find real rest.  Real rest comes when we surrender in His arms, and we can rest in our longings, when we realize His heart for us is good and when that longing is fulfilled if we allow ourselves to savor the longing and savor His goodness and meditate on His heart for us and allow Him to work behind the scenes that when a longing is fulfilled we will say "Wow."  Thank you for that season, thank you that we waited for YOU.  Thank you that you have done more than we could ever do ourselves.  You have done this for us!

What are you are longing for? -  a spouse, a healing, a child, a mended relationship, financial provision.  Consider this season a gift.  Know He loves you, He's working on your behalf.  He's interceding for you right now with groans that words can't express.  He can do more for us than we could ever do in our own strength.  In the process, we get the gift of intimacy with our Father.  We get the gift of the journey.  Rest.Right.Where.You.Are.  You are loved! You are not forgotten!