A New Home

I moved!
Here's the story. 

God sometimes says wait and I'm looking back over this time and saying 'well, wait for what?' And what's getting clearer and clearer is that the point of waiting most often isn't for something good, something tangible to receive, but to be made more in the reflection of His Son Jesus Christ. 

wait .. AND.. be made more like Him. 

There's an apartment that I adore. I adore it and it's mine. It's small and it's perfect and it's convenient and it's close to community - and for a while, it was empty. There was a plan, there's always a plan, and then sometimes time doesn't quite work in your favor. A family emergency happens and plans are put on hold and then you've got to weigh what's important.

Is it important to move stuff and put things away and organize .. stuff?
Is it important to be at home and to be with family and to be in their company?

Then a trip to the other side of the world, to a place where I checked no emails and ignored social media and talked to no one except my team and Rwandans. It was more time away from making my space my home. But that time was a gift, most of all. Most of all, it was a gift. 

Even in the busyness of my return, the delay became a gift. And I came back with a renewed perspective (to be renewed every day) that there is no such thing as time lost, that it's all time to wake up every day and be made more in the image of Him. I'm proud of the wait. 

Sometimes God says wait and I believe that the wait has to be the most fruitful part. It does not mean that God is wrong or that He's late or that He forgot. It means that He's in control and I'm not and thank God for that and it means that there's much to learn. There's Jesus to imitate. E.M. Bounds writes, "faith does not grow disheartened because prayer is not immediately honored. It takes God at His Word and lets Him take what time he chooses in fulfilling his purposes."

He reigns despite our choices and He reigns despite what we do and He reigns despite what happens. He's good no matter what.

There's so much to learn and so much sanctification and so much grace and all these things are firing at me and in all these things, I feel like I'm being made new. And my silly little human mind softly mutters, "but do I really need all this work?" 

haha. and the answer is YES. always, yes. 

And now. It's being made into a home! Frames are being hung, pictures are on the fridge, clothes are put away, Amy Green is painting my furniture new. And now that the time is here, I don't know what to do with it! I'm almost afraid to celebrate because I've let time determine when, why, and what to be thankful for. But I don't want to be mistaken when I choose what to celebrate .. because the celebration is not a new home or the stuff I choose to fill it. The celebration is Jesus and the work He continues to do in me. The grace He has for me, it's incredible. 

My new home is a gift. It's a gift no matter how long it took or how long it will take. It's a gift because God has given me good things and He continuously gives to me and says to me to abandon my plans and lean hard into Him and to experience the true freedom that comes in trusting Him.

And He's right, you know. He's always right.

Come see my new home! You are always welcome.