Stand Back (take II)

So, since I shared my thoughts on Saturday, I have been chewing on some of the ideas I talked about and a few I did not mention.

 

Sometimes I can sense a little guilt creeping into my mind as I walk around our property.  As I sit and feed my chickens from my hand the spinach I just picked.  Or as I sit on the dock and feed the catfish, watching the sun set just behind the trees.  I feel guilty because I know so many people who want this kind of life.   But you know what?  God does not want us to dwell in guilt – at all!  And, this life did not come easy.  It was not handed to us when we were not looking.  We had to take the first step.  I know this is all from God – it was not something we earned – but we still had to make the first move. 

We dreamed.

We not only dreamed, but we gave life to our dreams. 

Let me explain, I believe with all my heart that God plants dreams in our hearts.  Maybe not all of them, but many.  Have you dreamed lately?  And if you have, did you give it life?  Or did you squash it with lies?  Lies like : I cannot do that, I don’t have the ______ (time, money, intelligence) to do that, if only….

Lies steal our dreams.  And lies prevail all around us.  We allow lies too much power in our lives.

So back to our story.  We dreamed one day, standing in our bathroom after a Whole Heart Mother conference.  We dreamed – what would we do if we could?  What life do we long to have?

Conclusion : live on some land (1+ acre), have a garden to homestead from, raise some chickens for eggs, find a job that would provide for all of that.

That was our dream.  Then we talked about what we needed to do to make that happen.  We did not shelve that dream for another day.  We started to plan.  We talked about Robert’s current job, how that could allow us to do what we wanted (move out of the metroplex) and still provide for us.  Little did I know that Robert was about to open it all up to God’s will – his little prayer. 

On Monday April 8th, Robert told God on the way to work, that he was not going to leave Ryland.  He prayed that if God wanted him somewhere else HE was going to have to move him.  By Tuesday at 9am Robert was not working at Ryland any longer.  To some it would seem like it was Ryland’s choice to “lay Robert off” but we saw God’s hand in this journey from the start.

Once Robert did not have that job tying us to the metroplex, we were able to dream even bigger!  And we did.  We dreamed about Africa, about foreign missions.  We dreamed about all the places God COULD take us.  And we sat back, kept planning, but waited to see what God was going to do.  We built a great resume, sent it everywhere, went to tons of conferences and such, but we grabbed this unemployment time by the horns and enjoyed every day!!  We travelled – 2 weeks in NC, 7 weeks in Maine, 6 weeks in Michigan – we loved it.  We have the pictures and memories to prove it!

The lesson I learned through this step was – DREAM!!  Dream and breathe life into your dreams and offer them up to God.  He will step in and take over.  If your dreams line up with His will – great things happen!!  Sometimes you may be dreaming about the country – but when you offer it to Him – and His will is that you are in Irving (for reasons you have yet to see) Great things will still happen!!  That is what happened with us – once we took our hands off the wheel – God took control and plopped us down in Irving – no land, no chickens, no garden.  At first we were perplexed, but within 10 months after moving, we knew we were there for a much bigger reason than ourselves.  We spent time with Robert’s grandparents during the last 6-8 months of their lives.  If we were in Mansfield we could not have been there as much as we were.  If we were in Africa we would have missed it all.  But from Irving, we could stop by, visit with them, love on them – and grab those last months with them.

But in order for this all to have happened – we needed to DREAM.  Robert needed to let go of HIS will and let God take over.  And then, God moved in some mighty ways in our lives!!

So, today, what are your dreams?  Are they big or small?  God plants those dreams in our hearts, we need to water them, give them some sunlight (talk about it with a friend), then come up with a plan (steps to take to move toward that dream), and all the while : PRAY.  Take your hands off the wheel and let Him guide your steps.  And great things can happen – and often do!!

This crazy life we have out here – it did not happen by chance.  It was a journey we intentionally started on, trusted God to provide for us – and we took many steps off the cliff not knowing where we would land.  It has been utterly AMAZING!!  I would not change one part of it!!

God is great – when you land in Irving or when you land on 7 acres in Malakoff!  He is great all the time – so Stand Back and let him take you and your dreams to the stars!!