Friday, January 14, 2011

A Stone laid to remember this Place of Provision and Growth

It's really weird to not be on Facebook, having been on it for several years and now taking the month of January off. But it's been good too. I think it's easy to let what should just be a tool for networking and keeping up with what's generally going on with others become a crutch that handicaps us from building truly close friendships. It's easy to hit the like button on someone's facebook status. It requires slightly more effort and time to call a friend, or to sit down with one over a cup of tea and pray together, but I find it much more satisfying. I am not saying that Facebook is the bane of all....just that I've had to temporarily step back from it to fortify the real foundations in my life, of which Facebook is not.
We're in process this month of getting the house ready to sell...hoping to have it listed around the time following the Superbowl. It's weird though. As much as I am ready for God to open a door for us to live in a larger place, it's hard to imagine living anywhere besides this house, which, as cramped as it is at times, is still very much our home. Three of my five kids have been born while we lived here. In the Old Testament, in many instances, the people of God would build altars or lay stones to memorialize a place where they encountered God in a mighty way. I feel that this house has become a place I will look back on as a place in my life where I would build an altar to God. If I were to lay a stone of memoriam for the time we've lived here, I would have to note that our family dynamic has changed in this place. We're still not a large family by the definition many would use, but the energy in a family of seven seems to be exponentially greater to me at times than it was when we were a family of four. And while sometimes I am stressed beyond belief, I wouldn't trade these blessings for anything. This house has been a place for me that the Lord has used to grow me, and at times it has been painful to bear, and for some of my friends and esp. my poor husband, painful to listen to. Often true growth IS painful, I suppose. But I believe growth has happened here in all of us.

I don't know how much longer the Lord will have us here. It could be months, it could be years. But in my heart I believe that He will be opening the door soon for us to move somewhere else. And as antsy as I've felt to move, and still feel at times, I also realize what a place of blessing this home has been, what a beautiful place of provision and a testament to His goodness and His mercy upon us. Lately, it seems I am more aware of this than I have ever been, and for that I am profoundly grateful. I hope that I have been about the Lord's business in this place...about the business of loving and serving not just those in my home, but my neighbors and those the Lord has placed in my path. I know the Lord has been faithful to us in this place. It's my joy and hope that He will produce a steadfast spirit within me to serve Him, so that one day he will be able to say, "well done, good and faithful servant." Isn't that the best any servant could wish to hear from their master?

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