life is a journey

S I X months pregnant with baby boy and reminiscing. When I was six months pregnant with Nora, we flew from Fort Myers, Florida to Fairbanks, Alaska to interview at the church where we are currently on staff. I remember the feeling I had in my gut when we were flying over the mountains to go home -- and it wasn't morning sickness! We said yes. We committed to moving to Alaska, people. Tears filled my eyes as I thought, "What in the world are we getting ourselves into? Lord, please don't let go of my hand as we walk this new path." I was holding on to nothing but my hope in Jesus and His plan as we faced a series of major life changes ahead.

Last week in a meeting, we got to share our story and our journey to Alaska, and someone commented on just how much life change has happened for us in the last 4.5 years. Marriage, college graduations, two big moves, a baby, new jobs, a second pregnancy. I had honestly never even thought of it in that way (which is probably a good thing). Our journey has been such an incredible adventure already in a short amount of time. It makes me really excited to find out what God has planned for our family's future. 

I recently wrote this in my journal:

How much better it is to be in the center of God's will than to be somewhere else and "have it all." This is His story, not my own. When I follow His direction, every detail is just as He planned. Sometimes we can be so fearful of having to leave our comfort zone that we risk leaving the center of God's will. We can either choose to be fearful or willing. Selfish or selfless. Oh, to see the bigger picture that God sees!

Can I just encourage you? You may be looking at a really daunting mountain in your life right now and wanting to run. Maybe you're really uncomfortable in a certain circumstance of your life. Maybe you're scared to death to leave your comfort zone. 

God isn't hiding from you. He's holding His hand out waiting for you to grab on. To follow Him. I can promise you that no matter where He leads you, He won't leave you alone. And when you choose to follow His Master Plan, you will be so much more fulfilled than you could ever imagine. Will it be easy? Probably not. But you won't be doing it alone. T R U S T Him. 

In her soon-to-be-released book, Hope Unfolding, Becky Thompson writes this about trusting God:

"You know, sometimes we have to be willing to trust God to lead us down the roads that don’t make any sense if we want to continue to walk in His perfect plan. We have to trust that He doesn’t just have our best interests at heart but the interests of those that we love as well. 

Whatever you are trusting Him with, whatever steps you are taking or see ahead that you need to take, I want you to look at them as the safest route to your future. Because even when we don’t understand them, we can trust that God is ordering them purposefully forward."

When we trade fear for faith, we find fulfillment in Christ!

Let me leave you with these promises straight from God's Word. . .

Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you, he will neither fail you not abandon you. | Deuteronomy 31:8

Since God assured us, "I'll never let you down, never walk off and leave you," we can boldly quote, "God is there, ready to help; I'm fearless no matter what. Who or what can get to me?" | Hebrews 13:5-6