A week or so ago, we watched a very inspiring movie titled "Facing the Giants," written and produced by a church in Georgia. We would highly recommend it to everyone to see! http://www.facingthegiants.com/
Though certainly not a Hollywood production (which actually was rather refreshing), it had a very powerful message to share that has both encouraged and inspired us. As the title indicated, facing the giants is about trusting in the Lord and believing in Him when the "giants" of life come before us and we want to shrink away. There are obvious connections to the story of David and Goliath.
In this movie, there was a great illustration of faith in action that really stuck with us - It was the concept of "preparing for rain." It's illustrated in this story: "There were two farmers, both praying for rain for their crops. After praying, one farmer believed and waited for it to rain; the other famer believed and began to prepare his fields FOR the rain."
It is one thing to pray and say "God make this happen." It is another to believe God will answer, and to prepare for His action; being ready to receive what we prayed for.
For us, that principle has really encouraged us lately! It is clearly illustrated in our desire to move. We love and are so grateful for our current home, but we've been feeling led for quite some time to move to a different place. We have two main reasons for feeling moved this way - more space and location. Obviously we've got a growing family we need to accomodate, but we also are passionate for the ministry of community and would love to have a more ideal space in which to host small groups, get togethers and the like (maybe a basement and a slightly bigger living room?). And of course it would be wonderful to be all the more closer to church, work, doctors, etc. And with that same passion for community, we would also be closer to the people we fellowship with.
With these things, we are purposing to begin that journey - A journey that we probably rushed last year as it crashed and burned since we did not wait on God's timing (and now looking back, we are thankful He didn't allow us to rush, although it was a painful lesson for us). But now we feel called to prepare for rain. If God is leading, He will bring it to pass. We simply want to be ready for the day the rain comes. How are we preparing? Currently we are attempting to get our house ready to list, consolidating our stuff and clutter, moving some things to storage for a temporary time, painting, and doing minor maintenance and repair. For several years now, we've felt a strong leading to a new community here called Banning Lewis Ranch - it looks like our oppotunity may come in the next couple of months with it. When it opens (it's only been in planning stages for years now) we feel we will probably have a clear answer of where to move. For now, we are simply waiting, trusting, and preparing for His rain to fall.
In this movie, there was a great illustration of faith in action that really stuck with us - It was the concept of "preparing for rain." It's illustrated in this story: "There were two farmers, both praying for rain for their crops. After praying, one farmer believed and waited for it to rain; the other famer believed and began to prepare his fields FOR the rain."
It is one thing to pray and say "God make this happen." It is another to believe God will answer, and to prepare for His action; being ready to receive what we prayed for.
For us, that principle has really encouraged us lately! It is clearly illustrated in our desire to move. We love and are so grateful for our current home, but we've been feeling led for quite some time to move to a different place. We have two main reasons for feeling moved this way - more space and location. Obviously we've got a growing family we need to accomodate, but we also are passionate for the ministry of community and would love to have a more ideal space in which to host small groups, get togethers and the like (maybe a basement and a slightly bigger living room?). And of course it would be wonderful to be all the more closer to church, work, doctors, etc. And with that same passion for community, we would also be closer to the people we fellowship with.
With these things, we are purposing to begin that journey - A journey that we probably rushed last year as it crashed and burned since we did not wait on God's timing (and now looking back, we are thankful He didn't allow us to rush, although it was a painful lesson for us). But now we feel called to prepare for rain. If God is leading, He will bring it to pass. We simply want to be ready for the day the rain comes. How are we preparing? Currently we are attempting to get our house ready to list, consolidating our stuff and clutter, moving some things to storage for a temporary time, painting, and doing minor maintenance and repair. For several years now, we've felt a strong leading to a new community here called Banning Lewis Ranch - it looks like our oppotunity may come in the next couple of months with it. When it opens (it's only been in planning stages for years now) we feel we will probably have a clear answer of where to move. For now, we are simply waiting, trusting, and preparing for His rain to fall.
2 comments:
Very cool, you guys. Your family is definitely a role model for any young family whose main purpose is to raise up the children to know Christ and in doing so, are modeling that FOR the children. I see this as a perfect example of your "preparing for rain." You are asking God to help you raise up our three blessings into Godly adults, and you are not sitting around waiting for it. You are actively modeling what that looks like. I love you both and am honored to be part of this family.
I also am very proud of you both, you have grown into very responsible adults with your priorities in the right place. Love you lots,
Grammy
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