In a good place

Throughout life, we all have times when we can say we're "in a good place". Maybe financially we're doing well or spiritually we've hit a high point. Or maybe we've struggled with depression & we're finally seeing a mountaintop. Whatever the case, we all go through "good places" & "bad places" in life.

In the past couple of months, I've felt a little down. Larry & I realized a few months ago that it was time for us to leave our church family & move elsewhere. Sure there were things along the way that we didn't totally agree with and there were days when Larry came home from the office wanting to quit & go deliver pizzas for a living, but I think everyone goes through that from time to time, no matter what their occupation. But when you reach a point where you know that God is saying "your time is up...pack it up & move on", it's hard to swallow. While we were (& still are) 150% sure that we made the right choice, it hasn't come without some labor pains & struggles.

Watching Larry transition from full time ministry to the "regular world" (read: anyone outside of full time ministry) has been an interesting process. There is of course the physical & logistical difference of his new job atmosphere of course (not to mention the financial difference), but there are also mental & emotional changes involved. Larry has had to face a lot of different emotions head on and I'm so very proud of the way he's handled himself. There have been moments when (if I were him) I would want to throw in the towel & go on a tirade of some sort just for the sake of blowing off steam. Anyway, the job transition has had good & bad moments.

A couple of weeks after leaving Rose Heights, we visited our old church--Bethel. When we left Bethel in late '04 to go to RH, it was very hard. I think it was harder for me (at the time) than it was for Larry. He was running full-steam ahead, excited about his new role in life, just wanting to jump off the high dive & get to work for Jesus. I, on the other hand, felt the full weight of leaving all the precious people who'd been our closest friends & confidantes for the past 7 1/2 years. It was something akin to stepping out of the plane when you sky dive. I knew I'd love it once I made the step, but getting to that point, leaning out over the edge & letting go was hard. I was attending MOPS at Bethel at the time when Larry got the official word that he'd been hired at RH. While I was thrilled to death & excited & ready to move into the jungles of Africa if that is where God had called us, I was also sad about leaving our friends. I drove to my MOPS meeting that next morning & bawled my eyes out with my table of WONDERFUL girlfriends. They were great, holding my hand, hugging me & letting me know that it was OK to grieve. Throughout the coming weeks, our friends in the LIFE group & our Sunday School class reminded us that they loved us and they cheered us on as we marked our final days with them.

Our time at RH was awesome. The people there made the transition time easy. They accepted us with open arms from day 1. There are so many things that I can say about that church that will stick with me for the rest of my life. So many positive things happened during those years. I look at our time at RH now and ponder a lot of things. The one I've been thinking most on lately is the idea that God moved us there for a season...and for a reason. He knew exactly where we'd need to be during some of the hardest days of our lives (Feb 06- Mar 07 and beyond). He knew exactly what we needed & maded provisions for us (physically, financially & all the other details) through Larry's back surgery in Oct 06. He knew exactly whose words we'd hear and really LISTEN to during good times & bad. He knew about the relationships we'd form and which people we needed to minister to and who would minister to us! He knew who our children would respond to spiritually in the days & weeks leading up to them accepting Christ as their savior. (Remember, 2 of our 3 kids got saved while we were at RH!) He knew every detail of the ministry Larry would have at RH. He recognized a need at RH and chose to use Larry as a vessel to reach those specific people at that specific time. Once again, a strong reminder that we are NOT IN CONTROL of anything! We like to think that we have things all planned out & the details figured up....but really we don't. God & God alone is the author of our days.

And so, I'm sure you're wondering how all of this ties into the title & the first couple sentences of this post! Well......

Today, we were again at our new church home (which is funny to say since we were there for so many years before...) and today was the mission week where all the church's ministries are layed out for the church to see & figure out which ones they'd like to personally get involved with, give to, serve with, pray for & so on. As we sat in the chairs listening to the presentation, I couldn't help but think about the way that this very thing --- how the church relates to all the various ministry groups --- was Larry's job at RH. It was up to him to create a relationship with each of the groups & to show the church how they can get involved with the various ministries. Some of the local groups are doing the very things that Larry hoped to get started at RH but never reached before we left. Some of the groups present very unique types of ministry that we will be excitedly joining forces & helping out with. It was fun to be able to find a place to get involved with these groups just a few weeks after coming back to Bethel.

Tonight we went to our first LIFE group (small group, connection group, care group....it's all the same thing). We were able to re-join the same group that we left 4 1/2 years ago and although there is only 1 couple remaining who was there when we left, the same sort of fellowship remains. As we discussed the challenging topic of bioethics, teetered back & forth on topics that were a little "contreversial" in nature, cracked jokes about totally off-color non-churchy things, I realized we were indeed in the right group. As we wrapped up the night, we shared prayer requests and praises with the group. A couple of womens' requests for prayer stick out in my mind. They were requests for prayer for very serious things going on in their lives, the sort of topics that bring tears to the eyes of all in the room, the sort of things that I typically drop everything & pray for right away because I've been there & lived it or simply because I can FEEL their pain in the words that were spoken. I smiled to myself inside as I listened to these requests that were made just minutes after we were all laughing about something with tears running down our cheeks......I smiled as I realized how many times Larry & I have been on the other end of that prayer request, begging for our friends to rally around us & share a burden that seems far too heavy to bear alone.

I smiled because it hit me tonight.

We may not have all the money in the world, but we have enough to pay our bills with a little leftover each month. We have no choice but to live within our means.

We may not have the biggest home in town, but we have one that fits our family & all the junk that seems to always be overflowing from the drawers, cabinets & closets.

We may not go to the biggest, flashiest church in town, but we attend the one that God wants us in right now and we're surrounded by amazing people who are willing to laugh & have fun together, but also drop to their knees, hold hands & cry together when their friends need it.

Yeah....we're in a good place.

thank you, Father.