Calming the storm

Wednesday nights at our church looks like this: first we have a potluck, then we gather together in the sanctuary for a short devotional led by volunteers, and then we break up into our different classes, me, of course, heading to the youth room.  This past week we had a woman talk about the different trials in her life.  Examples being laid off from her teaching job a few years before retirement, finding a new job, then 10 months before she retired having to go home and take care of her ailing mother.  After she made account of these live altering events she commented on how now, years later, she can see how God was working during those times to turn those trials into blessings.

Her talk made me think of a question I saw posed by Adam Hamilton on facebook at the beginning of the week, asking (in an abridged version because I can't remember exactly how he worded it), "How has Christ calmed the waters of your storm?"

I began to think back over the trials I have faced in my own life.  The circumstances leading up to our leaving Plainview were definite trials that left us hurt and angry.  Evil certainly had it's way there but looking back it's easy to see how God was working in our lives.  Our time in New Boston was short and difficult. It gave us a time to get used to our new lives away from our family and everything else that we knew.  As much as we enjoyed East Texas we knew it was not our forever home.  God has something else in store for us. 

That leads us to Las Cruces.  A place we hope to be for a while longer, although, our past has taught us to never get too comfortable.  I believe that is what happened in Plainview.  We had been talking about leaving, maybe when the kids were older, not making any definite plans for our future.  We were comfortable, taking life for granted.  We were busy doing instead of busy living.  Our families were all right there so it became way to easy for us to drop off the kids when Zach and I wanted to do something.  I also wanted to stay home full-time with the kids but Zach's salary in Plainview couldn't support us.  Then, when the devil was working to ruin lives, God opened a door for us, just in the most unexpected way. 

We were alone, forced to grow up and depend on ourselves.  We had no babysitters, forcing us to spend time with our kids and have so many wonderful experiences with them.  We were out of our comfort zone, forcing us to reevaluate what was important to us.

This past week, when Erin was here, I took a break from my Sunday night activities and instead, went to worship at Wesley.  As we were heading home later that night, Erin told me how proud she was of Zach.  She could see how much he had grown since she last heard him teach in Plainview.  Yes, he has grown, thanks to what this past year has put us through.

We always knew we were going where we needed to go.  We have known for awhile that God has been blessing us beyond measure.  And know we can look back, to those moments of hurt, anger, disappointment, and fear, and know God was there, to calm the waters...

As a final note I would like to attach a youtube clip of one of my favorite songs.  The words are so beautiful.