Bittersweet Steps

The steps of a righteous man are ordered by the Lord. Psalm 37:23

Have you ever tasted bittersweet chocolate? It tastes just as it is described. Both bitter and sweet at the same time. In life, some steps the Lord asks you to take are what could be considered bittersweet: both pleasant and painful.

When we moved to Hamilton last November, the transition was one that I would consider bittersweet. If you have followed the blog at all, you have heard the pleasant and the painful. The ups and the downs. Again recently, the Lord has brought us to another one of those bittersweet moments. When you are seeking direction He will give it. The answers won't always be what you are expecting, but He will speak.

At the end of April Eric and I went on an extended fast seeking more of the Lord. We were approaching our 6 month mark here in Hamilton and just wanted to press in deeper to Jesus...to be able to see Him better and hear Him clearly. During the fast, around the second week of May, the Lord began to stir in Erics heart a desire to go back to Virginia.

**Just as some sort of preface to this stirring from the Lord: Since being in Hamilton we have had no desire to go back home. No homesickness. No plans of ever returning there permanently. We did go back and visit in December, and while it was a nice visit and it was good to see family and friends, our hearts were in Hamilton. We talked often of spending many years here. **

Eric never spoke to me about this stirring from the Lord, as He wasnt really sure if it was the Lord, or just his own mind. About three days after Eric had this initial feeling, I woke up one morning and wanted to go back to Virginia.For the first time since being in Hamilton I just wanted to go back. I expressed this to Eric, but going home to visit wasn't an option. He had just started a job at Lowe's and could not take any time off. Strangely, I felt crushed at the thought that we couldn't go. Over the next few days I just couldn't shake this feeling of wanting to go home. In a conversation on our way home from Tupelo, Eric shared the stirring that he has also been getting from the Lord to go home. Needless to say after some seeking and praying we felt like God was saying go to Virginia and be a part of Crossroads (which is the church that Eric's brother pastor's). He has asked us to go there and do two things: Fast and Pray. We have no other direction but that.

During the time we were praying and seeking confirmation that this was the word of the Lord to us, we recieved 2 confirmations from two different people that cofirmed the direction of the Lord to fast and pray in Virginia. As you can see from the next step asked of us by the Lord, this transition too will be a bittersweet one for our family. Hamilton has now become home and we have gained a family here. We will be sent ones from here in Hamilton to Virginia. We are looking forward with great expectation to what the Lord has in store.

Kevin and Christa (Erics brother and his wife) and another couple, will be coming down on August 2nd to pack us up and we will be leaving Hamilton on the 3rd. Eric has not gotten a job yet in Virginia, so please remain in prayer for us in this transition.

To all of you that are a part of the Ramp Community: You are all such incredible people! We feel so honored to have been sent here by the Lord to get connected here and to have run with you pursuing Jesus. We will always consider this place home and you our family. We love you all so very much!!

Until Next Time-

P90X of Spiritual Life

Hello again friend. I know it has been quite a few days since my last post. In the meantime, we all celebrated a holiday, Independance Day (unless of course you are reading this and you aren't american-lol). We made a trip to Tupelo on the 3rd and had our $12 Olan Mills pictures made.

They turned out pretty cute I think...although I really loathe most studio portraits. They usually seem to lack some element of real life...but karis definately brought life to the studio! After we got our pictures taken we went to a place called Ballard Park in Tupelo where they were having a big family day for the 4th. It was so beautiful there. It was a huge park with trees, a lake, a huge permanent stage, ducks, a huge track with really soft grass in the middle lol, and sidewalk trails. It was a nice day in the park, and then they had fireworks. Karis was very excited when she saw the moon finally in the sky because," The fireworks were comin'"...She loved it:) the soft grass:)

Mr Duck

So-- because we celebrated the 4th on the 3rd...we didn't really do anything on the 4th. It was so nice though:)

On to another topic--the P90X of spiritual life. Some of you are saying, "What the heck is P90X?" Well, my friend, here's a link where you can read about it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/p90x ... Go ahead...read the 2 paragraphs from wikipedia if you don't know what it is.

Ok-- so we're on this journey with Jesus. Exiting. Hard. Happy. Thrilling. Steady. Never the same. Constant. Frustrating. Peaceful.Glorious. Those are just a few words that could describe it. There is also a new way I have started to descibe it... Jesus is to my spiritual body what P90X would be to my physical body. (In this statement, I am going on the word of others who have used P90x--I'm not tough enough...lol)

This relationship with Him is challenging our every thought. Every desire. Every action. Every motivation. Each day Eric and I read Matthew 5, 6 and/or 7. (I usually read all 3 chapters every day and Eric reads them like one a day or something). That to say- the Sermon on the Mount is an integral component of our everyday lives. We have made it a point to read and become extremely familiar with this incredible life changing three chapters. The thing is-- when it starts getting written on your heart, and you really have to start applying this stuff to your life, therein comes the "P90X" of christianity.

Aside from the obvious fact, that this program is extremely intense, one of the major components of P90X, that is different from the majority of other exercise programs, is the implementing of certain exercises to create "muscle confusion". This muscle confusion is what creates such great physical results in your body. Muscle confusion "Prevents the body from adapting to exercises over time, resulting in continual improvement without plateaus". Lately we have felt this "muscle confusion" idea at work in our spiritual lives...You get some revelation of something that needs to be cut away in your life, and once you cut that away there's another something that needs to be cut away. In this pursuit, God is continually adapting our process in order that we have continual improvement, with no flat plateaus.

"But we all, with unveiled faces, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord,are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the glory of the Lord." 2 Cor. 3:18

He takes us from glory to glory...from one place to another in Him. This process is is set up to work for us, if we can walk in it. And so the Sermon on the Mount is definately confusing my muscles. Eric and I are also reading 2 books by Leonard Ravenhill...who, by the way, I think is a must read for any Christian. One of the books is called 'Why Revival Tarries' and the other is called 'America is Too Young to Die'. He definately was a prophet of our day calling the church back to Jesus. Again though, for us, it is a tough pill to swallow. It's easy to read Matthew 5,6, and 7 and agree. Its easy to read Ravenhill and say yes and Amen. It is something completely different to walk out what you are saying you believe. Read Matt 5,6 and 7 for a taste of what Jesus says our lives should look like. Here's a small taste of Ravenhill ...

" No man is greater than his prayer life. The pastor who is not praying is playing; the people who are not praying are straying. The pulpit can be a shop window to display ones talents; the prayer closet allows no showing off." ... ..."Can any deny that in the modern church setup the main cause of anxiety is money? Yet, that which tries the modern churches most, troubled the New Testament church the least. Our accent is on paying, theres was on praying. When we have paid, the place is taken; when they had prayed, the place was shaken...For this kind of prayer there is no substitute. We do it- or die!"

I am looking forward to the results of this spiritual P90X...keep pressing into Jesus.

Until next time-