RE-EVALUATE AND REFLECT.
Yes, it’s that time … this “new year” is almost half-lived! With what seems like a few blinks of the eye,
the calendar pages have propelled us with jet-expulsion speed to the threshold
of the second half of 2014. While most
of the time it is healthier to keep our eyes on the day at hand – there is a
right time to take a few good hard looks at where we’ve been recently. Doing this helps us assess if these places
are on God’s map to where He is wanting to take us – or not! Often just recalling the major life events
that have marked specific milestones in our lives is a great reminder of God’s
faithfulness to us. No matter how curvy
and bumpy our road has been, there is a definite straight line that runs
through it all. That is God’s life-line
thrown out to us when we doubt we can see the path ahead. I’d like to invite you to join us on our appraisal
and contemplation of the “days of our lives” thus far this year. I am realizing more and more (perhaps we DO
gain more wisdom with age!) that it is not always “what” happens in our lives
that matters the most – it is “what” we do in response to those events and
circumstances. So … here we go!
With just a few steps into the year, our Mom Jones was
hospitalized and lived out her remaining few days on this earth with family
surrounding her. God’s time for her came
suddenly and unexpectedly, and yet those hours at her bedside offered us a
close-up look at what was most important to her with eternity in view. And in the weeks and months that have
followed her Home-going, we’ve learned more than ever before just how important family really is.
And then it was time to honor another mom ~ for her 90th
birthday, no less! What a testimony to a
life lived for her God as we listened to my mom reminisce and make us laugh! The party stuff was fun and her family had
come from near and far, but the best and lasting treasures of the celebration
is knowing that without fail, she is up at the crack of dawn praying for each
of us by name. As little children she
introduced us to Jesus and that’s priceless and eternal!
We’ve answered the phone calls and heard the anguish in the
voices of those we love so much as they have battled the attacks of Satan in their
own lives, and on their children as he attempted to kidnap them and hold them
hostage. But God’s voice immediately
came back with a powerful promise that what He once did in their lives – long
ago … He will do again!! And all of us
have claimed those victories to come!
There is something so-o-o reassuring and calming about hearing from
God. And His peace? Well, there is absolutely nothing
like it!
And then one day you find out what it’s like to grieve over the
attack by a dog on your little great-granddaughter’s face. Baby fresh face … she’s not even two years
old yet! The dog’s teeth ripped deep and
close to her eye and lip. You cry out to
God to be with her and for divine healing of wounds laid wide open. And in those first moments of stark realities
of possible scarring, your heart does a flip-flop and soon you can thank God in
the midst of the terrifying attack that she is still with us! And you know without a shadow of a doubt that
He is, too!
Fast forward to a most lovely, serene setting in the woods near
the water, and beneath the blue skies on a perfect summer afternoon, you
witness the breathtaking beauty and love of your granddaughter speaking her
vows to the young man God has brought to her!
Whitney and Matt stand hand in hand before God and commit themselves to
each other as Grampa Doug performs the wedding ceremony. Surrounded by family and friends, God’s
blessings and wedding bliss shine in their lives, and their faces glow with the
love that only God can give! The
celebration is the reason almost all of our family is able to come together for
an extended weekend and create new memories as we pack lots of everything into
those days together beneath the gorgeous Michigan sun! And for the first time in a long time, we are
blessed to be together to worship in God’s House on that Sunday morning!
God already knew what challenges and changes we would be facing immediately
upon our arrival back home. His strength
was foundational for the onslaught of attacks and change thrust upon us without
warning. For nearly a week, we paddled
through murky waters – deeply conflicted in our spirits until God gave breakthrough
and clarity of His plan for us and the ministry He has called us to. The storm was intense, but the calm after the
storm has not been shaken. How we love
it when the enemy’s plans are obliterated by our Lord God and He makes a way
where there is no way! Will it be easy? No.
But that’s what faith and trust are for!
Will it be joyful? Yes! That’s our promise from God when we are
obedient! God’s Word encourages us to
take heart, for the best is yet to come!
And all of us get to be a part of it!
We stand on solid ground as we enter the second half of this year,
excited at what God will do! We can
trust Him with everything, even our very lives, you know! And that includes trusting Him with the
ministry and future of Elevation North … for after all, it is HIS church and it
is by HIS Spirit that it will flourish and grow into ALL He has designed it to
be! How far reaching is God’s
faithfulness? Deuteronomy 7:9 gives us
the answer: “Know, recognize, and
understand therefore that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God, Who
keeps covenant and steadfast love and mercy with those who love Him and keep
His commandments, to a thousand generations.”
Lord, we will stand on that!
REMEMBER . .
.
“I have held
many things in my hands and I have lost them all;
but whatever
I placed in God’s hands, that I still possess.”
~ Martin Luther
Serving Christ Joyfully . . .
Pastor Doug & Debbie
