Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Swept Up In The Current

I was having lunch with a friend last week, and she asked if I ever felt as though I was being swept up in the current of life. I was thankful for her question because it perfectly illustrated my journey over the past few months. There have been times throughout my life when I have taken deliberate steps toward a particular goal or decision. Then, there have been situations where I have felt as though I was simply swept into the current...where I have eventually looked back and thought to myself, "What in the world just happened?" This is one of those times.

When I planned my move to Colorado Springs, it was a long process that required nearly a year of preparation and prayer. At every step of my journey, God confirmed that I was headed in the right direction. I never feared my move here, and I never worried that I was making the wrong decision. It wasn't always easy, but I knew it was right.

Today, I find myself at the end of my time here in Colorado. I will be moving back to Texas at the end of end of next month to take a job at a new middle school in Cy-Fair. While I am excited about my job and the idea of being close to the people I love most in the world, I don't want to leave Colorado. I have prayed for the Lord to keep me here...to throw a boulder in the stream that would change my course, but that doesn't seem to be His plan. I feel as though I have been swept into the current, and all I know to do at this point is to hang on and follow God's lead.

I am not dreading my move to Texas. I love Texas, and I love Texans (and I love that I can get Blue Bell, Tex Mex, and a good pedicure on just about every street corner in Texas). But, my time in Colorado has provided me with an opportunity to focus on my relationship with the Lord with few distractions. I have just begun to learn what it means to trust Him, to worship Him, and to rest in Him. I can stare at the mountains for hours and get lost in their Creator...His enormity, His vastness, and His greatness. I am enveloped by His beauty every single day, and I have never gotten over it.

Journeying into the familiar is more frightening to me than stepping into the unknown because it is in the familiar that I tend to trust myself. Perhaps, that is why the Lord led me into a current that is noticeably uncontrollable. Maybe I needed to be reminded that an essential part of trust is the acknowledgment that I am not in control. Whatever the case may be, this I do know...the God who controls my course is the same God who controls the river, so there is no safer place than when I am swept into the current of life.

1 comment:

Julie Marler (Mammy) said...

Been there so many times! Understand EXACTLY what you are talking about! I think this is one of the most profound ways that God deals with us and leads us toward His goals and not ours. Many times I have ventured off the path, not ever intentionally, usually just not being diligent about His ways.
But always allowed God to lovingly bring me back to His path. The encouragement I give is simply this...endurance. Keep on keeping on in the Path of the One who leads us. Be diligent. He is faithful and has NEVER failed us. Hard...yes. Painful...sometimes. But never without the peace that only He can give!
Mammy