about our waiting on God....

Lest I leave you all with the impression that our waiting on the Lord involves only 24 hours of "waiting time", let me rephrase: we go through years (honestly... years, folks) of praying, crying, wondering, studying, seeking wisdom....each time that we've waited on God for direction, our wait has been years in the making.

But then He blesses us with signs of affirmation and a even a big old heavenly thumbs up to assure us we are indeed on the right track. So I should say that our waiting is long and drawn out, but once we make a decision based solely on obedience to God and the desire to honor Him, He gives us the 24 hours or less nod of approval. That's where the "24 hours" comes in. He affirms us quickly. He knows Paul and I so well. He knows that we are not the sharpest tools in the shed and that we really need that heavenly wink to let us know we're getting warmer.

For instance, this move we are making has been something we've been praying about for well over a year....we've just been waiting on clear direction. I just haven't mentioned the hundreds of resumes sent, the dead end interviews, the wrong turns every other week, the unanswered (seemingly) prayers, the times we were angry and thought God just flat out didn't hear us....there's been a lot going on in the background that has kept us on the edge of our seats, and more importantly, on our knees.

It all boils down to obedience for us. It's like a tug-of-war; we love New Orleans, we love the boys school, we love our jobs. But God is on the other end of the rope saying "But you aren't serving me in the way I want you to. You aren't where I want you to be. You have to leave your comfort zone. Leave your safety net. Leave it all. Pick up your cross and ....F.O.L.L.O.W. M.E. (and He probably threw in there "you big dorks").

So that is what we are doing. We are picking it all up and heading west because that is where God has affirmed us to be. He is already setting us up there. We just don't know the details yet. And prayerfully, this will be our final move. But if He says "Go to Djibouti" then we will do it.

Of course it will take us several years to comprehend what He's telling us, and then we'll spend another several years telling Him (and each other) why that will never work, but eventually we'll go.

And He'll just be up there thinking "You big dorks....y'all sure are slow...."