Be still....

Soaking up the sun

Snow!!!

 Hello again my dear friends.  How is everyone?  I hope everyone is doing well and entering another exciting season of their live.  Yes, I have to admit, spring does exist.  But here in Vermont winter didn't want to let go!  It fought and fought but, alas, it lost.  The days are a little warmer but still there is a pretty good chill in the air.  We have not planted anything outside yet.  However, we already had some strawberries from our hydroponic garden in the basement.  They were good (or so I was told, since I didn't get any yet).


Snow is gone!!

Things are pretty exciting up here right now.  Tom is working 7 days at this point splitting his time between bus driving and truck delivery.  He likes the bus better, I think, but the hours are just not enough. So God provided another job right then and there.  He is so faithful it is great to watch Him work.  We are all plugging along.  Logan and I are trying to stay motivated to finish off school and do so with joy and enthusiasm.  Natasha still loves her job at the Subway.  She is getting some nice hours in, filling her bank account just a little more.  She is saving for a car, since we only have one vehicle.  It gets a little challenging carting everyone around and coordinating the pick up times and drop off times.  But this will soon pass too and then I will miss taking my beautiful daughter to work every day and picking her up.  So, I cherish the time, plus I get to give rides to her co-workers.  Sean's business is really picking up new clients and now has 60 horses (I think last time I checked) on his own.  That is a lot of work.  He still works with Roland, out of Chester, and Brendan out of Walpole, NH.  So there were a couple of weeks when he would just come and go to sleep.  I didn't see much of him, which was a little bit of a shame.  But that is all good, and I am so happy for him that he gets to start his business in earnest now.  He is planning on taking some time off in June to visit a friend in Texas.  Yes, Texas!   He just made a huge purchase for his business. He bought a new truck.  Yes, he let go of his little baby and found a really nice upgrade.


F-150 TRUCK

So now he is driving a real truck.  Just kidding, Sean.  It is a really sweet ride.  Sean bought it on a weekday and by the weekend he had put three hundred miles on it, going from client to client.  He mentioned that after that, the newness of the truck had worn off just a little.

So now you are up on what is going on here.  The house, you ask?  Well, we do have running water.  It is called Tom.  Hahaha, get it?  Tom runs to the spring and gets the water.  No no, right now the name of the running water is Anne, since Tom is a little busy and I don't want him to be doing just another project we can take care of.  Over the winter he did little experiments on how to get some electricity but they all didn't generate quite enough to depend on just one source, so he has a sure thing he is doing right now.  But it is just a prototype and we haven't tested it out yet.  But the testing will commence in a little while.

So, I want to share what has been going on with me since the last time we talked.  This be still thingy..... it is so hard.  About a month ago, I was impressed that I need to be still and not run ahead with my own ideas and thoughts and things that I want to do.  I was moved to wait.  Wait for what you might ask.  Well, I was impressed that I need to wait on God.  Hehe, sure.  I'll wait for what?  So I just sit still and not do anything?  Pretty much, yeah.  I was impressed that in our desire to 'serve' God we forget what out most important service project is.  It is purifying and presenting our own heart to Him!  To serve God means to come before Him with all our heart poured out for Him.  We are supposed to surrender everything to Him.  Yes, yes, I've heard that one before.  Move on already! 

Well no, hang on there.  I was blessed this past weekend to spend some time at a women's retreat with some pretty cool ladies.  I was not even sure if I was going until the last moment.  You see, I had determined to be still and know that He is God.  The morning of the retreat (it was a three day thingy) I was still praying about it.  I was not about to make up my mind that no matter what, I was going.  I was keeping my heart open for God. I had been listening to my own thoughts a lot lately.  Not a good thing really because my thoughts are not always directed from above.  And sure enough, they weren't.  I woke up and my back went out because I stood up (I hate to admit it because that means I am getting old).  So I was really praying that if He really didn't want me to go, I wouldn't.  I didn't say, "I guess I'm not going" but was leaving it open.  I prayed that if I really was not to go something really had to stop me.  Tom was not feeling well and I thought, yeah well, I guess I am not going now.  But I didn't close that door, still praying about it, trusting that if I was not to go, there was no way I was going to. 

Suffice it to say, I went and was totally blessed.  We are to bring all our thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ.  Well, what exactly does that mean?  It means that when we have a thought, bring it to Him and have Him decide what to do with it.  Negative thoughts go right there.  But sometimes those thoughts make sense to us.  Still bring them to Him.  He will make our path straight and remove all the obstacles.  Tom was sick, my back was out and yet I still said, you will let me know.  The moment I stepped into my friend's truck my back was better.  When I got there it was back to normal.  I could have stayed home, been afraid of my own shadow, but no more.  I can do all things in Christ which strengtheneth me!  Yeah!

So what I have determined to do now, and I pray that I don't forget or move away from this determination, is to wait on Him.  I am learning not to step ahead.  That means I will go ahead with what is right in front of me, until He pulls me over to the side.  It also means that I need to be prudent with my time and give that time to Him.  I don't have to be running around, serving on ten committees at my church or serving a meal to every poor I meet.  If God leads me that way, then yes, I am available to do that.  That is what all this is about; being available to serve God by allowing Him to move the obstacles out of the way.    

I hope you have a blessed day, week, month or year.