From 2012 to 2013..

Hallelujah!

It’s a NEW YEAR!

In Philippians we can see that Paul was determined that nothing would stop him from doing exactly what God wanted.  This past year we have learned (personally) that sometimes before we will chose to follow God’s will completely, a crisis (or two or three, etc.) must develop in our lives.  We can see that this happens “because [sometimes] we tend to be unresponsive to God’s gentler nudges.  He brings us to the place where He asks us to be our utmost for Him and [in our flesh nature] we begin to debate.  He then providentially produces a crisis where we have to decide-for or against.  That moment becomes a great crossroads in our lives.” (Oswald Chambers)

 While we don’t believe God caused terrible things to occur in our lives, forcing us to endure crisis after crisis, we DO believe He allowed them to occur to bring us to some crossroads of our own. 2012 held a lot that we would love to forget, however, we are choosing to be grateful for and remember all that we gained instead!  As we begin this new year we are blessed and we are indeed grateful!

-We are grateful for family that has rallied around us in times that proved to be harder than we ever imagined. 

-We are grateful for friends who pressed into us EVEN when we pulled away.

-We are grateful for church family members that prayed when they didn’t know what else to do.

-We are grateful for three young children that speak very big words and set mighty big examples of trusting the very biggest God.

-We are grateful for financial supporters who have proved that this ‘impossible’ move of our family of 5 to Haiti is actually being made possible in part through their love and generosity.

-We are grateful for those who knew that we didn’t know all that these last 10 months would hold but chose to stand beside us anyway, no matter the cost.  

-We are grateful for the "gossip/rumor-stoppers" although we know that it’s tempting to share things you hear.

-We are grateful for a God that never gives up on us, holding ALL by His righteous hand, ordaining ALL in His perfect time.

-We are grateful for hands that have worked with us and for us to accomplish various tasks.

-We are grateful for songs and song writers who write/sing about the trials that they are going through that parallel our trials, offering hope and fuel for continuing.

-We are grateful for those who have made it their priority to lift us up while others seek to tear us down.

-We are grateful that through our life with Christ nothing is accidental, nothing is incidental and NO experience is wasted.

-We are grateful for those who lovingly gave us permission to fail & encouraged us to get up & try again, knowing this entire journey has been unfamiliar territory to us.

-We are grateful for the mercy that has been extended while we continue to grow & learn.

-We are grateful for those who extended grace even when we may not have extended grace ourselves.

-We are grateful for the God who is fully attentive to us and answers when we cry out.

-We are grateful that His mercies & compassions are new EVERY morning! (Lamentations 3:23)

-We are grateful for strength when we argue that we can’t take one more step.

-We are grateful that we can let go of the past as we move into our future without having to be defensive—with outstretched arms embracing whatever God allows to come our way.

So, thank you for giving to us in 2012!

We are not big on New Year’s Resolutions but we can tell you what we want in 2013…

With unstoppable determination for His purpose:

-We want to be rich.  Not with a large bank balance but rich in faith and in the way we live out what we are learning about our rich God.

-We want to speak words of life…words that heal, words that affirm, words that offer hope, words of love. 

-We want to extend an apology where we have come up short or where we have been less than what we should have been and ask for forgiveness without haste.

-We want to exude love -- the same love that God gives us, the love that never fails…a love that is true even when it’s not reciprocated.

-We want to point you toward the One who will never let you down instead of drawing attention to ourselves.

-We want to proclaim His goodness and not lose ourselves in the struggles.

-We want to run with excitement into this new phase of life that God has laid out for us in Haiti, knowing that we will never be safer than we are in His arms wherever that may be on this earth. (His arms are BIG and we know there’s no where we can go without Him being right there!  What an incredible comfort!!!)

-We want to embrace our new life with a spirit of contentment, not giving way to the enemy’s lies of insufficiency. 

-We want to relish in each day as it comes, not fretting over the yesterdays or stressing about the tomorrows.

-We want to focus on what lasts and not on what doesn’t.

-We want to do our utmost for His highest!

If a crisis has come to you in any way, we want to encourage you to surrender your will to Jesus absolutely once and for all.

Here’s to a Great & Happy New Year!!!

With love,

these humbled ‘5 on a Journey’