Our journey in California has definitely not turned out quite like I imagined it would. (A huge pandemic and spending months stuck inside our apartment haha). But God's ways are much higher than mine. And although it hasn't been quite what I thought, I have seen His hand and purpose so much. I have been stretched, humbled, shaken, and experienced the fiery furnace but He has been there every step of the way. I know deep down, I often think of the hard, as Him not being present. I like things easy, known. But it is in the hard, the pressing, that we get to know Him so intimately and that we are set free. He had me reading about the fiery furnace in the Bible, which I've read many times, but this time He drew my eyes to something I hadn't paid attention to before. When the 3 men were in the fire, the King said, "Didn't I throw in 3 men bound and now there are 4 and they are unbound!" That word unbound stuck out so much. It wasn't after the fire that they were unbound, but in the fire. In the pressure and heat they were set free, God walked right next to them, and they came out stronger and unharmed. All to the glory of God. So this season has been very necessary...hard, but necessary. God has used it to strengthen us in our faith and deepen our relationship with Him. He has shown us areas that He is working on in our hearts, but He has also shown His Grace. Being quarantined in an apartment with 5 kids, little outside, a toddler who loves to scream and get into everything, kids who are struggling to get along, and a pressing timeline and decisions needing to be made can certainly bring a lot of stuff to the surface! Haha! But oh His Grace, His beautiful Grace that covers me, that encourages me to let go and trust instead of holding on so tightly when I cant see what He's doing. So I thank Him for the hard, the uncomfortable, the discontentment, and know it's growing me and readying me for things to come. He loves us that much. So with that said we are taking the next step. Through LOTS of prayer, (and worrying and letting go and worrying some more haha) we are leaving California at the end of May. Trusting in His reason and purpose for our time here even though we dont understand it all, and heading to the next stop He is asking us to go to. I dont have much to share since He hasn't told us much yet, but we continue to let go, by His grace and help, and say ok Lord we will go. So....Oklahoma...here we come.
We are so thankful for all the prayers for our family as we continue to walk this out, and we continue to pray for all of you. He who promised is faithful.