Being Brave

Over Christmas 2013 I read One Perfect Word by Debbie Macomber.  In the book, the author describes how she has a specific word that she meditates on and learns from over the course of a year.  In choosing a word, it sort of picks her, not the other way around.  I was intrigued by this idea, so by early 2014, I knew my word would be "HOPE.". Through scripture, books, quotes, life experience, and inflection, I learned so much about hope that year.  In 2015 my word was "JOY."  It was a similar experience.  I thought I knew what joy really meant until last year.  There were many happy moments but also many frustrating and stressful moments.  Through it all I learned that true joy is in God and not our circumstances.

As described in the book, there are often many things that point you toward your word.  As 2015 drew to an end, I was being led to my new word.  As I prayed for guidance in choosing my word, I kept being led back to one I really didn't want.  I resisted and tried out the idea of a couple other words, but it was not to be.  My word for 2016 is "BRAVE" and the irony is, I was scared to choose that word.  Because after the past 2 years, I know that God will challenge me in ways I cannot imagine using that word.

 

 



I saw the movie War Room recently and had read some other material about prayer and spiritual warfare, so I decided to read Priscilla Shearer's book Fervent and the Bible Study The Armor of God.  I thought if I was going to be challenged to be brave, I needed to prepare myself for whatever comes.

 



As Simon quickly approaches his first birthday, I find myself feeling restless.  After 4 LONG years of waiting, it now feels odd to not wait.  For 4 years, we battled to adopt a child.  Make no mistake, there was a lot of spiritual warfare that I was not prepared for in the beginning, and I pleaded for it to all end countless times.  Now that we have Simon, I miss that intimacy I had with God as I was in the midst of the battle.  I certainly realize that being close to God doesn't always require giant leaps of faith and sacrifice, but I do understand why people who answer such calls do so repeatedly.  Why would Jim Elliot move his family to Ecuador to evangelize the Auca Indians while they were hostile towards outsiders and then his wife Elizabeth choose to stay and continue his mission work after he was killed?  Why would Katie Davis (Majors) leave the upper middle class comforts of home at 18 to move to Uganda and then become the mother to over a dozen orphaned girls?  Because they were listening and following God's will for their lives.  They experienced the intimacy with God that only comes when you have nothing to rely on but your faith and trust in Him.

 





I don't know what is next for me or my family.  I am not a brave person, so it wouldn't take anything very radical to require bravery on my part to act.  Maybe another adoption is in our future or some other form of orphan care ministry.  I certainly have strong convictions in that area, but Brad also feels called to other ministries.  We shall see what the future (and the year) hold!