Shabbat Shalom

This morning I woke up with a song in my heart. I laid in bed just contemplating the goodness of God, and was moved to tears as I looked back over these last several months and how God has blessed us in amazing ways. I am overcome and overwhelmed. 


I can't wait to share all of the stories, and how every single prayer that we prayed (and didn't pray) has been answered. But for now, God is still asking us to be in silent communion with Him. There are a precious few who have been walking with us through this journey, faithfully praying for us, mourning with us, and celebrating with us. Just trust me when I say I have seen the Glory of the Lord - His Kingdom come, His will done on this earth! 


I had the wonderful privilege of visiting some wonderful friends in Colorado this past week. We haven't all been together since a wedding five years ago! Only now, instead of couples, we were families. We were Scott and the Picklebean shy of being complete. 


On Friday, we all came together to observe Shabbat. I held it together pretty well, but was on the verge of tears so many times as we took turns reading scripture, sharing in a beautiful Jewish tradition of observing the Holy Sabbath. I looked around the table and saw the faces of our community... the people we've been missing all these years since moving to Oregon - all of us gone our separate ways, to different parts of the country, reunited here in this place. My rants of the past just don't do it justice. I felt whole again - loved and accepted, cared for, welcomed and a part of something far bigger than myself. This is the Body of Christ. This is loving your neighbor as yourself. 


These are the people - our family, our precious friends - who know intimately all the details of our sufferings and our shortcomings, and yet still love us and accept us. We enjoy fellowship, brotherhood and sisterhood together. The husbands all went to school together, all participated in Shawn & Gretchen's wedding, and have built such a strong bond with one another - intellectually and beyond. Few men can hang with my husband on that level, but these are the guys who come together and equally challenge one another. And we, the wives, all similar (as apparently there is a special breed who date and marry men like this), loving each other just as deeply as the men. Truly a community. A village. There we were. Together again.


We knew a year and a half ago that God was about to move. He simply asked us to be faithful and follow him. We didn't know how or why or when. We just knew that we needed to keep our eyes open. Then, the hammering started. We were pruned and pricked and prodded and burned and bruised, but through it all we kept our eyes on Jesus. Then in January when Scott lost his job, God's plan for us began to be revealed. I said it here, just watch what God can do. We knew that God had a plan for Scott and the gifts that he has been given. God's plan will not be thwarted, even when others get in the way. Sometimes for us in our limited abilities the obstacles seem insurmountable. But not for God. He can make life with a single breath. Our troubles are nothing for the One who created the heavens and the earth.


Suffice it to say, Scott will be used. God hasn't revealed His entire plan, but He has revealed a portion. For the rest, we wait patiently, eagerly, joyfully. 



Our lives have never been so bathed in prayer - by us or by so many. I can only describe it as maybe we've showered our lives in prayer. Showering is good. But we've learned to bathe in prayer - to sink ourselves deep below the surface. Every moment. Every decision. Every day. Every blessing. Every request. On our faces before the throne of God, at the foot of the cross, allowing the blood of Christ to wash over us.


God is moving. He's holding our hands as we walk with Him in His Kingdom. This isn't some far-off notion that is saved for after our last breath on this earth is taken. It's for the here and now. And it's a beautiful place to be. Totally at peace. Full of expectation. Full of joy and hope. Awaiting with great anticipation.


In the past, when God called me, I would respond, "Is that you, Lord?" It was. Always. Just recently, when I heard God calling me, I didn't hear myself respond, "Is that you, Lord?" I responded, "Yes, Lord? I'm here." 


And so is He.


Hallelujah!