When do you leave?

This is the most common question we are asked.  I find myself answering by saying "sometime between November and March" because this is what I hope to be true.  

The honest answer is, we have no idea.....strange I know, but I am choosing to put this into God's hands and let Him reveal the perfect time.  

As I've been journaling about our call to Tucson, the TIME theme continues.

Waiting...Timing...When... 

Usually I attempt to control time, or at least want to believe I have control of time, but God is showing me this is far from the truth in every area of my life. 

None of us really know what will happen tomorrow.  We all are waiting patiently on God and His plan to unfold in our lives.  As we wait, we can grow in fruit of the Spirit as we develop patience, self-control, and joy in all circumstances.  Or we can try to control our lives, living in a place where we are unable to fully release our lives to God's purposes.  If we continue to believe we can control the timing of our lives, we are not free to fully experience the growth He wants us to experience.

This is where I am today.  I am waiting.  I want to know when.  I want to know God's perfect timing. But God has not made this known to met yet.

Over the summer, I read through Acts.  The following passage spoke to me the first time I read it and speaks to me every time I come back to it.  It is amazing to think about the meaning of "in Him we live and move and exist."  He knows the WHEN and WHERE He will use me and you.  We are to seek God.  We are His children.  Our time is His, not ours.  

"And He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face 

of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries 

of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope 

for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we 

live and move and exist...."  Acts 17:26-28 (NASB)

I pray for myself and any one else who finds themselves in this place of waiting on God that we will step back and patiently wait.  That we can allow God's pace to guide us as He leads the way.  That we will seek the Holy Spirit daily to lead us as we grow in our faith.

Over the last 6 months it has become very clear to Luke and I that God is ready to move us from one desert to another.  

After 12 years in Yakima, we will be moving to Tucson to plant a church.  We don't have a lot of answers (but a lot of questions) on exactly what this means for us or what the exact timeline will be, but we feel peace that God is in this and knows what is best for our family.  

Early on in the process God put Galatians 1:10 on my heart this has stayed with me over the past few months as we prayed and tried to decide if this is really what God would have us do.

"For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God?  Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ."   Galatians 1:10 NASB

I believe that obedience to God and whatever He calls you to do is important.  I teach this to my children and encourage other women in my life to follow wherever He leads, but in May of this year I was faced with this question myself.  Would I obey God and go wherever He leads?  Am I really a servant of Christ ready to please God through an act of obedience and let Him really have control?

As I was searching my own heart and trying to determine what this really meant for our family, God led me to read a lot about calling and I gained a better understanding of what it means to be called.  God called Luke to ministry in 2004.  God called Luke to be a lead pastor in 2008.  Would God really call us to Tucson to plant a church? Is God really calling me to be a part of this?  Is God calling us to do this now or later?  

"A call is a profound impression from God that establishes parameters for your life and can be altered only by a subsequent, superseding impression from God."
Call as defined by Jeff Iorg in "Is God Calling Me"

"A strong inner impulse toward a particular course of action especially when accompanied by conviction of divine influence."  Calling as defined by Merriam-Websters dictionary.

These are great definitions that make perfect sense in our situation.  A call is when God provides direction on what you should do with your life and the only decision that will bring peace is obedience.  The decision may not make sense to family and friends, but it is truly the only decision we can see ourselves making.  There is definitely an "impression of God" or a "conviction of divine influence" that is active in our lives with many things over the last 6 months pointing us to Tucson.  I can not explain enough the peace of God that we have in moving forward with our move to Tucson.

Taking this step of obedience is out of my comfort zone.  I like to plan, I like to know the future, I like to be in control.  This is truly a time in my life where I see that daily I am giving up control to God and following wherever He leads.  It is a daily decision to trust in God and His ways not my own. 

"Let me hear Your lovingkindness in the morning;.For I trust in You; Teach me the way I should walk: For to You I lift up my soul."  Psalm 143:8 NASB

As for timing, God clearly has put it on our hearts to do this now.  As I found myself making excuses, God would change my heart. I have grown so much in my faith already in just making the decision that we are not waiting for all the answers before we say yes.  We are saying yes, we will go, wherever God calls.  Our house is for sale and as soon as the house sells or God provides a different way, we are packing up to make the move to Tucson. 

I look forward to sharing and partnering with many of you as we take this step of obedience and our biggest leap of faith yet!