seasons change, 9/26/09

One of the small tasks I have while being home is going through old boxes of my stuff at my parents to sort and chunk stuff. While rummaging through yesterday we found some pictures that we could see some of me in Elisha.... (i need to get some of bud and compare too!)

Eli- 6 months

Kimberly- 6 months

Kimberly- 2 yrs

Elisha- 2 yrs. (i couldn't pull up the pictures that look more like mine)

Last night I got to go hang out with my best friend from high school and catch up. We reminisced on our fun and hilarious high school days and helped doing so by getting snow cones. We used to do this quite often, and our favorite is half strawberry, half pinacolada. I couldn't believe how cold I got last night though. Karrie thankfully had a jacket for me and we got in her car and turned on the heater. I absolutely LOVE summer weather. Actually I love Kenya weather, especially during the mornings and evenings. It's not too hot and it's not at all cold. Last week it went from stinkin hot Texas heat, to the next day being chilly and we were in jackets. Sometimes seasons progress slowly and sometimes its overnight. After being home and spending time before the Lord, I realize more and more that its a season change in our life spiritually. The thing is, when seasons change in our life, not physically, we have a choice if we'll go to the next season or not. "From glory to glory". Bill Johnson gave me a good visual. Going from glory to glory is like two rooms side by side and to get from one room to the other you go through a hallway, often times the hallway being hell (not literally). We like to focus on the rooms, how wonderful they are, and not the passing through the hallway. So I would say I'm passing through a hallway right now. Going from one season to the next. In my last blog I mentioned about feeling like there might be a lack of vision. I need to correct myself on that. I think God has painted out the blueprints for the basis of Mattaw and that's not changing. As we grow it continues to unfold though. Mattaw is now a year old and no longer a new born baby. When it was a baby we had to nurture it like a baby but the older it gets, there's things that change and it grows. For example, Bud and I can trust our house parents with more responsibility now. Not much more because Mattaw seems to be just now learning to walk, but there are changes. Our ultimate goal of course is to have the natives run this and carry the vision. When changing seasons though, often times, well I'd say every time, there has to be some pruning. Ouch. That's in the hallway. I had a friend bring me some daily devotions and a few of them were dead on with where we are. Ill share it, if it makes no sense to you, just discard it! My hopes are that someone else reading this will find it encouraging and helpful for them.

This was from day 5:

Leaving one season and going into the next is not always the easiest thing to do. John the Baptist had many disciples, but only Andrew left John in the wilderness and followed Jesus into the cities to eat with publicans and sinners. Our soul ties with the past structure, as well as people who are unwilling to change, can prevent us from advancing. The emotional tie that we need to cut with the old can be painful. Therefore, we resist the pain of change and choose to remain in what we are familiar with.

John did not seem excited about the changes that were coming to Israel through Jesus, the One for whom he had prayed, interceded, and paved the way. The message of repentance and the method of how to do it were both changing. Jesus went to the people instead of the people having to come out to the wilderness. Jesus loved the previous structure and all the people in that structure. However, He knew a Kingdom was calling that He had to move forward to demonstrate the will of the Father for the NOW!

To embrace the new, you must let go of and quit clinging to the familiar. As a matter of fact, if you hold onto the last structure, you will be limited in how you can grow, mature, and efficiently operate in time in your place of stewardship. Here are some of the areas in which we cling to the old:

-our thought process- we need a new way of thinking

-old methods- some are good, some are bad.

-yesterday's message- great revelation, not relevant today

-a narrow form- one that was pliable in the past season but is now becoming rigid

-established markets- creative products for a time, but now new innovation is required

Watch your passion level! When we start losing vision for our future, we start losing passion and energy to advance. We are people with passions and emotions like Elijah. Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. Cry out for new vision and allow the Lord to lead you from an old, familiar place. Sometimes our familiar surroundings tend to blind us. Jesus led the blind man out of time to heal him. The first time he touched his eyes, vision formed but was not clear. Cry out for clear vision! Notice the process of vision. Do not grow weary in the Lord's process or method. Allow him to touch you again! Allow clarity to come to your vision!

That was actually two days combined. The next day is really good too but I'll save that for another day. At the end of those days it gives scripture. For these two days was: Read Matthew 11. Meditate on Matthew 9. Memorize Matthew 9:17. Read Mark 8:22-26. memorize and meditate on Proverbs 18:16

Blessings,

Kimberly