A New Beginning

Sometimes I plod through life knowing God is in control.  Sometimes I look back on events and see God's fingerprints at work in my life.  It's a rare season when I am fully aware and experiencing God as an event unfolds.  This is my story of God's mysterious workings.  

A few months ago I met my neighbors across the street for the first time.  She was expecting and wondered if I might want to watch her baby after she was born.  During that conversation, I could smell the aroma of Christ, but in my heart I was declining the offer.  That answer never sat well with me. I could feel stirrings in my heart and I began to wonder what God was up to. 

The next time I was able to visit with my neighbors, child care had not been settled.  During that conversation, God quietly whispered, "You can do this." I began to let the thought settle.  

One of life lessons God has taught me throughout the years when it comes to making decisions is this, "Sometimes there is no wrong decision.  God is big enough to work with whichever decision we choose."

With that lesson learned, I felt like this was different, a new lesson lay underneath the rock He was waiting for me to pick up.

I prayed.  I asked for wisdom, discernment.  I feared my heart was deceiving me. 

One day while I was praying, I went over with God the things holding me back. "What about my plans to train for a marathon." "Will taking this on hinder my role as wife and mother?"  "What about my needs?"

God said, "Trust me.  Allow me to take care of your needs.  There is a time and place for everything."

You would think I would have been on board at this point, but I was still tentative.  God continued pursuing me.   

I was reading Professor Grant Horner's Bible Reading System where you read 10 chapters in the Bible a day, but you skip around from book to book, only reading one chapter per book. 

I happened to be in the book of Judges.  

I read the story of Gideon and the fleece. Still not convinced if this was a request God was asking of me, I put out  a fleece.  I decided to wait.  If I was contacted once more to watch the new baby, that would be a sign this is what God wants. It happened. 

Just like Gideon, I still doubted!  

Throughout these weeks, I sought wisdom from others concerning the answer, and the same answer came from each of them, "Agree to watch the baby at least through Christmas break."

Before I was able to share my thoughts, I received another message from my neighbor.  "Even if you just wanted to watch the baby through Christmas break, we could find other arrangements at the beginning of the year." 

My second fleece.  

Amazing.  

 "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5-6