Saturday, February 27, 2010

His Ways Are Not Our Ways...

It is a lesson that I have been learning in life...
particularly this past year.
My faith has been stretched,
my drea
ms... have been revealed as such... only dreams,
my ideas have been questioned, my convictions challenged,
my way of thinking altered, my plans changed...
But His grace abounds.
In His goodness, He teaches me and grows me.
And I am thankful.




One of those things that He has been working
has come to fruition...
as we have received official orders from the Marine Corps,
and undoubtedly according to His perfect will and timing.
And it's because of how miraculously He has worked,
that He has blessed me with being able to accept it more easily.

Whether, in the eyes of others, it be right or wrong,
I had not really anticipated our children going to college.
I believed they would prepare to serve God from home
or, perhaps, in an apprenticeship or some other way He would lead.
When we graduated our eldest last June,
she looked forward to preparing for the mission field
in various ways from home.
We began making contacts with missionaries,
planning possible trips and attending a missions camp.

God was working, though, something in our eldest's heart.
And certain doors where not being opened for
our plans.
Then she shared with us how she felt the Lord
may actually want her to go to college
(even though she didn't really want to).
But she felt that the only one He would want her to go to
was across the continent in the state of California.
We, prayerfully, concluded that it was just too far away,
particularly at this time in her life.



She took it to the Lord in prayer,
resolving that if her parents did not want her to go there,
that meant the Lord did not want her to go.
And further prayed that if He did want her to go,
He would ne
ed to move the whole family to California
(knowing this was highly unlikely because there was no job
that Dad could do in California and we anticipated local orders.
And if those fell through, he had a request
by name,
for orders an hour away).
She left it at His feet and determined to proceed
with other plans of going to missions camp.

A few weeks later, my beloved and I received word
that we were, indeed, getting orders.
And this week, those orders became "official".
And they are NOT local, as we had expected...

We are going to California.
And we firmly believe, it is the Lord that is doing the sending.
It was such a surprise... we were stunned.
But Ally... she was amazed.
Amazed of His will for her.
Amazed that the Creator of all heard her prayer,
which was given in an almost jesting manner,
and that He would answer it in such an obvious way.
He showed her how He loves us in such a personal way...
That He cares and that HE can.

We shared tears and laughter.
We are blessed how He has shown Himself real to Ally...
to ALL of us.


He is love. He is good.
He IS real.


We look forward to seeing more of how He works His will.
We thank Him and give Him all the praise!
Rejoice with us!


"For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD."
~ Isaiah 55:8



18 comments:

Alesha said...

Christina, what a sweet story about your precious Ally! It is amazing how the Lord answers so clearly when we are whole-heartedly waiting for Him to move!

Very excited with you all, as you make this move. Just imagine what exciting things He must have planned for you!!!

Thank you for sharing,
Alesha

Rosie said...

Truly amazing~our God! Praise Him!

Susan said...

Oh, I loved reading this! How the Lord leads in our and our children's lives and doesn't leave us guessing or hanging on to our own ideas. Dare I guess that your daughter may be going to the same school as our sons? And that you may be living in that area, and that I might get to visit you someday? ;)

Unknown said...

Ah, this brought tears to my eyes. How good of the Lord to guide His children thus! He is faithful. Prayers for you all, and especially for Ally as the Lord continues to direct her path.

Lynn J. said...

Christina-

That is a wonderful account of how the Saviour has been working in your lives. I loved reading the 'details' of how the orders came to fruition!
I cannot wait to hear of your new adventures out West (that sounds strange still).
My best to you and your family. Tell Ally how happy I am for her and give her a big hug! <3 Lynn

Lindsey said...

WOW! What an amazing story! How incredible our God truly is! Sometimes it just takes my breath away, the way in which He works things out... Praising the Lord for Ally's amazing answer to prayer! Indeed, we do serve an AWESOME God!! :-)

Anonymous said...

I have something even more incredible to share with you :) I will write an email, though!

Michelle-ozark crafter said...

Isn't God amazing in the ways He sometimes answers prayers?

Elizabeth said...

Our God is so amazing! Praise His name. I can't imagine the wonders that he has in store for Ally.

Lena said...

The power of prayer. We love you all!

Jennifer said...

Christina,
That is simply amazing! God is amazing! I look forward to watch what the Lord has in store for her life, and for yours!
Jennifer S

Sherry @ Lamp Unto My Feet said...

Wow! God is awesome! :D Praise God for His providence for your family! Is she going to West Coast by chance? We have a few from our church that are there now and also have our former pastor from Japan's daughters there, too.

Heather @ Marine Corps Nomads said...

Wow! What an amazing story of God working everything for His good. Thank you for sharing the whole story.

PlainJane said...

Praise the LORD! Yes, He always seems to answer in ways that just make our mouths fly wide open and all's we need to do is stand back and watch. How cool is that? Better watch out when Ally prays!!! :) You can be thankful that she didn't want to go to the moon.

Unknown said...

God is truly amazing. It is so great to hear and see how a young lady was willing to wait on Him. I know God has something great in store for you all. God Bless you.
Marivel

Anonymous said...

What a blessing to here that Our God looks at every one in the family. How dear, each one of our children are to Him. You have blessed me today, your faith.

Alison said...

Wow! What in incredible answer to prayer. I am always so touched by stories of the Lord's obvious hand in the lives of His children. He is not a distant God, He is right here beside us, and He is so good!

Mrs. Taft said...

Amazing! May God bless you!

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