The Drummer

One thing I find so interesting about G-d is how He gives vision... if you are seeking his will. Sometimes that vision doesn't really add up in your manner of thinking but you continue to press because you can just "feel" it is Him and not you. So when, after moving from Chicago, we started meeting people and having relationships with people and visiting peoples' homes we were a little baffled as to why we were being drawn to certain families that seemed so very different from us and what we had always known. One of the very first of these was a family where the dad was going to be leaving his job in just a few months to head up the family farm business and there were 11 people, 9 of them children, living under one roof. After a wonderful dinner with this family my husband and I felt for sure there was "a change a coming".
My husband and I both grew up on the busy city streets of Chicago. I had grown up being satiated by the excitement of the city. That only grew as I got older. There never had to be a dull, quiet moment in the city. I had travelled quite a bit as a child and went away to college so I had seen some places and really often thought it would be wonderful to live in another "city". After my husband joined the military, we knew we most certainly wouldn't stay in Chicago but really had no indication that coming back would not be part of our long term plans. What else was part of OUR plans? Me working outside the home had quickly been thrown out with the trash. I think that was one of those things G-d let us think was our idea until I tried to go back to work later and we found out who had really been the author of that decision. He really does have a sense of humor. We had wanted children. We had 4; a big family by today's standards. But were today's standards G-d's standards? The next matter to arise was educating our children at home. What does that mean? What about socialization??(side joke for all other parents of unsocialized homeschoolers)Is that legal??? I know now that it is because we do educate our children at home but at the time I had only heard of one person even mention it. The list does not stop there but those are some of the majors. Fast forward a few years Jonathan's job moves us to Texas. We had no doubt in our minds that we wanted to have a home in the country and try raising? chickens, maybe. And so here we are in the first phase of that process. We have our home in the country with a little bit of land and as we start our research on planting for the spring and getting some laying hens it makes me think honestly who are these people? What is really going on here? As I watched my children come out of the house the other day with their homemade flags and weapons they had made (they were doing a reenactment of the fighting that went on between Spain and France over Florida in the 16th century)I realized that G-d was accomplishing His work in our lives and in theirs. They have totally embraced this life that "we" are chiseling out for them and are very content. Romans 12:2 NLT "Don't copy the behaviors and customs of this world, but let G-d transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect." Had you asked me 10 years ago what I thought my life would look like I am not sure what I would have answered. I know the life that I have would not have been my answer. We are different. You could say we march to the beat of a different drummer. The bible says KJV Pater 2:19 "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people that ye should shew forth the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light." We have been called out. For us we were called out of the city first and after that we continued to be called to be different. Different from the world around us, the "world" we grew up in, the "world" where we were comfortable because we look just like everyone else. There are times when I struggle and think it would be so much easier to "fit" in. But I know in the end it wasn't me who came up with this vision for my life. My Father who art in Heaven thought enough to plan this life out because he wanted me to have the desires of my heart; desires that He gave to me before I even knew them for myself. He was changing our thinking and putting people in front of us so we could see what was possible for us. I desired a loving husband, a peaceful home full of laughter, and happy children to take care of and to pour myself into. I don't know what is next there are things that I desire to see in my life and home, but I know that in the end I "shall be like Him". There will always be distractions and noise so I continue to turn my ears to listen because I will only march to His rhythm. How about you? All G-d's children Step in Time!