Eclipsed by His Glory: STAY small and live LARGE!

Ok, For starters, I have a couple of funny stories to share:

Would you believe that I sent my 2 year old to my friend/sitter's house ... COMMANDO? Yes, on friday, he wanted to go on his big boy potty so I took his diaper off and threw it away. We were in a rush to get the big kids to school and I put him on the step stool, washed his hands, and whoop! pulled up those pj pants on his bare buns. I dropped him off at Mrs. Tif's just like that.. yep, good ole commando! A couple hours later, through laughter and tears, she called to tell me what she had discovered. Thank goodness he hadn't baptized her house, but had kept his ~~diaper~~ pajama pants dry the entire time!

Another funny thing happened with Hen man today on the way to church. We were about 5 minutes late and I did not want to miss worship. He was slowly meandering through the parking lot, so I turned around and said curtly.. "Henry, Pick up the PACE, man!" You would have thought he would have fallen in line, and scurried hurriedly along to catch up with me, but no! ... he STOPPED RIGHT THERE and slowly looked around at the ground around him and said, "Momma...(long pause) I don't see any toothpaste on the ground!" O. M. G. "Come AAWWWNNN," I said, "I mean HURRY UP!!!"

So, that being said, I just got TIMELINE on my Facebook. Have you made the switch? I was looking back at my history and I noticed that on January 4th, I wrote this status update while sitting in the carpool line at the kids' school:

"I believe that each of us truly has a longing inside to be a part of something bigger than ourselves. Something great, with a higher purpose than to bless our own already richly blessed lives. What we cannot do is look at the things God is pressing on our hearts to do through the eyes our limited energy, time, and resources. He is infinite and where He leads, He will dwell and fill all the inadequate spaces. All He needs is surrender and obedience."

And here's what I want to say about this. In my tiny, feeble, little world, I have learned that if this statement is true, if it is true in my own heart and the hearts of my family, then I believe we need to position ourselves in a way that will allow His kingdom plans and purposes to take first place in our lives.

In the past year or so, we have been discussing looking for a bigger house. Maybe one with a basement, a big back yard, and plenty of rooms for our growing family to spread out. I mean, for cryin' out loud, I'm trying to run a business up in here. And we have opened ourselves up to the very real possibility of adding to our family one day. So with the help of a dear friend and agent, in late October, we started looking at some houses. And we found one that we just loved. It was perfect for our family. In every way, absolutely perfect. And honestly in today's market, it wasn't too extravagantly priced.

We wanted that house. We really, really wanted that house. In fact, as it turns out, that home was personal to us. It was the home of a very dear friend of mine whose husband had just been transferred to Ohio. I wanted that home to be the answer for us. I also wanted us to be the answer for them. And it made perfect sense to us. Clearly God had purposed this. However neither Sean nor I could get a total peace about pursuing it further. Everything came to a screeching halt. It wasn't that the Lord said, "NO!" in a way that was super obvious. I mean, sure, we could have moved forward, bought the house, and probably been fine. And the Lord would have still blessed us. But we would not have been positioning ourselves in the way that He had so clearly spoken for us do.

We had to lay that house and all of our desires, and even our hopes to be "the answer" for our friends, at the foot of the cross and walk away. And we had to trust Him that He works all things for the good of those who love HIM and are called according to His purposes. And so we did.

The Lord says clearly in His word to "Seek first His kingdom and all of these things will be added unto us".. He also says in Psalm 37:4, "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart"

You see, God showed us that it wasn't at all that the house was a bad thing. It is a lovely, beautiful home. It is a truly blessed home and I pray that it will be an absolute blessing to the person who closed on that home the week before Christmas :)
But we were getting ahead of God, and that gnawing feeling in our stomach told us just that. An absence of Peace is that way I can usually discern the Lord holding me back from something. How else would you explain me having a TOTAL and COMPLETE peace as I sent my beloved friend and husband off to the heart of Africa for 8 days?

The Lord simply said, "Delight yourself in ME, Seek ME, and then all your needs will be taken care of"

So we stayed small, So we could live LARGE in the peace and purposes of Jesus. And sure, things do get tight at times, but we have never been more thankful for our home. And we know ,that we know, that we know... that FOR NOW, we are exactly where we are supposed to be. And that's a good feeling.

It's funny. A friend of mine, actually a pretty new friend of mine, (one of those surprise friends that GOD drops out of the sky and lands them in your lap when you didn't even know you needed another friend) shared a very similar story on her blog yesterday. Her name is Joy. Joy's husband Scott, is who Sean traveled to Uganda with last week. And they had an amazing time literally walking in the plans and purposes of God for His dearly loved children in Uganda.

Anyway, you can read about the Harty's journey here:

http://www.thefruitfulfamily.com/

I don't know all of what God is planning. But I can tell He's always up to something big. He needs us to position ourselves in a way that says we mean business.. Seeking Him above all else. And wherever He wants us to take us for His purposes, we want to position ourselves like the bridesmaids, with their lamps on their stands. We want to be ready.

I have more to share about *POSITIONING OURSELVES* and will look forward to mentioning some practical ways to do so (even with small children) in the coming days.

And I mean, if choosing to stay in a smaller house means your husband gets to do this: