A place called In-Between

Dearly Beeloveds,

It has been a wild month for the Joneses.  We have made a stop-over at the place called: “In-between”, or “In Transition”, and have been here for quite some time.  Keeping all the ‘normalities’ running as usual when there is little stability around us has been harder than I ever imagined it would be.

Since our move to the Cape province, and finding firstly where God wants us to be situated, we are still looking for a more permanent place to stay and don’t have a spot called ‘home’ yet. We have had our full share of traveling around, many stop-overs and visits, and more than enough pack-ups and clean-ups in the process!  I know that without God’s grace we would never have been able to take on this journey and remain sane. Also, we would have been lost had it not been for the selfless support and kindness of my amazing parents and other dear friends who Our Father has placed alongside of us on our journey – for them we are very, very grateful and consider ourselves extremely blessed!   They have all opened their hearts and homes to us without reservation, even though accommodating our family of 7 and all our weird ways and differences is no small sacrifice to make.

I have never considered myself someone who is tied down to places or things and am always ready for an adventure, but I must confess that the uncertainty of the last couple of weeks has been a tremendous stretch.  I have been feeling that things are simply taking much longer than they should.  Overwhelmed with the feeling that the workload is simply too much, that God must have forgotten us, that somehow there is more I am supposed to be doing to ‘make things happen’..

But God in His grace has reminded me, again, that our faith is in Him and not in me.  It is in His good nature, His promises, His love for us, His strength, His goodness.  I felt such a tremendous weight lifting from my shoulders when I received this revelation.  Again. As I have needed to receive it many times before in my life.  I have again lifted up a huge weight onto my shoulders and have been carrying a heavy load that is simply not from Him. 

Sometimes I need to be humble enough to accept that things do not always work out the way I may have planned or hoped, that the road I am called to walk is not always glamorous, and that there can be no ‘lifting up’ if there is not a ‘laying down’ first. 

And so again I have re-aligned my heart to His, submitted my feet to where He wants to lead us, and presented my hands ready to do what He is calling me to do.  Even though the adventure He sends us on is may not always be glamorous or fun.  It is my attitude, more than anything, that will determine how pleasurable this journey will turn out to be.  

I have placed my trust back where it belongs- with the only One Who is able and trustworthy enough to have it.  Trusting that He is in control of our past and of our future, and that He will never leave us or forsake us.  That the right opportunities will open up for us at the right time, that He is the good Shepherd who will lead us to green pastures, to the places where we need to be and to the place where we will find our home and be in perfect alignment with His perfect will for us.  That there is a reason for the delay, and that there is overflowing grace for us to navigate through this season. 

Practically, God has laid on my heart to do some simple life changes- to focus less on generalities, and more on the things I know He has called me to do. I believe that sometimes, in order to be a good steward of what God has entrusted to us, we may have to let go of things that may seem good and beneficial or even necessary, in exchange for those we know He is requiring us to do.

In the same way that our life and baggage has been greatly reduced in this season (we are basically traveling around with our a weekly supply of groceries, clothes, schoolbooks and a box full of Beeloved!), I have been feeling the need to reduce on the number of things I am ‘passively’ involved in. I believe it is a season of traveling light, that my feet need to be walking where He is leading and my hands busy with the things He desires for me to be busy with.  No more and no less. 

“We have become His poetry- a recreated people that will fulfill the destiny he has given each of us, for we are joined to Jesus, the Anointed One.  Even before we were born, God planned in advance our destiny and the good works we would do to fulfill it!”

I am praying that you too, Beeloveds, will be able to travel light in this season of transition.  That we will be humble enough and able to lay ourselves and our own desires down, so that in due time, God’s perfect time, He may lift us up.  Praying that God leads our feet in paths of light and righteousness, into the places He has prepared for us to walk and occupy since before the foundations of the world.  May this be a focused, fruitful, and blessed season!

Bee blessed, Beeloveds