More Lessons

I wanted to make sure and put some substance on this blog rather than just pictures. There are a few more teachings from our transition our West that I wanted to share, mostly for our benefit, so we can look back someday and remember what God has taught us!

-Manna...

To think of eating the same thing, day after day, month after month, picking it up from the ground. In the world of fast food and restaurants galore, to fathom this may be impossible. But the concepts behind manna are provision & contentment. What God provides is what we are to be content with. So hard to do! Taking God's manna earlier this year was a hard thing to swallow (no pun intended!) Accepting His allotment of money, materials, work...accepting limitations, obstacles, waiting periods...accepting the raw deal rather than the lavish lifestyle. And doing all this with a sense of gratitude! In no way shape or form did we do this well, but it gives me more insight into Phil. 4:13. That verse is not intended to make Christ seem like a superhero, or help give us courage in times of fear. Paul is describing beforehand all the times he has been with and been without. And he sums it up by saying: All that I've been through, I've learned that I can be content in all these situations through the power of Christ. That is how you live with manna!

-Goodness

Reading 'The Shack' last fall, I realized that I have viewed God with a variety of attributes, but lacked a larger sense of His goodness. What did God's 'goodness' mean? How could I partake in His goodness? I wanted to have a better understanding, so I started praying religiously, "Lord, help me to understand & experience your goodness." I waited for a few weeks and kept on praying, all the while being at a very low point personally. I waited for a sign, an event, a change in global warming, something tangible I could point to. Eventually one day, while sitting at the desk in Jason's parents' apt, I silently yelled to God, "Hello?! I've been asking you for quite a while now to experience your goodness. That is not too much to ask for. Plan on answering me any time soon?!" And this thought struck me immediately afterward: "Uh, Stephanie, I am not good because of what I do or what circumstance you end up in...I am good because I am good." Whoa. Humility. Needed smack in the face. Ever sense then, I have realized I've always experienced God's goodness, but merely taken it for granted or labeled it as ordinary. God's goodness is everywhere...it is simple, it is complex, it is seen and unseen, involving us at times and yet existing without anything. God is good...and we, His creation, are the most tangible piece of this attribute.