Vision & Surrender

Today marks one year of my husband and I living in Germany! It's crazy to think of when we landed in Frankfurt on August 30, 2011, and consider how far the Lord has brought us since then - what we've experienced, the challenges we've faced, how we have grown and the ways God has used us. All with incredible blessings and lessons along the way! God is SO faithful...always.

As we were reflecting last night on what an adventure it's been, we were faced with the need to remind ourselves to continually surrender. God gave us a vision and has led us and provided for us, but oh how easy it is to take matters into our own hands!

"It makes a difference whether you were sent, or whether you just went..."
 
God gave us a clear vision of what our work and ministry here were to look like: "Bringing restoration to your family and my Glory to Germany," He said. And as we shared that vision with family, friends, and our church, we were supported on all sides and all the love, advice, encouragement, and prayers felt to us like fuel in our jet that was preparing for "take off." We didn't go on our own strength; we knew we were called, and we had people standing by us (thank you!)

And now we are here. It hasn't always been easy, but obedience isn't always comfortable. We have adjusted though, and are feeling quite at home. In fact, we thought that if God were to now tell us to move, even to the next village, that would be kind of hard for us! To leave our nice apartment that we've invested time and money into decorating so it's just our style? Our cozy fireplace? Our newly renovated kitchen? Our quiet neighborhood? But the key is that IT'S NOT "OURS." We need to live with open hands and intentionally acknowledge that it is God's house and God's time and God's ministry and God's marriage and His heart for our family members here is bigger than any love we have for them! It's HIS vision and HIS will.

It's easy to walk in excitement when God gives you a vision or reveals a next step, etc. But the key is to remain just as dependent on His Spirit, just as attentive to His Voice, and just as denying to yourself one month, one year, or 30 years later as you were during the time you were seeking His will in the first place. It's like Paul's tough exhortation to the Galatians: "Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?" (3:3). Beware of becoming comfortable, becoming competent in your own strength, becoming apathetic. 

We serve a God who is all about relationship and he LOVES to communicate with us! He has a good plan and he doesn't mean for it to be difficult or mysterious to discover His will. It is easy - His word says, " If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him" (James 1:5). When we're lacking wisdom or don't know the way, all we have to do is ask! But here's the key -  "When he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.  That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does" (vs. 6-8). God is generous and freely gives out wisdom - without fault. He doesn't stand there thinking, "Come on, can't you figure this out on your own? Why are you so uncertain? Don't you get it?" He delights to give.  

But the key is this: I can't ask for wisdom yet still insist on doing it my way.

One of my pet peeves (spoiler alert: insight into our marriage!) is when my husband asks me about something, for example, "Hmm, should I eat cherry or strawberry yogurt today?" and then when I answer, he ends up doing the exact opposite. I suppose that's just because he's extroverted and needs to think aloud :-) But it makes me laugh every time and I always say, "Why do you ask if you're not gonna do what I suggest anyway?!"

Well, it works the same with God. We can't ask Him to direct our steps and then when He shows us the path we say, "Oh actually the other one looks more appealing." His plans are *always* good and even if we don't understand them, we have to be willing to obey. God doesn't like to reveal his heart if He can't trust us to live out what He speaks to us.

So...it comes back to surrender. In my life, it meant moving across the ocean to my husband's homeland and taking care of my sick mother-in-law. The Lord has given us the great blessing of getting involved with a discipleship center here as well. Obedience and the unfolding of the Lord's vision for your life will likely look different for you, but one thing is the same:

"The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it" 
(1 Thessalonians 5:24).

Transplanting

They came in a can. I opened the lid, set the can by the window, and added water...a little bit...every other day.

After a couple of months they looked like this:

I was thrilled that something was at least growing in my house! My roses, parsley, and lavender have all turned brown and dried up. Maybe I have a "black thumb" (as my mom likes to say!)

I admired the tomatoes in this can for awhile, marveling at their ability to grow and produce fruit. How something can come from seemingly nothing is always amazing to me!

 I finally realized it was time to do something with them, since there wasn't much more room for them to grow in the little can the seeds came in. So I started the transplanting process:

 Slowly, carefully taking out each individual plant and gently pulling it out by the roots and placing it in a bigger container with new soil.

Ta-da! :-)

I'm sure those little plants are happy to have more room to breathe. I'm sure they would have started to shrivel up had I not moved them to a bigger pot. I'm sure their roots would have become tangled or moldy if they were not separated. I'm sure that now they can GROW.

Isn't that the point of transplanting? Giving something more room so that it can grow? I worked in a greenhouse one summer and stood for hours on end in a type of assembly line, poking my fingers into soil, making room for seeds to fall into, or for small vegetables or flowers to be transplanted. 

Growth is linked to transplantation. Yes it is also linked to other factors like water and sunlight, but if a plant continues to receive water and sunlight while it remains in a small pot when there is potential for more, it will not grow fully or healthily.

In the last few months I've seen growth in my own life, and I realized it's because I've been transplanted. I was reading through some old journal entries the other day in which I recorded parts of our journey of contemplating moving to Germany and praying about what we were supposed to do after Bible School. Allow me to share this entry from April 13, 2011:

Ecclesiastes 3 says 'There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven. ' What stood out to me is verse 2 - 'a time to plant and a time to uproot.' It seems that leaving Prairie will in a sense be uprooting. But Germany won't just be about planting; it's about trans-planting. Perhaps this Bible School is too small of a pot - good for a season, but ultimately my roots won't be able to grow any more or expand to their full potential. Moving Germany isn't  about destroying what's already been planted in my life, but about transplanting so there's room for more growth.

Little did I know at that time exactly what type of "pot" God was transplanting me into. Here I am now, over a year later, having lived here for 9 months and having experienced so much, being challenged and changed along the way. 

Looking back I know that if we had not moved here my roots would have remained shallow. If I had stayed in my small comfortable pot soaking up the sun, I never would have grown and expanded like I am doing now. I was so content with where I was back then and wouldn't have minded staying there forever, but God had a bigger pot for me.

I feel like I am in such an exciting season of life right now; it is hard to describe. It's not always easy, but I simply know deep in my heart that yes, this is indeed where God wants my husband and I . I never would have dreamed it and some days, on the hard days, I wish it wasn't so, but I know God is doing a deep work in me. This doesn't discount the last "pot" I was in - it was extremely vital soil for me to learn to bloom and bear fruit in. But whenever God takes us out of our comfort zone by transplanting us, it means there's even more potential. It feels sometimes like the rug is being pulled out from under my feet, or should I say that my roots are being harshly yanked out from the soil I was so familiar with, but as I settle into new soil - spiritually, emotionally, relationally - my roots find their way down and I am strengthened and refreshed, excited about the potential for more.

Jeremiah 17:

⁵ This is what the Lord says:

“Cursed is the one who trusts in man,
    who depends on flesh for his strength
    and whose heart turns away from the Lord.
⁶ He will be like a bush in the wastelands;
    he will not see prosperity when it comes.
He will dwell in the parched places of the desert,
    in a salt land where no one lives.

⁷ “But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
    whose confidence is in him.
⁸ He will be like a tree planted by the water
    that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
    its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”



 

The Story of Hans...

Thought I'd share a neat little God-story from a week ago at the airport. (By the way, we've arrived safe and sound in Germany and are loving it so far!)

In an effort to find the cheapest way to move our stuff overseas, we divided up our luggage between us, some friends who are also visiting Germany right now, and my parents who will be coming to visit in two weeks. It was much cheaper for each person to have one additional bag than for us to bring 8 or 10. But as we were finishing packing on the day we were leaving, we realized we had too much stuff and needed an extra bag. We debated about whether we really needed it or not, since it would be expensive to bring...and finally we decided we'd just go for it.

On our way out the door, Mogi remembered that he needed to call a couple that had been wanting to get together with us but it just never worked out so far for us to meet. So he phoned, thanking them for their invitation and saying sorry that it won't be possible since we were just on our way out. The wife commented that her husband was also just leaving, bringing a friend of theirs to the airport. Interested, Mogi asked, "Oh, where is your friend flying to?" The answer was Frankfurt. "Really? What time?" 7:20pm that evening. "No way! What airline?" Condor. Wow! The exact flight we would also be taking in 6 hours. He asked if their friend would be willing to take an additional piece of luggage...so the wife ran out to catch them, and the answer was yes. God had provided!

So we set up a time and place to meet this man at the airport. All we knew was that his name was Hans. When we arrived, we couldn't find him anywhere though. We waited for awhile and even asked a few strangers if their name was "Hans," but to no avail. We joined the check-in line, always looking around for someone who might be looking for us. Finally, it was our turn to go up to the counter, and we decided he must have already checked in, so we would just have to pay for our additional luggage. The computer was acting up at that station, so we had to move to a different one. At that one the lady had to call someone else to help get the program running there too. As we were waiting, and older man came up to the counter beside us, trying to communicate with the check-in lady but not knowing English. Mogi understood that he had a question about his seat or something, and offered to translate. So he helped back and forth to get the problem resolved, and at one point he looked down at the man's passport and saw "Hans..." Suddenly they were talking back and forth, "Are you the Hans I'm supposed to meet?" "Yes, I couldn't find you!" And on it went, then Mogi threw one of our suitcases onto his cart and it got checked in right away.

Right at the last minute, God has provided! We were kind of stunned that after waiting for an hour and not finding each other, then having to move because of technical problems, God brought him right to us. Mogi said he was reminded of the principle that "it is a blessing to be a blessing." If he hadn't offered to help translate, we never would have known it was Hans.

Isn't God good? He cares about even the small things in our lives, such as saving money when moving. I read a cool verse yesterday: "Ask the Lord for rain in the springtime." Basically, ask the Lord for what we need!  Zechariah 10:1 - "Ask the Lord for rain in the springtime; it is the Lord who makes the storm clouds. He gives showers of rain to men, and plants of the field to everyone."

God knows what you need in this season of your life, and he is ready to "satisfy your desires with good things" (Psalm 103:5). Do not worry about your life, we read in Matthew 6; your Heavenly Father knows what you need! And he cares about the details.

Feeling alive spiritually...

Well we're in the middle of packing up and getting ready to move! Our neighbors are leaving tomorrow for a trip to Germany and have offered to take some extra luggage for us, so we're getting two suitcases ready to send off with them. The house is looking emptier and as we begin to say goodbye to everybody the whole thing is starting to feel more real. Exciting but kind of bittersweet at the same time...

But I'm just about finished writing our first newsletter...if you'd like a copy, comment or email/facebook me and I'll get you one!

On another note, a question that Mogi and I have been pondering lately is: when do you feel the most spiritually alive? Our spiritual journeys have seasons to them, and there's times where we feel more alert, more passionate, more engaged, more...alive. What are those times for you?

I've been encouraged by my husband's thoughts on this. He says that for him, it's when he's living in reality. He lets God be God, and he is aware that he is just himself––"what is man that you are mindful of him?" It's the times of acknowledging that God is sovereign and in control instead of trying to figure everything out or make stuff happen ourselves. It's those times when we're keenly aware of our own shortcomings, and overwhelmed by the grace of God that sustains us each day. It's when we praise and thank God and choose to rejoice even when we don't understand.

It's those deep conversations with friends while drinking coffee when we share life and are honest with each other,  reminding one another that God is God and God is good.

What are those times for you?