Fruit of The Spirit Friday 9*5*08

Over the last week, there has been one piece of scripture that has been popping up at me. Yesterday, there were times I either read the scripture on someone's blog for Thankful Thursday, or I heard it on K-Love, Touched By An Angel or some other form of media.

The scripture: Ecclesiastes 3:1-2
'There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:
a time to be born and a time to die..'

Three months ago, my husband received a job offer/promotion from the company he's been working for, for 4 years now. The offer/promotion? Become District Manager out of North Dakota....instead the Assistant Manager here in Utah. The offer came out of nowhere, and it was something that we talked about, prayed about, asked questions, asked opinions and waited patiently for God to be before us instead of rushing into something that seemed great at the time. That saying, 'There will always be greener pastures'.....no matter which side of the fence you're on, came to mind.

After we discussed and prayed about it, we prayed that if this was something the Lord wanted us to do that the company would offer to pay for us to go up and see what ND was all about. Now, myself being originally from SD made this move all the more of a blessing, as I would now be about 8 hours from my parents, sister, brother, and extended relatives. But this was something I did NOT want to think about, nor give me an excuse to want to take this offer when it could possibly be a 'bribe' from the devil.

The company did offer to pay for us to go up about 3 weeks later, and we left, just hubby and myself to have a business meeting with one of the head honchos before arriving in ND. We were suppose to be there about a week and a half, although it proved difficult to be content seeing the city day after day for 5 days without the children. So we decided to leave early.

We did VERY much enjoy the city we were visiting, the same city where the new shop would be, and also the very same city we would be living in. So came the decision to move. We said 'yes', we will take the job promotion.

Fastforward 3 months later.....our house has been packed for the last 2 months except for the necessary living materials, and we've got our house on the market waiting to sell, also fixing up things here and there that need to be done. The Lord has been faithful and before us every step of the way, but He has been teaching my husband two things: Patience and having Faith.

Which leads me to today's Fruit of the Spirit.

I said for years that 'Patience' was not a virtue I possessed. But I can honestly say that I am learning it. We knew that we would have some difficulty in finding financing for buying a new house in ND, which has proven true. We had fallen on some hard times 2 years ago, and it took me that long to get things paid off so they were not hindering us. However, because there were those problems, we now are waiting on the Lord to move that mountain for us so we can buy a new house. However, we are also waiting on the Lord to bring the people who are meant to buy the house as well. Which is having 'Faith' in Him. But more importantly, having the 'Patience' and the 'Faith' in His timing. His timing is NEVER too soon, nor is it EVER too late.

So I sit here, day after day, waiting on Him. Waiting for Him to speak to me about what needs to be done, Praising Him for every single blessing that He has given us, and every single blessing that we are about to receive from Him.

And boy does the devil like to give things to think about! It feels like we are in spiritual warfare right now, and the thing about it, it's not just my hubby, myself and my kids; but it's also my mom, grandmother (maternal), and my brother that are going through it. But day after day, the Lord shows me to be thankful for what we have. To wait on Him patiently, and to know that only He knows the plan for our life, and where our journey is taking us. Only He knows what awaits us through this new door, and having faith like that of a child is the only way to survive those 'flying by the seat of your pants' feeling. But knowing that the Lord is ever faithful, never changing, and loves us that much, allows me to humble myself and listen to His word. Patience is a virtue I'm learning to possess, and when the devil gives me those stumbling blocks along the way to hinder me, I know the Lord uses those stumbling blocks to 'strengthen' me!

Praise God, Thank you Jesus for ALWAYS teaching, pruning and leading Lord!

I hope you ALL have a VERY blessed day in Him!

May you all learn the joys of being patient, and the blessings that come from waiting on, and having faith as small as a mustard seed, in our Lord Jesus Christ!

In Christ' Love,
Audie