Come With Me, Together We can Take the Long Way Home

"Come with me, together we can take the long way home" are not just lyrics in the Norah Jones song "The Long Way Home," but there, hidden beneath the notes and lyrics is something waiting to break from the pages. My song!

I have so much to say that has been happening in our lives, some things have been revealing God's goodness and others have been showing us that we need to depend on him for grace to get through it!!

In the book "Relationships, a mess worth making," the author states, "Every painful thing we experience in relationships is meant to remind us of our need for him. And every good thing we experience is meant to be a metaphor of what we can only find in him."

This past year was a really hard season for my husband and I. We had trials, arguments, pain and suffering! Through the pain, God was so faithful and kind to reveal our sin and his love for us. His provision through this roller-coster has been so evident, and I tremble at the thought of how much he loves me!

This season, however short as it may be, has been so relaxing and enjoyable. Just to give you a little background, my husband is a teacher, he just got a job in Athens Tn, (or is in the process of getting), where he will be working for a boss that has the same vision and goals as we do! The city of Athens is what we are looking for, and we are so excited to see what God has in store next year for us!!

In the meantime, however, since David is a teacher, and it is the summer, we have been living in Cookeville and just basically spending time with each other. We have gotten to hang out with old friends and watch one full season of Lost. Silly as it may be, we have been relishing this time and holding tightly to every moment!!!

I can most confidently say that I know what it means to be brought low and I know what it means to abound. I know that whatever my season may be, I am called to depend on Christ alone and not myself. Deut 8 says:

Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. ³ He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. ⁴ Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. ⁵ Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you...

¹⁰ When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. ¹¹ Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. ¹² Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, ¹³ and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, ¹⁴ then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. ¹⁵ He led you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. ¹⁶ He gave you manna to eat in the desert, something your fathers had never known, to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you. ¹⁷ You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me." ¹⁸ But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.

What this means is that no matter my season of life, whether it is ridiculously hard or a fruitful season abounding with the most delectable fruit, God is working. He is always working good for me, and always pouring his kindness on me!

So, like the song lyrics, I do feel I am taking the long way home, that David and I are far from finding out where we need to be, but regardless of the terrain, my goal is Christ!

"So we make it our aim to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it."

Thank Christ for his provision of atonement on the cross. He was perfect, yet took the wrath reserved for me! Not because of anything that I did, but because of his great mercy he was punished in my place!!!