God is faithful. Can I get an amen?
Can I say that without our friends, this Davenport ship would have been sunk by now? Amen. And without family it would have been sunk a good many months ago. Without God it never would have been.
Keith & I have been foraging through some down times, thinking "surely we'll be set by next month." And surely, when next month comes around, we aren't. What a test of our faith. And of each other. The other day I was driving home, and part of our wedding vows popped into my head (probably because we chose the traditional ones that appear in many a wedding, both real and fictional). And I was smiling about how prophetic those vows are: "Through richer, through poorer." Both are a challenge to our marriage. How desperately I desire to be in the middle!
We have had to come face-to-face with a desire for "enough" money, for a savings account, for, you know, the amount of money our friends make (it's so easy to compare yourself to your friends! don't do it!). And, for us, God has wrought us in his hands to drain out all that excess "need" to support ourselves, provide for ourselves, rest in the security we have built for ourselves. For us, extra money = safety, security, peace of mind, happiness. No where in this equation has God a place. He is not a part of it. And here is the problem.
God is giving us enough manna for one day at a time. If we try to collect extra it just rots. And that, friends, is counter-cultural.
We still wake up befuddled that two clever quirky people have fallen upon such hard times. And yet, our sort of poverty befits us. I'm not talking about our neediness, because once we cease to work and become dependent on others we become a part of the downward cycle we are working so hard to break. I'm talking about our dependency on God. For this time, he has called us to this life. Jesus told the certain young ruler he had to sell all his possessions to the poor and follow him to inherit eternal life. But he didn't tell Lazarus that, or Legion, or the blind man, or the Samaritan woman, or Peter, his mother, Saul. Because of his infinite wisdom he gave the certain young ruler this command, not necessarily meaning it universally.
For us at this time, we have felt called (or rather, lead) into a lifestyle of dependency. We have learned so much. Been so challenged. Been refined.
God has given us enough manna, every day we need it. He is our provider. We eat because of Yahweh! How awesome!
I hope some day I can talk more candidly about our "poverty." Now's not the time.
God provides for us through beautiful friendships, a thriving caring church, and wonderful leaders placed so strategically in our lives, who care deeply for us and our welfare (a holy love, no doubt, instilled in them by Yahweh). God is AMAZING!
We are looking ahead to exciting challenges that he has prepared for us. We are SO EXCITED. The time hasn't yet come for us to embrace them, but when it does, I'll let you know!
