Changes

Making changes in life is difficult. Especially when it comes to moving from place to place, from state to state and even country to country

It seems after finally settling in one place and getting on a daily routine, the call comes to move to yet another place.

I think the hardest part of being a military child (other then being a split family for a year) is moving from base to base every six months to four years. On the other hand, I like meeting new people and seeing the world from different perspectives.

_ _ _

*Recently, in fact this week, I read a comment from Ellen White on 1 Kings 18 that spoke to my heart. God did not keep Elijah in one place for very long. God moved him (Elijah) from place to place so that he wouldn't settle down at ease and get caught up in wrong influences. God moved him from place to place, taking him away from his friends and associates, to build his character into a strong, powerful worker for Him.

Even though moving often can be quite tiresome, God's chosen missionaries (everyone who loves Jesus and wants to serve Him) should represent Him in every way no matter the circumstance. In the time of crisis, while people around us are fearful and perplexed, we should show them that there is peace even in the time of storm. Every word and action affects those around us - including those people who don't understand our culture or language.

God may send us to places totally unexpected, but there is always a reason for it. In each place I've lived there has always been someone to minister to, lessons to learn and friends who encourage me along the way. With each new experience God gives, it strengthens us, draws us even closer to Him and leaves us to lean on the Everlasting arms of Jesus more and more.

So the reason God has chosen me, an American citizen (which I am very proud of), to go live in a country that I didn't desire to go to, (much less to live in) is to teach me new lessons that I couldn't of learned anywhere else. He took me out from my comforts, away from the country and people I love, away from the language I know, all for the purpose of having me learn to depend on Him wholly and let Him take control of the desires of my heart.
Even those times when I'm frustrated that I couldn't understand hardly anything in the sermon at church or those times when people speak so fast in German that there's not enough time for me to translate to myself and hear every word they speak - in those experiences God reminds me that I can't live here without Him and I certainly can't learn three languages at once without Him. He has allowed all these changes to come into my life, so I may learn that I cannot breathe one breath, take one step, speak one word or live one day without Him by my side.

*Idea from: Gospel Workers, page 270.