No Turning Back

It’s been way too long since I last wrote….but believe me, it’s not because I have had nothing to say.  These last few weeks have been hectic to say the least.  God has been moving in our lives, and at a breakneck pace.  I knew I had to get back on here, make the time…..when I received my second phone call in as many days wondering where I had gone and if everything was okay.  I was told by one of these callers that I had to make the time….I had to get my thoughts out there…..because even 5 words may be the 5 words that someone may need.

So here goes…..

School is starting back up next week….and with that being said, we haven’t been very happy lately with our children’s school.  My wife had begun to have the itch for a change….and unbeknownst to me, she had been doing her research.  The Saturday before last she set up an appointment in a new housing development in the school system she wanted to enroll our children.  We didn’t really see anything we were interested in, but on the way home I pulled into another neighborhood…..one we hadn’t planned on looking at.  We parked at the model, walked inside and ran into a real estate agent that we had talked to 5 years ago when we moved to Beaufort.  At the time, he didn’t impress us much, but on this day…..in this place…..he was just what we were looking for.

He was extremely busy, but we set up an appointment to come back the next day.  Oh yeah, that would have been on a Sunday…..a Sunday that we had planned on attending Elevation Church in Charlotte….only to not have room at the “lodge” for our puppies to stay that weekend.  Long story short, the next day we signed a contract on a new house…..new as in the permits haven’t even been finalized yet….all that is there is a new road…..Horizon Trail (How about that name for a leap of faith.)

So now a week later…..after much thought and prayer….our house goes on the market tomorrow.  The last week has been insane, but this house is clean, clutter-free, and ready for the next homeowner.  Oh yeah, and did I mention that the reason we wanted to move was because of the children’s school?  Well we had applied for a lottery to get our kids in the local charter school, but that didn’t happen…….until today when we received the call that there was a spot…………….a little too late.

But you see, that’s fine….because we decided last week to burn the cart….to go all in….to make the move that had been placed in front of us to better our lives.  When Elijah found Elisha in the field, he threw his mantle on him and said, “Let’s go!!!”  But Elisha had one thing to do before leaving…..”So he returned from following him, and took the pair of oxen and sacrificed them and boiled their flesh WITH THE IMPLEMENTS OF THE OXEN, and gave it to the people and they ate.  Then he arose and followed Elijah and ministered to him (1 Kings 19:21.)

So what exactly does that mean….boiled their flesh with the implements of the oxen?  Elisha….burned……the……cart!!!!!  Not only did he get up and follow someone he had never seen before, but he sacrificed his oxen and burned the cart to cook them with.  He got rid of EVERYTHING that would hold him back…..the things that would draw him back when times got tough.  Elisha went all in.

So on a weekend we weren’t even supposed to be home…we bought a house…on a weekend we were supposed to be in a Church, a Church that first introduced me to this very story of Elijah and Elisha….when there was no room at the “inn” and we bumped into someone who once, a long time ago, we would never have dreamed of buying a home from…….God put us in this place.  God provided the plan…the circumstances.  And what I’ve learned is that God’s plan is always there….but you have to be willing to take that leap of faith.  Because playing it safe, not having faith, won’t get you anywhere.

Faith is very powerful.  One time the disciples asked Jesus why they couldn’t drive the demon out of a man’s son.  “And he said to them, Because of the littleness of your faith;  for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to the mountain, Move from here to there, and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you (Matthew 17:20.)”

So I tell you…..MOVE THE MOUNTAINS!!!!!  Stop standing idle why others are moving their own mountains.  Don’t watch others step out in faith and wonder why nothing ever comes to you.  Just check out these lyrics from one of my new favorite songs from Elevation Worship, and take that chance.  Have that faith.  Pray that God will open your mind, your eyes, and your heart to let you see the plans He has for you.  And then burn your cart…go all in….because halfway never got anyone anywhere they wanted to be.

Do It Again

“I’ve seen You move, come move the mountains
And I believe, I’ll see You do it again
You made a way, where there was no way
And I believe, I’ll see You do it again”