Lovely Fuzzy Slippers

When I find slippers I like, I hang on to them.

I think I received my black fleece Land's End slippers from my dad and stepmom when I was in high school. I still have them and wear them. Hard sole, soft top. If I'm walking on cold floors a lot, I really like them. And, they can go outside in a jif if I need to.

But, my all time favorite "slippers" are these fuzzy sock-like things.
During a long road trip, I bought these in a shop because my feel were cold in the car. I want to say it was during our first trip to Texas when we were moving here in 2007.

They had little nubby anti-slip spots on the bottom. Those have worn off long ago.

The whole thing hugs my foot and provides great warmth without lots of bulk. I wore them all the time, then they went missing. I could not find them anywhere! I mean, I looked everywhere in my house, the car, and the garage for these slippers. It frustrated me beyond belief. I ended up buying a pair of some other slippers, but they never measured up.

Then, in early December I went into the auditorium storage room at GFA. I glanced to the top of a cabinet that had the supplies I was looking for and guess what was on top of that cabinet?!

My slippers!!!!

I reached for the fuzzy mass on top of the cabinet and began laughing out loud.

I used to lay our kids down in that room during our Friday All Night prayer meetings. I must have left them in there. Then, we stopped laying the kids down there. That was probably sometime in 2009!

Sometimes, it's the smallest things that can make you smile....and keep your feet happy!

Hard Questions - Final Part for Now

I've had a few of my friends mentioned that it seemed I changed my mind after my first blog post about these articles and questions. So, I wanted to briefly clarify (in case someone is reading who cares about the discussion but hasn't asked me).

When I first wrote the post about Hard Questions, I wasn't really saying I agreed completely with the articles. I just said that they put some questions in my mind.

I've struggled with the church's use of the words "God's will", "calling", God "speaking" to us individually, etc. for several years. It's something Joel and I discuss on a somewhat regular basis.

Part of it stems from seeing friends change their position on things they were adamant about at one time. Part of it has come from people asking us how we knew we were "called" to move to Harrisburg or join GFA staff. I'm sure it wouldn't surprise any of you to know that not everyone likes the decisions we've made in life...serving in ministry, moving, having more than one kid, what we name our children, how we raise our kids, how we educate our kids, what we eat, etc. When you talk to some people about these kinds of decisions, some say "God told me...".

We have said "God led us to...".

That's where this issue came from.

Have we tried to "pass the buck" and "blame" God for decisions we've made? How has God led us? Should we be more careful when we say God told us to do something? Perhaps we need to be using different verbiage.

I put the articles on the blog so others could read it and encourage/challenge me with their thoughts and insights. I appreciate the feedback I've gotten. I'm already feeling like I'm in a totally different place with my mind understanding things more clearly.

In future weeks I may blog about specific topics within the book and articles that have resonated with me or things I didn't agree with. But, for now, this will wrap up the Hard Questions. I'm always open to emails or feedback, so comment or send me a note and we can keep dialoguing about it.

Some Hard Questions - God's Will

I emailed a friend tonight and was explaining a little of what I learned today. After I wrote it, I was pleased with how I explained it (one reason I haven't tried to explain more on here yet....can't seem to make it sound right).

So, here are my latest thoughts:

I was re-reading the little book I mentioned in my blog post about finding God's will.

Today I read the chapters about the different kinds of God's will, so to speak. The author talked about God's will of decree (what happens is what God wills and what God wills is what happens; His overall sovereignty), God's will of desire (the commandments; how God wants us to act--loving, kind, humble), and then God's will of direction.

He asserts that we get hung up on His will of direction (totally focused on the future and making decisions that are not even moral decisions). I read the book a year ago and some things really shook me up. I think it was my initial impression of the book and thinking the author was arguing that God doesn't guide us. He really doesn't say that at all.

Rather, he says we need to trust in God's sovereignty and be focused on obeying the commands (act justly, love mercy, walk humbly with God) and then live life!

It's very liberating...and that's his whole point. He maintains that we end up being useless for God and lazy because we do nothing until we feel like we know exactly what God is willing for us to do. Instead, he says God's will of direction is sort of discovered as we are walking day by day.

It's not a map to follow, but is the trail we leave behind.

We take it one step at a time...anything ahead of that is not trusting God.