Bam!!!  My life in an incomplete sentence!  That’s me!  It hasn’t always been me, but as of late it’s a sad but perfect description.  Let me see if I can somehow boil the recent history down to set the scene.

First there was the flood that took our home and possessions seventeen months ago.  Followed by the uncertainty of what are we going to do and where are we going to live? Living in a hotel and out of a suitcase for nearly a month was…interesting.   God had a plan in a young family who owned a condo they were renovating and another one on the market.  They offered a place to live so we could have time to re-group mentally and make a plan for next steps.

Next, my full time grant funded job ended.  I knew that was coming and I really wasn’t worried.  Since re-entering the job market in 1994 I really had not needed to look far to find a job through several unexpected transitions.  These transitions included moving from Virginia back to Indiana to care for my dying father.  Then, we moved from my family’s hometown to rural southern Indiana.  Yet,  I did not expect anything to be different this time.  Besides, I reasoned, I have added more versatile experience and a master’s degree to my resume.  I thought finding a job should be easy.  Wrong!! Fifteen months later here I sit.  Hence my current dilemma.

We own three vehicles and only one is running.  Without a second income we are trying to keep our noses above water and that does not include additional expenses for vehicles or anything else at the moment. We are not destitute by any means, but we are on a tight budget with no real flexibility.  The savings we kept following our Financial Peace University went shortly after the flood and has not been replenished.

Bottom line is my beloved needs the car to go to work.  I have not really established relationships in our new community and not with anyone who lives nearby.  So I am here in a nice condo with lovely views of greenery all day every day.  Just me and Boss, the dog.  Since we live miles from town there’s no place to really walk to where I might engage with other people.

I’m by nature a people person.  I am energized being around other people.  For all those times I wished I just had some ‘down time’ to re-group, relax, and do all those things I never have time to do.  Well I have it now in massive quantity.  Probably the worst discovery is realzing I don’t have that inner discipline, that ‘get up and go’ drive when I am alone all the time.  I become swallowed up in the chronic inertia.

Yet as I reread what I have written, I know, that I know, that I know, God still has a plan in all of this.  He allows everything in my life for my good and His glory.  Yes everything!  So I have to ask, “What am I missing here?”  “What am I not learning?”

Is it: Joshua 1:7-9  

⁷ Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do. ⁸ Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do. ⁹ This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”  Tyndale House Publishers. (2004). Holy Bible : New Living Translation.“Text edition”–Spine. (2nd ed.) (Jos 1:6-9). Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers.

I believe the truth in Isaiah 40:31  

³¹      But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.   Tyndale House Publishers. (2004). Holy Bible : New Living Translation.“Text edition”–Spine. (2nd ed.) (Is 40:31). Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers.

While I wait there remain those few spasms of enthusiasm and too many moments swallowed up by chronic inertia.  But my hope rests in the knowledge that God promised He would never forsake me.  He has a plan for my life in this new season.  His timing is always perfect and my responsibility for now is Psalm 46:10

¹⁰ “Be still, and know that I am God!

Years ago there was a something I read that challenged me to “Read the red and pray for the power.” I hate that I have forgotten ‘who’ said that, however the truth remains. We cannot in good faith claim the name of Christ if we do not follow Him. We are not given the indulgence of picking and choosing to be obedient to only the comfortable choices. We are told in the scripture that IF we love Him, we will obey His commands.

So how do you and I obey Christ today? What are we getting right and what do we need to do to challenge ourselves to make a difference in our world? One person can make a difference…

Read Red Letters and let me know what you choose to do, will you?
-Word Dancer

In 1975, Charles Jones, the pastor of Kempsville Baptist Church in Virginia Beach Virginia asked a question during his message on a spring Sunday morning… “If everything and everybody you hold dear were gone by the time you got home from church today, would Jesus be enough?”

At Women of Faith in 2007, author, speaker, and Bible teacher, Beth Moore shared about the word ‘enough’ in a lesson about God’s gift of ministry to followers.  The acronym she created suggested a meaning for enought to be:  even nothing offerred unconditionally glorifies Him.

Recent months have forced me to examine ‘enough’ on many different levels in my own life, both practically and spiritually.  I am interested to hear what you have to say about this six letter word and what enough might mean in your life and experience.  Tell me what you think, will you?