I know many of you have been waiting awhile for this blog. That really hasn't been intentional on my part but at least you get a little piece of what we're going through…waiting. I've decided to keep a number of the details from the time period of my last blog to where we are at today for Ang and I. If you ask us in person, we may divulge a bit more of the story but for now I'm not going to be posting it all…However, there are a few things that I feel I should share with you…So are you ready?
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I think I mentioned in one of my previous blogs how God shifted the seasons in my life at the start of June (I can share more details of that transition at a later time if you want.) Like any other transition, He was drawing me "out" of something while simultaneously drawing me "into" something…This something in my life is "my inheritance."
As the youngest of 5 boys, I've never really given much thought to inheritances and don't look forward to a day when I have to approach that thought in the physical realm. However, this summer, God started telling me to "be bold and courageous, for you have not gone this way before…be bold, for the season I am taking you in, you have no paradigm for…"
God had me look at the life of Joshua. In fact, God kept telling Joshua to "be bold and courageous" and to "not fear" right before God used him to lead the Israelites into the 'promised land.' SO…what exactly does this inheritance look like in my life? How do I get it? What is it? Those were all questions I started chewing on…Another day I might get into more detail over what I've found, but here's just a snippet.
Joshua led the Israelites into the promised land to gain their inheritance. While God had promised this land to the Israelites, there were legitimate obstacles. There were giants in the land who ate their children. Joshua and Caleb had been the only ones in the entire nation of Israel to even step foot in the promised land…and yet even they were about to go to places they had never been before. The inheritance promised to them wasn't just going to be handed over…they were going to have to go get it.
A lot of times we feel today that the bible holds the keys to get through every situation in our lives. However, it is strewn with stories like this where there was no guide book and the only way through was trust and courage. In some ways, we're at that point today. There are a number of things that God has promised us. I'm not exactly sure how to get there or get them. He's asked me to be bold and take courage while trusting Him in the process. There are significant obstacles but wrestling through this process is making me become my inheritance. Some day I will have to get into a bit more depth with that last sentence but not right now.
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God has been teaching me a bit about Joshua these past months, but it has started to shift to Jacob. Jacob wrestled with God in the major transition of his life that left him literally limping. His life changed from being a heel grabbing "supplanter" always looking for ways to squeeze out a blessing that wasn't initially intended for him to a man who walked into an inheritance from God.
Ang and I are in a place where we are having to wrestle through a lot of things with God and we know that He has great blessings in store for us. He's been weaving something ridiculously beautiful between us and we're working through some of the stages of the transition into a major shift in our lives. Like Joshua and Jacob, we believe that God has goodness in store for us. We also believe that God will provide in absurdly sweet ways. However, we're well aware of the obstacles and distance that stares us in the face with each step through trust…
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"Seek first the Kingdom of Heaven, and all these things shall be added unto you…" -bible
For example…
After coming back from Peru, I was at a place of having no money…realistically, I've been there for years. However, He wanted me to pursue this woman named Angie Tibbo. Slowly my credit card filled up as things progressed between the two of us quickly. It got to the point where He wanted me to go up to Nova Scotia and meet her family, get her father's blessing and make things official between us. Ang bought a plane ticket to Ottawa and we set a date for me to pick her up on the way over by car.
ring God wanted me to get her. I wrestled with it a bit and God let me know that He wanted me to do both. So I put the money into the ring and waited for it to be prepared. I had a week to get enough money to pay off the rest of the ring and pay for a roadtrip to Nova Scotia and then back to Winnipeg before coming home to Marquette…hopefully to a job.
The night before I was to leave, a buddy of mine approached me and let me borrow some money. This money was enough to finish off the ring and pay for the trip. However, the next morning my car needed to be fixed…and then again…and finally a third time in one day! Are you serious??? Yup, one thing after another kept falling apart on it and I had to get on the road in a matter of a couple hours. Meanwhile, I was praying that the ring would be finished by the time I needed to head out.
In the end, I got my car fixed up and the ring just in time to hop in my car and drive through the night to find my gorgeous girl in the airport. The money I was given had depleted to the place where I had just enough to get to the Ottawa Airport. I didn't even have enough gas money to get to Nova Scotia…but it was time to go so I took off. Meanwhile, I found out that Ang had been given a check by a church and it was more than she was anticipating so we now had a backup plan at least for how to make things work for a bit. I had to swallow a bit of my pride in allowing her to pay for things, but in the end we'd have to share everything anyway and it's all going to be by His grace.
Talking of His grace…I hopped in my car and within a half hour of leaving the country, I found myself on the phone with a good friend of mine from my days in Haiti. I hadn't talked with her in about a year and while catching up with her, she dropped this: "Hey, I've been saving money by staying on friends couches this past semester…How can I get you a thousand dollars?"
Money wasn't the focal point of our trip but it revealed His faithfulness to us. (seek Him first and He'll provide what you need…) The time I spent up in Nova Scotia was really good for Ang and I as we got a chance to meet up with a number of family and friends. I got the go ahead from Angie's dad and then we decided to take a roadtrip within our roadtrip. It was during this time that Ang and I got engaged…in the tower of a castle…the one on your left.
Then after saying our goodbyes, we started heading back towards Winnipeg. However, God gave us a special gift by His grace and allowed us to enter the US which really shouldn't have been able to happen for a variety of reasons. This enabled us to drop a few things off and get our engagement pictures taken! It also meant that we got to spend a few more days together than we had been anticipating. After a short visit here, we took off to Winnipeg for a short visit up there before I returned, or at least tried, in time to start work.
I entered Minnesota after midnight and was cruising along until my transmission started going…Hours later after driving 35 mph in 3rd gear, it was evident that I needed to hang it up and walk away. This car skipped retirement and was about to rest in peace. God in His grace though provided a couple I met to take me in for a day and help me bring my car into the junk yard where I sold it for enough money to get a rental car back to Marquette the next day…again with no money, but enough to take the next step.
That's the thing about walking by His Spirit…You have to keep taking one step of trust after another.
