Our downsizing was from one of the larger manses the church can provide under the specifications (it had six bedrooms, one of which was my study, two reception rooms, a large kitchen and a basement) to one of the smallest where we are now (three bedrooms and a study). Debbie and I joke that we became Mr and Mrs eBay before the move. In fact, it gave Debbie a long term eBay habit!

As you say, paying attention to what God is doing should be so simple, but we don’t always make it so, and your example of John the Baptist is a pertinent one.

I’ve been collecting Christian music since I was 14, I now have the majority of mine on hard drive. If you’d like any of your old faves, I’ll be happy to send them.

And I really understand the downsizing thing…..I recently went back “down south” to pick up our stuff that was in storage……had to reduce a 10 foot by 20 foot storage unit into two pickup trucks. A lot of hard decisions.

“Jesus said he only did what he saw his Father doing (John 5:19). That’s why many Christians today say that mission is ‘finding out what God is doing and joining in’.”

-I was re-reading the article again…this one spoke loudly to me. If I could pay more attention to what God is doing. Reminds me of Matthew 11, when John the baptist was in prison and sent his disciples to ask Jesus “are you the one, or should we expect someone else?”

And Jesus tells them. “Go back to John and report to him what you see and hear: The blind receive sight, the lame walk,…”etc.. Kinda sounds to me like John wasn’t quite noticing what God was already doing? Every time I read that passage I shake my head, because it seems so obvious….I can’t believe John is asking that question. But then I feel a little tap on my shoudler – do I really see what God is already doing around me? Am I joining Him?

This is a great blog you wrote…..”a very meaty soup”.

It hits me well right now, He’s been calling me to stretch, in many areas. And He’s been making it clear to me that “comfortable” faith really isn’t worth much.

My wife and I moved to Canada last year, we had been living in the U.S. (She’s American, I’m Canadian.) I had a good job in the U.S., we had finally caught up and we were doing okay. But our life in the faith wasn’t going anywhere.

My family all live in the area we’ve moved to…..and we felt led to move here to be a witness for them. But the month or so leading up to this move was, well, hell. Everything was going wrong, expenses were racking up horribly, time was getting short. Our faith that God really wanted this move was being severely tested. Not to mention the fact that I had not been able to find a job yet here, or a place to live!

This turned into the biggest leap of faith we had taken in our marriage. We ended up driving to Canada with only what we could pack into our small SUV – me, my wife, and our two kids. We had to leave the household behind in storage, due to circumstances beyond our control involving moving trucks and weather over the mountains. My parents had agreed to let us stay with them until I found a job and a place for us to live, and we are still working at healing the strained relationships that followed living in their house for 3 months.

However, almost a year and a half later, the spiritual growth He has worked in both of us is amazing – we have both grown and matured more in Him than in our last 10 years or so. The changes He has made in us are incredible…..we have been forced to rely solely on Him for all this time. I have a job, we have a place to live, we are provided for. It’s a lower level than we were used to, but we have so much more peace in our hearts, and we feel much more alive in Him than ever. We have a marvelous church family, who has welcomed us from the beginning.

I could tell you many more stories of the amazing growth since our move, but I’ve already “hogged the blog” here. But I do have another song for you…..ever listen to any Randy Stonehill? Check out his song “The Wild Frontier”

If need be, I can email it to you.