On The Move

Some of Wood's family

Every month when I write my blog post, I try to think of what is happening in my life. What am I learning from it? How can I share my growth with others and maybe encourage them too? Sometimes a simple update is what is needed. What I can say for this month is that there are so many things that I'm working through -- personally and spiritually. There are upcoming transitions. There's trauma. There's happiness and struggle. I was having a hard time trying to decide how I could put all of these things into words. Some of it I need a little bit more time with to process. Some of it I'm waiting to see how things all pan out. 

This morning I sat down to do my morning quiet time and BOOM! The perfect culmination of all the aforementioned things was there. I read Psalm 31. Y'all, it's chock full of all the good things. 

I'm sitting in a season of waiting. In some ways it feels like the season of waiting might never be over. It's something I've been wrestling with for a while now. There's a balance that we have to find in our life as Christians. How do we not let the disappointments of life disillusion us? How do we walk confidently in the path that God sets out before us? How do we walk well through the storms of life? How do we know where God's will is directing us? How do we find contentment in the here and now instead of placing all of our "happiness" on something that hasn't yet occurred? 

Wood and I were in
his brother's wedding.

In life it's so easy to say, "Oh, when this happens, I'll be happy." or "Oh, when that thing happens, I'll be content." or "Oh, if this thing could just happen, I wouldn't be struggling anymore." You can insert your own this or that for whatever thing that you're waiting on. Something that I know in my heart, but can't always seem to apply in my head, is that we can't spend our lives wishing away time. We miss so many opportunities when we do that. 

I'm not the only one who struggles with it, I'm sure. I think Paul did too. He writes in Philippians 4:11-12, "...for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need." 

We have to learn how to be content no matter the circumstance. We aren't guaranteed happiness 100% of the time. Life is not a cake-walk. When we spend all of our time waiting for one specific (or more than one) thing, we're wishing away so much possibility. The possibility of growth. The possibility of trust. The possibility of opportunity. When we're so focused on something that hasn't happened, we miss what IS happening. 

The here and now is where we grow. It's the tough, get you dirty, break you to tears stuff. But, it's the stuff that makes us stronger. No matter what our situation is, God is ALWAYS there, walking right beside us. Molding us. Encouraging us. Listening and guiding.

Which brings us to Psalm 31. David is crying out to God and telling God who He is -- all of His glorious character. But, you might notice that David also recognizes and shares his own insecurities and failures. Oh, I have been here so many times...sharing what your head feels and what your heart feels...even though I can't always quite reconcile what I know to be true. It's encouraging though because God wants us to put it all out there. EVERYTHING that we feel. He also wants us to praise Him for who He is. 

When I was reading through this Psalm I noticed there were several ideas throughout. So, when I read back through, you can see in the picture how I used color to annotate and create relationship between David's words. (Yes, I literally color in my Bible.) In the margin, I gave those annotations some detail. Reading through, five things really stuck out to me:

1) TRUST -- God can be trusted. With the big, the small, the average, the impossible. He has big plans for us and so often, when we're tuning into Him, He's already whispered those plans in our heart in the form of desires. We can trust His leading. We can trust His confidence.

2) DELIVERANCE - While we're trusting God in all the things, we can also count on Him to deliver us. Satan is always trying to come at us with his sneaky lies and ploys to break our confidence. God is always there to share His strength as we fight the battle with Satan. 

3) STEADY - There's no one on this Earth that will ever be as steadfast as our Heavenly Father. He is our rock and our foundation. He stands his ground and we can stand on His promises. He's a safe place to run when life is overwhelming or scary. He will not let us down.

4) RELINQUISH - This one has a little bit more to do with us taking action than anything. We can turn it ALL over to God. He is the leader and director of our lives. We just have to give Him control and tune in. Sit and wait for God to show us what He's doing. 

There are some things in life that I've been trying to work through and because of a different study I'm doing, I'm learning that sometimes working through things, means moving forward. When we sit and dwell on the tough stuff or how things should be, we get caught up. Relinquishing the trauma or the stress allows it to not be a distraction. ((I'm still figuring out exactly what it looks like, but recognizing it is the first step, right?))

Speaking of active, I have been!
Working through a 100 day
program.

5) ACTIVE - God is always moving, always working, always loving, and always watching. He's constantly redeeming, forgiving, protecting, fighting, loving, encouraging, and directing. He doesn't ever stop -- because in His eyes, we're worth it. You're worth it and I'm worth it. He doesn't just work for one of us, he works for ALL of us. 

Friends, I hope that you'll just sit and reflect on who God is and what He's trying to do in your life. I can first handedly tell you that it probably won't be easy to work through the tough stuff. There's things that we don't like to admit we do and sometimes we think we just know better than God. I'm right in the trenches with you. Together, we can find our way to walking confidently in the here and now, standing on God's promises, no matter our circumstance. 

Love to you all friends!
Caitlin

He's too cute not to share!

ps - try coloring in your Bible...it's fun! 

I'm still working on raising money for my FOURTH year in Haiti. If you are interested in supporting me financially, visit https://tinyurl.com/catigoestohaiti. My life isn't possible without partners like you.

Normal for me, but not for you:
Keeping a 5 gallon bucket of water filled in your shower -- just in case. There were several visitors staying in the house I live in and we had water pump + power issues. So, I was always prepared in case the water ran out!

Little hard to fill your water tank
when the pump isn't there.
Yea, someone took it.