Keeping Our Tent Posts Shallow

Last year in the early Spring when we were still living in New Orleans, Dr. Crosby preached a sermon at First Baptist New Orleans one morning about "keeping your tent posts shallow" and the last few weeks God has continually been bringing that sermon and that particular phrase (one that I thought I had forgotten) back to my mind. The sermon was from Genesis 12 and how "Abraham hears the call of God to leave his homeland and make a journey to an unknown place. He responds in faith to this mysterious directive from an unseen God."

 It was a couple months after that sermon was preached that we would sense that God was calling us to leave New Orleans and to move to North Carolina for whatever it was that he Had planned for us here. So, without jobs and actually without even our acceptance letters to Southeastern Seminary in hand yet, we moved everything that we had to make this big change that we knew very clearly that God was asking us to make. People have often asked us "Why did you leave New Orleans?" and we usually just laugh (because how do you explain that in 30 seconds) and say something like "we sensed God was drawing our time to a close there" or "we just knew that He was leading us away from New Orleans." It's very difficult to explain God's plans and His ways in a way that seems to fit into a perfectly packaged rational plan for ourselves (or even other's plans for ourselves). Our ways are definitely not God's and we have learned that it is very hard to explain following God in a way that seems acceptable to the world. 

This year in Wake Forest has been a year of learning, growing, and seeing first hand how God provides for our every need. It has not been an easy year but I know that we are different (and hopefully better) because of it and I believe that God has grown us up in many ways. God provided us a chance to serve at Good Hope Baptist Church where I served full-time as a children's director. Early into our time there, Stephen and I often talked about how many years we thought we would stay there and even if it would be God's plan to provide Stephen a position there as well after seminary. We even thought into the future and talked about how hard it would be the day that we ever had to move on and say goodbye to some very wonderful people. The story of our time at Good Hope is one filled with ups and downs and highs and lows as you would expect with any ministry position. It is a church and a year in our lives that we will never forget and it's an experience that we have had that will likely impact who we are in ministry (and in life) and many of the decisions that we make in ministry (and in life) will likely be shaped by all that we have learned through it. Some people know many of the stories and details of our time in North Carolina (and some know few) but I don't know that anyone will ever be able to fully understand all that we learned and in the ways that we learned it except for Stephen and I. And I'm okay that. I'm learning better to share my grief and my joy with Christ and let Him quiet my heart. I can't sum up  in a few simple words all that God has taught me personally this year - I don't know that I have any words sufficient enough to explain what has happened in my heart. In fact, I think I will be processing long after our time in North Carolina... 

But, I have learned (lived) this year that God is always faithful and that His love for us is beyond comprehension. I've begged for His perfect peace and I've felt it when I needed it most. I have learned once again that life is not fair and that sometimes (sometimes but now always) pleasing God means biting your tongue rather than fighting to be right and that by doing that you are doing the "right" thing. I have watched Stephen serve tirelessly and without one complaint (I'm serious) alongside of me in this ministry and I know that because of this experience I will be a better wife and helpmate for him through all of the years of ministry that we have ahead. I know that as a result of this year I will pray more diligently for him, express my words of appreciation and respect more often, and support and defend him more fiercely. We've learned a lot in this year about ourselves and who we are and who we are not. And I'm learning to be okay with that (especially the "who I'm not" part). I also know that as much as I would never want to do this year over that I would never change it for anything because I have already begun to see how God has worked it for good. 

So, I guess this is a lot of build up to just say what we haven't really been able to share for a while:

At the end of May we will be picking up our "tent" again and moving to Claxton, GA where Stephen has the awesome responsibility to serve as the Student Minister to the children and youth of FBC. Do we have questions about all the details? Yes. Do we wonder why God is moving us to the third place of ministry in our 2 years of marriage? Yes. Do we wonder if we are crazy? Yes. Do we hope that this will be a place that God will allow us to serve for many years? a resounding Yes! Do we trust that God knows the plans He has for us? Yes and we'll follow Him wherever he leads. 

We'll finish seminary (though it may take us longer than others and that is okay with us) through extension centers, online classes, and workshops. Stephen will serve at the church and I will teach (if a position is open) you can pray about that or actually you can just pray that God will place me where He wants me. We will live and enjoy life and try to to say much less than we do now "we'll do that one day --  after seminary" because life is not promised to us and each day is a gift. And we'll just trust God -- whatever is ahead....

There is a part of me that longs to feel at home somewhere. I think that is normal, especially for women. But Dr. Crosby's sermon reminded me that Abraham was a sojourner and that "he lived one day at a time, one campsite at a time." And that is the kind of faith that I long to have -- "to keep my eyes on the city with foundations whose builder and maker is God." This world is not our home. Our home is in Him  and as we sang this morning in church: 

I was lost in utter darkness 'til You came and rescued me
I was bound by all my sin when Your love came and set me free
Now my soul can sing a new song, now my heart has found a home
Now Your grace is always with me
And I'll never be alone

Your prayers mean so much to us.

Love, Kassi and Stephen