The Climb

Yesterday I got my 1st In Touch Magazine in the mail ( thanks to my awesome mother in law).
Today I read one article about The Climb. It totally applied to our life right now & I wanted to share & hopefully encourage others.

Monday was my interview- which I felt super awesome about- had such a blast with & felt that God gave help with the answers...
Tuesday Matt goes to Pacific Garden Mission ( Two guys from there wanted a ride to our church in the 'burbs Sunday, so Matt & Dustin drove and got them, they ate Mothers Day feast with us, and were driven back down before 3pm or their stuff would be gone!) One of those guys found him on Tuesday night and asked to come again Sunday. Wow. After the service there, Lemont, came up to Matt and after a little discussion, he realized Christ died for him! Wow.
Wednesday morning I get an email indicating no Abu Dhabi

At first I was like "Really?! Are they nuts?!" Buut then as I thought about last night's events- I see it. The Climb. The Climb that Charles Stanley writes about - "Abundant life comes only to those who move out of their comfort zone to climb higher with God. Is He leading you to surrender something you want to control?" Yes! I wanted to be the one to control the job situation! It felt like a great opportunity - great perks- great location- too good to be true, except the down side that Matt might have had to  travel with 3 kids solo for 14+ hours as visa issues could be a prob & re-acclimating to Western culture after the 2 yr contract could be interesting/hard??-  but why are we leaving a place where God has shown us time and time again that THIS is His place for us? "Climbing with God always stretches our faith" So right now, as we have less than 20 school days left for Harrison, we are stretched. We looked at a house last night, in the Palos School boundary area that looked adorable outside but was DISGUSTING inside :( The basement was so low I would duck the entire time & that's where 2 bedrooms are... so sad! That is THE only house for rent in this district... homes for sale range from 430,000+. Yeah. So.... we are stretched and praying & excited to keep "climbing higher", because "traveling with God is the most valuable pursuit in this life". 
XO

(In Touch Ministries, June 2014)