Jesus Rearrange

I think I have sat down at least four or five times and tried to find a cute and funny way to explain why I haven't posted in over a month but I kept failing miserably. I seriously had computer issues. I also had problems with the internet, and there are other excuses too. For example, exhaustion. I have been tired. I am sure many of you mothers probably just giggled, and thought to yourself, what does she have to be tired about, she doesn't even have kids! But seriously, there was one morning recently, when I was so tired, that I mistakenly used fingernail polish remover (with acetone!) as my facial toner/astringent stuff. Yes, I soaked my cotton ball in with the polish remover and applied it to my face. It burned like crazy, but luckily my skin hasn't fallen off, yet. And among other reasons, I kind of got hung up on the fact that January had come and gone, and I still had to update everyone on December.

More importantly, I kept feeling that there was something more significant than just geocashing and weight watchers that I wanted to tell everyone. Of course, I wasn't sure what that was, but I knew that I was not happy with anything that I was writing. Until the other day when God began to lay something on my heart. For those of you who don't know, I travel for my job. There are some days when I drive two hundred miles, so I really listen to the radio a lot! There are a few radio stations that I switch back and forth from. Over the course of a week, regardless of what station I was listening to, this song kept playing over and over and began to definitely pull at my heart strings.

*Another thing that you might not know about me is that I tend to totally jumble up the lyrics to a song. For example, this particular song sticks out in my mind when I was growing up. "If you don't know me by now" by Harold Melvin. I don't know why I remember this, I just do. BUT, I use to think that the words were: "If you don't know my by *nine*, you will never, never know me." I used to think, why is that man putting a time limit on that girl getting to know him?*

ANYWAY, I told you that, to tell you this. I kept missunderstanding the lyrics to this song that I had been hearing over and over. I bet you know the song! Here are a little bit of the lyrics:

But instead I draw closer through these times

So I pray

Bring me joy, bring me peace

Bring the chance to be free

Bring me anything that brings You glory

And I know there'll be days

When this life brings me pain

But if that's what it takes to praise You

Jesus, bring the rain

It seems pretty difficult to mess up something like that, right? Leave it up to me. However, it wasn't until I heard the DJ announce the title of the song that I realized I was getting it wrong. The title of the song is Jesus, Bring the Rain. Guess what I was belting to the top of my lungs as I was singing..."Jesus, rearrange."

Now, I will be completely honest with you. (I promise I will get to a point eventually.) It hasn't been easy since we moved. I half-way expected things to fall into place and for everthing to be just dandy when we got settled in here at the villiage. But it hasn't. Things haven't been easy or dandy. There have been some tough days. But I think it took a little rearranging for me to see that it isn't supposed to be easy.

It seems kinda silly when I look back at my mistake, but I think God was using my mistake to speak to me. For a long time, my prayer has been for joy and peace, a lot like the lyrics to the song. But as I was riding down the road singing the wrong words, here is what I realized God was trying to tell me. This is exactly what I need to lift up to God as my prayer. Rearrange! Rearrange my life, rearrange my dreams, my ambitions, my desires, my everything. Jesus, rearrange if that's what it takes to praise You.

When we lived in Lyman, we were comfortable. We had the perfect little house with our good jobs and we had our routine. It took God totally rearranging my life for me to completely rely on Him though. I know there will be days when this life brings me pain, but if that's what it takes to bring God glory, then I want Jesus to rearrange! This little revelation from God didn't happen yesterday, or even last week. It has taken me a while to realize this is what I need to share with you though. I might eventually show you some pictures from our geocaching adventure, and tell you that I have lost 12 pounds from Weight Watchers, but right now I want to challenge you to ask God to rearrange your life. I couldn't imagine what my life would be like if I was still in Lyman. I miss it terribly. But I would have never experienced the blessings and lessons learned if we hadn't obeyed Him, and given Him the opportunity to rearrange.

I am sure that there will be more days to come that won't be easy, but that is ok. I look forward to what comes after the rain. I really appreciate everyone's concern about what's been going on in our lives the past couple of weeks. I feel like I fell of the face of the earth for a while, but God was just doing a little rearranging. I hope I didn't seem too gloomy, but I wanted to be honest and real with you. I will try to keep everyone updated more often. Until next time, keep us in your prayers!