 "The opportunity of a lifetime has to be taken during the lifetime of the opportunity"
Two years ago this month, Karen and I came to the Charlotte/Fort Mill area to visit the newly renovated Heritage International Ministries Facility for the '06 Holy Spirit Conference. Sammy was 11 months old. Before he was born, we had become used to travelling to conferences several times a year, but with a little one in tow, we decided we must be a little more selective in how much we could travel. We had been asking the Lord, and felt strongly that we should attend this particular conference instead of flying out to IHOP for a different conference around the same time. Life was normal...going as planned, and we had no idea that we were on the verge of being thrust out into a new season of life.
At the conference, the Lord interrupted our comfortable lives, and shocked us with the sense that we were supposed to drop everything and move to Charlotte to attend the Morningstar School of Ministry. I came home, applied for the school after a short period of seeking clarity, and was accepted. We moved to Charlotte 3 months later in September 2006. It was surreal leaving the family and friends who love us, quitting a wonderful government job, and downsizing our lives from our 2500 sq ft house to a tiny 1000 sq ft apartment with no job or income. This transition was one of the most difficult moves I had ever made in life. I remember countless days of smells, daydreams, and fleeting thoughts reminding me of the comforts of home...the familiarity. I was amazed at the clarity and peace we experienced in our hearts which verified that we were just where we needed to be. And yet, such pain and longing to return to loved ones and familiar settings....and a steady income!
We have survived the transition, and the Lord continues since that time to dig into the deep recesses of our lives and meddle with our comfort zones and lead us on what seems to be our very own personal version of the wilderness experience that the Israelites experienced in the Exodus. Today I see more clearly the destiny that God has intended for our family, and I often wonder how life would have been if we had not quickly responded to God's invitation. Our time here has been vital to instill in us the framework and understanding to begin moving forward in our destiny. We are only taking little baby steps at this point, but we are moving forward.
Sometimes the leadings of God are more subtle than we realize, or sometimes they simply seem absurd. For sure I've missed other invitations to follow the Lord into other experiences, but in His grace, we were able to follow this time. What subtle leadings do you suppose you have been putting off from the Lord lately? He is speaking to us all the time, and there are many ways in means in which he speaks. But probably the easiest way to not miss those subtle leadings is to just stop and ask the Holy Spirit to show us what we've been missing. It seems too simple...too childlike, but this is the nature of God's kingdom. We must come as little children. Who knows...you might be on the verge of your own life-changing experience with God.
