Since Becca and I are super busy, we've got a few great guest posts for you. Here's one from a really close and wonderful friend of ours. Enjoy!
Lindsey recently graduated from college with a degree in Elementary Education and an awesome husband. Lindsey teaches reading and works as an admin assistant. She also reads, makes delicious food, and blogs at http://treadthedawn.wordpress.com
Once upon a time, I got married to afore mentioned seminary-student. Not too long after that, I was offered a job that would’ve required a pretty big move for us. I've wanted to teach all my life, and many people (us included) thought that the obvious answer was to accept the position. But, after a lot of thinking and praying, we really didn't feel that it was the best decision for our family. David still had 2 years of seminary left, a part time job that he loves, and the commutes would be a nightmare, probably resulting in my wondering about the identity of the tall guy with the beard who occasionally ate dinner at my house. So we said no. We stayed.
For some of you, that might seem like a boring story (come on, be honest, I can take it), but for us it wasn't. For me especially, it was difficult to think about the possibility that the Lord's will might include staying somewhere.
Our first year of marriage included 4 apartments and trips to 3 continents and 14 states. We needed a rest. Though our first year of marriage was a wonderful adventure that neither one of us would trade for anything, we both believed that staying here and spending some time with people that we love in a place that we love was necessary to the success of our marriage. We just needed to sit awhile, and this bench looked nice, so we're sitting here. I didn’t always feel so comfortable with the idea, though. At first, I felt guilty.
It's easy to grow up in the church with the impression that considering and caring for personal needs and relationships is somehow selfish or less holy than throwing caution to the wind, mustering up a bold "God will take care of me!" attitude and going wherever the wind blows. But it's not. Contrary to what we might’ve learned, the Lord’s will isn’t to have a bunch of followers with relationships in shambles because they recklessly move from one service opportunity to the next until they burn themselves out.
Sometimes sitting your ass down is the only obedience the Lord asks, because he knows you couldn’t handle hearing what will follow. Your “yes” to what may seem like an easy question may be bigger than you ever imagined. The last year has been the hardest I’ve ever faced, and the primary way the Lord has spoken to and healed me has been through relationships. He made us for them. How can we so quickly disregard and devalue something that the Lord created us for?
One year from one of the most difficult decisions I’ve ever made, I can testify that the Lord doesn’t need us to go somewhere to shake up our lives or to make us more like him. He doesn’t need us to run ourselves into the ground. Sometimes, he just asks us to sit down.
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