Guilt and Conviction

Well, a lot has happened in our family since May, but unless you've been close to us, you wouldn't have noticed. We applied to go work for FamilyLife Ministries in Little Rock, but we are officially on hold with that until next year at the earliest.

During the process the staff at FamilyLife kept saying they appreciated our honesty and then said, most people would just sweep it under the rug. It bugs me to no end that someone seeking a ministry position would lie on an application, knowing that if they told the truth, they may not get the job. If the lie becomes apparent later, would they lose the job?

With all of the applications and conversations with those close to us, some interesting things have been brought to our attention and God has been working on our hearts in those areas. Granted, we have other areas in which we need to seek God about, but 1 thing at a time.

When having a conversation recently with a friend of mine who is in ministry with me, she mentioned this book by Jen Hatmaker called 7: an experimental mutiny against excess (found here). I went and found it, and boy is it convicting. I have enjoyed her candor and willingness to tell it like it is. Even when she says her heart wasn't completely in the right place, she still stuck with God's plan and responded to the nudging of the Holy Spirit.

There have been many times where I have felt that nudge of something I should do that requires me to get out of my comfort zone, but have ignored it because it seemed inconvenient. I use the same excuses for why I don't exercise. I feel like I should and my 2 oldest need to run more to be in shape for soccer season, but I have 2 other kids that I would have to push in the stroller and it would be hard for me to keep up with them, so why bother? Sound familiar?

FamilyLife is having a Oneness Prayer Challenge for the month of September. Jeff and I have decided to participate and on the first day, we prayed that we would make praying together a priority and wouldn't just forget about it. On day 2, we almost went to bed without praying together, but I said something to him and it turned into a long, almost heated discussion until after midnight. We were honest with each other and had a hard time praying about what we were supposed to pray about because we were having a discussion on our differences. We were supposed to be thankful about our differences and praise God for each other's strengths that make us a better team together. We did calm down, but we were up later than usual.

Stay tuned for more updates on how 7 is impacting me and how things go when a few of my friends and I embark on a 7 inspired journey, seeking God's will in what He wants to teach us.