One, Two, Skip a Few

As a child, learning to count can be really challenging. Eight, nine, twelve, fifteen. We master one set of 10, but then get confused by 11. After a while, we are able to count pretty high, and fairly easy. But let us all be honest with ourselves. At some point, usually as we play hide and seek, our counting turns into something like this,' 1, 2, skip a few, 99, a million. Ready or not, here I come. Wait a minute. what happened to all the rest of the numbers. 42, 69, 1138. All these numbers that are just skipped over like they mean nothing. But what if we are missing something every time we skip count our way through life. Go back to your childhood. When life was easy and the most interesting thing you had was how tasty your toes were. Coloring books and puzzles were our main goal in life and there wasn't a problem that couldn't be solved if you had a crayon in hand and a big imagination. Now focus on a specific kind of coloring puzzle. The Dot-to-dot. An arrangement of numbers written out that when connect in chronological order, would reveal a beautiful picture that we could color as we saw fit. What would happen if you decided to draw a line from 1 to 56, then back to 3, then up to 77 and down to 29. By the time you got to the last number, your picture would be a jumbled mess and the image revealed would look like mere scribbles compared to what it was designed to be. The same can be true for life. We might start out ok, 1, 2, 3 ,4, but along the way, we go a different direction and before we know it, we don't even realize what we have done. The events that take place in your life are all out of whack because you followed 45 with 80, instead of 46. God has laid out your life in the order that he knows will get you to the beautiful image at the end of the pencil, but when we take matters into our own hands, things go a little haywire. Maybe it is time for a do-over. A time to start back at number one, and carry the puzzle through till the end, staying the course of following God's plan. God sees all of your life like a finished picture. We sees where you will fall and where you will stand. Where you will triumph and where you will fail. Shouldn't we trust that he knows which way to direct our steps to ensure that when we fall, he has already placed things in our path to pick us back up. In the end, you too will see the picture God had designed for you. Don't try to rush through life and skip some steps along the way. Stay the course and when your pen leaves the paper the last time, you will see a masterpiece designed by the Creator of all things who wants what is best for his children.

Adam Semple- A Young Man on a Thought-out, Well planned Mission From God

*photo credit-tanya.snappingturtle.co.za

I'm Gonna Make This Place My Home

What is a home? A home can be many things to many people. For some, a roof over the head. Maybe it is a hotel or maybe for some, a van with some pillows. In the words of Pumba the Warthog, "Home is where your rump rests." Mostly, no matter the place or location, home is where your heart is at peace. This morning, my family moved the last of our belongings from a little storage unit in Conyers to our new home in Athens. This has been a move nearly 2 years in the making and it finally came. We moved up to Athens in March with half of our belongings and enough money for a hotel for a week and a 3 month storage unit. Over the course of a couple weeks, we all had jobs, but not enough to cover the amount for rent for a house/apartment. We knew a miracle was coming but we didn't know when and where. So we prayed and believed and for 6 months in a hotel, we continued to pray and believe. Finally, after numerous attempts of trying to find THE house, we stumbled on a little 2000 sq ft house right across the street from our storage unit. In a way only possible by the wonderful and amazing Lord God, we moved into the house over the weekend. As soon as we walked into the house, we all knew that for this time, this season, this leg of the journey, this house would be home. So this morning, some dear friends meet us in Conyers with a truck and a prayer, and we closed out that leg of our journey. We are home. In a place where God clearly wants us, because too many things have fallen in place for this not to be God. So, now what? Well, we don't stop praying and we don't stop believing, (cue journey), cause God has something big for us coming. The cool part is, God has a place to call Home in store for each and every one of us. Everyone is in a spiritual house, but God is preparing a spiritual home to everyone who believes in him. So don't give up when your place of residence doesn't feel so cozy, your home is coming and it will be amazing.
Adam Semple- A Young Man on a Mission From God.