When God says, "Go."

The night before the biggest decision in our lives thus far (that would be Thursday night)...I decided to go to my Zumba class.

One of my dearest friends in my life began teaching Zumba as a women's ministry to our little community a little more than a year ago. We used to walk together every morning early before sunrise (I'm talking 5:00am). We talked about our lives as women, wives, moms & daughters - as well as religion, God & our spirituality. We'd cry, laugh & pray together. Well, after much prayer during the summer of 2010, she decided to get training to be a Zumba instructor. And BOY-WHAT-A-GREAT-ZUMBA TEACHER she is!!! She offers love, encouragement, energy, hugs along with a super work-out at least 4 times a week! Women of our community (as well as surrounding towns) have been attending & never walk away without feeling loved.

Back to story: So I arrived just in time for the 7pm - Thursday night class. It was a great work-out full of great music. (She mixes the required Zumba music with a sprinkling of Christian rock. She's able to witness to every lady walkin' in the door - LOVE IT!) She already knew about the possibility of Hong Kong because she's a prayer warrior with me. (Note to self: I have a few VERY wonderful close friends there in Dighton who are prayer partners with me - THANK YOU, Holy Father, for these beautiful souls you've placed in my life.)
Anyway...after class there were about three other ladies who lingered at the studio. We all sat down on the floor and started talking. I felt very comfortable talking to these women, so we openly talked about Hong Kong. The other ladies were anxious to hear all the details - so I began telling them. That's when it 'hit me'...the EPIPHANY (the sudden realization/comprehension of the larger essence or meaning of something)...the SATORI (an enlightenment or flash of sudden awareness).

I realized that when we lived in Texas we prayed: "God, we just want to be obedient to You - whatever that may be." And I felt Him say, "you want to be obedient? Then go to this little place over here in Kansas you know nothing about. Leave your family, your older children and everything familiar to you. Go and love the people there like I love you. That's obedience to Me." So we did. We sold many things - packed the rest - said our good-bye's to all our loved ones & moved to Dighton, Kansas to love on the people there.
At the beginning of the summer (2011) we began to feel God was preparing us for something...so we prayed: "God, we just want to be obedient to You - whatever that may be." And I felt Him say, "you want to be obedient? Then you go to this big place over there - a place called Hong Kong. Leave everything you know & go somewhere you know nothing about. Go and love the people there like I love you. That's obedience to Me. I prepared you for Hong Kong by training you up in Dighton."

Pretty powerful stuff, don't ya think? (Note to self: When the Holy Spirit speaks in times like these - it's good to listen.)

...so here we go...
We sold and gave away most of our things - packed the rest for storage - and now (currently) hugging & loving on our family as much as humanly possible...as we prepare our hearts, mind & bodies to go and serve a Mighty God.

I See the Moon & the Moon Sees Me

There's a song that I've shared with all three of my children when they were toddlers. It's a song about seeing the moon & people we love:

I see the moon & the moon sees me,
The moon sees somebody I'd like to see,
God bless the moon & God bless me..
And God bless the somebody I'd like to see.

It's a cute little song with a catchy tune that I'd sing when my older two (Justin & Jordan) were young and we were missing family. I continued the tradition with Brady, my youngest daughter. It was especially helpful when we moved to 'far-away' Kansas when she was 6. She missed her brothers & sisters (all six of them) and Nana, Papaw, Aunt Mel, Uncle Ricky & Luke (aka: family in Tx)..so we'd sing this little jingle to remember them and perhaps ease her longing just a bit.

One evening during the 'four days of deciding on Hong Kong', I had a dear friend & wonderful/spirit-filled mentor mention to me the moon was simply beautiful over the Kansas sky. She's a farmer's wife and sometimes takes walks down their country road. (She calls it taking a walk on the quarter-mile road. That's so enchanting to me.) It was so sweet that she shared this with me, but I didn't stop to look. I seemed to have been busy with something (trivial, I'm sure). A little later, though, the Holy Spirit nudged me enough to walk to the front door, open it and see the splendor. The sky was as huge and bright as the Kansas horizon with the moon in all it's glory suspended right in front of my front door. All I could say was, "God, You are already there (Hong Kong)...what is there to fear??? YOU'RE ALREADY THERE."
(note to self: God shows us His world isn't as big & scary when we choose to trust Him wherever He leads..He's already there preparing the way.)

To come full circle on this post - a month later my daughter, Jordan, is anxiously anticipating her week with 'B & me' (B=Brady) in College Station - where she's attending school. She writes on my Facebook wall - "I see the moon and the moon sees me..." (note to self: Thank you, Father, for my beautiful children. I am truly blessed.)

I wrote back - "The moon sees somebody I'd like to see!"

Dad's turn

So my dad, Lee, answers with his usual happy-go-lucky "hello!" (fyi: my mom has the sweet, southern-lady/east texas drawl: "hello.") Like mom, it was good to hear his voice. They both provide comfort to my heart when I hear them on the phone.

He didn't take the news as well as my mother did..which was a total surprise to me. It was my mom that I thought might take it the hardest..or my son, Justin, who is very tender-hearted & perhaps still hurting from the break between his dad and I. (note to self: give my older children each a long-lasting embrace when I see them next - life is too fragile not to)

My dad was in the Navy during World War II. He was a driver of a pontoon boat in the Pacific ocean. The closest he came to Hong Kong was northern China - where he went ashore for a spell. He was confused by the language, dress & culture of the Chinese...and he didn't like it. Based on the knowledge that he carried with him all these years - subsequently he did not like the idea of his daughter being emersed into another culture in Asia either.

I tried telling him as gently as I possibly could that I'd done a little research and things weren't exactly the same as what he remembered. I explained that it was really very westernized and there were MANY Americans living there at this time.
After a little while enjoying the conversation with my father - I concluded our time together asking for prayer, to which my dad eagerly agreed to do for us.

Wow.

God continues to amaze me. It was His Spirit that woke me 3 times during the week at 3:30am. (and I just realized - I love the number 3. When I was little I'd make sure I played games, jumped rope & skipped in "thirds." After all, it was the number of letters in Y-E-S; I liked that word..and it was the number of the Trinity - Father, Son & Holy Spirit). One of those early morning (3:30) awakenings was His Spirit nudging me to pray for my family: how they would receive the news. And now He was showing me how He'd moved through those prayers.

Wow.