Some Things Never Get Easier

Some things NEVER get easier...or at least it seems that way!

As of July 2, 2015, my family and I completed two years of teaching, missions, and relationship building in Taiwan. We loved the people we met and those with whom we worked. We even enjoyed the majority of the crazy cultural differences and experiences we had. We only moved back to the United States for two reasons #1 God's calling and #2 so our baby girl could be closer to her grandparents.

We prayed and prayed and sought God's guidance on what He would have us to do when we returned. He faithfully answered us, and He provided this amazing opportunity to minister to university students--just twenty minutes away from my husband's mom! We had a job and a place to live/minister all before we even set foot back on American soil. It was all perfect...until it wasn't :(

After moving into the dorm and having an amazing first month at our new ministry, things unexpectedly ended. (Let me tell you that I hate politics--workplace or otherwise!) Suddenly, we questioned God's calling. Had we heard Him correctly? Did we misunderstand? Why had this happened to us? We started off so strong and now we were jobless, homeless, and confused. What should we do next?

Well here we go again!

In my experience, it seems like it never gets easier to listen and trust God. Especially when I am in a situation like the one we are in now. It's so much easier to trust and have faith when you are snug as a bug where you think God wants you to be, but it's so much harder in the struggle. The ironic thing is that is when it really matters! I know this is something that I am still learning, and I may never master it until the day I die but I'm trying.

Proverbs 3:5-6 says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths." ESV

Join me in making a conscious choice to trust God today--even if your circumstances don't make sense right now. Choosing to trust God above our own reasoning and common sense can be difficult--don't get me wrong God gave you a brain for a reason--but sometimes God wants us to do things that don't make any sense in our rationale and sometimes those can be the most rewarding things of all!

Too Much Emotion

I admit it. I’m Emo sometimes. I like things to go my way and if they don’t I get pouty and annoying. I mope around and sigh and generally make everyone else miserable in the process. Sadly, this behavior isn’t only directed toward other people. I also find myself treating God this way.
How many times have I cried, “Not fair!” Then I proceeded to pout and complain about how God doesn’t love me and I can never catch a break. Isn’t that the same selfish behavior I am ashamed to see myself use on other people, and now I am using it on God. Not that it will get me very far.
God is just, loving, and unchanging. He doesn’t respond to pouting and foot stomping. He doesn’t fall for reverse psychology. However, He does listen to what I have to say—no matter what attitude I say it in. He does keep His promises. He does fulfill His will in my life. He even uses my mistakes and bad choices and bad attitudes to shape the person I am going to become. See He’s got it all together even if I don’t!
“God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?” Numbers 23:19
STOP your pouting!
START trusting God.
LIVE a full life based on God’s promises.

A to B not A to Z

Last night I was thinking about Abraham. I don’t know if I should consider him lucky or feel sorry for him. Okay, let me explain. Very seldom does God tell you what the end result is going to be. God told Abraham from the beginning He would make a great nation from him and that his descendants would be as numerous as the sands on the sea shore (Gen. 12:2). Therefore I consider Abraham very lucky. However, God left him hanging on the details. He didn’t tell Abraham how this was going to happen or when it was going to happen. It wasn’t until much later and after a few wrong turns that God finally tells him that it is Isaac He would use to fulfill His promises (Gen. 21:12). It is the feeling of the unknown, “limbo” if you will, which makes me feel sorry for Abraham.

I have seen these very same patterns repeated in my life. When I encounter these issues, I find myself fortunate to have received God’s promises, but then I become impatient with the unknown and begin to feel sorry for myself.

There has only been one instance in my life where I feel I was completely able to trust God through all the steps without complaining, whining, or being impatient. Of course this was partly because things progressed very quickly. It’s now that I have to stop and remember that God never promised to give me all the details A to Z. He did however promise to walk me through from A to B then B to C then C to D, etc.

“The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” Deuteronomy 31:8 (also vs. 6)


“No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Joshua 1:5


“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’” Hebrews 13:5

Isn’t it amazing that God’s our every insecurity! I truly feel that although these verses were explicitly meant for the people God gave them to He also meant them for me. He knows just how nervous I get when I don’t have everything figured out. He knows the stress that I feel when things are out of my control. He also knows that I need to let go. He is there walking with me each and every day. He is waiting for me to trust Him in the day to day A to B activities so He can fully blow my mind with the A to Z. If I cannot appreciate where I am today and learn the daily lesson God has for me, how can I expect to grasp the big picture?
Pray for me to let go and trust God. I will pray the same for you. It’s so simple and yet so incredibly hard! Yet the reward is more than worth it!

Grace and Peace,

Christiana