The Journey to Jericho-part 1

I'm going to tell you upfront on this one, I NEED to hear back from those of you who are reading this blog & take the dare I'm going to ultimately share with you. I blog when I feel "led" to do so, but sometimes the urging is stronger than others...this is one of those strong ones, and I think I understand in part why that is......

Neal & I continue to seek the Lord about connecting with a new church home here in Charlotte where we have lived for over 25 years....we've been on that search for almost a year now. For those who don't know me/us personally, we were members at our previous church home here in Charlotte for close to 25 years. That's a long time to worship, serve, invest & connect with the body of Christ. At times, leaving there has felt like a death or a divorce for us because this fellowship had become so much a part of us. We still have some wonderful friendships & those we continue to connnect with, but we do not have a church body we call "home" yet.

Therefore, I have no group of women that I regularly meet with currently.....that's a first for me in a very, very long time. And if you're a woman, you know how important it is to connect with other women. I was always involved... leading a Bible study, many times here at my home, and for many years I hosted a monthly women's prayer group that I called "Yada". When all that was lost, a huge void was created in my life. So, with all that said/explained, pleeeeeeease consider giving me your feedback on your Jericho journey. I need to hear from others who are walking this journey with me, some way of connecting with a group of women, even if it's via online!

Now on to the heart of the blog:
Years ago, we lived in a precious little house on Country Woods Drive....way out in the country or it was when we bought it in 1983. As God blessed us with 3 little babies, all brought home from the hospital to that house, we realized it was time to either expand this home or move. We loved where we were and decided we wanted to just stay put and add on. But much to our dismay, we found out the I-485 belt loop was going to be coming right through the middle of our kitchen!

Fast forward through alot of details, heartache & stress, and all the negotiations with the State have occurred, and they have bought our home. Being the entrepreneur that he is, my Neal decided it would be a good thing for us to buy the home back from the State since they offer it back to the homeowner first at a hugely discounted price....all they are really wanting is your land to put their road through. So that's what we did, and then we had it moved further out into the country on a piece of land, invested alot of sweat equity & put it up for sale with great anticipation that skads of buyers would be pounding at our door.

Neal had done his homework, and he felt sure that we would make a good size profit. Otherwise, we would never had attempted the project in the first place. Even on the day we moved the house, he had several of those who were working on the project express to him serious interest in purchasing the house. We felt greatly encouraged that the decision we had made was a good one.

Fast forward again, and it's now a year later. We have 2 house payments because the house hasn't sold. No sooner than the house was placed on the lot we had found, the next door neighbor decided to put his "house" on his lot too. Only the "house" was a trailer, and his form of yard art was putting cars up on blocks! Not exactly what most folks want to live next door to & see across the driveway. So we waited and waited and waited some more for a buyer that did not come. The stress poured off of us onto each other like me when I exercise with my trainer at the gym!

It's hard to remember exactly how this next part of our story unfolded...I can't recall if this idea came to Neal & I independently or jointly. I think he & I had heard a sermon on Joshua 6 which the Spirit used to speak to both of our hearts. That chapter is about the Lord giving Jericho to Joshua & the children of Israel and His instructions to them about how to bring down the gigantic walls that surrounded the city.

It's probably not difficult for you to guess what happened next. Yep, we felt that God was leading us to march around the Country Woods house once for six days and would culminate on the seventh day as we marched around the house seven times, all the while making a joyful noise unto the Lord. Did I mention that we had 3 young children at this time? So, each night after supper we would get our instruments (aka pots & pans!), make the 10 or so mile trek to the house and march. Can you only imagine what the trailer neighbor was thinking as he watched this crazy family do the absurd?!

God leads us to do some strange things, doesn't He? Sometimes His plan for our lives makes great logical sense, and sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes what He leads us to do is painful and hard and the path is rough & filled with bumps along the way. I love the way John Piper puts it, "His burden is light and His load is easy, but the call to follow Jesus IS costly.".....that's my paraphrase, not an exact quote from him. Sometimes, obeying Jesus costs our reputation, sometimes it costs us our job or a friendship or, or, or.....you fill in the blank.

The march around the Country Woods house was a big thing for us at that time in our lives. But as we mature in our relationship & walk with Him, so do the things He requires of us. Our "Jericho" will be different today than it was in 1983. He's leading me to NEW places, higher ground so to speak. How about you?

My next blog will build upon today's, so I hope you'll stick with me and keep reading and considering and pondering what your "Jericho" is and how He might be leading you to take down the walls that's keeping you from taking that which He's given you....

Remember, He told us through Peter in 2 Peter 1:3, "His divine power has granted to us ALL things that pertain to life & godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us to his own glory and excellence."