1-10-19 Enjoying the Journey

One thing I had been struggling with over the past few months is wrapping my head around why God is speaking so loudly to our family all of a sudden.  What changed?  Why is He being loud and so specific?  We’ve always gone to church and read our Bibles.  We were completely content and happy with how our faith was growing and how God was using us.

But something changed.

We can’t pinpoint the day it happened because I don’t think it was a day.  I think His voice was always there, but we were too busy to hear it.  I think we were trapped in a “raising babies” stage for 10 years.  Within 4 1/2 years we had 3 boys.  It took every ounce of energy for both Mark and I just to get them all fed and kept alive!  It was an exhausting season.  We didn’t have much alone time.  We took the kids everywhere we went.  And we begged God for the sleepless nights to be over.

Then came a new season.  Our youngest was finally in school.  The kids were getting more independent.  Mark and I were actually able to have alone time to ourselves.  We could breathe!  We started to question our purpose in life.  Were we really only created to be parents and sports chauffeurs?  I think this was when we both started to hear from God loudly – because we could actually hear something else besides baby or toddler screams!  God was beginning to open our minds for more.  He was putting an “urgency” on our hearts to be brave and share our family’s strong faith with others.  Then He started putting ideas in the kids’ minds.  It was like a snowball – once it got rolling, it got bigger and bigger and bigger.

Now here we are.  Zieroff Ministries is up and running.  Our plate is full and God is showing up in big ways in our community.

I’d like to encourage you today to just enjoy the season you’re currently in, rather than wishing it away.  You might be in a season like our family is now, where we are getting creative ideas daily on how to expand our faith.  Mark and the kids will tell you, I am not a creative person by nature so I think it’s hilarious that I’m getting all these ideas at such rapid speed.  I actually wrote in my journal one day last month, “God, could you quiet down just a bit this week?!”

Or you might be in a “raising babies” season like we were.  Or even a slow, healing season from a medical diagnosis or hard life event.  Whatever season you are in, God is with you.  His voice might be faint, but trust me, He is there.  Every season, every age, everyday.  He wants to be a part of every part of your life – yes, even the hard parts.  The verse Hebrews 13:5 promises this!  It says, “…be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.'”  Be content with what’s right in front of you, in this moment.

Life is a marathon – not a sprint.  Just enjoy the journey where you’re at.  Don’t wish it away!