Filling Pots

Time is fleeting, is it not?  I just realized that almost three months have passed since my last blog-three months!  Great Day!  How does that happen? 

No matter.  Let me just say, first of all, that the dream is still very much alive!!!  I am so excited to see the hand of our great King weaving so many fabrics together to create such a masterpiece.  His handiwork is so glorious in the lives of his royal children.

As winter came to northern Idaho, so did frustration.  I felt as though I was just spinning my wheels. I was frustrated about our lack of ministry opportunities, our lack of friends, our lack of funds, etc.  I was seeking God, and trying to obey His voice, but all I heard was, “Wait, be still.”

 My response to that was, “I’ve been waiting!!! For six years, I’ve been waiting.  Can’t you just drop a ranch in my lap?”

He answered, “I can, but I won’t.  Trust me.  I know what’s best.”

“Okay,” I sighed.  Really, what else can I do?  For if I have learned anything on this journey, it is simply that God really does know what is best, and everything he does is for my good-even when, maybe especially when, I do not understand it.

A few days later I was studying about the life of Elisha, and I came to the story about the widow woman, whose sons were going to be sold into slavery because she could not pay her bills.  Her only possession of any value was a small pot of oil.  So Elisha told her to go to her neighbors and gather as many pots as she could and to pour the oil into the pots.  She was able to fill every pot with that little bit of oil.  She then sold the oil to pay off her debts and save her sons.

What stood out to me the most in this story is that the miracle was only as big as the number of pots she was able to gather.  If she gathered eight pots, she had eight pots of oil.  If she gathered two hundred pots, she had two hundred pots of oil.  I can’t help but think she gathered every pot she could possibly get her hands on. 

As I reflected on this, God said to me, “This is what I am doing for you now. This is a season of preparation, a time for you to pour oil.  And what you do in this time is going to determine what I am able to do through you in the future.”

 So naturally, I asked him what I should be focusing on during this season, and he said, “Your family, your business, and your writing.”

So I cleared my mind of everything else and turned all of my energy to these three things, and pots are being filled before my very eyes.  Here are just a couple of examples:

 

Family:

While attending Sunday morning worship, the pastor spoke about leaving a family legacy.  And I began to wonder about the legacy I wanted to leave with my family.  The idea grew in my mind, and I eventually wrote “The Clark’s Royal Creed.”  Basically, it is our code of chivalry, how we choose to live as children of the King.  We are teaching them to our children, and we hope that it will become something that is passed on to future generations. 

 

Business:

We started Mountain Water Window Cleaning in September, and the growth we experienced in just three months was nothing short of amazing.  But time was my enemy.  When the snow came, I knew that growth would come to a virtual stop.  So I simply decided that the winter would be lean, and I just needed to somehow limp my way to spring.  But God told me to continue bidding, prepare for growth, and He would bless my efforts.  And He has blessed and continues to bless in the cold months that are historically not profitable for this industry.

 

            Writing:

I have several writing projects that I have begun.  But very few that I have finished.  But when my niece passed away in October of 2011, I sat down and wrote a short story about her.  I read it to a few people, and they encouraged me to pursue publishing it.  I spoke with a few publishers, and the common response from all of them was that I needed to self publish it.  So I found a great company to work with, but self publishing required up-front costs that I never seemed to have.  Well after God told me to focus on my writing, someone called me and told me that they wanted to send me some money to help get this book published.  We are in the process of publishing it right now.  More information will be coming out about this soon.  God has also given me several other book ideas, and I am excited about all of them.

 As 2013 began, God told me again that these are to remain my focus throughout 2013.  He said that as I obey him, He would open doors for me and my family that I would never be able to open by myself.  So I am just going to keep walking with Him on this, trusting HIS plan and HIS promises.

 

(Now there may be some who read this and wonder about these conversations that I have with God.  That is something to discuss in a future post, maybe even the next one!)