Guidance for the Journey

"Whenever the cloud lifted from above the Tent, the Israelites set out; wherever the cloud settled, the Israelites encamped...At the Lord's command they encamped, and at the Lord's command they set out. They obeyed the Lord's order, in accordance with his command through Moses." (Numbers 9:17, 23)

These days I think it would be just wonderful if I had a continual manifestation of God's presence to guide me like the cloud He provided for His children in the desert. In spending time reading and talking with Jesus this week, I have needed His gentle reminder that when I take His hand, I can walk with confidence. Someone asked me the other day if I am "ready" for Ansley to arrive and my response was "I feel like everything I have ever needed to do needs to be done in the next 8 weeks!" You see, as many of you know, I am quite the organizer, planner, and scheduler. I have this strong sense that everything in my life needs to be in order immediately...not just in regards to Ansley but in regards to work, our home, paperwork, making sure I'm spending quality time with Jon and my family, etc. It is an overwhelming feeling. I also find myself seeking to set up boundaries so that once our little girl arrives our lives, through different and much better, will still be our lives...just with a precious new addition. Do you know what I mean? Jon and I both want our purpose and mission as a family to be accentuated by the birth of our little one and not compromised. We want to watch how He weaves Ansley into "The Mitchell Family" and helps use her to fulfill His purposes through us. Please don't misunderstand me, I know there will be months of adjusting and yes of course she will be a priority but we have talked to many couples who have reminded us to continue to make our time with Jesus and with one another a top priority. We will still be Jon and Karen and we will still have other things that are important to us and that we are passionate about. Yes, we will be mommy and daddy but we will still be husband, wife, daughter, son, sister, brother, teacher, business man, friend, and most of all disciples of Jesus. Our strong desire and prayer is that we will find balance in our new roles. We do realize that we will need to adjust and make things work for our family. We could not be happier that Ansley is about to make her beautiful debut into our family!!!

These days, I find myself in a place I've never been. We (Jon and I) are about to enter a new phase of life. I feel like we are about to embark on a new journey. We have our backpacks packed, our hiking boots on, and we (you know the planners that we are!) have our checklist in our hands making sure as to not forget anything important. We have our map. The only thing we don't have is a travel brochure that shows us the beautiful place we are headed to!

Well, this morning as I was processing many of these thoughts, Jesus spoke to me through my daily devotional which was perfectly titled today..."Guidance for the Journey". The verse above was the key verse and I was reminded that when we enter unfamiliar territory we are soon reminded that on our own we stumble. God wants to take us to a place we have never been before and can't get to without His help.

I know this new place God has for the Mitchell family is incredible and so we choose to follow Him and "settle" where the cloud settles and "move on" when the cloud leaves. Oh, the destination that awaits us! How incredible that this is the beginning of our 8th year together (Jon and I have been dating/married a combination of eight years now) and that in the Bible "8" is symbolic of "new beginnings". Thank you Jesus, for helping me see this morning that in all of the chaos and busyness, you are helping us prepare for this new journey! Jesus, help us to obey your orders. Help us to follow where you lead. Help us to listen to you and know when to stay where we are at along the journey and when to move ahead. We cannot wait to see how you use us and our new daughter to advance your Kingdom.