All In an Invitation...

I have learned over the years that even something we consider to be so simple is still designed with purpose by God and thru the simplicity of the situation, God will show Himself in a big way. (as if anything He ever does is small.)

This Thanksgiving was truly a blessing to me and my family and we truly enjoyed the day and days surrounding it. (and not just because of the ham I cooked on the pit, smoked with hickory wood for 2 hours....yea buddy!!) Thanksgiving is a day that we all gather around and remember what we are thankful for and all that God has done and is doing in our lives. It is a day we enjoy family, friends, fellowship, games, and that ham. (I'm just saying!! ) We reflect on the recent past and the journey that God has brought us through to get to this point. This year was no different and I can stand with my wife and say that God has been.....yes...He has been!! In the past year, we have lost family members, friends, and experienced the joys of becoming pregnant and the process of learning to deal with the fragility of a pregnancy and life. Put on bed rest only a couple months in, we understood that God has called us to a place to see Him in a way that was greater than our understanding. We were called to step down from ministry positions we held and pulled out to return to where He wanted us and we did just that. We understood early that God was at work and we did not want to miss what He had for us. In the end, what He had in that was a beautiful baby boy, born healthy and gifted named Isaiah. Moreover, in the midst of it all, we were able to gain so much more and that is just how God is. We had our home remodeled, made some large purchases that were needed. Not "wanted" but "needed." We made some adjustments in our life and were able to take on all that came our way and stand on the plan God has had for us. Friendships have strengthened, our marriage continues to grow in such an awesome way and God was just getting started.

On Thanksgiving, with the newness of our son, we were not able to travel but God plans it all right? (rhetorical question!!) We went over to my brothers home to celebrate with family who came in town and some family I have not seen in years. The joy of just seeing their faces made the day all it needed to be. My children had a good time hanging out and seeing their family again and, yes, enjoying that ham!! oh my!! After spending some time there, we loaded up and headed over to the next spot we received an invitation to weeks before. The location was the home of my ex wife and her boyfriend where they were celebrating with family and friends alike. We went over there and had a good time hanging out and talking with everyone and the kids enjoyed being able to spend this holiday of "Thanks" with both of their parents as oppose to one or the other. The blessing in this is greater then just spending time over there and being able to "get along" as most view situations like this. The blessing is the example we had the chance to take advantage of and did by showing my children, the family, friends, and ourselves that God is able in all things and thru all things He teaches. So often we look to make excuses as to why not "try" something or we just look for the bad in things and people to avoid making the step to start the "good" that God gives us freely. We spend so much time speaking negative in to each other's lives and exhaust ourselves trying to find examples of why NOT to take a step forward to something greater then ourselves. With all our efforts to do that, if we applied it in the other direction, we could achieve things we never imagined otherwise. God is always trying to show us, we just choose not to listen. As we sat there and talked, laughed, and shared stories, I had a moment where I just laughed to myself and God and said that there is nothing He can not do and even in something as simple as this may seem, He is teaching us something so much greater. To many, it may seem small and feel it should be that way. To those, I would say if you are divorced, with or without kids, call your ex and invite them over for the holidays with their family and see where it gets you. God will create the opportunity for us to do all things, we just have to be ready and make that move to take the challenge. As we left for the night, we hugged everyone good bye and loaded up. My ex wife and her boyfriend said separately, being in different places in the house, "Thanks for coming over and spending time." We responded to them both the same, saying "thanks for the invitation." It was not until the second response that I realized what God was saying and that He was effectively at work in us all at that moment. God always extends the invitation to us....the problem is, we don't always accept it. So as we reflected on the past year, we realized that God extended us an invitation to go on a specific journey with Him and trust Him thru it all. We did, and though we often wondered why the journey took some of the turns it did, we stayed on course to finish with Him. We endured some challenges and made it through because we knew He had us in mind in the end. It started with His invite and ended a year later with us finally understanding what it all meant with the simple remarks to one another as we left that evening. On this Thanksgiving, we were glad we accepted their invitation and enjoyed the time we spent over there. When the invitation is extended to you, will you accept it? Trust me when I say, it is worth saying "yes."