Live It Articles Is Your Life Upside Down?

This morning I was reading Chapter 3 of Proverbs, which talks about the benefits of wisdom.  I especially love verses 5-6,

 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.

When Hurricane Ike landed on September 13, 2008, our lives were instantly turned upside down.  We lost our permanent home on Galveston Bay and everything that was inside the house, as well.  The months following are a bit of a blur, so we must have been in shock without knowing it.

Here we are 18 months out from Hurricane Ike and I can testify that the verses above are true.  God led us every step of the way and has not allowed us to make a wrong move, because we have trusted Him with the details of our lives.

Our next door neighbors insisted that we live in their home, as they had just moved back to Houston three weeks before Ike hit.  We were able to live there the entire time we were meeting with adjusters and getting the remainder of our home torn down.  In early December, we decided that we needed to move back to Houston and my friend, Linda Wadsworth, generously agreed to rent her fully-furnished townhome to us for as long as we wanted to live in it.  God used this time to show us that the place we were living was a perfect spot for us to land.  Because our dog has to be walked several times a day, I found that there are many Christians who live there, and I have also made friends with many pre-Christians and am so enjoying all that God has opened up for me to do.

In December, we purchased a townhome with a downstairs bedroom and bath so that Johnny won’t have to climb the stairs any longer.  He has been a trooper, but is now undergoing five months of chemo and the stairs at Linda’s are hard for him.  Our son, John, is a contractor, who is out of full time work right now, so he has been available to totally remodel the townhome.  We have a brand new home and it has been so wonderful getting to work with our own son.  Every idea John has is wonderful and the work has progressed so smoothly that we will be moving in before April 1, Lord willing.

The thing that struck me this morning as I was reading Proverbs 3: 5-6 is that if we are walking with our Lord and trusting in Him with all our hearts, it is virtually impossible to miss His perfect Will for our lives.  Without a doubt, God has guided our every step since Ike hit.  He put it in my mind to call Linda, because He had already chosen the place where we were to live permanently.

God knew before Ike all that would be happening in our lives and He had it worked out even though I didn’t know the plan in advance.  What I have learned through all of this:

• Don’t run ahead of God
• Wait to act until you know for sure
• Don’t worry
• Trust Him completely
• Quit trying to figure everything out in advance

I pray my words are an encouragement to you today.  Is your life upside down?  Do you need direction?  God is trustworthy.  He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it. Philippians 1:6

Trust Him today with all your heart.  Don’t lean on your own understanding.  Acknowledge that He has the answers for everything you are going through and that He will make your paths straight again. 

We’ll post some pictures of our new home soon on our First Place 4 Health blog.  By the way, you are invited to the bay again this year on Saturday, following the Leadership Summit.  There isn’t a house, but we will have canopies.  The pier has been rebuilt and the boat will be running.  The dates for the Leadership Summit are July 30-31, 2010.  Hope to see you there!

Carole

When Carole attended the First Place orientation in March of 1981, she eagerly anticipated what God might want to do in her life. She had recently seen an old friend that looked great and who reminded her that they were soon approaching 40 years old. Carole determined she did not want to be "fat and 40." She joined First Place and soon lost 20 pounds. Learning how to bring balance to her life, she became a First Place leader to motivate others to achieve this goal.

Carole is a popular speaker and author of the books, Choosing to Change, First Place 4 Health, Today Is the First Day, Living Well, Back on Track, A Thankful Heart, Stop it, The Divine Diet, and Mother/Daughter Legacy. Carole regularly leads Conferences, Wellness Weeks, Change Your Life Events and seminars across the country in the areas of personal balance, fitness, encouragement and temperament analysis. Her audiences know her as warm, honest and humorous.