You know those people who say, "I can't wait to get out of this town!"....well, I have never been one of those people. I was born in Meridian, Ms. I grew up in Meridian, and I love Meridian!
Caleb was on Chosen from the beginning of 2006 until the end of 2007. So, two years...
He took a "break" ( I guess you could say ) from the team to prepare for marriage and take care of financial matters. We got married May 3 of 2008. That October I was 4 months pregnant and the thought of Hamilton began to imbed itself in our minds. The Lord started a stirring in Caleb's heart to return. For me it was only a thought. I said, "Maybe one day".
At seven months pregnant, Caleb began to feel this stirring even more strongly and really began to seek the Lord about it in prayer. The thought of moving away from my family with a newborn did not settle well with me. I needed a definite word from God.
Caleb went to work at 8 every morning and I was usually still asleep. This particular morning in my half asleep/awake stage I clearly heard Caleb say, "Pack your bags...you're moving to Hamilton". When I completely woke up, I jumped up and ran in every room in our small home trying to find Caleb. He was no where to be found. I called him at work and asked him did he tell me that and he said no. The strange thing was He finally clearly heard the Lord tell him the SAME thing!! That morning!! Immediately I had peace in my heart. I was ready to move to Hamilton on the word of God.
When Eden was only 3 months old...we moved to Hamilton. It was a hard transition. But we were willing vessels saying YES to the will of God. We knew when we moved that this would only be for a season of our lives. This would not be permanent for us. We expected it would be 5-10 years....at the least! Many times we've tried to make our lives here permanent. We have planted business. Attempted to buy a home. Make deep connections with others, etc. Nothing seemed to work though. Our business just got us by. Our loan wouldn't go through. And the deep connections were far and few between, although there are those we consider friends who stick closer than a brother! I believe God didn't allow the permanent fixes to stick because He knew it wouldn't be long until He called us home.
Six to seven months ago the Lord began to stir in my heart dreams of Meridian. I literally smelled Meridian. I thought about it constantly and missed it a lot. So...I started rebuking a "familiar spirit"! Haha! I told it Hamilton is the place God called us to and I started breaking any ties with Meridian that I might have forgotten about. But this stirring just didn't go away. So, I began praying into it HARD! Dreams I used to have for Meridian (that I had pushed back) started to come forth. I started desiring to do these things. God has hope for Meridian! One day, I said to Caleb, "I miss Meridian"....and he responded with the same statement. I asked him had he been feeling the same things I was and He said yes. Together we began to pray into this.
God has a perfect will for our lives. He knows the right and wrong move and we know that anything we do without His word is in vain. We know that we could move home and it not be the word of God for us and fail. When I say we prayed...we PRAYED!
After Christmas I felt the stirring even stronger! I knew the Lord was saying it was time. We've only lived in Hamilton 1 year and 7 months. Why would He call us to a place for this period of time? "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens" -Ecc 3:1
That is the only answer I got.
Again we say yes Lord to all you have for us. We are willing vessels! We so want to fulfil His call for our lives!!
Our first move, before telling ANYONE, was to go to Mrs. Karen...our spiritual authority. I advise everyone to have spiritual authority in your life! The right order of this was to get with her and tell her everything I felt the Lord was sharing with me and Caleb. She confirmed everything we had been hearing and blessed us on the word of the Lord. What a relief! Having that confirmation is glorious. There were times that I thought I was crazy and just simply missing home.
I am thankful with all of my heart that God brought us here. Although we never had a platform to speak on, or a mic in our hands...we learned so many valuable things that are ETERNAL! We grew as husband and wife, as parents and as a son and daughter of God. We have spent more of our married life in Hamilton than any other place. Our first daughter has spent most of her life (so far) in Hamilton. We have great friends here in Hamilton. This will be a hard transition but beautiful all in the same. I believe God brought us to Hamilton to attain something we can take back to Meridian, that Meridian does not have! Awakening!
I look forward to more tent revivals in the Ben Arthur Davis park. I look forward to lives being totally and radically changed for the glory of the Lord. I look forward to a new journey in our hearts. Our hearts will always be a part of The Ramp and Hamilton. We will stay connected and continue being a part. God has huge plans and I am excited and thankful that He is using us. I am thankful that He is faithful in everything.
To all our Ramp community family: We love you all very much! We will always keep each and every one of you in our prayers. We're not falling off the face of the earth....I promise! Every conference weekend and Sunday night service we can make, we WILL be back! We thank each and everyone of you who have been a part of our lives. Thank you for loving us back.
K, I have to stop now before the tears start flowing.
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