From humble beginnings come great things.....

Hey friends and family,
In writing my blog this week for the Lean into Jesus Ministries webpage, I changed my mind several times.  I first wanted to write about "our new normal" and how to keep Jesus in your decision and daily walk. Then the Lord shared with me what to write about.

 We were going to double dip this weekend and both of us work to make some extra income.  I had guests coming from Tennessee to do their hair and Bubba had Art on the Lake craft show. When we came home Friday night, we realized our washer had quit working.  We were reminded that we always have enough and the extra is in fact extra. 

HUMILITY
In the front of my bible reads, "Happiness is wanting what you already have".  In making the decision to live intentional and on purpose, we had a humble beginning moving to a new town and starting over.  Our journey began when our "stuff" owned us and we were working to pay for it and letting someone else raise our children. We realized that the lifestyle we were living was not comfortable and we made a conscious decision to change that. We had adopted our three children from Guatemala and we wanted to be better parents.

 We sold almost all of our furniture before moving to Alabama to live in our camper for the summer.  Let me first say that it was the best summer of my life.  Real quickly though, we humbled ourselves and followed His lead.  We knew he had been the author of The Griffin Adventures.  Around every corner we saw Jesus.  Buying our house, raising our children, getting help for Brody, finding work and building a business all were met by His gracious hand.

Staying humble, that is the real challenge.

 Brody became more challenging as he went through puberty(he has Fragile X, Autism, ADHD and SPD) and Bubba and I had to make another decision. We started our business together so that we could bring Brody to work with us if needed.  I Peter 5:6 says, "Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time." We were honored to care for Brody until September 1, 2015 when he moved to a group home and private school.

 Realizing that he was ready for more than we could give him was very hard to do.  Your pride sort of gets in the way and you think, "We can do this!"  We exhausted all of our resources and were comforted by the scripture in Deuteronomy 8:2, "Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands."

 We continued to fight by letting someone else take the lead with Brody and what an amazing job they have done.  We saw him today doing work, using the restroom(no more diapers) and communicating his needs.  Psalm 149:4 says, "For the Lord takes delight in his people, he crowns the humble with victory." What an amazing victory for all of us.

 A lot of people tell us that they would love to do what we have done.  It is not easy leaving family, careers, friends to live for Christ but so worth it.  Around every corner, under every stepping stone, we have seen Jesus. People tell us they wish they had our courage.  We didn't leave the door open to return to our old familiar lives, we shut the door only to open up a whole new world of opportunity to share the love of Jesus Christ.  

My prayer for you would be that of Living for Jesus with service and discipleship remembering that you might just be the only Jesus some people ever see.