How to stand in one place

"what this God has brought me, what this God has taught me, passion and grace, how to stand in one place, laughing at lillies, what truly fulfills me, death on a cross, it was I that was lost, oh this God has been life to these bones..."

In January I will have lived in Thousand Oaks (ish...) for 5 years, other than Santa Barbara that's the longest I've ever lived anywhere. I've always loved adventure, I think some of us are just wired that way, we can pick up and go in just a few days and we find it exciting! I remember when I was young and I would listen to my friends tell me about these trips they would go on around the world, and thinking "I will probably never leave North America"... I never could have imagined what God had in store for me. It started in college when the Lord put it on my heart to join a missions trip to Bosnia (of all places!). I loved it, I loved the country, the people, the traveling. The next calling was even more beyond my imagination...to move to Germany! Once there, God opened the doors for me to travel to over a dozen countries and I fell just as much in love with each one. I knew God had given me a heart for the nations and a calling to go.

For many this kind of lifestyle of all always moving around, never knowing what's coming next would be more than frustrating but for me it is life giving and faith building. What is difficult for me...is staying.
When I moved to Thousand Oaks I believed God called me (and I still do), He had given me His Word several times and confirmed it through others. Yet, I came believing it was for one purpose never knowing that as my dreams crashed around me, God would use the death of that one purpose to bring me into a season of greater trust, greater hope (eventually), greater strength and wait, what's this...a time to stay.

Every other time I moved on to something new in my life it was to move me into a new season with the Lord, but this time He has led me to stay  that I might gain more of Him. There is no other situation I have desired to leave more, but in staying my relationships have strengthened, my understanding of who God is has grown, and I have been given opportunities I never could have dreamed of.

I'm so thankful He has taught me to stand in one place and watch Him keep His word and "work all things together for good for those who love Him".