1. Joshua was in need of encouragement and affirmation. Understand this.... Moses lived for hundreds of years. He was cutthroat.... He killed a man. He was a vessel readily used by God. He was a leader of bondage people, who often questioned him and criticized his leadership. They laid into him so heavily that they even talked about going back to be SLAVES rather than continue on their journey. Those are HUGE shoes to fill. As soon as Moses died, it seemed as if immediately God said, "Moses' you're up!" and instantly he was the leader. Flatly speaking, Moses was not an easy act to follow.
2. TRANSITION. Transition was on the horizon. There is always a transition period when leadership changes hands. A lot of change is not easy. Honestly, a little change isn't easy either. Embracing it is the difficult part because often times we have no control over our circumstances we seem to be faced with. It's even more of a challenge when you must relinquish the little bit of control that you thought you has, and put all of your faith/trust in God.
Personally, I didn't just lose a mentor or father figure. In actuality, I just gained a new addition to my family with the birth of my son! Change #1. But the decision we made as a family was to move to TX. HUGE CHANGE. Leaving thr area I called home for 6 years was not easy. There are things that you do to try and prepare for your departure, but actually emptying out your house and going brings on a whole new set of feelings and emotions. I'm no stranger to packing up and leaving..... Since I have physically done it 16 times since the Fall of 2000, but this is the first time we, as a family, are moving to a new city, within a new state, more than 1000 miles away from comfy St. Pete..... Looking to buy a house! That is what I call CHANGE.
GRACE & FAVOR
2 family-unfriendly vehicles
No House
No Jobs
No Security
Unstable Economy
Cancelled Career Fairs
Hiring Freeze
Who on earth uproots at a time like this? Ecclesiastes 3 talks about seasons for everything. "a season for planting, a season for uprooting" A season for sowing, and a season for reaping." Who does this? God. And he promises strength to endure, and He never forsakes his children. NEVER. Let me unfold for you how God showed up and showed out!!
1. Slanging Dough
2. Minivan
3. Will & Family.
4. ELP
5. Interviews
1. Slanging Dough
I picked up a side job delivering pizzas for make some extra cake. It wasnt a horrible job, and I enjoyed it. Management was cool, and I learned alot. Tips were here and there. I can't believe that people honestly DO NOT tip delivery drivers. There were maybe 5 days in which I DID NOT get stiffed on a tip. It's kind of crazy. It was the best of both worlds. I delivered to residents at the beach, as well as cats in the hood. It wasn't the best or worst of jobs. The goal was to save some money to help move and get "On to the Next One."
Goal: Save money and pay off credit card. Check
2. Apparently, our vehicles didn't get the memo that we are a family now. Yours truly has a 2-door truck. And the wifey has a 4-door small Mazda3. So yeah.... we traded in the Mazda and got ourselves a minivan. The SWAG is on a hundred-thousand-trillion. We now have a family vehicle, and one is paid off. This is getting good for us.
3. Will
May 18th..... We had a son. Amazing. God just showed out..... He is amazing. He is everything I ever dreamed. And he will be 6'10"
4. Got a phone call from my man T-Pain. (I've been calling him T-Pain since before you heard of the auto-tuned T-Pain). He asked me if I wanted to do some summer school for some $$$$. Good thing is it was only from 12-4, Mon-Th for 3 weeks. Better pay than the Dominos..... so its all good. My wife thought it was an ok idea, and during the course of it, hopefully it didn't stress her out too much. Some extra money for the move.
5. Interview
I interviewed via Skype for a job. The lady said I blew the interview out of the water.
"If the principal doesn't hire you on the spot, he's out of his mind. As a matter of fact, if you have any other friends who are interested in heading this way, forward me their information as well. I'll find a position for them too."
"As a matter of fact, I have a wife who is an educator as well......"
God keeps on blessing. I don't know why. I am utterly overwhelmed by His Love, Grace, and Sufficient Mercies have me speechless. Seriously. I'm done.
Back to Joshua: The transition he made at the beginning of the book of Joshua after Moses had died, was monumental. he went from being one of the followers of Moses, to being the guy who had to fill his sandals.....leading many ungrateful and shakily committed folks.
He embraced his challenge and lsitened to God. God told him 3 times in a span of 4 verses to be strong. Apparently, being a PUNK leader was not an option. "Be Strong and Courageous" And God said the same promises he made to Moses will be made for him..... EVERYWHERE YOUR FEET GO. That's like when Jabez prayed for God to enlarge his territory, except Joshua didn't have to petition God for anything.
The message to me, and to all....was to not lose faith. Be Strong, in the Lord, trust in Him. Watch his provision come through. And DONT DOUBT ME. Yes, the task looks big, and this is new territory. But someone has to be a TrailBlazer on the path.... and I choose you. Be who I called you to be, and watch me ALWAYS provide.
Until next time......
