“My Line In The Sand.”

  
Seeing my baby girl ~~ my only girl ~~ in that wedding dress ~~ just made my heart melt.

Suddenly all those “mama moments” (as I have often called them) came flooding back to memory ~~ fun ones, growing ones, learning ones, difficult ones ~~ they were all there in a single breath.  As my daughter emerged from that bridal fitting room and walked down the length of the store, I realized that God had done a beautiful thing through me and for me.

Psalm 127:3 Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him. 

Over 20 years ago, I made the hard decision not to return to my corporate job.  It was a lucrative position that offered me unlimited potential and a salary to match.  After the birth of our first two children, I had returned to my office with every intention to carry on in pursuit of my career.  Only six months after our second child is born, I am pregnant with our third child.

This was my line in the sand.  And I felt the tugging of The Holy Spirit to make a stand in that sand.

And that is precisely what I did!

I crossed over into a land of faith that offered no guarantees for substituted salary.  

I took a stand with three small children in tote and waved goodbye to job security.  

I defied the criticisms and disdain of family and friends and colleagues that declared me crazy for my decision.

I retired my briefcase for a gym bag; stilletoes for Nikes.

Regrets? Not one.  Would I do over differently?  Never.  Was it easy?  Not.

Psalm 37:4-5 Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires. Commit everything you do to the Lord.  Trust him, and he will help you. 

This Scripture passage got me through (and still does) every day, every moment.  

Trusting God for everything ~~ Committing all my effort to Him ~~ was (and is) at the very foundation of my daily living.  Taking delight in The Lord caused me to seek after Him in a very different manner ~~ wisdom and understanding were what I was (am) in pursuit of, instead of the career and salary.  And ‘what’ did I gain in return?

The desires of my heart.

Getting in closer to my Lord through all out dependency upon Him filled my heart with different desires.  His Desires.

These desires paved the way for realigning my ‘priorities.’  God’s Priorities became mine.

I wish that I could tell you that I ‘never disagreed.’  But that would be an untruth.  I wish that I could tell you it all made perfect sense to me at every step of the way.  But that would be another untruth.  

But I will tell you this: Psalm 37:23 The Lord directs the steps of the godly.  He delights in every detail of their lives.

The more I trusted and committed ~~ the more God took care of all the ‘details’ of my life and the life of our family.  The tiniest of details can become the biggest of our worries.  In hind sight, I shake my head when I consider how I worried over some trivial things.

But Almighty God is indeed faithful to fulfill His Promises.

If you’re at a ‘crossroad’ today, Girlfriend, trust and commit it ALL into the loving Arms of your All Powerful God.  If it concerns your chldren, just remember that there are some things you will not have the option for a ‘do over.’

“What is your line in the sand?”

I love you to Heaven and Back, Girlfriend ~~

LindaRJohnson

T2T Visionary