Peter Explains His Actions in Acts 11

I've been continuing to read through Acts - each morning I put on a cartoon for the kids after breakfast and spend time just asking God to reveal himself to me as I soak up scripture.    This morning I read one of my favorite chapters to date - Acts 11.  Kyle has often talked over the recent years about our tendency as Christians to try and persuade or 'sell' other individuals on the idea of Christianity as opposed to simply stating what it is that we've experience or witnessed.  Sometimes he likens it to the court of law and how a 'witness' is just that - he tells the jury what it is that he witnessed and that's it!  He doesn't get to tell the jury that the defendant is guilty or not guilty - he is only a witness and his story will be factored in as the jurors decide what it is they believe to be true about the case.

Not only do I liken this to court hearings but it feels parallel to Kyle and I's marriage since the first days -- not the marriage itself but instead what it is that God has asked us to do...

We get married at 21 while still in school... we take on an internship with a college ministry that pays $1000 bucks a month (less than twice our rent)... we then go from the internship into a 3/4 time finance position at the church... then God calls us at the age of 24 to take on a church plant 80 miles south in Lynnwood... we live on tithe after being told that the church up north would no longer be able to support us financially - sometimes Kyle and I brought home $500-800/month - with a mortgage at $1400 things weren't simply a 'bit tight', in fact, the concept of being a 'bit tight' sounded rather relaxing at that point... but we were in dire straights so Kyle took on a job at Starbucks and worked two jobs as a Senior Pastor and a Starbucks barista while having our first child... we dissolved the church a year later and Kyle took a job in West Seattle at Doxa Church commuting about an hour each way and getting paid rather well - nice since we had our second child on the way... we were just about to sell our home in order to move to West Seattle when the church was handed over to Mars Hill and we would likely not have a job in West Seattle anymore... so Kyle went to work as a consultant for churches, took on a Children's Pastor position at a large church in Mill Creek to assist in deploying a volunteer ministry and then began his mortgage career as a loan officer... we sold our house in Mill Creek and moved into a rental in Everett in 2008 just before having our third child... Kyle quickly moved into a management position at GFG and currently works as a Certified Mortgage Planner with GFG Mortgage and doing project management for Arch Media Solutions... and now we're considering another job change -- for reasons we're not completely sure of...

Understandably so, we've had close friends confront us about our decision making and why Kyle was constantly switching jobs and why we were finding our life to be a matter of feast or famine -- I was always uncomfortable with those conversations because there was no science involved... there was no strategy in any of it other than we knew were supposed to make each of those moves when we made them.  There were times where I told Kyle that I had had enough and wanted him to find a consistent job with consistent pay so that we could have a consistent lifestyle and move up from there... you know, possibly achieve the American Dream that so many of our friends were reaching for as well - house, kids and stability.  Whether that 'stability' was a beautiful home in a lovely neighborhood with two new cars or whether that meant a modest home with little wiggle room financially... I just wanted to KNOW and I wanted it to be PREDICTABLE. 

Our life will likely never be predictable - and I get concerned because our current financial situation may seem to others a by-product of making so many changes and never really stabilizing ourselves and our finances... and it makes me want to 'sell' others on why we've done what we've done.  But as I read this morning in Acts 11 - Peter, after being criticized by the apostles and brothers about his behavior, simply explained to them what he had witnessed and what God told him to do.  He didn't try to persuade them to come to his aid but instead told the story as it had happened - he gave them the information as he knew it and allowed them to decide what they believed about the case.  And in Acts 11:18 it says, 'When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God...'

I will be the first to say that if you step back and look at the entire canvas, it looks a bit chaotic and possibly without purpose -- but this is one of those times when I'm glad that I'm the fly on the canvas experiencing what God has done at every turn in my heart and the hearts of those around me as they experience this life with Kyle and I.  One day I hope to see what this is supposed to be a picture of... yet I'm not counting on it in this life.  When I'm standing before my heavenly Father in eternity, singing and praising him for Who he is and What he's done - I'm sure all of this will make perfect sense.

Thank you to those who have given to us so generously lately -- the care packages and the food have been a blessing and God has used each of you so tremendously... this morning was awesome as William ran to the front door while I spoke with my friend - he saw the paper bag of groceries and grinned, 'is this for us?!'  I said that it was and he grabbed hold of the handles and with all his weight began dragging it down the entry into the kitchen and around the corner... the kids pulled everything out with 'oohs' and 'aaahs' and began putting them away.

God is so good.