Living by Faith.....

Living by Faith...trusting the Lord....both of those statements we have truly been learning what that looks like for us as a family and in our own individual lives. God has been showing us that the leap of faith we took in moving here was not and will not be the ONLY act of faith He will require of us to make. He has been teaching both Chris and I that here in the last few weeks. When Chris spoke that to me a few weeks ago I started praying and asking God to help me recognize the moments He would have for me to step out and take a risk or to recognize those moments when they came so I could act in obedience and not ignore them.

My moment came on Friday, February 13th..... We had a mandatory emergency meeting at work that morning about budget cuts. Immediately when I heard that my heart dropped and fear started showing its ugly face and I began to worry....my heart started pounding and immediately the enemy started his thing..with thoughts like..."ok Ashley, you will be the first one they lay off...you have only been working here 6 months....you won't be able to afford not to work...you won't have a place to live anymore....what will you do? How will your family make it financially?" I immediately called Chris to ask him to be praying...I was a little bit emotional and when I heard his voice my tears did come...but he was not upset at all. His faith is so unswerving and so strong. He said, "honey, even if you lose your job, God will take care of us...It WILL be ok!"

I sat through the meeting and heard the plan the county has come up with to try and help with these hard economic times. And, yes, there is a realy possibility that I could lose my job. It is not 100%, but a possibility. I won't know anything until the end of this month. And if I do get laid off I will be have to be done by March 9th.

As I have processed through this the last few days, my awesome God has provided His comfort, His PEACE in my life. He gave me the verse in Matthew on Friday that says, "DO NOT WORRY about your life"..... I am to take each day one day at a time and LIVE FOR HIM...that is what I need to do...that is what He expects me to do...nothing more nothing less.

So, my next big moment in LIVING BY FAITH has arrived... I am totally trusting the Lord and trusting that He will take care of us no matter what the outcome is. What I have to concentrate on now is....how am I pointing others to Him through these uncertain days. There are those here at work who are concerned about losing their jobs too. How I respond and how I react can be a real time for the Lord to shine and for me to be able to point others to Christ. So, I am not going to worry and I will speak into the lives of others and share that my hope is in the Lord and that is where my trust and faith lies. Bottom line.... My life is in His hands and I am NOT TO FEAR...I am going to trust Him that He IS WHO HE SAYS HE IS..and He has MY BEST INTEREST IN MIND...no matter what the outcome of this situation is.

Every morning I surrender to Him and ask Him to go before me and please take this burden from me....to not allow me to listen to the enemy when the moments of fear and doubt show their face. God is in control and I am once again along for the ride of my life!!!

Living by Faith....TRULY living by faith..there is honestly NO OTHER PLACE I would rather be then right here...side by side with my Lord and allowing Him to guide my every step, thought and action.....GOD IS SO GOOD!!!!