Wednesday, September 28, 2011

The Shelton Adventure

Jesus Saviour, Pilot Me
Pilot: Jesus
Passengers: Tim & Stacy

      Tim  and I have decided to join in on one of the many ways our society uses technology to stay in touch and peer into one another's lives. For someone who has taken such a stand against social networking you may wonder why Tim and I have taken such a huge step. I have several reasons to credit our bold step into the blogging world.  First, I find myself inspired by my eldest sister and her blog: http://lilsweetcheeks.blogspot.com/. She has such a way with words and she continues to share her life lessons, which only serve to teach and encourage me in my own life. Second, we feel we have embarked on a new journey and adventure in our life and know that the Lord WILL teach us many lessons and we look forward to sharing those with others. And thirdly, it sounds like fun and I now have the time to dote on such an activity.
     Tim and I first came up with the title of this blog while we were on vacation this last summer. We had decided to decorate our second bedroom & office in a nautical theme complete with maps and old ships. This is credited to Tim's fondness of Reepicheep (from the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe) and his eagerness to sail into the golden shores of Aslan. We also love the song that Phil Wickham wrote about Reepicheep, "Sailing on a Ship." While antiquing, we found several model ships, one of which had a placard saying, "Jesus Saviour, Pilot Me."  We knew this was the 'theme' that we wanted to claim for this adventure and for our life because we believe that whatever we face, we must face together and depend on the guidance and leading of the Holy Spirit.
September 1st, 2011- Moving Day to Davis, Ca.
         We made it to Davis safely and had excitement brewing as we walked to the front door of our new home. That excitement quickly faded over the next few hours....and the next few days....as we were met with an extremely dirty house, no power for 24 hours, a dryer vent that was a major fire hazard, spiders and cobwebs everywhere, a sparking lamp (bad wiring), and cockroaches. By night #1 we felt broken and alone and I was asking, "Why are we here?" Since then, we have slowly made this house feel like a home (still killing cockroaches but I am getting quicker than those lil buggers! ) and we are starting to settle in. Tim has started classes and he is already teaching undergraduates as well as learning what his class load will be like for the next quarter. He is loving every minute of it and becomes a giddy little boy when he gets to ride his bike to class every morning! I have been looking for a job for almost a month and have not found anything as of yet.
Which leads me to the lesson God is currently teaching me:
God has continued to allow me to learn the never-ending lesson of patience and trust in Him.  Currently there are a lot of unknowns and a lot of things out of my control which leads me to a cross-roads of either worry or trust. Since the first option leads to nothing except stomach acid I have been doing my best to choose to trust in the Lord daily and have patience in waiting on His timing. Secondly, He is beckoning me to just BE with Him. I have more time on my hands than I ever remember having and I don't quite know what to do with. While I am uncomfortable with this and sometimes have the urge to feel lonely and self-pity, He is quite pleased to have my undivided attention and continues to beckon me to spend as much time in His presence as I am willing. Newsflash: God simply wants to be with you because He loves you passionately!!!

Verse of the moment:

"The Lord your God is with you,
the Might Warrior who saves.
He will take great delight in you;
in His love He will no longer rebuke you,
but will rejoice over you with singing."

Zephaniah 3:17


P.S. Moving is extremely exhausting.....Chauncey agrees and is still recovering from the traumatic experience.