Who will you be?

Sometime in the summer I was reading the story of Moses sending the spies ahead into Canaan. All but two of them came back with a report that, although the land was flowing with milk and honey, the people there were strong and the cities fortified and large. These latter things were unappealing to them.

But then Caleb stepped up and said, basically, "We can do this." Joshua seconded that with, "If the Lord delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us . . . the Lord is with us."

I read this story around the time when Ethan seemed to be struggling the most with our future life in America. He's a realist, like me (it sounds so much better than pessimist), and he was seeing the difficulties of transitioning to new friends, new places.

So I shared this story with him, because when I read it, I felt clearly that God was saying, "Who will you be like Gina? Will you look ahead and only see the obstacles, or will you look ahead with faith and hope because you believe that I am leading you to this place?"

It's hard to go into an unknown place after one you've loved so well. But this morning as I sat on the deck, warm sun on my face, I was encouraged by recalling this story. I'm not saying Orlando is the promised land :) but it is the place to which He is leading us, and we will trust in His goodness as we anticipate life there.