New place - new job - new title - new ?????

It has been two and a half months now that I have been working at Engineering Ministries International (eMi).  If you don't know the story about how we got here, please feel free to wonder through the blog and learn a bit about our family.

A recurring theme these last few months is new.  We are in a new town, we have new grocery stores, our kids are in new schools,  we have new doctors and orthodontist, we have a new church, I have a new job, and to add to the mix - I have a new title.

I have recently been named the Director of the Latin America (América Latina) office for eMi.  This brings up about a million questions starting with "What does that mean?".



It also causes me to pause and think about new things.  When I first think of new things, it seems that my first thought is Christmas and Birthdays.  New things often are associated with gifts.  Some new things don't feel like gifts.  Sometimes a new thing is very hard.  Our daughter Joanna has been going to a new school.  If you were to ask her, she would clearly let you know that she is NOT enjoying this "gift" of a new school.

When I think of all the new things that sit in front of me, I have an overwhelming sense of not knowing, of certainly not having the answers, but also not know the questions.

As Christians we have also been given a new thing.  It is a new life.  It is a wonderful gift, but like my new title, it comes with questions "What does that mean?", and like Joanna's new school, it is not always an easy gift to receive.  Sometimes we would rather not have that gift.

It comes with instructions, so does my new job.  Sometimes I don't want to read the instructions.  Sometimes I don't want to ask those wise and willing mentors that have gone before me.  Sometimes I just want to work it out myself.  How many of us have opened those Christmas gifts and quickly started building - hardly taking time to throw the instructions to the side.

So what do we do with new things - the exciting, the hard, the sad, the painful?  I believe that there is a reason that God puts new things in our lives.  I find that I naturally focus on the gift that I have been given, but I wonder if I miss the point when I do that.  I think that God desires that we would keep our focus on Him, not His gifts.  That means that my response to His giving of a gift is not to rip into it and figure out how it works, but to go sit on His lap, kiss His cheek and hug His neck - and then thoroughly enjoy His gift.  Isn't that what we love about giving gifts to our children?

This is a good reminder for me as I begin this New thing in a New place with New people.  These are all wonderful gifts - sometimes they are hard gifts - and I need to spend time in my Fathers arms thanking Him, resting in Him, and enjoying Him.

It is OK.  He doesn't expect me to be able to instantly know what to do with these new gifts, but I do believe that He wants me to trust Him and enjoy these gifts.

Thank you Father, Thank you that you give good gifts everyday.....