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SPRING 2015 “Rest” … I hear the Lord telling me this word over and over. Life seems to spin faster and faster. More than ever before there is an uncertainty of what lies ahead. Just when I am tempted to feel overwhelmed, I hear His tender sweet voice whisper to me, “Rest.” Are you ready? Are you nervous? These are two of the most frequently asked questions I receive as Chris and I await the arrival of our precious little girl. “Rest.” If you are a parent, you understand from your perspective the journey Chris and I are embarking on, a journey that will be filled with uncertainty, challenges, sacrifices, and much more. While we understand this intellectually, we lack the experiential understanding. “Rest.” When I think of all that is to come, it is tempting to feel overwhelmed, anxious, and worried. Will Chris and I have a normal and healthy delivery? Will I be able to live my dream of being a stay-at-home mom to our little one? Will I be a good mom? Question after question, thought after thought… God’s tender voice resonates within me: “Rest my precious one.” The journey ahead in each of our lives is full of twists and turns, valleys, hills to climb, and mountaintops. Too often, we spend moments in our day worrying about what lies ahead in our journey. Then, we attempt to manipulate the future rather than living abundantly in the moment He has currently given us. Worry and manipulation produces fear, anxiety, worry, doubt, and destruction. The truth is, however, the “perfect” journey we are trying to create for ourselves does not exist and will not exist. Therefore, instead of experiencing the abundant life Christ spoke of, we are living on a downward spiral. While our journey will contain some challenging moments, beauty and peace oozes from them as we rest in the only One who knows what lies ahead. Rest does not come from trying to manipulate the future, but rather trusting in the One who upholds us with strength and love in His hands. This way of life is a moment by moment choice of choosing to rest in the calm of His presence, even in the midst of the chaos of life. Resting in the Lord goes against the world’s system of working and taking, for when we rest, we simply experience His presence and receive His life giving rest. As we rest, fear will diminish, and His light and life will enable us to look beyond our circumstances to clearly see the next step of our journey. Only by living life in His presence will we experience love, joy, and peace. Being seven months pregnant, I often hear stories and warnings of all that can go wrong in childbirth and parenting. While I understand there will be pain in childbirth, while I know I will be losing sleep for who knows how long as I tend to a newborn, while I am uncertain of my ability to stay at home with my little one, and while I know parenting is challenging, I also personally know the One who has the grace to carry me through this new season of life. In each moment, the Lord will be there to provide me with what I need in that particular moment to sustain me to the next. Through each of these moments ahead, He will be there to unfold beauty, even in trying moments, as I rest in the embrace of the Lover of my soul. While entering the world of parenthood may not be the season of life you are embarking on, the same truth applies to you: As you rest in Him through the storms of your journey, He will uphold you with His mighty hands, intimately providing for you what you need at each moment. When you do so, and only when you do so, will you experience His abundant life of love and joy. The last seven months have been one of the most peaceful and restful times of my life. Not because I am superwoman, but because of the rest I have chosen to reside in from the God of Everlasting Peace. Together, may we rest in the embrace of the One who loves us more than we can comprehend. With love, Lori and Chris Resting In His Embrace... THE Jones MINISTRY UPDATE
