Patch

It has been seven months since we left Pennsylvania...seven months today.

Seven months...

...of missing our sweet friends...

...of missing our dear church...

...of God growing new friendships...

...of being patched into this beautiful local church here in Frisco.

It has been a journey, to be sure...a journey of our Lord's design.  A journey that has been painful and precious, sometimes bitter...yet beautiful too.  

It was very hard to leave PA...to leave the people who saw us through so much during our time in graduate school.  These friends have seen us at our worst and walked through it with us.  And they have celebrated with us in times of joy.  It was so hard to leave the church that God had grown us in...had changed us in.  

And even though I did not want to leave, I could hear Him...

Trust me, Rachel, trust me.

It was a tearing...and it hurt...it hurt deeply.  

But there is blessing in the pain.  Feeling that hurt meant that God had knit us in very closely with His people...feeling that pain meant that He had grown precious friendships.  It is good that we were sad to go...it is evidence of His goodness and kindness that we felt the pain of the tearing.

Trust me, Rachel, trust me.

And there has been such grace on this side of the journey.   

Trust me, Rachel, trust me.

Connecting with our new church here in Frisco has been wonderful.  We have been warmly welcomed and God has been kind to quickly begin growing new friendships.  Some of them don't even feel that "new"...I praise Him for His goodness. 


But parts of the journey have been hard...simply because we love and miss so much and so many in PA.  There are times I feel the piercing as He adds us to this new home, this new church.  I still feel the tattered edges...they are a reminder of what we left... the remains of the tearing.

But I also feel Him binding those raw edges...lovingly healing my heart.


Trust me, Rachel, trust me.

I know He is working.  I feel the cutting, the piecing, the smoothing, the placing...I feel the patching.

And I am thankful that I can feel it...that I can feel Him.

Trust me, Rachel, trust me. 

I am thankful to know He is working. I am thankful that He causes me to reflect on His care, His kindness...His love.  I am thankful that He causes me to consider His plan and how He is tender when my heart hurts.


Trust me, Rachel, trust me.

I am thankful for the tugs and pulls I feel as He works.  I am thankful for the chords of love He is using...even though it is painful at times.  

And I want to be secure...I want to be exactly where He intends.  I am thankful, for I know I am safe with Him...so, yes, I am thankful for the process.


Trust me, Rachel, trust me.

And while I don't know all His plans or His ways, sometimes He allows me to catch a glimpse of some of His design...and I am overwhelmed by His love.


He is my beautiful Savior...He is my Redeemer.

"If the Lord had not been my help, my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence. When I thought, 'My foot slips,' your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up.  When the cares of my heart are many your consolations cheer my soul."               Psalm 94: 17-19


Trust me, Rachel, trust me.

Yes, Lord, I will trust You~

Praying to follow Him well~
Rach