Tuesday, August 26, 2008

One For The Leavers - From Abmo

Abmo at Windblown Hope has been blogging one year today. I started to leave him a comment on how instrumental he has been in our lives and it got so long that I decided to post it here. This will give new readers an idea of why he is on my reader list.

Dear Abmo,

On December 12th of last year I left a comment and asked you to TELL ME HOW TO LIVE THIS LIFE!! I was frustrated, running out of hope and didn't know where to turn. I wanted to know what was next. You emailed me back these 7 questions and said the following:

"It is unfortunate that I cannot "show" you how we live or what we do. On the other side it is fortunate that I cannot "show" you. This is a struggle that is meant for you alone. Like Jacob (Gen 32:24) it is a wrestle with God in the dark. BUT I can give you hints in the form of questions that you can mull over in this time...:-)

1)Who is Jesus FOR YOU? What do you know of His character? What did He struggle with? Is He as fickle as us? Does He change? What is His love like? What can you do in order to make Him love you more?

2)If you were the only person on this planet, what would your relationship with Jesus look like? What would you "do" for Him? Could you do anything for Him? What does your relationship with Him look like?

3)Who are you? Have you made peace with yourself? Are you a loved person?.....by Jesus. Are you a liked person?.....by Jesus. What does surrender look like? I like the word "brokenness". Can you tell me why?

4)Time. Is God in a hurry? Is every moment holy? Is there a thing such as a time away from God? Do you have to meet people once a week to develop a special bond with them?

5)What does your everyday life look like? Mundane/ordinary? Is God present in the mundane/ordinariness of your life? He came to set the captives free. Free from what?

6)What is the church? (What you know of church has to die completely).

7)Our struggle is usually between right and wrong. Is there a third option?

A lot of questions. Some answers take a long time to be born. When it is time. Give yourself time. I will be praying for the scary part.

As I look over these questions today, I realize that only through the Father addressing each of these questions in His own time allows me to be who and where I am today. Thank you for not giving my husband and me a plan to follow or even your journey to emulate. Instead you gave the most important questions I have had posed to me - ever - in my life. They were the questions that seemed to be on the heart of the Father to answer in our lives. They were insightful and prophetic. I kept the email and check back to it almost monthly to see what Father has been teaching me about them.

I am grateful to have been able to read along on the window that you (and your wife) have provided. I have benefited so much from your encouragement. I remain grateful.

Barb

5 comments:

Jeannette Altes said...

=D Abmo and Anette are... wow, I can't find an adequate word. Yeah... okay, we like them. ;-)

Anonymous said...

Hi Barb,
thanks, I'm at a loss for words. (Tears actually) I'm so glad that you found your own journey and because of that journey, we as the body of Christ, is that much richer with experience. You share your struggles, questions, insights and victories and with that, you bring healing to the body and keep us on our toes.

I'm glad my questions helped and is still helping along the way. I had no idea you would be using them for this amount of time.

Thanks again and thanks for sharing your life. It's a privilege to see Jesus and the church through your eyes.

((Long Hug))

Anonymous said...

Hi Katherine,
We like you right back ;-)

us

Rich said...

Barb,

Thanks for sharing your life journey, and for what abmo has added as well.

Aren’t you glad our Father is not into cloning, I know he is great at clowning around though 

What is being offered to each of us is so very uniquely personal right from the early beginnings when we were yet to be fashioned within the womb. Our forever personalities that were going to bring such joy to our Father that each time He looked at us, he was smitten, and he continues to rejoice over us with shouts of joy and great delight!

Man without the spirit is influenced by another spirit to try and stick a syringe into the DNA of who and what our Father has and is etching into another’s walk and tries to clone that miracle, sorry, the flesh at best only reproduces flesh.

I’ve only recently come across, through the portal of grace into discovering your life grace journey, and for that I say, thank you Papa!

Anonymous said...

Barb,
I'm so glad you have such an endearing relationship with Abmo. I have him on my Blogroll, too.

Listen, because of your blog entry today, it brought to mind two blog posts I did on this very subject.

Now, Barb, I know that I am NO EXPERT, and I also know that EVERYONE'S journey is different. But I highly encourage you to read these two posts of mine because they may give you encouragement, which is ALL I want to do for you!!
They are:

1. What do I do NOW?
2. True Christian Community

http://amyiswalkinginthespirit.blogspot.com

(Walking In The Spirit)

Also, please feel free to leave comments so that I know you visited, as well, I value your feedback!

Blessings,
~Amy :)