Departure, Not Departed...

I hope you don't mind that I post on my mother's blog? This will not be an ongoing thing. This is rather an unexpected opportunity to share with you about the wonderful people that are this ministry.

As most of you already know God called my mother and father to pack up their lives and move to Oklahoma. What a shock this was. I mean how in the world could God take my parents away from me right after He took my grandmother home to be with Him. It felt as though my family and life were falling apart. My grandmother was the glue that kept the extended family together and it was my parents that gave me godly security. They were always there to help in a time of crisis or to simply share a laugh. They had become my spiritual and emotional security blankets.

It took a while for me to accept the fact they were moving let alone warm up to it, but God touched my heart and assured me that this was indeed ordained by Him. People often asked how could your parents leave you and your kids? Well that was not easy to answer at first. I can say without hesitation now that they couldn't leave us on their own accord. It is a higher calling from God that has moved their physical location, but their love is still here with us. No one could ever take their love away from us.

God called them to be missionaries. Not an easy calling. I suppose the funny thing to me is that everyone thinks Africa or a third world country when you mention missionary. Not necessarily the case. Oklahoma is the mission field God has called them to. They accepted the calling as they have always put God first in their lives. I did not realize how much that example would affect me.

My wife, Jennifer, and I found out a few months prior that we were expecting our third. I had mixed emotions. I was excited of the news, but was saddened by the thought of not having my parents here for the birth. I knew it saddened them too. I did not realize how much their leaving would impact my life. It truly was the first time in my life that I had to really step up to the plate. I was needing to take on the leadership role in my home and become that spiritual leader that God had called me to be. I was having to petition God myself on my family's behalf. This is not to say that I never prayed to God on my own before. What I found out was that I had made surrogate parents out of my own parents. They had become my mediator instead of Jesus Himself. Certainly this was not intentional, but because my parents had always been there and they were tangible, it was an easy thing to do. Now they were gone...

It had been six months since I last saw my mother's face. It had seemed like yesterday we were saying our good-byes and yet it felt like an eternity since I felt my mother's warm embrace. The smell of her perfume lingered in my mind as I remembered us standing in their kitchen, arms wrapped around each other and her head buried in my chest. We had just finished packing all their belongings onto a moving truck. The door to the house that had been in the family for over 30 years had closed behind us for the very last time.

I found myself the very next day in the same situation except this time it was my father. We were saying our final good-byes as he had a few remaining things to drop off at my house before he headed east to Oklahoma. We were standing in my driveway holding each other. It never occurred to me that people might be watching two grown men embrace one another let alone crying on each other's shoulders. At that very moment I did not care. It was our time to let go, but I found myself holding on tighter than ever.

I was left with my own family and my own relationship with God to sort it all out. I was at a crossroads. Which way do I go? What do I do? I needed God now more than ever. I needed my wife more than ever. I found myself growing my relationships with both God and my wife out of the sake of necessity. In retrospect I am saddened that I did not come to this place before, but it took my parents leaving for me to figure it out. It's amazing how God works and brings us to a place where we need to be. In one of God's revelations to me it was the first time that it really sank in that my parent's departure did not leave us departed.

I am left with the many wonderful memories that we have shared together and now it is time for me to create memories of my very own. The mantle has been passed down and God has called me to be a minister, a minister in my own home.
God is continuing to bless us and worked it out that my mother could come back shortly after the birth to be with us. My heart is overjoyed! It was a wonderful time of fellowship and bonding. It was a wonderful time of rejoicing in the Lord and one another.

I sit here writing this as she leaves us today. All the emotions are stirred up again. I comprehend this time that the ache in my heart is really the deep love and connection that God has given us. It is that longing for one another. I was able to share with my mom this morning that I firmly believe God gave us our family as our first relationship of love. As a child our first tangible contact of love comes from family. It is that love they give us that teaches us the love of Christ. It is a natural tugging of our hearts that lead us to one another and ultimately to God. It is a void that needs feeling and filling.

I pray the ache of love never leaves my heart and that I yearn for my family and for my God. It is in that recognition that I have come to appreciate the calling of my parents. They have been called to become someone else's surrogate parents. And one day those individuals can stand on their own relationship with Christ as I am doing today. Thanks Mom and Dad for your love and example. Thank you for sharing God's love with me and for honoring His call.

Love, Karl j

Hello to my L.I.F.E. Friends...

Thank you for visiting DSLM...it is such a priviledge for you to stop by... Thank you for your comments and notes of encouragement...

What an exciting L.I.F.E. to grow spiritually and have a deep, strong, vital, life-changing, faith-filled walk with God...To know that your deepest desires and needs will only be met by an intimate relationship with Him...There is nothing like the Faith walk...

I want to encourage you all to PRAY each day and at least spend 5 minutes reading a passage of scripture and as you grow in these small moments it will impact YOUR L.I.F.E. in a HUGE way... your time with HIM will grow... it is so impacting and L.I.F.E. changing as you are in the PRESENCE of GOD Almighty...

Food for thought...I would like to suggest that if a scritpure verse or Faith Building quote stands out to you, type or write it out and put it in a Frame and place it on your desk at home/work, by your kitchen sink, by your vanity or even in your laundry room...It will be a positive reminder of God's Faithfulness,Love and committment to you ... it will build your faith for each New day...

A powerful thought I leave to you today... God's "divine power has given to us all things that pertain to L.I.F.E. and godliness, through the knowledge of HIm who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partkaers of the divine nature." 2 Peter 1:3-4

Home

Hello,

I’m so excited that you have visited my website… Welcome and I hope you feel right at “HOME”… I wanted to share, in short, what God is doing in my life these days…

My husband, Karl, and I moved to the Oklahoma City, OK area back in December 2006… We lived in Sacramento, California …we got married, raised children, have grandchildren, had jobs, did ministry and enjoyed L.I.F.E. in California for decades… about 4 to be exact…

About 2 years ago the Lord placed on our hearts to move to Oklahoma and to start a ministry… We felt the Lord calling us to minister to couples and for me to mentor women…

We packed up and left our lives as we knew it for so long… We embraced and kissed our children and grandchildren with love and much tears and heartfelt goodbyes…we also said goodbye to our extended family, lifetime friends, jobs and church family… with a God-given dream and a vision in our hearts we headed down the freeway to Okalahoma… Wow, that is L.I.F.E. = Living in Faith Everyday…

Karl and I felt kind of like Abraham, putting our Isaac on the altar…our very gifts God gave us he asked us to place on the altar… Those that know us know this was no easy or quick decision but truly felt that this was a God-given direction… As we are obedient and serve the Lord with gladness then we truly can be content in whatever “State” we are in… Smile…

After arriving in Ok., we immediately set up House to make it our “HOME”, started attending a wonderful church called “The Bridge” and then began connecting with people and living Life = Living In Faith Everyday…

The walk of Faith is exciting and adventurous and sometimes even a little scary … it’s like stepping out on nothing and landing on something…

We believe what the word says, “Without Faith it is impossible to please God”, Hebrews 11:6… “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God”… we test it and try it and see if it is of God… “The righteous shall live by Faith”, Romans 1:17… “Faith is the substances of things hoped for but the evidence of things not yet seen.” Hebrews 11:1 …

I was raised in a Christian home and my father was a pastor and my mother a Bible teacher and mentor… As you can tell that I am from a family of ministry…One of the Scriptures our family always quoted, besides the salvation message, is Proverbs 3:4-5 , Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not unto your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.” …that is truly how our family has lived… We make our plans but allow the Lord to order our footsteps…

Karl and are not reckless people or ones who throw our lives to the wind without counting the cost… we are committed to the Lord, our children, family and friends and are people who worked at our jobs for decades… but as children of God we read His Word, pray, live passionately for Him and follow His footsteps, He says, “Come – Follow Me and I will make you Fishers of Men”…

What a joy to serve Christ… L.I.F.E. = Living In Faith Everyday… that is what this ministry is all about… That is what L.I.F.E. is all about…The righteous shall live by Faith… We study and read the Bible and find out how the people lived by Faith and put their trust, hope and lives in the hands of the true and living God…

I cannot do life alone so, I put my Faith and Trust in Jesus, the “author and perfecter of my Faith”, Hebrews 12:2…

Thanks for hearing my heart and I can’t wait till the next time we chat… Blessings in Abundance as you walk in the steps of Jesus living L.I.F.E. to the fullest in Jesus’ name…

Loving Jesus and You,

Dorcas

Life to L.I.F.E. Blog

This is the first entry into the L.I.F.E. blog. Please visit regularly to get updates and personal tidbits. Welcome to L.I.F.E.