McClintock Family Update

Shelly and I are in a place that we just are overwhelmed. We have been loved on from day one and since the move it has gotten more intense. One of the things that I have noticed is the overwhelming majority of people are glad that we are here. I am truly a blessed man.

Spending some time with Shel before she left for work this morning we were enjoying the sunrise over the mountain and onto the lake. I mentioned to her and she was in agreement, we are truly blessed. So richly and truly blessed.

One of the big opportunities that has been afforded me during this time is relationships. I have free time (for now) and working diligently to spend time with people. But how do I do that? Love. Matthew 10:8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers; cast out demons, freely you received, freely give. This is where the motive of my heart needs to be shaped.

One of the things that God has shown me during this time has taken a shift in thinking for me. Gone are the days of routine quiet times. Checking the box. God has destroyed my religious traditions being here. He has placed it very strongly on my heart to stop and just enjoy His presence. Pretty sweet.

As for accepting the gifts that have been given this is a great teaching lesson. It is easier for me to give then it is for me to receive so people feeding me, giving me a place to live, etc is different. It has been a long road trying to get into a position to accept and not think that I can earn this. I can't. One of the things that God was showing me out on the water the other day was to enjoy what has been given. "This is an extension of My love and you can not earn this" Pretty heady stuff if you ask me. So I am trying to become a human being instead of a human doing.

As my heart is flooded with these blessings I have a strong desire to love on others. This is a circle of love. There is a process to my prayer being answered of wanting to see people as Jesus sees them. I am not yet perfected but I am getting there.

The most amazing thing that is happening here is the fact that I have been encouraged by several people, leaders and non-leaders alike to focus on my marriage. One of the things that I have always said in Christiansburg is for all my shortcomings my marriage was strong as Shel and I both work diligently to build it. But the interesting thing about being told about this is not the fact that I need to work on my marriage but the fact that I felt no pride and I was not defensive and I do not try to defend myself. I simply went back to pray and find out what is going on here. Of all the things to work on here I never would have guessed marriage.

I keep feeling (and time will definitely tell) that this is the start of being released for ministry. My quiet time is crazy good and there is a desire to spend time with Jesus. But love. Oh the love. Love. God is indeed love.

So in this season of our lives I am seeing fruit with Shel and in my personal relationship. God told me from day one before I had ever heard of DPCF that I needed to take care of myself(relationship with the Father, personal healing) and that He would take care of my marriage and those things that concern me. He told me that I had to place them in His hand. I am learning to do that.

1 Peter 5:6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, (that is part of the process of not being able to financially contribute to the housing situation etc)

humbling myself not allowing blame or the lies that I missed it to enter in the equation but to continue to seek the Father's heart and what He is saying about the situation but the key for us has been in verse 7:

casting all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you

God cares for me. The creator of heaven and earth cares for me. Wow!! That is some good news there!

So how have I been doing it? My prayer is simple based on that 1 Peter 5 verse and Matthew 11:28-30 Father I give you my finances, my marriage, my job search, everything that is weighing me down I give it to you and I pray let Your Kingdom come let Your will be done as already having been established in heaven.

That's it. Now I stand on God's word and heed the advice in 1 Peter 5:8

Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.

And when that interview doesn't lead to a job, and Shel is frustrated with me about something, or depression is coming at me in waves as I get nostalgic about Christiansburg, verse 9:

But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experience of suffering are bing accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.

and if I do that there is a promise attached to all of this, verse 10:

and after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

I have to stand firm and know what I am called to do here at Smith Mountain Lake in this season. When things are looking bleak or I am entertaining the thoughts of closing down I resist and stand firm in the knowledge that faithful is the One who has called me. The exciting thing and the promise that I hold onto is that God himself is going to perfect me, confirm me, strengthen me, and establish me. I don't need my pastor or anyone else to do it God himself is going to. That settles the timing issue for me.

So in this time of our lives I get to: study and spend time with God, love on my wife and really get to know what makes her tick (after 5+ years I admit I have a lot to learn), love Ginny and Bob who I get the pleasure of being around every day, love on members of the Body here, and learn to just be? God knows what He is doing and I am so humbled and excited to be a part of it.

In closing as I second what Daniel said when he said;

Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever
For wisdom and power belong to Him.
And it is He who changes the times and the epochs;
He removes kings and establishes kings;
He gives wisdom to wise men, and knowledge to men of understanding.
It is He who reveals the profound and hidden things;
He knows what is in the darkness And the light dwells with Him
To Thee O God of my fathers I give thanks and praise.

Daniel 2:20-23