"For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:10
Have you ever stopped dead in your tracks and wondered, "what on earth am I doing with my life? what is it that God wants for my life? how do I know I'm on the right path to doing God's work?" I know I have. At some point in all of our lives, we have to wonder if we are doing what he's planned for us. The answer is a very intimate one and one that only you and God can answer, but we can discuss how to arrive at that answer pretty quickly. To do so, let's ponder a few more questions:
- What does your daily life look like? Is your life filled with praising the Lord, prayer, and blessings? Are you giving to others or are you being selfish? Are you seeking the Lord daily? Are you in the word being fed? All of these questions will help you discern if you are truly walking with the Lord or if you are just going through the motions of daily life.
- Are you plugged in with like-minded people? I'm not saying you have to be in church every time the doors open, but it has been found that we behave in the same way that others around us behave. If we are hanging out with people who do drugs and curse like a sailor, chances are, we are going to repeat that behavior.
- When things go wrong, and they will, are you freaking out and giving up, or are you saying "God, I give this to you"? The reaction we have to unplanned circumstances has a major part to play in how we are walking.
Let's take some recent things in our lives and think through them. Not many know that in February just before we'd had our Honda CR-V for a year, we refinanced to get a lower interest rate. The day after doing so, Ryan was in a car accident which resulted in the car being totaled. He was doing the good thing - taking our neighbor's daughter to her school while her mom was working so she could pick up something she needed. I got the phone call no one ever wants to get. The teenager was hyperventilating and telling me to get her mom and to get down to the scene that there had been an accident. I immediately went into "oh crap" mode. However, not once did I freak out and give up. Instead I started praising God and praying that they were okay. I got to the scene and Ryan was okay. He was hurt but okay. Both airbags had deployed, I thanked God again. The car was totaled - that's okay, God, you spared their lives. We were without a car - That's okay, the Lord provides (and He did - not only did he have a ride to work everyday, but we had rides to go and find a new car). There are medical bills - praise you, Lord for providing a job that gave us the ability to get good health insurance. The other driver might sue - so what, the Lord has this - and this is why we have car insurance.
As you can see, every attack that hit us that day, and the days to come, were meant to bring us down. We didn't let it. Our mindset was in the right place during a very difficult time. I can say we were very much blessed that not only have we been able to get the car replaced, but the Lord blessed us in a life-changing way and we've been able to pick up a second vehicle since the crash. Now, we are paying a pretty penny for it, and we now have two car payments. This is tough, but through the use of biblical principles, prayer, and planning, we are making it work. Do we go out on the town all the time, nope. We work God's plan and he blesses us.
So what's next for us? We believe we may have found a new church family, finally, and will be getting plugged in during the weeks to come. But what about the blog? At this time, we are going to keep it right where it is and continue (or get back to) documenting our thoughts and the adventures we go on (because y'all have missed too many of those). Will the blog always be here? I can't make promises, but I will say that it will go where the Lord leads.
Much love and many blessings,
The Cox Family.
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