Grace

Grace is a word we are experiencing a lot these past few days.  I honestly did not understand how powerful it is until we are living in it right now.  What did we do to deserve to have such a God, family, friends and a church to love us so much?  The only answer I can come up with is nothing. We are where we are supposed to be because of obedience and joy.  I need to start this conversation with the fact I did not want to go to Sumter, SC when I was asked to move there 6 years ago.  Obedience, gladness and joy were not part of this journey in the beginning.  I was happy where I was at in Aiken, SC.  I had family near by, good friends and a church we loved serving.  The only reason we went was my lovely, obedient and supportive wife said she would go.  Something I never thought would happen and was prepared to tell everyone we were not going because of Tonya (truth is ugly sometimes and I was prepared to use it to take the blame off me and put it on Tonya).  The week we moved to Sumter, Tonya sat on our porch and she said, "this is home now, I am excited to see what God has for us here".

We have learned to know now what "go" and "grow" means for the Shipes family.  Because God had plans for our family to go to Sumter, SC we grew by two, our friends and friendship grew (our Aiken friends did not move away in our hearts, they stayed with us), we discovered new ways to worship and fellowship and we experienced God in ways we never could imagine.  Had we stayed in Aiken, it would have been difficult for us to allow kingdom growth around us.  I see that so clearly now.  His grace and provision allowed us to trust in Him so he could expand His kingdom around us.  We see there are no boundaries with God only opportunities.  If we allow Him to have freedom in lives, He will give us freedom to love in amazing ways.

Through His amazing love we have experienced new life, marriages saved from divorce, babies not aborted, couples mentored and married, children come to know the Lord as Savior, rescue and relief after hurricanes, fellowship in strange lands, families who would have been comfortable in one place move to far corners of the world, miracle healings, comfort in unexplainable deaths and the joy of hospitality.  All because "God so loved the World" to go past His boundaries to show His capacity for love and grace.  The more we take this next step in our lives, the more powerful grace becomes.  We do not deserve the out pouring of love we are receiving right now but what joy it is to have it.  We know it is God around us using obedient people to be part of His work.  Thank you God for your love, support and letting us be part of your Kingdom.  Grace.