Today we got our mail. Yeah!!! Mail Day is a red letter day for us. Sometimes we don’t get mail for four or five weeks, so when it arrives --- wow!! Everyone wants a letter... it’s a big deal! Anyway, today in our mail we received several tapes of Pastor Steve Hopkins (Calvary Christian Fellowship in Salem, Oregon).
WOW!!
It was like going home. Steve is an anointed teacher. He challenges both Jeff and me! As soon as we got our package opened and saw the tapes, Jeff and I put the tape on and listened! It was marvelous.
What is funny is that I have been feeling for awhile that my writing is stagnating... I have been feeling distant from God’s Word, which is what motivates and invigorates my writing. Then, as soon as we began to listen to Steve teach – I felt a call to write. It was GREAT!!!
I pray that God leads us back to Salem and that we get to settle there. But... even if He doesn’t I pray that we will always be able to access Steve’s teachings – his heart is so very much after God! What is cool about his style is that I never feel preached at – or that he is somehow greater than I (the lowly congregant)!
Steve always shares his heart, his failings, his struggles. And somehow that makes the lesson reach deeper into my soul and bring me closer to my amazing Lord God!!!
I look forward to listening to more tapes – and writing more from my heart again.
On this journey we have met so many amazing and anointed teachers! Skip Collier (Sioux Falls) and Steve Hopkins (Salem) are two of our favorites. However, all of the men called to teach God's Word are special and set-apart. It has been such a privilege to learn from each of them.
I am 43 today.
I have begun and erased my journal entry several times today. What is on my heart is the future. What does it hold for me, for my writing?
These last twenty months of travel have been a journey towards the Father and away from myself. I have explored the love of my Lord Jesus and examined my life in His light.
As I look back, I find that there have been several major themes along which I have explored. One of course is my relationship with my husband. I have struggled against and towards a holy life with Jeff, one that is based on the foundational truths that the Lord reveals in His holy word.
A marriage that is holy and that is a pleasing sacrifice to the Lord is one in which the wife (that would be me!) is committed to Jesus. She reveals that commitment to the Lord through her respect for her husband, as well as sincere obedience and submission to her earthly lord and master.
In the commission of these acts of obedience to God’s holy word, she reveals both to herself and to God, the Father, that her love for Jesus is genuine and pure. In the course of this respect, obedience and submission she finds... no... I find, a completeness and beauty that I never dared believe existed in marriage.
I had no idea that my marriage could be so profoundly fulfilling and complete. And it is through God’s word that I have found that I am married to my true love, and enduring and genuine life of joy has become my reward.
That is part of the abundance that the Lord promises to all His children.
Another major theme in my writing as been that of finances. I can’t say that we have found financial freedom in the customary manner (that the world recognizes.) We have; however, found a richness and an economy in and of life that surpasses any we have known before in our life.
I struggled for so long regarding how we are to pay for this or that. I have judged my circumstances from the standards of others, rather than the standards of the Lord... often. In these last several months, Jesus has given me a greater sense of understanding about where our finances... our cash... has its' source.
It is from Him, above. He who loves us greater than we could ever love Him back. From He who loved us before we loved Him.
We are not wealthy, from the world’s perspective. But we are obscenely rich in God’s economy. And so, I rest in that.
I no longer worry about where our next dollar is coming from, or if we are going to be able to pay the insurance, or fuel, or food bills. My experience over these last five months of travel has taught me, firmly and securely, that all will be well and that we will be richly provided for, in due time... in the Lord’s time.
Now... let me assure you that notwithstanding all that I have said, I still am prone to moments of worry and despair. But those times are not frequent (hmmm, seem to be related to a monthly cycle!!) and are fleeting! When I do worry about money or I chafe against my husband’s rule, those are times that the enemy has found a chink in my armor.
And so, now to the heart of the matter.
I feel that the Lord is gently calling me to begin a new project. His hand has been kindly and softly nudging my soul to begin writing a book. Although I am not a complete work, I sense that He is shifting my heart from this journal and towards a book.
I have been hearing this call for several months and have been just listening, not acting. The Word tells us to "prepare your minds for action", and so.....
I love writing this journal. I love the emails that I receive from the many readers worldwide. I know that many of you have shared with me the same kinds of struggles on your journey towards Christ. I have taken great comfort in your hearts and in your reading of this journal. I love you and am grateful that the Lord has led you to this journal.
You have blessed my life and my heart. Your commitment to reading has strengthened me and encouraged me to plow ahead despite the difficulties. Thank you so much for reading and loving.
Now is the time for me to shift my focus to that book (that darn book that looms ahead of me) that I am commanded to write. I have put off writing it for these last six or eight weeks, because honestly ... it’s going to be hard work.
And here is the rub... I cannot continue to pour myself into this journal and write the book that God has lain on my heart.
So, please forgive me. I must take a step back from this part of my life, and from you – who I love so much, and begin this work that I feel so called towards.
As to our journey across America.... We will still be here. Our commitment to this wandering life was for two years. That will expire at the end of July 2002. I have no idea what the Lord has in store for us next... but I am sure it will be amazing.
We will continue to travel from Calvary Chapel to Calvary Chapel as the Lord leads, working my husbands calling.... Calvary Audio Ministry. What I will attempt to do (for you diehards!) is to note here in this journal (BRIEFLY) of our comings and goings, so that you know where we are in the USA. And of course, I will occasionally (arrgh!) post photos on the photo journal.
For those of you who are on our mailing list, I will continue to send out a monthly email updating you on our current location and the status of our lives. (If you wish to be on the mailing list click here.)
Thank you so much for your attention, your love and your prayers. I covet those prayers. Please... please pray that I hear the Lord clearly as I begin to write what He has laid on my heart.
God Bless you and Keep you and may His face Shine upon you.
Your sister in Christ,
Christa Gefke
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