Word of the Year – 2024 – Move

For the past 8 years, I have felt stationary and stagnant. The feeling of unsettledness and with the restless constitution that where I was is no longer where I am meant to be. 

 

Don’t get me wrong, I have experienced so much in my career in teaching and I am thankful for every opportunity I had to grow and learn. I love that weird middle/high school age of no longer the immature rug-rats of elementary school, yet flexible enough to try new things without the worry of adulting. Yes, they may be smelly, gawky, and expressing their feelings with words and attitudes beyond their years, but their impressionable minds and hearts are truly beautiful. 

 

But things have changed from when I started 22 years ago. Music was no longer the end goal and future productive citizenship was nice, but it too seemed to miss the mark. I’ve been at this fork in the road for such a long time, arguing with myself about which was more important, “Teaching what would be temporary,” or “Educating what would be eternal.” 

 

For almost a decade I’ve been praying about venturing forth in fully participating in God’s mission to heal the world. Although I felt ready, it wasn’t God’s timing yet. I had to face personal battles, let other dreams die and shed off, equip myself in both education and experience, while outside things had to settle as well. I had to surrender to his timing and it hasn’t been easy. Loads of tears have been poured out over the past 8 years. But they were watering the ground; preparing the seed of my heart for future growth and bloom.

 

In Acts 17:28, Paul is speaking in Athens to an audience rich in culture and paganism, but poor in Spirit and Truth. This Apostle to the Gentiles takes on the surrounding area’s thinking and customs, not to placate to their senses, but to reorient himself to build relationships. He could have Bible-thumped them into believing, but instead he meets them where they are and explains to them another way of life; the better Way. 

 

Acts 17:28, NIV

‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’

 

Paul uses the well known poetry of their culture to explain that in God we have life, strength, existence and most importantly purpose. God doesn’t call us to stay still in His love; He calls us to MOVE. God doesn’t call us to stay stagnant in His message; He calls us to MOVE. God doesn’t call us to remain quiet in His promises; He calls us to MOVE. 

 

As one chapter of my life comes to an end and another is preparing to begin, God has always been in the background, quietly moving things into the right alignment. It is in His timing that I am thankful for and now it is time to MOVE. 

 

#TGBTG

https://adventuresinmissions.servicereef.com/events/adventures-in-missions-3/staff-stm-2024/participants/amanda-kline1