Making the old into something new/improved.

This is my grandpa's old coffee table.  It has a lot of sentimental value to me, regardless of the fact his sons made it and it's merely covered with peeling/bubbling contact paper.  It was the one thing I asked for of my grandparent's, because I can remember sitting around it as a kid, with my other siblings, and sneaking candied orange slices from the candy jar that always sat on top of it.  I saw the idea for covering something with pennies on pinterest.com and seeing as how my grandpa was known to be a "penny-pincher" it seems double appropriate.  And the new look is turning out amazing!  I love it.
At the same time as I am collecting pennies and gradually gluing them onto the table, I am going through the Experiencing God study by Henry Blackaby with my small group at church (this is my second time doing it, but I am in such a different place in my walk that it seems really different).  I love the fact that God is working all around me and in me, and that He daily makes my old existence into a new and improved one in Him.
Life is not easy right now (but really when is it ever easy...there is so much good even among the most trying times, that I am not complaining).  We are going through another round of transition, and I so quickly forget how much time is involved in getting used to new routines.  We don't know where we are going to be living, or even how we are going to be able to get into a  new place.  But at the same time, we have gotten to do a lot of new and fun things. The Butchers are getting ready for their 2013 season and we are on some committees this year.  I started working part time in the office with one of my best friends as my Boss Lady.  Toad has started going to Wed night youth activities and we are getting our applications ready to go on the summer middle school youth mission trip.  And Banana and I have both been fighting off bugs/illnesses.  I also got put on an inhaler for the new asthma issues that developed after the concussion/upper resp infection at the end of my college experience.  I also have been going through the process to become involved with our church's college ministry, and started helping out at Micah Ministries on Monday nights. And there just hasn't been as much time to spend with the best friends. Anyways, all that to say there has been a lot of change lately and more to come.
So growth in the middle of all this, to grow into the character needed for each stage of the journey, is key.  And the Experiencing God study is full of great stuff.  I'll leave you with a few quotes that have really jumped out at me, maybe they will for you, too...in whatever stage of life you find yourself in right now.

God created you for a love relationship with Him.  He yearns for you to love Him and respond to His immeasurable love for you.  God's nature is perfect, holy, total love.  He will never relate to you in any other ay although you may not always understand His actions.  There will be times when you do not comprehend why He allows certain things to occur, and that is to be expected.  He is the infinite God while we are limited human creatures.  He sees the eternal ramifications of everything that happens.  We don't.  (p.20)

When God gives you a directive, you can be sure He has already considered every factor.  You will never do God's bidding only to discover that God was somehow mistaken.  You can have absolute confidence that when God tells you to do something, it is the right course of action.  (p.25)

When we announce what we think we can't do in response to God's initiative, we are actually saying more about our faith in God than we are about our own abilities.  The fact is, either we believe God is all-powerful or we don't.  When you declare it's impossible for you to do what God told you to do, you show your doubts about how powerful God really is.  It is one thing to believe in God's power, it is quite another to live your life in obedient response to an all-powerful God.  (p. 28)

And a few quotes from the workbook:

When God is about to do something through you, He has to get you from where you are to where He is, so He tells you what He is doing...When you know what God is doing, then you know what you need to do; you need to join Him.  The moment you know God is doing something where you are, your life and its activity will be thrown in contrast to God and His activity.  You cannot stay the way you are and go with God.  (p.21)

When God tells you a direction, you accept it, and you understand it clearly, then give God all the time He wants to make you the kind of person He can trust with that assignment. (p48)

I realize that is a lot to think about.  I still find myself pondering these thoughts days later.  And wonder if I have the kind of faith that Noah had, to follow God's directions for years upon years, not knowing when the fulfillment will come, but daily living out the belief that its coming, despite being ridiculed on every side.  That is an incredible amount of faith!  And what is being asked of me is so tiny in comparison to building an ark for 100+ years having never seen rain.
What is God asking of you right now?  And how are you stretching your faith muscles to follow as He asks?