God is truly moving in wonderful gusts of His Holy Breath!  As He breathes on the Raven family, we are being moved like a sail ship in high winds, blown in the direction of the pressing winds.  Our turning to God at the end of last year for direction was like us putting up the big sails on a ship.  And then there is the spinnaker sail.  That big colorful bulbous shaped sail that puffs out in front of the ship to get  filled with wind and that drives the ship forward. 

Well we did raise our sails last year and we caught a good breeze, but the sails flapped and we saw a drop in intensity.  But then suddenly, within a few weeks a new rushing stiff breeze came up and we raised the mighty spinnaker and wooosh!  It flapped, shuddered and shook as it filled with wind, the ropes creaked, the ship leaned severely as the driving wind began to drive us forward with unseen power.  Wow!  The surf and spray just pounded us with fresh cool sea water as we crested the white sea horses with our vessel.

This is how I feel right now.  My heart is ignited with anticipation and excitement at the great wind that is blowing through my life and that of my family.  Today a burst of direction came as we charted our course concerning our land and home.  Ship-shape was the call and all hands were on deck this morning.  We exercised together and then all went about our duties organizing and getting 'cosmic'.  (You will need to look up the meaning of the word cosmos.)

The excitement of this trip is growing steadily, we are on an adventure.  We are on a pilgrimage and we know God is leading us.  What the end will look like I do not know.  But what I do know is that abundant life is flowing and increasing.  What I do know is that God is directing the wind and blowing us in the direction He has planned for us.

For a season we were sailing along, sometimes even drifting I felt.  I ebbed and flowed with the situation and on many days was even beginning to despair as to where we were headed.  But then the time came, the season to seek God and He began to breath on us.

The Holy Spirit is at work where we allow Him and sure enough He comes to us and visits all of the areas of our lives that are not yielded to the Lordship of Christ.  Those areas that lie in darkness, that are still rebel strongholds, that are still under the dominion of self and sin.  He comes to us and begins to request access, this can take years and He gently nudges and highlights the need for change.  We are slow of hearing in areas of life that we particularly like and think that are not particularly sinful.

Food, overeating and eating too much junk was my prevailing sins. Which I self righteously ignored most of the time since I figured God just winked at my sin and since I was not such a mega glutton I was OK.  Wrong!  My Good Lord, you have turned the lights on in my darkness!  It is amazing, and the wonderful thing is that my life is being shaped as God wishes.  He is after all the Master Potter.

Dear friends, all I can say is that I have lived in deep darkness in the area of eating and now I can see the Light and feel the bright, fresh rushing wind of God blowing through my life.