New Creation

It's funny how when one looks back over their lives they can see change within themselves and others. Sometimes this transformation is good, other times not so much.

Over these last few weeks, Peter and I have had many conversations as to who we used to be and how we have been transformed by God. It's not that we were awful; we lived as "good" people and tried to do the best we could. All that trying was for ourselves though, for appearance' sake or to show how we compared to others. Looking at ourselves through God's eyes and seeing the new creation He has made  in us, we are thankful for who He is and how we have developed servant hearts for Him.

When Peter prepared to leave for Zambia two weeks ago, we found ourselves in another one of these conversations. We are embarking upon a new chapter in our lives that has little to do with us and everything to do with showing God the glory. I found myself sharing with Peter my feelings toward him and by the end of the conversation knew I also needed to share it with you.

Peter and I have been together for 20 years and met in college so we've seen many changes in each other's lives. We have had our rocky moments in our marriage and also wonderful ones. We have experienced monetary wealth and the lack of it, death of family members, divorce of friends and loved ones, and those arguments that you would never share with another. Each of these experiences has brought us closer together and created a bond between us that could not be replaced with another. We thought we couldn't get any better than what we had.

We had no idea that when we both accepted to walk together with God as our Lord and to commit our lives to Him that we could actually have a different marriage. We always trusted each other in our marriage and never have given the other a reason not to; but the trust that God created between us is unexplainable. I know that I can trust Peter with anything–and I mean absolutely anything–not because he's my husband or my friend, and not because he did anything to gain that trust, because I'm sure there are times he's disappointed me as I have him. Undoubtedly, we will also disappoint each other in the future, too. But over these last few years, I have seen a man grow to love the Lord more than he loves me and it's that aspect that allows me to completely give myself to him. 

Some of you reading this may have found that last comment quite odd, but knowing he loves God more than me lets me know that Peter will never lead me where God doesn't want me to go. If he is putting God first in his life before my desires, then whatever my course, it will always be with God. It may not always be the path of least resistance but through circumstances, my faith in God and my love for Peter have grown.

When I first met Peter, I just thought he was cute. He made me laugh which is something that is sometimes difficult to do; he still makes me laugh. There are times in our relationship that I have loved him and other times that I thought I might smack him upside the head! (I'm sure he feels the same about me even though he may not say it.) 

Now when I look at him, there is something completely different. I see a man that I respect, a man I trust and one I completely love no matter his faults. Not because he is perfect, far from it. It's because when I see him, he is striving to continually look straight at God. Even when he falls down, he is there with God asking for guidance and forgiveness. That's really all I need.

A few friends have said that they admire our leap of faith; it's not to be admired. If we took our focus off God for even a moment, we would probably fall to pieces. Some think it's nuts that we are doing this  as we have always been planners; sometimes we agree with them that it does appear crazy. 

But when we look to God's word and His promises, it's absolutely logical what we are doing. When we look back on our lives and no longer say, "I achieved this on my own doing" and actually see the places where God has led us on the path that we are now, we can see that we never had a plan but have been working straight toward His. The only difference is now we say, "Yes, Lord. We trust you." 

We pray that each of you will grow in your faith to say, "Yes, Lord. I trust you" in whatever path He is leading you. Whether it is for you to serve a neighbor across the street, serve the homeless or even move overseas to serve orphans and widows or preach the gospel.

Has God transformed your life? Can you look back and see His prints all over your path? 

2 Corinthians 5:17 - "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old is gone, the new is here!"

Special Update

Dear Family, Friends and Followers!!!

We are excited to begin to announce our next phase in this journey our Lord is leading us on. As we have sold our home and placed our items into storage, God has blessed us with a family that has graciously taken us in "indefinitely." We love that they have no limits on their willingness to serve God through providing a home for our family, but ultimately we are being called to serve as full-time missionaries in Zambia.

So our next step is to actually begin the process of moving to Zambia. We have currently put together an anticipated budget, but as you know with all budgets, we really won't know until we arrive.

Currently, we have raised through monthly partners $1,620 which will cover our rent. Although we would like to be fully funded, we also know that this has been a journey of faith and our Lord will provide.

If you find that God has been leading you to become a monthly partner or even make a one-time donation, please click on the DONATE button to contribute toward our daily bread for Every Orphan's Hope.

Blessings,
Peter & Cheryl Greif

This Isn't Easy

It's been awhile since we've last blogged; it's almost impossible to find even a moment to sit down and write. Packing up our home was an adventure in itself. How many times have you pulled out that random item from a drawer and said, "What does that go to?" If you're like me, the immediate answer would be, "I'll figure it out later," and then you throw it back in. Well, later finally came and our choices were to figure it out, give it away or determine if it was useless and throw it away. Sadly, some items didn't make it into storage.

On our last day in the house, Peter had to go fly a trip and I had to do a walk-through with the new owner. Our friend and realtor came to help me and upon realizing I had a few last minute items to get out of the garage and attic, he offered to lend a hand. As I'm up in the attic, I called down, "Hey Derrek! Grab this bumper will you!" Yes, we actually had a Mazda Miata bumper in our attic. I still don't know why, that's only a question Peter can answer. We had a few odd items to say the least.

But our house sold, we moved all the items we were keeping into storage for the shipping container and took just the basics to our new home, the Bell's house. What a blessing they have been! Offering to take us in as we weren't even sure where we were going to go while we tried to wrap up fundraising. Living now in a house of 8 can seem a bit hectic, but their willingness to accept us into their home has made the first of many transitions into the life of missionaries quite easy to tell the truth.

Whoa!!! Isn't the title to this blog "This Isn't Easy"? You are probably thinking that selling your home, moving in with friends and trying to morph into this missionary family is anything but easy. You're right, but you're wrong.

We've actually been finding out that those were the easy parts. It wasn't fun selling our house, but compared to now, that was a cake walk. We have this giant gorilla in the room every time we talk to dearly loved ones in our family. It's becoming difficult. We all know we are on the cusp of departing and the final step is attaining just "enough" funds to have our basic needs met in Zambia.

It's so hard to even begin to express this gorilla that likes to sit at our table. Some of us in the family are able to talk about it better than others, but for the most part it's that unbearable silence where no one knows what to say.

These last few weeks, I have been reminded in either the girl's Bible curriculum or in my own devotionals about Abraham and Moses. I don't know about you, but when I look at our patriarchs, they enter onto a pedestal so high that I forget they were human. Thankfully, the Lord has reminded me over the last few weeks that they are not superhuman after all.

I've found myself wondering what it must have felt like when Abraham was asked to leave his home and extended family and go to a land that he didn't know. How did he say goodbye to his parents or any siblings he had? Did they think he was crazy for following God in such a way that they couldn't comprehend?

Or Moses, he sees the burning bush that doesn't burn and then it talks to him. Once he hears that God is asking him to go back to Egypt, he doesn't jump up and down and say "awesome!" but he argues with God. Now that's me! I'm thankful to know that there are people in the Bible that have to be told multiple times to do something and still they wrestle with the way God wants them to do it. It gives me peace to know that I'm not the only stubborn person in this world.

We saw our oldest daughter, Danielle, this past weekend. When we drove up to Missouri for our visit, there was already a stress in the car. It was not going to be a fun visit; the gorilla was there the whole time. If you have older children that have moved out of the house, you may still have a few of their items in your home. We definitely did and it was time to hand them over. It was fun for her to see many of her old items again and watch her walk out in her monkey slippers; but the reason she had to receive them was not the highlight of our weekend.

Some days we just want to shout, "This wasn't our plans!" Ours were very different and as we are watching tears flow from not only their eyes but our own, all we can say is this isn't easy.... part of you just wants to find a way to make it stop; but then...I am reminded of Moses. (Didn't see that coming, did you?)

My favorite part of the argument as to whether Moses should go to Egypt and confront Pharaoh or not is when he says, "Who am I that I should go?" and God's response is simple, "But I will be with you." That hits me each time I've read it this week. In the moments that my heart has hurt over talking to family and feeling their pain, to hugging my oldest daughter this weekend and not wanting to let go, there has been a peace of the Lord throughout. We have ultimately relied on him to carry us through this. We couldn't have done this any other way.

As we all have this gorilla in our room right now, we are falling upon our Lord and calling out to him for peace. He is such a gracious God for he has provided that gentle whisper each time: "I am with you." And that will be what continues to bring us through these next few months as it will continue to not be easy.

Danielle (center) with Alyson (left) and Brittan (right)

Mother and Daughter