Sharifa, thanks for your post.

I have also cried this from my belly to the Lord for a few years now. It seemed that moving from NY and starting teaching was the last clear assignment I can remember. Lately, when I cry out of desperation or even boredom, I hear the words from Luke 19:13, " ... Occupy till I come." I am so often intrigued by the tent culture of Abraham, Moses and the tabernacle, and even Paul. What must it be like to live in tents, on the verge of occupation, yet living in the chairos moments of the Spirit. Being invested in a community and simultaneously following clouds of glory. I have resisted being too settled and at the same time fearful of offering drive-thru ministry to people. At this hour, I can only offer that God wants us to occupy the spaces of our sojourns. The now what response is to pitch our tents and wait in faith and vigilance.
When I go camping, I love setting out on the hike, envisioning all the action and movement of setting up camp. There is a little bit of let down after I sit in the popped tent. The agenda is not as clear and the quietness tends to disturb, insects settle in, and the grime of our journey seems more apparent. But it is then that the real camping begins. Before we busy ourselves with gathering wood and building fires, we must ask ourselves (I'm asking myself) why are we in this wilderness again? And then, we must be there. Sit. Camp. Watch in silence. Breathe in and out.
In between the miraculous and the eventful, between the clouds of glory and pillars of fire, I am more persuaded that God wants us to simply live and represent the daily normalcy of Christian living, every-day occupation. The answer to "now what?" is to get up tomorrow morning and pray, to go to work and offer ourselves as the daily sacrifices of consistent testimony. What now? Live today, while it is yet today. Our Father will lay out our provisions for later, He'll direct us toward the manna of ministry in the morning when we arise from our tents.