Chapter 29

Good evening everyone, I hope that this post finds all of you having a wonderful Friday night! It is March 7th, 2014 and I am finding myself two days into my 29th year of life. This past Wednesday was my Birthday (hence why I have titled this Post Chapter 29). Birthdays are great events that help us to look back at the past year and see all that God has done and then to look forward to all that God is going to be doing. The phrase I found myself saying over and over again on my Birthday was, "God is SO faithful!" In one year, God has brought an incredible joy, peace, direction, focus and love into my life. He took the ashes found in my 28th year of life and made them into something beautiful in my 29th. He has blessed me with a Church Community I love to call home, he has continued to grow relationships in my life that encourage me and bring life to me and also, and he has blessed me with new friends whom I feel so blessed to have. He has provided me SO many people in my life who love and support me and on my Birthday, this was MORE than evident. God is faithful. He has placed opportunities to disciple women (my age and younger) in their relationship with the LORD and wow-the desires of my heart are being given to me. I can attest to the fact that He blesses everything that we do in His name and for His glory. There is so much light surrounding me; a great contrast to that of darkness that seemed to only cloak me in the previous year. I am just in awe of all that God is capable of. He has grown my trust in him, my faith in him and my peace. Where all of these use to lack, they are now in abundance. All because I bent my knees to doing His will. Was that easy? By no means! Was it worth it? Yes. The more we press into him, the greater he grows our desire for him. For instance, He has placed this burning desire to memorize Scripture and to challenge and lead others to do such. This past week, Ps 62:1-2, 8 was the passage memorized. It is written, " In God alone my soul waits in silence. From him comes my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall never be greatly shaken....Trust in Him at all times, O people, pour out your heart to him. God is a refuge for us." This is now tucked away into my heart and my head. Such beautiful truth. This passage proclaims that we are able to trust in him at all times and he promises to be our refuge! How incredible. God is faithful. I am anticipating what the next adventure will be. Will I get to the opportunity to lead more women in their walk with Christ? Will I finally get to meet my life partner and bless him as his wife? Will I get to continue to do life with people in my surrounding community? Wherever God will place me, I know that He will be right beside me as he always has been. And truly, that is the best truth present in my 29th Chapter. Be blessed!

Faith Pulse Check

Hello everyone, I hope that today finds you enjoying your 2014. I'm still shocked at how quickly last year went! So, happy Sunday to you. I pray that you find your heart at peace and your spirit soaring. Today was a pretty interesting day for more reasons then one. But the most important reason I want to discuss is essentially the main topic of this post. Today, I realized that I was allowing my faith in God to be based on my circumstances--my beautiful, God ordained circumstances. I really have nothing to to complain about. I have a wonderful job, live in a beautiful home and am able to care for another person who needs my care. But there is this one thing, this thing in my life that I have been persistent in praying for. I mean, everyday, I have sought God to change the heart of this person that I love deeply and with all that I am. Last night, I was made privy to a circumstance that absolutly broke my heart for many reasons. But most importantly, the reality of this circumstance showed me that my prayers I have been persistenly carrying to the Lord have clearly not been answered. "WHY GOD?!?! WHY DO YOU PERSIST IN NOT ANSWERING MY PLEADS FOR YOU CHANGE THIS?" My heart was so broken last night and I was so beside myself that truly, gah, I dont even know how to express them even now.... Today, after pondering last nights events and the reality before me, God revealed to me something much more important than Him not answering my prayers the way I want him to-he directed me to taking a pulse of my faith and to re-assess where my heart truly is with Him and how I view Him. He gentely reminded me, too, that when we fix our eyes on the circumstance before us, we are not able to fix our eyes on Him. Our focus has shifted and when our focus shifts off the Lord (who is the source of all peace, love, joy, contentment, life!) and shift it towards the things of this world (men, careers, money, etc), then our spirits will not find rest. So today, even though my heart is disappointed and sad, I will shift my gaze back towards Him and continue to pray that God make my faith bigger. That he will turn my gaze from the reality that be to all that is in HIM.