Yes, Incredible things still do happen

I want to start off by saying that today has been a wonderful day. It actually started last night when I had an amazing conversation with God! I was just praying for people and telling God about my day, but it turned out to be an awesome conversation when I just vented about everything and God listened and gave me peace. What an awesome God we serve!

Back to today. So, I got up kind of early today, 8 am to be exact, and decided to go jogging at the park. Am I crazy.....? Possibly. Why? Because it was only 44 degrees outside and I was in a shirt, a hoodie and shorts, and went running by myself in the woods of peaks view park.....haha! Well, it was quite the experience. For a moment, I thought I was going to die because it was so cold...but God is so good to me that He sent the sun out to warm me. And let me tell you that sun was shining bright on my face. But that is how my Papa takes care of me, He sends Creation to surround me, the sun to warm me, and the birds to sing me a song, the leaves to run with me, and the breeze to keep me cool as I breathe for air along my journey. Amazing! Of course I thanked God for His generosity, and thought of how much He gives me in exchange for the little I have to offer. But that little I offer, means the world to Him and that should be something that excites us; to know that the Creator of the Universe, is willing to give us everything in exchange for relationship with us. What the heck?!! What other god would ever do that? None, there is only one God that rules over all, that owns everything, that reigns from on high, and His name is "I am" because He is, and will always be.

As if the day couldn't get any better....I went off to church, which I was super excited about because Pastor Jon was starting a new series of high interest to me. Sure enough, the message was delivered. My heart came open, ready, and willing to receive, and once again God responded. WE began exploring what the shack in our lives may be, and as I reflected the message and how it pertained to my life I realized that although I had given God many of the things in my shack, there was still a big one left in there....fear! I couldn't believe I was admitting this openly....I almost felt naked to a point, as if knowing that I had been exposed. Pastor Jon stated that when things are exposed in our shack, there are a few things we tend to do: we try to either justify our sin in comparison to others' "worst" sin, even though we know in our hearts that God is the complete opposite of any/all sin, we also try to flee, run away from the consequences of "our stuff" instead of running towards God as He waits with open arms.

So what was I to do? How could I overcome this fear? What exactly was I afraid of?
As I dug deeper, I discovered, so much that was hidden. There was fear of failure, fear of letting others down, fear of rejection, fear of loneliness, fear of shame, guilt, depression, fear of taking risks, fear of being judged incorrectly, fear of everything that could lead to an imbalance of my life. That is a lot of fear if you ask me....So as I listened to the preaching, I let God know that I do not want to live in this fear. Why should I have fear? Is God not with me? Of course He is. And that is the solution! As long as God is with me, all I have to do is follow His example, I don't need to be afraid of the outcome of any situation, because He can move through any situation. I don't need to be afraid of taking a leap of faith, because God is big enough to handle it all. He is bigger than anything my mind could ever imagine. He is unstoppable, He cannot be contained, He is immeasurable, He cannot be escaped. He is in everything, and if we let Him, He will be in our everything. So, what did I learn, that I need to learn to trust in God. I need to just be myself and let Him do the rest. I have handed the control over. I might be in the drivers seat, but He is my mapquest guy, except better, because He will never give me a wrong direction.

Is my shack being torn down? Little by little...yes it is. Am I still afraid, of course! But am I going to let fear stop me from doing what God wants me to do? Absolutely not!!! I am done with living a life with balance the way I like it, I am done with living a mediocre life, I am done taking the safe way, it's time to let go of my fears and trust in God whole-heartedly, that if He is speaking to my heart, then I need to just release myself into His plan. May the Lord give me the strength and boldness to live for Him without fear each day, for He is my fortress, He is my rock, He is the one who holds the universe in His hands, and He will surely be with me all the days of my life, and with that said my friends, there is no case left to defend....I have given in, I am at His feet.............Jesus I'm ready for you to rock my world!

So you may ask, have I started living more boldly, without fear...? Actually, yes. Once you give in to God, there is no waiting anymore, it's immediate crunch time. So what did I do? I did exactly the opposite of what I would normally do. I talked to people even though I am shy as heck, I laughed it up all day long, I paraded around confidently knowing I am God's princess, and I acted without regrets. And guess what, through each step I took, God was right there, by my side, weaving through each situation, brightening up my day even more! Thanks God, I love you!

Oh and one more thing.....something beautiful happened today too. When I asked Pastor Jon if He would keep my Mother in his prayers this week because she is having her surgery on Tuesday, ha agreed, and also I shared with Him some things that have been on my heart. Then when I was about to leave, something was said to me that has never before come from a Pastor's mouth to me.....He said goodbye, and then looked back and said, "Alright, love you".........if He only knew how significant that was! Never in all my 24 years has my pastor said that to me, at least not directly if anything. Yet here this pastor, whom I have only known for a short time, shorter than any of my other pastors in the past, said those profound words. And it wasn't a man to woman type of thing, wasn't a father to daughter type of thing, it was a Pastor to his sheep type of thing. It was a phrase that resounded in my heart letting me know that I am significant, that I am loved, that I am thought about, and that I am a part of his church family. Wow, what an impact.....may God continue to use Pastor Jon in even bigger ways, cause you can bet I will be praying for the anointing to sweep over him like never before, and it will!

Amen!