Monday, August 22, 2011

Making Room

In preparation for our trip we are all reading the book “Sun Stand Still” by Steven Furtick. In the book he brings up a point that spoke so clearly to me and what I have been going through. I have been at my job for a little over 2 ½ years. It is a great place and works pretty great for me and my family. In addition to that part time job I started my own direct sales jewelry business with a great company which took off immediately and I saw such great success. I credited God from the beginning for having His hand on that business and blessing it. I never had to look for parties or sales, they just came and I was thankful.

Well within the last month and a half that business has come to a screeching hault and I also found out my part time job will be closing its doors on Sept. 30th. I was pretty devastated. How was I going to find something else that worked out so great? I began searching, grasping at straws for what I might be able to do. One night I was on the computer searching feverishly into the night as everyone else in the house slept when God clearly told me to “stop, settle down, I will take care of you, I always have. Don’t grasp at a straw, that’s not what I want for you.” So I stopped searching and am at peace.

Up until a week ago I was still struggling with how my personal jewelry business had dropped so suddenly and what to do about it. That is when I came across the chapter The Surcharge of Sacrifice in Sun Stand Still. On page 85 Furtick says “God has a personalized calling for your life, so the sacrifices he calls you to make will be specific and unique. All sorts of variables play into this. The things that God will call you to lay down or walk away from will depend a lot on where you’ve come from and where he’s taking you. And only he knows that.” On the next page he says “The thing is, sometimes God has to let your dreams die so that his vision for you can come alive.” And then on page 88 he says “when God removes something from our lives, it’s not because he’s trying to take away something good. It’s because he’s trying to make room for something better.” I feel like this is exactly what God has done in regards to both my part time job and my jewelry business. I truly believe that He is stripping these things away to make room for something great. Again, I feel completely at peace. My eyes have also been opened to the divine timing of losing my job. The two days after my last day of work is my church’s yearly Women’s conference, which means my mind will be free of all the normal thoughts of “who is going to watch the kids this week, what is Dan’s schedule, how is this or that going to work?” I will be able to receive whatever God wants to tell me with an open mind. I will also have the next two weeks, the two weeks leading up to the trip wide open. I will have time to intensely focus, pray, read, fast and have uninterrupted time with my family. I am now looking at this change with excitement of what my next step will be.

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Trust and Blessings

I think that this period in my life is the first time that I have actually trusted God completely. Trusting in God has taken on a whole new meaning to me as well. It used to be that there would be a problem, I would pray and ask God to help and then wait. This period in my life is different. I have had so many curve balls thrown my way that there have been points where I didn't know if I could do it. In this journey we have made great financial sacrifices, gotten rid of cars, taken on extra jobs and lost jobs, I have had intense personal and relationship struggles and complete meltdowns. Have you heard when people say "when you've done all you can do just stand"? Well I have been to that point, several times within the last 6 months. I have thrown my hands up and said "Ok God, this is it, you have to do something, there is nothing more I can do but stand in faith and believe you will show up."

I truly believe it is at this point where God performs a miracle. God has shown up and in such a mighty way that I will never be the same. I have been blessed in so many ways, ways that I would have never imagined by people I would have never imagined and that's how God works. He doesn't do what you think He will do, He does something so far from what you thought that it makes you smile from ear to ear at how wonderful and loving He is.

"The fundamental fact of existaence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It's our handle on what we can't see" - Hebrews 11:1