Grateful

When we look for gratitude, when we look to be thankful, as Christians, we look to God. We look to Him for what He is doing in our life. We recognize all He has done, how he has worked His goodness into each circumstance in our lives. Psalm 105 tells us to praise the Lord:

Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done. Psalm 105: 1

We praise Him by giving thanks, by recognizing and acknowledging how He has worked in our lives. Following is my quick testimony on the current circumstances I am walking through, the current season God has me in. I’m moving to Hawaii, as I type this (all three checked bags and two carry ons made it with me so far). It is wild and crazy. It is scary and sad. It is exciting and joyful. But how I got here, how things fell into place for me, is even more wild. Only God could make all of this happen. So, today, I give Him the glory.

1. I got a job, the easiest one I have ever had to work for (minus Home Depot maybe). But, I did so by the grace of God. I interviewed, I did put in the work, but as I accepted interviews my brother gave me this advice: express yourself instead of working to impress them. And when I did that, I searched for a school and a principal who I could express myself and connect with. This place ended up being in the very area my family first traveled to Hawaii so many years ago.
2. Who knew where I was going to live!? I didn’t up until last week. As I walked through that I prayed, people prayed for me and when I laid awake for night after night unable to sleep, I said, “Not my will God, but yours be done.” After a long series of events that started with reaching out to churches, I landed in a house with some women from a local church. (5 minutes from my school!!) and I can afford it. It is actually under my budget, not that I really had a budget because my kind of budget is ”tithe and let God do the rest.” Nonetheless, again, only God could work in this way.
3. Come to find out, the pastor at this church (Citizen Church) is from Minnesota. Her family goes up to Crosby every summer for the 4th AND she knows a really good family friend of mine AND her in-laws live in Lakeville. You tell me God doesn’t work in crazy-good ways after hearing all of that.
4. The next question I am sure you have asked me or are wondering, what to do about transportation? My short answer, buy a bike. But, the real answer, I really don’t know, in the meantime…God is showing up for me. My new roommate is picking me up from the airport and offered me the church van for a little while as I figure out what to do. With the impending, “you have to just drive really carefully.” So, please keep praying for me on that one.

These moments are just part of my testimony with this leap of faith I am taking, a few ways I have recognized God working in my life these past few months. Taking a dream and aligning it with His. Go and tell the world about me, that is His commission over my life, over your life. And I am off to do just that.

But, as my momma put it, it will not always be sunshine and rainbows. It is going to be tough. It is going to challenge me and push me out of my comfort zone. It is going to transform me. We cannot walk into who God is calling us to be unless we allow Him to sanctify us, to transform us. He loves us too much to let us be just as we are. And as I face the challenges and the rain that is promised on this journey, I will continue to look to God for the good that He has given me. I will rely on Him and lean into what He has for me. And know that He is with me every step of the way.

I cried all morning. And most of my way through the airport. But I held back tears and ordered a glass of wine. I sat and just embraced my entire life. I held back tears again as I read texts and messages from family and friends when I landed in LA. All that God has given me, where he has brought me, the people He has blessed me with, and how I got to right now, to this very moment. I have just been embracing all of His goodness all day. And I am so dang grateful. So, that is where I end this blog post. Amidst the tears, feeling grateful, and boarding my flight to Maui.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philippians 4: 6

Someone go hug Kona for me, crying the most over missing her.

Love and blessings,