I just realized that it’s been three weeks since I posted on
my blog. It’s not because I don’t have anything that I’m learning or wanting to
share. It’s because my life is crazy busy right now.
I have tried to dedicate Thursday nights to spending time at
the House of Prayer and writing for my blog, but it didn’t work that way very
well in June. The Thursday before last, I was at a really fun picnic with my
new office community. Last Thursday night, I was at home spending time with my
family as we anticipated my sister’s wedding this past weekend. This Thursday
night, I hope to be at the house of prayer, but I will be just days away from
moving my office, so I can’t really be sure.
I’m going to put as many of my thoughts from the past three
weeks into this post as I can, but I know that they won’t all fit, so I will
probably post a part 2 on Thursday.
One of my favorite
God lessons recently: I don’t need to hoard Starburst candy. (Or anything
else, really.) I’ve been feeling more financial strain recently. I’m seeing
fewer clients on a weekly basis, which is normal during the beautiful summer
months. But, this means that I’m generating less income at the exact moment
that I’m discovering extra expenses in wedding planning and moving offices. I had
noticed that I was starting to feel stingy about my savings account and
obsessive about how much money I should be hanging on to in order to cover all
of those extra expenses. I was having conversation with God about all of this,
but not really shifting in my feelings or thinking.
I had to refill my candy jar one day and emptied the last of
the Starburst candies into the jar. I prefer the pink and red candies and these
tend to get eaten quickly, so I took two pink Starburst and two red Starburst
to hide in my desk. I wanted to make sure that I had some of my favorites to
eat later. My very next client greeted me with a surprise. She remembered how
much I liked the pink and red ones and had purchased me a whole bag of only red
and pink Starburst.
It was such a clear message. Jody, you don’t need to hoard.
Not your Starburst and not your savings. I am your provider and I know what you
need, even before you ask. Trust me. Ask for what you want and what you need.
Let me meet your needs with my generosity instead of trying to meet them in
your own strength.
I returned the hidden Starburst to the jar. I abandoned
obsessive thinking about my savings account. I am thanking God for His
provision in my life and trusting Him to take care of me.
When God teaches me
through my clients. I’m not really any better than my clients are. I
struggle with so many of the things that they struggle with. My anxiety gets
unmanageable and I wake up in the middle of the night with racing thoughts. I
have a hard time coping well with challenging circumstances and change and find
that I don’t always choose healthy coping skills like running, sleeping and
eating well, investing in time with God. Sometimes, I choose to eat a huge
amount of ice cream, whine and complain and pretend that I’m just “verbally
processing” or judge someone else so that I can feel better.
One of my favorite parts of what I do is listening to a
client while also listening to God. He is so loving and compassionate. God
always knows when to listen and when to speak and what to say. The more that I
partner with Him, the more effective my work is. Sometimes, I find that I am also
ministered to. He speaks to my clients and they share what He is telling them.
It touches me. Especially when I have a similar struggle. I hear the words of
life that God offers them and I get to receive them too.
Weddings really are
better when God writes the story. Karyn and Dave’s wedding was absolutely
beautiful. Theirs is a story of God’s love and goodness and their wedding
reflected this. His captivating beauty shone right out of Karyn and His
pursuing and restoring love emanated from Dave. God’s promise of giving us the
desires of our hearts when we choose to delight in Him was fulfilled. Years of unanswered
prayers were answered and there was great rejoicing. I could feel God’s great
delight over their marriage and I think that they are preaching the gospel in
the way that they love each other.
It makes me excited for my own wedding day. It makes me want
to encourage the people that I know and love who are still waiting for their
love stories to be written. I want to hug them and ask them to hang on a little
bit longer because our God really does all things well; just look at our lives.
I also want to encourage people who are already married, but don’t feel this
way about their marriage. It’s not too late. Our God can do the impossible. He
can restore your marriage and make it like His.
Stay tuned for part two…
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