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Things I'm learning in June


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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