It amazes me that I so easily forget the ways He follows through for us, and instead remember all the bad things where people have failed me and disappointed me, and then place those same unappealing attributes on my Heavenly Father. Realizing this, I wanted to share with you an AHA! moment I had yesterday and yet another story of what it looks like to TRUST.
This is a story about a girl who made one simple decision that changed her life in the winter of 2007-2008. It all began with a YES prayer. She told Him life without Him wasn’t all that it was cracked up to be, so she wanted in and was willing to give Him a try. She told Him that she wanted Him to be a priority. Because of that simple prayer, He used connections from grade school to lead her to a church she loved, grad school classes at night forced her to join a Bible study to connect with others, and this first Bible study led her to a second Bible study which led her to a group of women who were “leaking Jesus,” as Bob Goff likes to say. In this group were two fellow Texans: a fun, bubbly 3rd grade teacher and a girl who was dedicating her life to fight for family values on Capitol Hill.
I’m crying as I write this amazed at His goodness and how stupid it is that I don’t trust Him, because I couldn’t have found these fellow Texans and all the other amazing women from this DC small group on my own. He had it all pre-orchestrated, because the women that made up this small group are from all over the planet, and work in education, Christian advocacy, international education, the medical field, non-profit work, architecture, graphic design, human resources, the federal government and more! We are all very different, but we had one thing in common: we wanted to pursue Him. And we did so” TOGETHER.
And though I haven”t lived near these women since 2010, these women have financially supported me on this race, they have been my biggest cheerleaders during my support-raising season with “screaming, made my day” text messages from JBu like “OMG you’re at 29%”, “God is great! You’re at 90%!” She took 5 minutes every few days to log onto my blog and check my status bar! It’s something so easy but meant so much, because she cared. She cared that much to send these words of confirmation, consistently! Beyond this, they have organized monthly notes of encouragement for me to bring along on the race, and now my 2 favorite DC Texans are sending me emails and videos about the specific things they are praying over me, visions they have had of me and for me, are serving on my prayer team, and most applicably for this post, sending me emails like this (sent after I wrote my “Mountains do move” post):
“Today I am in Richmond at a museum while Benjamin runs an adventure race. During lunch I read your post and began to ask God for visions for you. As I prayed for going to Thailand” I ended up stuck in the Indian art exhibit and couldn’t get out. I kept thinking that I was stuck in India. Then I saw God”s message: Beth, you are not back in India, I am moving you forward to Thailand!
Not sure what that is about, but then I smelled fish. IDK why…till I saw this mermaid…she was you! See picture. What ever you may cling to from India, prepare to let your arms open for something else, something good!
I love you and am praying for you,
JBu”
She had no idea how much I needed to hear that. I had felt so spiritually stuck that first month, and in Nepal, though I had grown, I had grown personally and not alongside my team. I was scared to death about team dynamics. I was scared that I would continue to feel like an outsider. I was so scared that things were going to revert back to the way they had been before all squad month. As a result, I did not want to leave Nepal.
And, as I spoke about yesterday in my post, being open and vulnerable has completely changed the dynamic for me. It is already a better month than India because I can be ME. And guess what? As soon as I stepped foot out of the taxi at our hostel, I could smell fried fish and the beach. It”s a smell that is pretty much constantly wafting through the windows. And I love it, because it”s a reminder that He keeps His promises. This isn”t India… You are growing and changing, Beth! You aren”t stuck or rooted IF you continue to say YES to me. Be free… like a mermaid!
So these ladies of my DC small group are a testimony to what can happen when we put our trust in Him. And what’s been amazing about this journey is that despite our distance and the fact that I haven’t lived near any of them for 4 years, this journey that I am on is drawing us ever closer. So thank you to my DC ladies, and especially to my favorite Texans in DC, JBu and Lindsey! I am so overwhelmingly blessed to call you all my advocates, prayer warriors, sisters, and friends! I love you all so much!
So I want to ask you this, readers…
In what specific, tangible ways has He already shown you that He is one who can be trusted?
Remember them… today and OFTEN.
