Over the last few months, I have been learning so much about what it means to be running after a right relationship with Christ. It has been so cool to get to look back and see how He has laid the groundwork and path before me and I am so excited for where He is leading me next. I want to take a moment and tell you about this journey, So let’s talk about it:
First, I want to speak to the groundwork he has laid. I grew up in a Christian household where my Mom and Dad pursued Christ. My mom cooked the Wednesday church meals, my Dad is an Elder, and I went to Church basically every week (for much of my life multiple times a week). In middle school I was told what it meant to “own your Faith”, to pursue that relationship for yourself, and this is when I committed my life to Christ.
In high school, I was very involved with my youth group. I went to Church and Sunday School on Sunday mornings, High school youth group on Sunday Nights, and was a leader for Middle school youth group on Wednesday nights. Then, I graduated!
Most of my friends went to college and I wanted nothing to do with that. I moved out of my parents’ house with one of my only friends left in town, stopped going to church, and got involved in the party crowd. After a few years of this party life (during which I was shown so much unconditional Love by my family) I started getting my life back on track.
I started taking classes again at the Community College, started going to church again, and slowed down on a lot of the bad habits I had been picking up. Eventually, I found a job I loved, moved to NC, was making better friends, and getting involved with a church there. But I did all this, not in pursuit of Christ but in pursuit of a girl.
Looking back now I can see how much of my relationship with Christ (when I was hungry to learn more, how he spoke to me, etc.) was based around the community I had around me. I wanted this to change. So just before my Race started I committed to getting into the Word every day. And it has set me down a path I never would have imagned.
Let’s look at the path this started me down:
At first, I was reading the Bible every day as a discipline. I knew it was something I should do, so I was making a conscious effort every day to do it. Slowly it became more than that. It became easy, then it became a joy, and eventually, I wanted even more. This is not to say there were no days I still had to do it out of the discipline I created but overall I became hungry for what Christ had to say. As I grew in this daily relationship with God he started revealing things to me.
One of the first things he showed me was how to “Love like a Man of God” (Check out my blog “Love Like A Man” for that journey.) Some of the biggest things that did for me was to show me humility, teach me to be patient, and not to insist upon my own way. These things were hard to learn for me!
Going into month two, I started hearing the question “What do you find security in?” It kept coming up! And eventually, it leads me to the realization that it wasn’t in Christ. It was in material things, mostly in myself. So, I began to walk through surrender. I began in the most obvious place, food. I fasted, for a day here, a day there, and it was hard but not too hard. Then I felt a different kind of call, a call to truly surrender. So I fasted off all food for 4 straight days (only water), then went straight into the Daniel Fast for 17 more days, and finished with about 2 more weeks in what I deemed the Shannon fast (Shannon was one of my teammates who has a gluten allergy and is lactose intolerant.) In all, I gave up food (in some capacity) for about 38 days and it was AMAZING! I began to hear God’s Voice in my life in a different way. He showed me other things to surrender, like my need to be right and relationships (still working on these). And his voice became something so tangible to me.
Going into month 3, I began to crave it. I was looking for it in everything. From The Bible, to prayer, in the people around me, and in Sermon Podcasts. I was so used to it that when it seemed like it was fading away I went searching for his voice and followed him to the Mountains (Read “Mountain Tops” for that adventure). I found it again and He began to tell me about the Holy Spirit and how His power is manifested on Earth through the Spirit.
So, that brings us to where I am now, entering month 4. I am diving into what the gifts of the Holy Spirit are, who they are meant for, and how to walk in them. One of the first things I learned was that all the gifts are useless without Love, good thing God taught me about that in month 1. Another important thing is if you want to be filled with the Spirit you must learn to surrender everything else, luckily I started that process in month 2. Also, You will only be successful at harnessing the Gifts of the Spirit if you are in touch with God’s Voice, which I happened to spend the last month walking in. I am amazed at how God has brought me to this point but these Gifts still seemed so abstract. They are fascinating but I almost saw them as theoretical still. Then, I had an encounter that changed it all.
This past Sunday our team of men decided we would try out this local church. We had heard about the Kyrgyz church from a Kazakh friend who hadn’t been to it in 3 years but we went anyway. It was amazing! They had an English translator, we knew several of the songs the sang, and we met some amazing people. Let me take a moment to tell you about them.
There was a Missionary couple from Paraguay, A missionary couple from the states (Husband originally from the Ukraine and the wife met him their while on missions), and a couple from Oklahoma (Husband was a pastor and wife wrote books of her experiences with Christ.) The couple from Paraguay lived here in Bishkek for about a year but the other 2 couples were visiting for just about a week. They had come to Kyrgyzstan because of a dream God gave one of them and as we talked there was something different about them. Then it happened, they began to give prophetic words over us, one by one, they gave each of us something and we resonated so much with what they said. How could they know so much about us, it seemed impossible, except I could feel it, the Holy Spirit was so strong around us as they spoke. And here it was in front of me, a manifestation of the Spirit that I thought of as theoretical. Put right in front of me just days after telling my team that I was searching after it!
We ended up going to lunch with all of them, heard stories of them walking in faith, and got to witness their faith, love, and humility. These people I met for just a few hours at a church in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan (almost as if by accident) have shown me the reality of what it looks like to walk in the power of the Spirit.
My journey is far from over but I am so excited about where it will lead me. I may not know the way I will go but I know my guide! He is so good, the great puzzle master, and He will lead me on the path less taken.
Thank you for reading about my journey so far and please consider partnering with me going forward. I would appreciate prayer for humility and guidance! And if you are so lead to support financially, just hit the Donate button above.
Thank you! And remember, Jesus and I love you.
