Hey guys! It’s been about 5 months-ish since I applied and got accepted to the WR and I wanted to share an update — I SAID YES!
…wait, whaaaaaat?
No I’m not engaged HAHA. I finally said yes to God!
…again, what?
Lemme explain. Yes I’m a born again beleiver and yes I applied and was accepted. What I’ve said yes to is this work God has been doing in me. I’m gonna take you back a few years ago where it all began, stay with me.
Summer 2017. I was sitting on my third floor apt balcony sipping tea and watching the sunset. It was what I labeled in my mind as ‘God dates’. A time I tried to set aside to meet with God, not out of requirement but out of longing, to talk and pray and praise and worship and just be in His presence. The sun faded and the stars came out, I was about to call it a night, when I felt this nudge somewhere deep inside to go further. To get real, to get honest, to get bold. Something I had wanted to do but mostly didn’t want to do. I for some reason didn’t want to be honest with the God that created and knew me. I didn’t want to be rude or offend Him or be that whiny little child. But I felt the Holy Spirit move in a way I never had before in my life, telling me that He would give me the strength to go to the Father, reminding me of the sacrifice Jesus had given for me to be able to go the the Father freely and boldly, so we went. And I mean I poured out my heart to God. All my fears, all my hurts, all my dreams, all my expectations, #allthethings. I even remember saying something along the lines of “I want to follow you God, I want to please you and do your will, but it’s kinda hard to do that when I don’t know what to do, when you won’t tell me what to do, give me the ABC’s 123’s and even though I’ll probably fail bc I’m human, I’ll do my best and I” get it done”. Talk about child trying to parent. LOL. And it’s like He chuckled like a loving daddy would, rubbed my head, the kind that messes up your hair, smiled and said “child you don’t have to know my plans, they’re bigger than you, and even if I did tell you what I have in store for you, you would laugh at me and tell me no, all you need to focus on right now is growing closer to me, leaning in to me, learning more about me, having faith in my plans and trusting me with yours, you’re going to need to be ready when your time comes”. WHOA. Needless to say He kinda put me in my place, but with so much grace!
Ok cool Chels, but what does that have to do with now? Everything.
Y’all don’t know, bc I had been too scared to say, but I almost backed out of the WR. Fear crept in, doubts came around, walls went up, and faith went waaaay down. I got so caught up in the “how am i gonna do this?” “this is nearly impossible” “this is such a bad time” that I began to leave God out on the experience HE was inviting me to in the first place! And let me just say, if we could all come to the place where we realize that instead of trying to maneuver God into our schedules and that it’s actually us who need to maneuver ourselves into His, man what a weight lifted off. It’s not so much work trying to rope Him into a corner as it would be to surrender to His leading. He even tells us about how His ‘yoke is easy’ and His ‘burden is light’. Check it out in Matthew 11!
I remembered part of His invitation to me 5 months ago, “come WITH Me”. I kept thinking i had to do this FOR God, but rly He wants me to go on this journey WITH Him. How cool!?! This isn’t something I have to do for Him, but something I get to do with Him. It changes the way I view His character in that He gave me a longing to travel and see His beautiful creation, and He wants to show it to me Himself! It changes the way I view His provision in that while yes there’s work for me to do to prepare for this, I don’t have to worry that I alone have to make this happen, He will make a way! It changes the way I view His love in that not only is He doing these great things in my life, but He wants to use me to reach others for Him, too!
God has been revealing Himself to me in ways I never knew. Ways I didn’t expect. Ways that have surprised me. Ways that have wooed me. Ways that have changed me. And I want more than ever to rip off the arm floats of fear and jump headfirst into His ocean of love! (if you know me at all, please laugh at that last line… bc I can’t swim)
So. What does all this actually mean? It means I’m saying yes to God in all that ways I can think of. It means I’m choosing to be full of faith instead of fearful. It means that even though I don’t know #allthethings I may think I need to know to do this, and not even just the WR but life beyond that, I’m choosing to know more fully the One who does know it all and trust that His plans are good!
How can you help? Well I’m glad you asked!!
PRAY PPL PRAY!!! Pray for me and with me that I don’t get stuck in the unknown and I embrace that He knows, that I am obedient to His direction and leading, and that I can be a willing vessel for His use.
Partner with me!!! Asking for help is completely opposite of what we wanna do sometimes, but it makes the church, the church. We can’t do this alone! I will be selling tshirts, hosting a few events, and some other fun things you can be a part of to help me! Please be praying on what God might have you give!
Share my story!!! Even sharing this can get it out there to more people. I want others to hear how God is working in my life through this journey and how they can experience Him, too!!
Until the next one, love you guys!
Chelsie
