In the first blog entry that I posted , I spoke of the first time that I actually realized that God was speaking to me. In His Word He brought me to Mark 10:17-31, in which a rich man meets Jesus and asks “Good teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” During their conversation, Jesus basically tells the rich young man that he lacks one thing…”Go and sell everything you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” I can look back at this set of verses now and see where Holy Spirit was starting me down the road of abandonment of idols and comforts that would lead me to the World Race. If I am totally transparent the time of transition between a season where I was making a decent living in comfort while following Jesus and a season of actually leaving comfort behind to follow Him the way I feel led has been really hard. My family is in a serious season of change right now (youngest brother heading to a technical school in Florida, middle brother just got engaged- thank you Jesus, I am leaving in a few days to begin the race, and my mom and grandma are going to be dealing with empty nest syndrome.) With all these things going on I am so thankful that we as a family are able to lean into Jesus for our sole comfort….which does not make the transition easy but there is peace that surpasses understanding which covers us. Yesterday for me, was probably the hardest part of the transition period yet…. I left my black lab (Scout) with my brother in Murfreesboro. I am super thankful that I have someone that I trust unconditionally to take care of her until I get back next November, but it still hurt to leave her. As I made the 4.5 hour drive home to Georgia from dropping her off in Tennessee yesterday things got really real… initially I was super sad.. but I kept hearing Jesus tell me that there would be blessing on the other side of all of the surrender and afterward I was able to make the choice to open myself to the peace that He had already promised me. Not only has this transition process made Mark 10 come to life for me but it has also made Luke 14:25-27 jump right off of the page….. Many people were traveling with Jesus. He said to them, ” If you come to me but will not leave your family, you can not be my follower. You must love me more than your father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters-even more than your own life! Whoever will not carry the cross that is given to them cannot be my follower.” Jesus you turn our mourning into dancing– give me strength to follow YOU deeper.
