Blessed

I want to take a brief break from my ‘Let’s Start From The Beginning’ series to pour out my heart a little bit about my current state in this fundraising process.




My heart.  It’s a tricky little organ.  I’m not sure I’ll ever understand to what capacity this small, fist-sized muscle can work.  Or the capacity in which it can feel.  The Lord has definitely been working on this latter capacity for my heart recently.


I’ve been asked quite often as of late, “Don’t you wish you could be in Norway right now?”  And the answer to that question is at the same time complicated and simple.


Of course I’d love to be in Norway right this instant.  If God decided that tomorrow He would miraculously provide all my support, then I would by no means hesitate to jump on that SAS flight as soon as possible.  But the truth of the matter is that I’m not in Norway right now.  And I’m more than okay with that.  I’m okay with being here, in Alabama, right now, because without a doubt, I know that God wants me here, in this moment.


God is working in me, through me, and around me in so many glorious and splendid ways.  He is teaching me what it means to be disciplined, how to receive, have integrity, how to love people even when I don’t understand where they are coming from, and most importantly, my utter need to lean on Christ everyday.  I am far from perfect in any of those areas, even as God has His hand in my life, but the important point is that I’m growing.  And I’m willing to be stretched and twisted and challenged.  My heart is ready for this stage.  That crazy little heart inside my chest.


That crazy little heart that doesn’t seem capable of holding all those emotions and celebrations and tribulations inside.  


The only word that can sum all of these experiences and lessons for me right now is blessed.


I am beyond blessed.


Daily, God rains blessings down on me with His sweet whispers, His tantalizing beauty, His incredible body (my community), and His Word.  

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 

- John 1:1

Jesus is constantly with me, consistently pursuing me and wooing me and leading me.  And just like any other relationship, I am consistently leaving Him and shooing Him away and pulling in the other direction.  Yet, unlike any other relationship, He is my Rock.  He is my Fortress.  

He alone is my rock and my salvation; 

he is my fortress, I will never be shaken. 

- Psalm 62:2

As I am daily favored by not only God and my community, I am blessed with support from new friends, and at times, complete strangers, and even better, by complete strangers who become new friends (ahem... Fontenots & Elizabeth Esther)  It is my sincerest hope and desire that these beautiful presents, in the form of people, will never slip by me unnoticed and ill-appreciated.  


Lord, thank you, TUSEN TAKK!, for your graciousness, sovereignty and glory.  You are truly the best.