The W.O.R.D.

Don’t knock it till you try it, right? I guess that’s where I’m at right now. God is really funny about how he directs our lives and sometimes he has us doing things because it’s something we would never choose on our own. Blogging is something I don’t really get, but it’s what I feel God is asking me to do, so let’s do this.

The vision for this began to take shape about a year ago over coffee (Starbucks-Yes please!) with a friend. I’m not a mom yet, but many of my friends are, and pegging them down is a blessing. We get a few hours one evening every couple months to catch up. On this night, like many others, my friend and I were talking about our lives and how God is working in them. She was sharing a particular challenge that she was going through and the Lord was able to speak through me some words of wisdom and encouragement. After a while she simply said, “you need to write a blog.” I kind of laughed it off, but the idea didn’t leave me. Even for a few months I kept remembering this comment. So I prayed about it.

I didn’t get some revelational response, or even a definitive yes, but I did get the impression to pursue the idea. I told a few friends this idea. But it was all talk and no writing. I allowed the circumstances of my life to be the excuse. It was midterms in my graduating semester of college and between working and volunteering at church I had a full time job.

Then I got fired.

No job equals more time to do what I felt God was prompting me to do, right? Yes, but I squandered that time instead of being obedient. A few months passed and in God’s infinite grace, he gave me a job as a first grade teacher (although my degree is not in education), but we’ll talk more on that later. This became a new excuse to keep me from writing. As the end of the school year approached I gave myself a deadline to have the blog launched at the end of June, six months after my original launch date of January. Yet, here we are.

Then, I had an encounter with God. I mean I’ve had many, many encounters with God because he is my life. But this was at a conference, where I didn’t really know what I was expecting him to do. One of the speakers, Chris Durso, was talking about Paul. In Acts 20, he is preaching to the believers, one falls asleep, falls out the window and dies. Paul goes down stairs, lays on him, and tells the people in verse 10 “No more crying, there’s life in him yet.” Pastor Chris connected this to the things God has put on our heart; ideas that we feel may have died, may have fallen to the wayside. His encouragement was to stop crying, that there is life in it yet.

I knew that word was for me concerning this blog and that I had to follow through with what was long past due.

To give even more assurance, the following Sunday in church, we had a guest minister, Daniel Eric Groves, that told a small story. He told how a video he posted was able to reach 4,000 people in moments. He made the point that we live in a time that makes it possible to reach the world in many ways. That told me that the words I share here could reach people I will never meet. If I reach only you and your life is changed, then the weeks, months, or years I spend doing this will be more than worth it!

My encouragement is to take God seriously. If he is asking you to do something, say yes to him. Be like Samuel and answer the voice of God (1 Sam. 3:10). Learn from my example and don’t wait a year to start something God is asking you to do today. If he’s asking it, he’s making the way. He goes before us, walks next to us and chases after us.