christian

If It’s Not Finished Yet, It’s Gonna Be – God Moves Us From Glory To Glory

bible, christian, Christian lifestyle, encouragement

“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.“

– 2 Corinthians 3:18

The other day I was baking snickerdoodle cookies for the first time ever. As I was trying so hard to make the dough just right and perfectly cover the small balls with cinnamon, I began thinking about the baking process as a whole.

In order for the outcome to be delicious, the baker must carefully gather and mix loads of different ingredients to transform into a sweet taste. They then must bake the cookies with such care that they do not leave them in the oven for too long or take them out too early. Once the cookies are seemingly baked to perfection, they then must let them sit on the tray for a little while to cool down and harden to just the right crunch to gooey ratio before serving them.

I know right. It sounds so much more intense than the cute Pinterest pictures tend to portray. But what interests me the most is the relation between baking cookies and what living for God looks like.

If you put yourself in the shoes of those cookies, you will realize that there is so much trust you have to give the baker if you want to become a delicious, warm, and sweet snack. In that same way, we as Christians are responsible for letting God have our trust if we desire to be made into the new creation scripture tells us about.

We have to trust that God will bring us from glory to glory.

I was reading into the actual meaning Paul had when He wrote about this in 2 Corinthians and…wowza. It turns out, it is not simply a saying; to bring hope that God will use your different seasons for His eventual glory, but that He promises to make us new, free, and able to form a personal relationship with Him.

The glory He brings us from is that of the old testament, the law of Moses. This law brought much fear and despair among the people because it leveled the ground, making us all equal sinners, worthy of nothing but death. Believers were then left to rely NOT on their obedience to the law, but their faith and trust that God would accept their sacrifices as a covering for their sins. The point of the law was not to change a person or personally bring them closer to God, but to bring awareness to our sin and desperate need to submit to the authority of the Lord.

Thankfully, God opened a new door through the death of His son.

Now I am not saying we no longer have to obey the 10 commandments. They are still important and after one is saved, we should be compelled to follow them out of our love and gratitude for God. But the glory that God is moving us to, is one that brings life instead of fear.

The new covenant, salvation through Jesus, is a game changer. Although it shows us our flaws and need for God just as much as the old covenant did, it also brings forgiveness and an opportunity to personally connect with God through the Holy Spirit that now lives in every believer. And with the Holy Spirit comes this beautiful thing called transformation.

As a baker collects the ingredients for a cookie, the only difference between the dough and the sweet treat on someone’s plate is the change that happens in the oven. A cookie is not terrible if it’s not cooked (aside from the salmonella you could get from the raw egg, but ignore that for the sake of my analogy). BUT it is not in the complete form that the baker intended for it to become. The power of the oven is what transforms the dough into the beautiful cookie. But as we know, an oven is hot. That dough endures loads of pressure and heat before it reaches its complete form.

We often believe that with God, our lives should be a breeze. But that is not true. Just because God’s plans for us are promised to be good, does not mean they will be easy.

Growing up, I came to understand very well that what the world offers tends to sound like the easy way out of situations. And a lot of times, I still struggle to fully submit to God’s way because I desire the instant gratification that sin brings. Because of this, when the Holy Spirit tries to guide me to the righteous path, it can be uncomfortable. My brain will understand why the Holy Spirit is right, but my heart will lean towards temptation, making me feel under pressure and heat just like the dough in the oven.

But after each time God reveals why He lead me somewhere, I understand why the transformation was necessary, just as I am sure the cookie thinks about his time in the oven after it is dipped in a nice, tall glass of milk and enjoyed by a family. Both of us then see how the Baker/Maker knew best all along.

So as we go about our lives and sing about how God brings us from glory to GLORY, I hope you really sit and think about what transformation the Holy Spirit is doing in you this season like the oven is doing to the dough. We ought to not miss out on the millions of ways we can be Christ-like every day. Take advantage of the closeness God is seeking to form with you as you slowly become more and more like the person He designed you to be.

What a great joy it is to be transformed. And what a greater joy it is to get to know the “Baker” of our lives so well. Listen to me my dear friend, if it is not finished yet…believe me, it’s gonna be…and it’s gonna be amazing!! Trust that God will bring you from glory to glory in every season of your life. He makes all things beautiful. It is just a matter of time. Let the Baker mold you into the creation you were made to become.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” -2 Corinthians 5:17

Praise Will Be My Song

christian, Christian lifestyle, encouragement

For the past month or so, the story of Joseph has been popping up in conversation, sermons, devotionals, books, etc. I mean, we even taught it to the kids at Vacation Bible School last week. With that, I figured God must have had some clever role to play in all of this.

I have heard the story a billion times before. Often, when we hear the name Joseph in the Bible, a story of great forgiveness tends to be tied with it. However, recently, I have acquired another perspective. Don’t get me wrong, I believe it is one of the greatest stories of how we ought to forgive others, but what I find equally intriguing is the massive heart of praise this boy has.

Quick Recap in case you never heard it or you don’t remember it:

Joseph is the 2nd youngest son of 12 (Abraham’s GREAT grandsons). The brothers got jealous because he was the favorite, so they sold him into slavery in Egypt. This dude named Potiphar became his slave master. Potiphar’s wife tried to sleep with Joseph but he refused to do so. So the wife said he started it all and sent people out to find and arrest him. He ended up in prison next to the Pharaoh’s cupbearer and baker. One day they had weird dreams and were seeking interpretation. God blessed Joseph with the ability to understand them and he told them the meanings of the dreams. Three days later, the baker was killed but the cupbearer was freed. Joseph told the cupbearer to please remember to mention him to the Pharaoh so he could potentially be freed too, but the guy completely forgot about Joseph after he was released. So Joseph sat in the prison for 2 more years. Then randomly, the Pharaoh had weird dreams too. He was looking for someone to interpret them and FINALLY, the cupbearer remembered Joseph and because he could interpret the dreams, the Pharaoh put him in charge as 2nd in command. His duty was to store food for the coming famine the Pharaoh had dreamed about. When the famine hit, low and behold, Josephs’ brothers came searching for food from Egypt because they had so much stored up. And to know what happens next, you are going to need to read Genesis 42 and on because I am only going to really cover the beginning and middle section in this blog.

So as you saw in the recap, Joseph endured some crazy circumstances. Being sold into slavery by your own family is wild enough, but to then be sent to prison for something you didn’t do, and forgotten about after your friend found their own freedom…insane.

It is not uncommon we find ourselves in seasons of our lives we never could’ve imagined we’d be in. But time and time again, we enter a new chapter that seems confusing and hopeless.

For me, if you read any of my past blogs, you could tell that the last year has not been easy in the slightest. And to add a cherry on top of all of that, I most recently lost my best friend.

My first reaction to this, and most things that don’t go my way, was to give up hope in all things. And I mean it in every sense. My coping mechanism is to seclude myself to my room and not speak to anyone unless absolutely necessary. But that is not what God intended me to do with this new season He called me in. Let’s just say, He made that very clear through the conviction I got during any sermon or devotional I thought would tell me “it’s okay to stay that way”.

After realizing I had to actually do something besides sulk, I figured I would do what everyone on social media says; “focus on your personal growth and healing”. That lasted about a week. It honestly caused more confusion than I ever remember experiencing in my life.

For a while, I thought that this failed pursuit of healing meant it would never come. So I simply numbed it out and decided to proceed with the plans I made a few months ago in order to make my summer feel productive. Yet not even that was the right move.

It wasn’t until I recognized the need to truly lay it all down before God and wait on His guidance that some form of growth actually began. (Hence the inspiration of last week’s blog).

I am not going to lie though, I felt stuck. Not feeling any more healed than before. Not finding any more clarity in my next step. The only difference was simply submitting to what I “knew” instead of what I “felt” was the right thing to do.

I am sure Joseph had his times of despair. Verses like Genesis 39:2, where scripture says God was with Joseph so he prospered in his slave master’s house is proof of the hardships life throws at us, but also God’s faithfulness. He never promised us an easy life, but He does promise to be there with us through it all. So as Joseph endured a season of slavery and a season of imprisonment, we can be sure it was no easy task. Considering his desire for the cupbearer to remember him when he is released goes to show that it was not a place in which he enjoyed being.

Yet not once did his circumstance determine his praise.

I want to clear the air that praising God is not strictly singing songs to Him. We praise God through our obedience to Him. And as God commanded us to respect the authority in which we have over us, Joseph obeyed by serving his master well. He also obeyed by refusing to sleep with Potiphar’s wife. And again he obeyed as God called him to interpret the dreams of his fellow prisoners, even if it meant they would no longer be locked up, but he would for another 2 years. Again and again, Joseph chose faith over feelings. He chose to let praise be his song in the suffering, heartache, and hopelessness.

We as humans were designed to bring praise to God. It is through this that we find fulfillment. Whether we get drowned by fear, anxiety, depression, or just a straight up bad year (I am sure we have all had one of those), quit pursuing healing. Rather, passionately pursue the Healer Himself.

It has not been an easy decision for me to let go of the mindset that immediate healing is a right. It has not been easy for me to trust that as I focus on God, His desires for greater things will become what I too long for. And my golly, it has definitely not been easy to sing to Him when all I can manage to get out is the cry of a hurting heart. But praise MUST be our song.

Until we realize that life is not about us, rather, how much we can glorify God, we will never experience the fullness of all He is as our maker, healer, savior, unshakable joy, eternal hope, and so much more.

Please do not let the darkness of your prison prevent you from finding the purpose God has set out for you. There is a reason for every season. Sometimes, we will never know what exactly that is until a few chapter’s in the future, but regardless of your placement on the mountain or in the valley, remember that our hope cannot be crushed or stolen.

I say this often, but I believe it is a good reminder; our heart will endure many pains and trials in life but where better to let it rest than in the hands of it’s maker? The fact that He willingly offered His Son so that we may be able to build a relationship with Him after our own sin condemned us apart makes Him completely worthy of our praise. I thank God that our hope stands victorious over death’s grave. I do not know where you are at in life…but what will be your song?

“The LORD is my strength and my song, and He has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise Him, my father’s God, and I will exalt Him.”

Exodus 15:2

Lay It All Down

bible, christian, Christian lifestyle

To the one who cannot seem to let anyone else have more control than they do in their lives…lay it all down.

Over the last month and a half, “laying it ALL down” has been on my mind a lot. Whether it was in regard to changing my major even though it meant leaving the school of Ministry that I always hoped to be a part of. Or finding contentment in the fact that I could only communicate so much of the Gospel with the people I met in the Middle East due to our language barrier and limited timeframe. Or taking the painful, yet humble route and stepping back in people’s lives so that God could use others to continue His plan for them. Time and time again, it is as if every plan I made for myself got taken and replaced with a slice of humble pie. To say the least, it has not been an easy few weeks.

Nevertheless, amidst the confusion and aggravation, God has shown me how He is worthy of my surrender. After each and every hardship I have faced, when I decided to lean into Him, He never failed to bring hope, peace, and comfort.

As someone who struggles to give up control when things are seemingly going in every direction besides the one I had hoped for, I believe steps or “how to’s” are extremely helpful.

I fully agree that during our trials, we ought to rest in God’s soveriegnty, but I do not believe it is possible for most to say “Be still and know that He is God” to themselves and then somehow become cured of their control issue. So, after doing some research, I found a few really cool insights and courses of action that we as Christians can take when we feel useless before the plan God is unfolding.

Change your POV

First and foremost, we must have a change of perspective. I read this section from an article earlier today and I thought that it hit the nail pretty hard on the head. The article defined “surrender” in this way…

“Surrender means accepting that the battle has been won not on your terms, and you are willingly giving your life over to the authority of the winning side. It means taking a humble position and embracing what is over how you would have it.“

This may very well be the hardest step out of them all. Changing the way one thinks is not so easy, but it is biblical and necessary for the Christian. We are not only called to follow and obey God with our actions, but with our minds as well. We must not let the thoughts of our flesh be what rules us. Just because we accepted Jesus into our lives does not mean we are immune from the attacks of the enemy. In fact, scripture says it will be harder for the believers.

But fret not. There is sooo much more hope promised than there are trials. And that my friends, is our gateway to victory.

I love the song “So will I” by Hillsong Worship for a lot of reasons, but one being that there is a lyric saying, “If You left the grave behind you, so will I.”

Reread that for me. If you think about the life Jesus lived, the grave He deserved would have been nothing because He was perfect and would not have been forced to experience any judgement. Yet the death He deserved is not the death He endured. When Jesus was on that cross, He took on the weight of the world. He took on EVERY SINGLE person’s death that they should’ve experienced because of their sin. Yet because of His power, He was able to leave the grave behind. The grave with the weight of the world’s sin, Jesus claimed victory over so that we as God’s beloved creation, could do the same.

His death was so that we may live in abundance of all He is. That being; peace, joy, love, comfort, healing, purity, forgiveness, and so on. Yet when we choose to let our fleshly worries take over, we grow a nasty pride in ourselves that pushes us to hold on to all we have. Yet this pride is not what Jesus hoped and intended us to live with. Rather, we have been blessed with the freedom from the bondage of sin and the burdens it brings.

So how can one change their point of view? Well, as hard as it may be, we ought to follow what God says all throughout scripture. His word must be so familiar to our hearts so that when we have the thoughts of fleshly desires to control, we have the humility of letting God win the battle by bringing Him into every part of our lives.

Proverbs 3:5-6 is a great verse that reflects one of God’s promises to stay faithful and by your side any time you lay it all down.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make your paths straight.”

Letting Him be your influence

This seems pretty easy, no? Simply trust in God and lean on Him. Eh…not so much (at least for me). There are battles in our minds each and every day as we attempt to fight off sin. Just like we have to make those decisions to consistantly choose obedience with our actions, we must recognize the importance of choosing what we fill our minds with.

In a world that is captivated by “influencers”, it can be hard to see God with that title because the modern meaning of it has become someone who has a huge platform on things like tiktok or instagram. And the last time I checked, God isn’t posting weekly youtube videos or funny reels.

I cannot stress this enough. If we want a change in our mindset that actually lasts more than a few days, we must look into how we can let God be our main influence. The one who is love, peace, compassion, hope, etc. is the one we ought to be tuning into the most. How? Cliche, but read your Bible, join church groups, volunteer and serve others, really pay attention during those Sunday sermons, listen to Christian podcasts…I could go on and on listing the ways in which we can gain a deeper understanding of the written Word of God He gave us, the Bible, but for time sake, I’ll leave you with those.

If you didn’t notice, there was one popular form of connecting and growing with God that I did not list…PRAYER. Why? Well, I believe prayer is one of the greatest ways of allowing God to be your influence and one of the best gifts God gave us, so I figured it deserved a little more explaining.

Prayer is not just an opportunity to ask God for help. It is the 24/7 call line that we have the blessing of using for FREE any day, time, or place. It is the way in which we as broken, unworthy humans get a chance to speak to the holy, perfect God. Not simply to assist in our darkest hours, although that is true, it is the way in which we can form a personal relationship with the God who created us. How amazing is that?!

Imagine if famous people we look to as influencers had a 24/7 call line available to you. You’d get to know them pretty well, and vice versa. Yet the sad truth about society today is that we often get so obsessed with being like famous people who many of us never even spoke a single word to, while simultaneously ignoring the almighty God who is reachable any and every second of the day. I have seen countless instagram accounts made to “fangirl” over influencers like Harry Styles or Emma Chamberlain. Based off the hundreds of posts, I gurantee you they can tell me a lot about those people. However, many of us Christians can barely list the top 10 characteristics we love about God being so close to us. Now I am not shaming anyone, I am definitely guilty of taking for granted the time God gave me to talk to Him and learn all I can.

Nevertheless, what I have come to learn during these weeks of laying it all down, is that without prayer, and inviting God into my battles and normal everyday life, there is no way He can be a strong enough influence to me that will make a change.

Yes, God knows everything about everyone, but He is not a God who forces Himself upon us. He is a patient God and one who gives us the freedom to choose how present we want Him in our lives. The power behind prayer is not determined by the spirituality of a Christian. It is determined by the power of the one whom we are speaking to, God. And when we invite Him into our every circumstance, we are surrending control and allowing His will to be done.

Now please hear me out. What I have realized over trial and error, is that surrenndering things to God is a lifelong process. It is one that we must do EVERY SINGLE DAY. Because just as God’s mercies are new everyday, so are the temptations of the enemy. We live in a world of sin and there will always be symptoms of that in our lives. So my friend, when people tell you to “pray everyday”, it is not because Christians need to mark it off their holy checklist. Rather it is because we are never going to be strong enough to fight off sin on our own. We need the help of the Father and it is through prayer that we can show humility by acknowledging our need for Him.

Who we let be our influence is who we let take up our time. May we hunger for a relationship with God so that we no longer have to be bound by the weight of trying to control everything.

Understand Your Role in the Season

As we build a foundation and value for surrendering in our minds, one of the biggest things I have noticed plays a major role in the process of laying it all down is understanding we serve a God of seasons. Our circumstances will change dozens of times over the span in of our lives. Sometimes, we are meant to be in a certain school or job, and after a year, God could be leading you elsewhere. Change can be seen as good or bad. Personally, I am not the greatest fan of it. I dream about a 9-5 job, eating oatmeal every morning, and having the same routine every weekday. But that is not always the way in which God works.

While I was in college, I moved houses, change my major like 5 times, had 2 different jobs, moved from serving middle school ministry to high school ministry, lived out of a suitcase every 1-2 weekends because I went home a lot, and made schedule after schedule for this blog before I finally found a way to manage it. For someone who likes the same exact routine everyday, this wasn’t it. But God showed me a lot during college and in the last month of summer.

I probably went through 45289375 seasons in the last year (I may be exaggerating a little but you get the point). It was hard but while learning how to lay down all I had, meaning giving up all control too, I learned that when it is in God’s hands, it always ends up working out. Maybe not in the way I had hoped, but there is always a season of waiting before a tree produces fruit.

Our God is sovereign and for the control freak, that may not always be easy to submit to. But allow me to encourage you with this; it is possible to lay it all down. It may take blood, sweat, and tears but the freedom of no longer bearing the weight of your world on your shoulders is a feeling so worth working for. When you no longer have to worry about how YOU are going to solve the issue, you can learn to focus on what role you are supposed to play in your current season.

We were never made to be the one to figure out life. And thank God that Jesus made a way for us to not have to. Whether you are meant to encourage others, lead a group to make a change, or simply step back and be still, believe that there is a purpose in your role and that God will open the right doors at the right time.

I have no idea who said this but, “bloom where you are planted”. You do not have to take over the whole garden. Let God be the director of your paths and stop trying to be the game master of a game you had no part creating. There is pain in the process towards humility, indeed. But there is so much more hope and joy in the life of those humbled.

Praise Him in every circumstance. The scenerio may change but our faithful and Holy God does not.

So my dear friend, again I encourage you…lay it ALL down.

What Floods The Desert

bible, christian, encouragement, lifestyle

But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.

Micah 7:7 NIV

For the last 3 weeks, I have been in a flooded desert. Though there was pain, sorrow, and a lack of resources, none of it was a match for the great flood that flowed through this land. Not a flood of water…but of hope.

As I came across this verse in Micah, I could not help but relate it to the people I encountered on my journey to the Middle East. For nearly a month, I walked in the same land God split the sea for Moses to walk through. The same land Saul had his transformation to Paul. The same land that a Shepard boy was made a mighty king. Yet amidst all God has done in the past, the most amazing thing to me was what He was doing in the hearts of the people today.

I saw fathers give up everything to get their daughters the medical treatment they needed. I saw parents embrace and thank God for the children their culture tells them are a disgrace due to their disabilities. And I saw oh so much hope and praise towards God in the eyes of families who were bombed out of their homes and forced to move to foreign lands with no guarantee of a way out.

This, is a small glimpse of the flooded desert I walked through.

My heart shatters as this world defaces the reputation of the Arab community. I have never met a more loving group of people in my whole life. Their sense of strangers becoming friends and friends becoming family is so wholesome.

After spending weeks drinking an excessive amount of coffee and tea with random families, I have found that they live out Micah 7:7 to the absolute fullest.

Though the name of Jesus was not the one they commonly praised, it has never been more evident to me of God’s hand over a community. These people were living in pain. Pain that began far before their own lives and continues to deepen as they step into each new day. Yet at the same time, they are overflowing with hope and joy. A hope that brings life during dreadful times. And a joy that remains as they lift up God through the rubble of their struggles.

It is this hope I pray I can learn how to share with you all. Like they so kindly welcomed me into their homes, making me feel like a close sister, I hope to make this blog a place you all feel loved and secure.

We as the Church ought to be unified as one. Love should be the driving force for all we say and do. So as you take a second to speak with God today, I pray you ask Him to show you how to love well. This world portrays the people of the Middle East in such a terrible way. But I am here to encourage you to let God be the one to tell you how we should treat others, not the media, not the president, not your family…simply God. If He gave His life to love them, how can we live and not do the same?

What’s your Nineveh? – Stop Running From God

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Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.” 3 But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.

Jonah 1:1-3 ESV

In all honesty, at this point of the year, I thought I was going to be a writing a blog about seasons ending. About what God did here during my time in West Palm Beach. But instead, I write to you about my Nineveh.

I used to love school. I used to look froward to going to class and seeing my friends every day. But as I entered this college season, all of that began to die out. Between not knowing many people, feeling so far behind everyone in my classes, and losing clarity in where God was calling me, I not only disliked school, I tried so hard to convince my family to let me drop out, do online school, or absolutely ANYTHING ELSE besides stay here.

Palm Beach Atlantic University became my Nineveh. Since around September of 2021, last semester, I began seeking other options. I prayed to God that He would help me find a way out of here that my parents would agree with. I prayed there was some way I could just leave it all behind and start fresh again so that I did not have to continue everyday only finding joy because it ends.

Fast forward to February 2022, I realized my dream career change from non-profit management to this other job that I am still trying to find the words to explain, meant that I had a reasonable excuse to leave. Palm Beach Atlantic did not offer as specific degrees as other schools did for the field I wanted to enter.

So there I was, scrolling through Google and in big old letters wrote: “Regent University Communications Degree: Concentration in Internet & Social Media”. As I read into it, it seemed like the perfect degree for what I wanted to do. And luckily for me, I was very familiar with the school as I already visited it twice last year as a potential option back when I was a senior.

From that moment on, I prayed, talked with my parents, and constantly told myself it was meant to be. After spring break, I was so pumped at the approval from the parents, I told the people I knew that I was transferring. I know, I got a little excited. I literally didn’t even apply to the school yet, but I felt like it was going to happen, so ignore my terrible rash decisions.

After I told everyone I needed to tell, I applied. It took me three days to apply because I kept messing up or getting distracted when I started the application. I probably should have saw that as a sign, but when I am on a mission… I am on a mission and absolutely nothing can convince me to stop.

That was until I sent the application in. Immediately I realized what I did. I thought it was right but I felt it was wrong.

Because of the way I am, I don’t often ask people for prayer for things that are personal to me. But as I was leaving youth the other day, my heart began to race because I knew I needed help but I didn’t want to ask. Yet suddenly, I stopped. Turned around and saw my friends and fellow youth leaders walking inside. I don’t know what got into me at that moment when I saw them, but I began to walk. Well, more like speed walk. Every step I took, my heart raced even more. Then I reached the point where they were and stopped, looked at them and straight up asked for prayer. And at that moment, my heart was still breathing heavy as it was slightly anxious about the conversation that was about to follow that moment, but there was peace. It was a weight lifted that I most certainly did not expect.

Long story short, after good conversations with my friends and family and a small mental breakdown, I realized where God’s peace was. It was not in transferring. It was not in dropping out. It was not in trying to start fresh. It was here. In Downtown West Palm Beach.

For the first time since September, I realized where God called me to be. I found my Nineveh.

Why do I call it Nineveh and not my promise land or something that reflects a blessing? Well, because in my eyes for the longest time, it was not a blessing. I wanted out. I wanted to go anywhere but here. I did not believe God could use me or help me as I was surrounded by a bunch of people who seemed to be so very different than me. Selfish, I know. But I rather be honest because I believe communion is found within vulnerability.

I tried everything in my power to get away, yet God lead me back here. Crazy how for the rest of my life, I can truthfully say, I understand the thoughts of the man who was swallowed by a fish. Silly but comforting to know God is the same God and knows how to handle the runners like me and Jonah.

So now here I am. In a land I still feel somewhat uncomfortable in, but can rest assured as I know it is the land where God guided me.

What a gracious God we serve. Yet this attempted runaway did not stray from the end Jonah’s story. If you recall, Jonah had a few consequences of his actions. And just like that, because of my rash decisions, I lost the opportunity to dorm with my closest friends. I am left with picking classes from everyone’s leftovers. And I missed out on signing up for things during the summer because I didn’t think I would be here.

This year has taught me to much. Even more now as I step back and realize the work God has been orchestrating all along. If only I didn’t fear what God already promised He was going to be with me in, I could have been blessed by and been a blessing to my Nineveh. So…what’s yours?