A Time To Reflect

Hey Friends!! I’m trying really hard with this whole blog thing, I honestly just feel so weird writing about my life. Yet, here’s another one! Be nice.

“As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart.” Proverbs 27:19

As summer program came to a close, I flew home to Phoenix with a heart on fire for God. I won’t lie to you, I’ve gone to many Christian camps and adventures that have been completely dedicated to diving deeper into Jesus, and I’ve come home on fire as well. Yet as I stepped off that plane and immediately smelled Mexican burritos, I knew something was different, my heart was different. I wasn’t choosing to let myself see this opportunity as a temporary moment of impact, yet now a life and heart impacted. I knew I was going to be able to share everything that had occurred up in the Pacific Northwest, but I was more concerned with how my daily life could reflect what had happened. How could I, simple me, possibly portray the AMAZING workings of God that had occurred this summer? Puzzled by what to do, I felt Jesus tell me that every step and every day that I would lay before Him, would result in Him using me the exact way He had planned.

So not even two days into being home, I found myself living with Presleigh (my Tacoma roommate) and new friend. Which made it feel as if I had never even left Tacoma, minus the whole it being 1,000 degrees factor. So as we faced the month ahead, we tried to figure out our next steps for the month of being home. Discouraged, I came home from not working all summer so I was basically broke as a joke and being completely clueless as to what to do. So that Monday morning, we went to Dunkin Donuts because I had free coffee coupons and we would sit and ask Jesus our next moves. And man did He move!! So maybe ten minutes into being there I felt like I should see if they were hiring since I had previously worked at a Dunkin in Flagstaff, it would be fairly simple to start right back up. After talking to the manager, having a formal interview the following day, I was back at work that Wednesday! Praise Jesus. I now had a way to earn money while being home for a month. I was again reminded that Jesus will always provide, and Him knowing me so well, I like working hard for my own money, and work I did!

Fast forward a few weeks and I was at the two week mark before leaving for Tacoma. So naturally it was time to visit Flagstaff and say farewells to a community that had completely taken over my heart. Through laughs and tears I was reminded how much God had blessed with beyond incredible friends and family in Flagstaff that supported me in every adventure. The amount of love I had been immersed in the past two years was suddenly overflowing into my heart in the short 5 days I was visiting. Being able to lead with my Wyldlife family had taught me so much in trusting and loving your family in a whole new way and leaving them and my girls was truly heart wrenching. Yet, being reminded that God will take care of my girls, because ultimately they’re His and He has such a wonderful plan for them ahead, it made it a tinsy bit easier.

Then as the final days before leaving approached, so did the whirlwind of attack! Through some struggles I had to figure out if my choice in listening to God’s call to do First Year with Catalyst was truly something I was going to do, regardless of who was going to be at my side to do it with me, or not. Again, being 100% transparent, I didn’t know at first. I was conflicted because I didn’t want to leave Flagstaff and that amazing community, I didn’t want to leave my best friends, and I was scared out of my mind to completely move to Tacoma by myself and not know what was ahead! Yeah, you could say I waivered. Thankfully for truly patient friends, and diligent prayer, I stayed with my ‘yes.’ I went back to how I felt this entire summer and realized I wasn’t ready to give that up, I wasn’t ready to stop growing deeper with God. I realized that if we knew God’s plan and all the details, we wouldn’t be trusting Him, we would just be going along with what we know. So off I go!

I want my life to reflect my heart. I want the world to see that I am so stinkin in love with Jesus and following Him is my only choice, every time. So the next step is the Catalyst First Year program and I couldn’t be more excited.