Stepping in Trust, Embracing Community

September 22 has come and gone. I had intention of posting on that day but alas, it did not happen. You should all know by now that the 22 is a significant day for me and September 22 was 11 months of my promise to God that I would be single for a whole year. I can't believe that it's been 11 months! It has flown by so fast! And yet when you're in the middle of it all it feels like the process will never be over!

I have learned so many wonderful and very hard lessons this year. Most of which had to do with relationships and love. God has been gracious to me to show me the right way to do things but it hasn't been easy to recognize the right way all the time.
When Jesus came to earth He challenged us to think differently, not to just do things differently on the outside but to renew our minds on the inside! Do you know how hard that is?! Every day, if I begin to have an attitude that I shouldn't, or think something that I shouldn't I have to bring it to the Cross and ask God to help keep that thought captive!

2 Corinthians 10:5 -
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

Through this process I have heard advice and received counsel from many trusted people in my life and yet I will still make my own decisions about things and I have to be listening to God first and foremost.

There have been some tough decisions that needed to be made recently but I know who God is, I know He is faithful, I know He loves me, forgives me, and has my best interest in mind. Therefore, I know I can release it all to Him and trust that He's got it under control.

It's not always easy to just let it all go but when you know without a doubt in your mind that God is faithful and loves you it's a bit easier to trust Him with everything....He will never let you down! Of course it's hard to wait, the process is rarely easy, but God is doing something great, even if we don't know what that looks like. He leads us with a lamp unto our feet, not stadium lights or a spot light.

Psalm 119:105 -
Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.

Many times all that can be seen is a enough light to take the next step. We may not know the end result, God often keeps that to Himself because we need to learn to trust Him more fully through the process. We need to learn to trust Him to show us the next step even if we don't know what the outcome will be.

It's certainly not easy but I'm experiencing His grace and love in the process. He has been using a huge community of wonderful sisters and brothers in Christ to help me keep marching on.

A year ago I didn't know any of these people but I can't say enough about them.

I've had some friends in the past and one that I was very close with but it wasn't like this. Of course I'm in a different place than I used to be (only by the grace of God). Every time I see these folks it's like a reunion of your closest family members. Having faith in Jesus Christ is what connects us and what a wonderful blessing that is.
It's hard to explain the love I feel towards them and the love I receive back. All I know is that I finally, truly believe that if I'm not able to make it to a get together, I'm genuinely missed. I suppose it all goes back to being a part of the body of Christ. I'm not sure what part I am but I know that as a part of this body, when I'm not there, the body misses me. I say this with confidence and maybe it sounds prideful, like I'm something special to my family of friends....but frankly, I know that I am! Not because of what I, myself, bring to the table, but because of what God does through me. It is not I, but Christ in me.

Romans 12:4-5 -
 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function,  so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

Galatians 2:20 -

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

I just never knew what a loving community was like. With Christ as the center of all of us we can help each other grow and love each other in the process.
Seeing what God has done in my life so far this year, brings so much peace to my soul. And though it's not always easy, I know I have a Mighty King who is fighting for me and a community of sisters and brothers who are there for me and love me through it all.

Praise Jesus Christ, our God and King forever!

"Once my light was fading, but You gave me Yours...I can breathe for the first time, I can see for the first time....And I've never run so far I've never felt so strong, when I am where You are, I found where I belong. For the first time."


-Brit