dear friends & family (framily, if you will)
i wanna start by saying i’m so very sorry that i have not been writing blogs & sharing about what the Lord has been doing on my race. let’s be honest, He’s done a whole lot!! life has been the most crazy but i’m still here & still living & the Lord has done some freaking good things!! let’s talk!
now let’s take a trip back to march 18, 2021. it’s our last day of atl ministry in Guat. atl is when we “ask the Lord” & pray about where we should go, who we should talk to, what we should do, etc. so many of these thursday afternoons have been filled with the Lord shattering each & every expectation that i had of Him to keep Him in my box. surprise: our God does not live nor work in a box. so this thursday came & i was beyond expectant for Him to teach me something.
that morning i felt the Lord say to go to the tattoo parlor where all my friends & i got tatted. i knew the artist, Calvin, who i felt like i should talk to. but i wasn’t gonna say it. i was really intimidated with going back & seeing him just because “God told me to”.
but God in His infinite wisdom told my teammate Emily the same thing that morning. so of course we had to go.
we got off the bus in Antigua and started walking towards the parlor. with each & every step towards it my heart grew in a fearful anticipation. i could physically feel my legs getting heavier & heavier.
we got to the bottom of the shop and we stood there for a few seconds, wondering what we should do next. emily asked me what the Lord was speaking. & i knew He was saying “now go upstairs”. but i didn’t want to go. i told her how it was going to be embarrassing or shameful & about alll the things that could go wrong.
the she said some of the most profound words i think i’ve ever heard:
“do you trust when you step out in faith, that God’s gonna catch you?”
and all of a sudden i was reminded of all the bible stories i read as a little girl. when the Israelites crossed the red sea, when queen esther stood up for her people, when david stood up against goliath, and all the other ones where people stepped out in complete faith & God caught them.
i remembered that He parted the waters of the red sea, He used queen esther’s position to protect the nation of israel, He made goliath fall by one single stone. He was faithful to His people.
& there i was thousands of years later, choosing to believe that God was the same faithful God.
so i turned to Emily and said YES. we walked up those stairs & with every step i felt my heart beating faster and my palms getting sweatier, but my eyes looking towards heaven all the more. what a privilege it is to trust in God & believe that His agenda is far greater than mine.
we went upstairs & talked to the owner, Luke, & he said that it was Calvins day off. so we hung out with Luke for a bit & then left. turns out that later that day some of our friends ran into Calvin and were able to have a sweet conversation & catch up with him.
i left the tattoo shop full of joy & hope because i knew the Lord was pleased with our obedience. if Jesus Christ could say Yes to God & go to the cross to bear the sin & shame & wrath that i deserve, surely i can say Yes to going upstairs. yeah, it was a good day for sure.
friends, i pray that we can all be people who hear the voice of God & obey. that in our hesitation we are reminded of who God is. that the God of the universe is on our side!! He is for us, not against us. He will catch us. so continue to step out on faith & believe that He is good & kind, even when you’re scared. i’m praying for you all continuously.
peace be with you,
- M
