Disciplined Prayers

Many, many, many life updates for y’all. It’s been a crazy season of answered prayers and broken hearts. I’m actually writing this blog from Maputo, Mozambique Africa. I don’t claim to be a writer. I always make so many typos and write too many run on sentences but, I’m learning to treat myself with more discipline this year. Disciplined with my time, disciplined with my prayers, disciplined with my words and disciplined with my thoughts. I'm also trying to be disciplined with this blog. Hopefully at the end of this year I'll have 12 blog posts, and with that means done beats perfect.

A few months ago an opportunity was brought to me that I never thought would have been in the cards. Me saying yes is truly just a testimony to Gods faithfulness, and the becoming of my disciplined heart. A few years ago the word that was on my heart was “yes”. I said yes to any and every opportunity that came my way. I had 6 jobs that summer and no free time. I learned that sometimes the best yes is saying no. The year following that year started with me going last minute to the Passion Conference and ended with me in Africa and saying yes to spending 3 months in Israel. More intentional yeses. God taught me the importance of a prayerful yes. A yes that is lead in love instead of in impulse. A yes that begins in discipline.

The year following the year of “yes’s” I was able to listen to the Lord more intentionally. The year started with me going to Passion Conference and ended with me in Africa and being called to Israel/ Palestine. Since then the past 3 years have been full of yes after yes after yes. Because: let me tell you. I did not plan to go to Passion 2022. I had been invited by some friends from church but I was going to be out of town with my family. As we were driving back into town I saw our little church group posting pictures from their night before passion stay in Atlanta. I showed my mom and she joked that she could have planned to just drop me off if I had wanted to go because we were about to drive right through Atlanta. Not even 5 minutes later few people I was following were not able to go to passion and were selling their tickets. I knew I was meant to go. I reached out to the coordinator of the group to see if they had room for me to join them. They had 1 extra bed, 1 extra seat in their car, and I had 3 clean outfits left. Let me tell you the power of my yes. God has taken me across the world to experience his love in all the corners of the earth. I’ve been to South Africa, Namibia, Israel, Turkey and Mozambique and have seen the same God that’s here in Alabama in every corner of the globe. At every airport, every restaurant and every church service. I think about what my life would look like if I hadn’t said yes to Passion 2022. The theme that year was " to the ends of the earth" and it was there that I felt called to go to Africa, because before that I had never ever had a desire to go to Africa. Truly when we don’t say yes to the small things we aren’t faithful enough to say yes to the big things. Luke 16 says “One who is faithful with in very little is also faithful in much..” I love saying yes to God because the reward of my experience is always greater than saying no.

Life lately has reminded me of that year of “yeses”. As some people have seen I just accepted a position at St. Mary’s to help lead the youth and children. That was probably my biggest, hardest yes this season. Such a privilege to be able to seek the Lord with such a difficult decision. A few months ago Father Eric came to me asking if I knew anyone that would be a potential good fit for the position. I know a lot of people and come in contact with a good portion of the people daily so I didn’t really think anything of it. I figured Father Eric saw me as a connector, and I usually am so I thought about it, and didn’t really know anyone. I actually tried to get a friend to move here from Massachusetts for the position. She was the only one I could think of, and she would have been perfect for the role, but God had other plans.

I ended up going to a Silent a Saturday vigil at St Mary’s Episcopal Church here in Andalusia. A small yes that lead to a big yes. I had never been to a vigil before, or ever seen a church have a 'Silent Saturday' service before so I said “what the heck” threw on a dress and figured the service would be 45 minutes tops after all the service didn’t start until 8:00pm. And if you know me you know I usually don’t leave my house past 7:00pm. I didn't think anything of it at the time but before I left my mom told me again that Father Eric “was probably hoping I’d apply for that ministry position” he’d been asking me about. And I was like “nahhhh, he knows I work I at Bluebird and I love it”. When I walked into that Vigil and Father Eric greeted me I was like what if I’m meant to take the position here. After the service I was praying about the position and I told the Lord "If I'm supposed to have this position I want Father Eric to ask me to apply, I don't want to as Him." And I kid you not the very next day Father Eric asked me if I would consider applying for the position. I told him I would consider it and then after a few meetings and a great deal of prayer I said yes. Small yes's lead to so much more. I never would have thought that a simple yes to a few nights in Atlanta would have lead to this. I'm so excited for this next season. I'm excited to see how this yes disciplines my walk with God.