I have come to realize lately that I am living my life like reading a book. Each day the Lord has me turn the page to see what is next, but I can’t see past that page. I can’t go to the end of the book to find out what happens. It is exciting and I love when the Lord shows me something new. I am in a place where I am completely surrendered to Him. I can’t take a step until he tells me to. What a wonderful place to be!
This past week I made a huge decision. It is probably the biggest step I have taken in my adult life. I am going to take a step back really quick and show you how this all began in my life. This past March I was with some friends at a retreat for Camp Crestview Camp Directors. When I left the retreat to come home, I felt a stirring begin to take place in my heart. Lately I have been very comfortable in the place where I live, in the job that I go to everyday and in the ministry I have been working in over the past 9 years. The Lord does not want us comfortable….he wants us in a place completely relying on Him and Him alone. When I am comfortable I don’t need to rely on Him….I have it all taken care of…at least that is what I thought. As I left that retreat and came home, my heart longed for more. I was talking to one of my friends and he said this….”Kim, don’t get comfortable! God has stuff ahead for you that is going to blow your mind. For years you’ve been ‘underutilized’. I think you are going to get to experience some years of being TOTALLY USED! “
Since that conversation the stirring kept happening in my heart. In my quiet time one morning I heard the Lord ask me to step down from youth ministry at the end of the summer. If you know me at all, you know that had to be God because there is no way that I would ever step down unless he told me to. I knew that God was up to something and I just needed to be obedient, so I went to Jeremy, our youth pastor, and let him know what the Lord was asking of me. I was not sure what God was doing because he told me that I was going to be totally used….so how would stepping down from youth ministry allow me to be totally used? I had to just trust that God had a plan.
Through this past summer I have seen the Lord change me in ways I can’t even explain. I have heard his voice so clearly and I have begun to step into all he has asked of me. I know that there is more and I keep turning the pages in this book I live to find out what is next. At the end of High School Camp this past July, my friend Ryan mentioned that he would like to have me come to Medford, Oregon to help with the “Anthem” program they lead at Living Waters Foursquare. Living in Medford has always been something I have wanted to do, but I have never felt that the Lord wanted me to be there….until now. I left camp with an excitement like I haven’t had in a very long time. I didn’t want to make a decision about moving to Medford based on my emotions, so I took a few weeks and didn’t think about it. I focused on Middle School camp, which took up all of my time. The second Middle School camp had ended, the Lord put Medford back on my mind. I prayed and prayed and prayed. I talked to Ryan some more over the phone about all the things he would like to see me doing this next year with Anthem…..and I knew I wanted to go. I talked to the pastoral staff at Faith Center and they began praying along with me as I waited on the Lord to direct my footsteps.
Like I said earlier, this past week I made a huge decision. I am moving to Medford this coming October. The stirring in my heart that the Lord began doing in March is all because he has called me to move to Medford for more. For more opportunities to do ministry that is so out of my comfort zone….but right where he wants me to be. As I begin this new adventure I ask that if you think about it, please be praying for me! I am completely surrendered to Him and in His will…..which is right where I want to be!
