July 2008

And now the story begins…

So...
I'm in Texas! :) It's crazy, and happened in a whirlwind, but I'm here! And it is AWESOME!!! :)
I'm here! In Texas (if I hadn’t mentioned that yet!) And LOVING every minute of it! I have learned sooooo very much already in my short time here! God has really been showing off!

I started LifeGroup (small group) Tuesday, July 15th. That in itself is quite a God-thing! We all know that although you can’t get me to shut up once I know you, I am quiet as a mouse until I have gotten used to you. And I absolutely HATE going places alone, where I don’t know anyone!

To set the stage: it had been just the five of us (minus the week I went back to Georgia to bring my stuff back) for 3 whole weeks! And as much as I love my family, I was totally ready to start meeting other people, and seeing other faces! :) (As we ALL were!) So, the rest of the family had been trying out LifeGroups, and were going to one that evening at 6:30. It was about 5:55p and we were all sitting around playing Trouble (Sharon’s favorite) when the phone rang. Davis jumped up to get it and said it was for Samantha. Samantha quickly handed the phone to me (Ah! The blessed confusion of our names CONTINUES!) So I took the phone wondering who in the world could be calling me, as I had given no one this number, as I didn’t even have it memorized yet!

I said hello and a girl responded by saying that her name was Amanda, and Beth Porter told me to call (she is saying all this like I should know both of them). I am sure I sounded extremely confused, as she then began to explain that she led a college LifeGroup, and that Mrs Porter had thought that I might be interested in it – at this time I am STILL trying to figure out who Mrs Porter is, and how she knows what I would and would not be interested in! :) But I eagerly accepted her invitation, as she told me that it started at 7P. (Now you just have to understand, that I had not had a shower that day – we tend to not wear our Sunday best around the house, and just play in our pajamas until we absolutely have to change out of them! :) Saves a TON on clothes washing) So…I have an hour to get ready, and drive alone to someplace that I didn’t have a clue where I was going! I hand the phone to Sharon (who got the directions and translated them for me), and ran to the shower! 35 minutes later, I walked out the door and showed up at the apartment (where we were meeting) at 6:55P. :)

The group was so sweet and welcoming! They quickly enveloped me in the fold, and I felt right at home (again, VERY strange for me to even be there, alone. Let alone at someone’s home, where I know absolutely NO ONE, and have not even met any of these people before!). We sat around talking, and getting to know one another (there were about 20 of us crammed into that little apartment living room), and then we got started.

Sidenote…

LifeGroups were designed to emulate the Acts 2:42-47 church!

Also, the other awesome thing about this church, is that no matter how old you are, or what activity you go to at the church in any given week, the theme is the same. Ex: If the sermon is on Worship, the children are learning about worship in their Sunday School, the youth group teaches about worship on Wednesday night, the college group talks about worship on Thursday night, and the topic at that week’s LifeGroup will be worship as well! It makes it really easy to have family discussion, because everyone is being taught on the same topic, no matter where they are!

Back to the story…

That week’s topic was, (you guessed it!) Worship! Before Zach, one of the leaders, started the music for the worship time, he just challenged us. He said that God had really been dealing with him, and that he thought God just wanted to see what it would look like if we all stopped holding back, and just worshipped with everything we had! He had paper, markers, crayons, etc and said if you felt led to write, draw or color your worship to God to feel free to! And then he started the music. I am not ashamed to admit, that it is VERY hard for me to truly let go and worship when I don’t know the words of the songs that are being sung. I get so caught up in listening to the words, and trying to learn them that I somehow lose what it is really about. So, I’ve learned that when a song starts playing that I’ve never heard, I just start praying, and God takes care of me! I prayed through the first song, and as the second song began, it was like God said, “Vanessa, this one’s for you.” “Hosanna” started playing! Yay!!! I started singing, and praising God! As that song wrapped up, I had the urge to pull out my journal. I opened it up, my pen began moving in my hand as if it was moving itself, and 7 pages later, it quit moving! I had had my first BIG “AH-HA GOD Moment” – is how I have dubbed it anyway!

That night, He rocked my world! Everything in my life up until that moment came rushing to the forefront of my mind! He brought every big moment up to me! He showed me EXACTLY how each circumstance in my life has impacted me, and how I WILL be able to help someone else that has been in my situation one day! :)

Sidenote…

For those of you who don't know, I called my daddy, on March 15, 2008 (for those of you not paying attention, my BIG “AH-HA GOD Moment” came 4 months to the day of the day I called my daddy.) and forgave him for the hurt he has caused me. He has not contacted me since. He doesn't even know I've moved halfway across the country.

Back to the story…

But on that night of the LifeGroup meeting, God showed me, by reminding me of how hard it was to forgive my daddy, just how awesome His gift of forgiveness is! He gives it completely freely! NO STRINGS ATTACHED!!! And He gives it over and over and over and over again! In that moment, I was completely humbled before Him! To think that I would even bat an eye at forgiving my daddy, when He has forgiven me for so much! God will bring justice about for the hurt that has happened in my life - it is no longer mine to worry about! I am His child, and He will take up for me! He's my Daddy-bear! And I am His princess!

Then He showed me how everything that has happened in the last couple of years led me to right here:

Fellowship - the situations I went through there prepared me for life. It showed me that I can stand on my own two feet against anyone as long as He is with me! He showed me that the people that lead are not always correct, and just because they are leaders in a church, it does not always mean that they are following God's voice and direction. He showed me that there is a way to stand firm, without being mean or rude. And he showed me that if you do stand strong in what He is leading, that He will bless you over and over for your faithfulness. He led me through a dark, and at times heartbreaking, path but made me so much stronger for it in the end.

The Lord's Vineyard - PRAISE THE LORD FOR THEM!!! :) He then took me to a church that could show me EXACTLY what a REAL church family should look like (one of the many blessings of remaining faithful!)! People that truly love one another! People that genuinely pray for one another, and seek God's face on behalf of one another! He used them to show me the power of the Holy Spirit, and prepared me for the church I am at here now. He used them to show me His faithful people! And He used them to show me what can happen when you live a life fully sold out to Him!

Everything in my life has led to this moment in time! He has prepared me fully to be EXACTLY where I am right now!

I am so blown away by what has already happened here, just in a few short weeks, and absolutely cannot wait to see what is going to happen next!

There is a stirring in my heart! I am ready to mature and grow in my faith! I crave His word, and can't wait to see and make connections between the things I'm reading, and the things that are happening in front of my eyes!

I stand amazed in His presence!

It is truly awesome!!!

One Last Thing…

Woohoo! I promise I am about to stop, and then you can put this away and get on with your lives!

As you can probably tell by my ramblings, I am pretty excited by everything God is doing in me and through me right now!

I am going to email this on off, and I am asking that you please ignore my grammatical and spelling errors, as I am not even reading this over! (I am so excited to get it to you, that I don’t want to wait any longer to send it!

Have a wonderful day!
A great afternoon!
And an even better weekend!
Love you!