·
God can take every single, separated prayer and
answer them all in one fell swoop. “I
want to get up early enough to pray.” “I
want a roommate.” “I don’t want to move
out of this apartment.” “I want to help
women of the world.” “I miss my best
friend.” “Please give me something I’m
passionate about.” “How can I even think
of being a wife if I can’t even be a friend?”
“Would I be a good wife?” “Will I
be a good mother?” “Am I going to help
anyone?” “I wish I could keep my
apartment clean.” “I wish I had
accountability.” “I wonder if I’ll be a
mom.” Some of those aren’t even
prayers. Just questions. And it’s amazing to me how God orchestrates
everything—something two months ago is connected to something of today, and He did that!
He planned it out so that I would see why it happened as it
happened. He orchestrates everything
down to the most minute detail, and realizing that I just feel an overwhelming
sensation of gratitude.
·
Tonight was the gathering for the East
Outpost. I was terrified. And I was lost. I spent 15 minutes trying to find the country
club. When I finally found it, I walked
into the pool area like it was the first day of kindergarten. And then I started recognizing people. And then I started meeting new people. And stories began being shared. And it was amazing. “So…how long have you two known each other?”
she asked me. “Oh, we just met!” “What?
When?” “Here in line.” I love that. I love meeting people and being so
comfortable that it seems like we’ve known each other forever. I want people to feel loved and comfortable
and I love facilitating that. My
greatest mission in life is to connect people.
I’m going to do my best for you to flourish in this atmosphere. I’ve heard this elsewhere, but remembered it
today: “Our biggest hurt is our biggest ministry.” Well, my biggest hurt is loneliness, and it’s
because of loneliness that I will always try to connect to people and connect
them to other people.
·
Karen.
Christina. Sandy. Suzanne.
These are the women I connected with tonight. She helped lead a church plant in Louisville,
KY. She’s a social worker pursuing
nursing. She spent 26 years out of the
country as a missionary; eight years in Kenya, the rest in Nigeria. I know her from when I was a teller at
Germantown Poplar and she is an amazingly strong and open woman. Amazed.
Amazed at the love of Christ I heard tonight and encouraged by the
beginning of this new chapter. Ready to
rock the East Outpost!
·
I absolutely love challenges, because challenges
and discomfort are when we grow the most.
And if I’m trying to walk as Christ and be as much like Him before I go,
then work on me, God. Let’s do the dang
thing. If I’m not striving to be like
You, my life is worthless and wasteful.
·
I’m adopting a daughter, and I’m so excited. She’s moving in within the next few days and
this is going to be an amazing experience.
At first I was nervous, feeling like a true parent, thinking, “I’m going
to screw her up just like my parents screwed me up!” and as the days have
passed, I feel at peace. I feel God
saying, “Hey, I got this. I’m not going
to lead you to a road and abandon you as we walk down the path.” He has her in His hands, He has this and we
are going to be better through it all. I’m
going to learn a lot, and so is she, and I’m excited. I never anticipated what God had as the last leg
of this OYC, but it’s very fitting. Lead
by example. Give grace. Accountability. Unselfishness. Yes, it’s time to put everything I’ve learned
into true motion. And I’m excited and
encourage and ready! I love her and know
we’re going to do great things. God has
brought two people together for a million different reasons—all of them good!
·
As this challenge winds down, I can say it
really isn’t about being single. That was where I started, but now—now I know it's about so much more. I tell
women about my story and some say, “Oh, I’ve been single [such and such] years—I’m
right there with you.” And, yeah, okay,
they might be “there” with me, but I feel as if I'm misrepresenting the purpose. The behind-the-scenes for this challenge is figuring
out what it means to be in a healthy relationship with Christ where you see
yourself through His eyes. That’s what
this challenge has been. An opportunity
for a dating-aholic to pause and say, “This idol no long has control over me.” And what I feel right now, I wouldn’t trade
for the world. And what I want to do
with this feeling is plant seeds in other women that their happiness doesn’t
come from a man. It doesn’t come from a
career. It doesn’t come from a
family. It comes from Him. My longing to be married one day hasn’t
changed. But what has changed is that my
joy is no longer dictated by this unmet longing. #priceless
