My beautiful 2nd Year Revival Group Class of 2020.
These past few weeks, I've thought about the time when my younger sister graduated from boot camp in South Carolina in 2014. My family and I flew out to see her graduate and spent one week there. After leaving the military base, I found out that we were only two hours away from the Georgia border and I told my parents and suggested that we go to Georgia just to say that we've been there. They thought it was a fun idea, too, so the next day, we made the two hour drive to the Georgia border. After crossing the state line, we stopped at a mall and I remember sitting on a bench as I watched families, couples-- people-- walking by and I thought We're technically not supposed to be here. I felt like a fly on the wall because there was nothing significantly tethering my family and I being there at the mall in Georgia on that specific day. The only thing that brought us there was a yes. A yes to driving two hours, a yes to a thought and I felt that all it took to take that yes further was standing up and introducing myself to any one of those people-- just one.
While in BSSM, I have grown to understand the power of a yes and how much impact, influence, and change it can have on my life, on those around me, and future generations. My Revival Group pastor in 1st Year, Jeremy Gonzalez, said that what we carry everyone needs and what others carry we need. This statement changed the way I see myself and others. We are all a part of the equation. There were countless times when I wanted to hide and run away because of self-hatred and shame, but God said He wanted me. Dear reader, I hope you know how valued and loved you are. There is a man named Jesus who thought of you and called you worthy by giving His life so that you could live-- to live in freedom, joy, and peace. You carry something that no one in the world has and He has the power to reveal and share that through you! And all it takes is a yes to invite Him into your life. At this moment if you feel anything on your body, mind, or spirit--please-- reach out to me!
Now in 2nd Year, one of the pastors at Bethel Church said, "when God said Let there be light, He had you in mind." For all the people that I've gotten to meet, know, and run with, it is an honor to behold and marvel at who He had in mind. I wasn't the only person that said Yes to moving here to Redding, California, for college. I wasn't the only person that said yes to going to BSSM. It blows my mind that a (not so) little town like Redding would bring so many people together.
I wish I could share in-person, how valuable it is to be free and vulnerable with a group of Christ-followers. Not only does the yes we give has a significant impact on our lives, but the timing of our yes plays an important factor. The people in my RG could have said YES to starting BSSM next year or the year after that-- or earlier, which would have a significant contribution to how and when I'd meet them or if I'd meet them, but they were first prompted by a cry in their hearts by the Yes when God said it was time. Getting to know, learn, and listen to the people God has placed together is a plan that only He could have thought of. As I write this blogpost, I think about my friends and family, as well as myself because I, too, have power over the choices I make. The actions, investments, and decisions I decide to pursue impact my future. This may seem elementary, but I feel God highlighting an urgency of the power that lives inside us. As crazy, confusing, and/or disappointing this time may be and as hard days can get, all He needs is our yes. Our yes to show up, to keep showing up, and showing up even after we're tired of showing up, but know that He understands and knows what that feels like, too. Be reminded that you are human and that doesn't surprise Him. As I'm writing this, I feel the Holy Spirit so close and if no one has said thank you for your yes, I want to say thank you for choosing to say yes even when it hurts.
With All That I Am,
MJ
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