Child like dreamer...

I, in my natural state, am fueled by passion, much of which can be detrimental to my well being if I don't keep my eyes on God. That's just the truth. As I child I had an imagination & dreamed big dreams. Encountering pain in my teenage years in a myriad of ways started the slow death of my willingness to dream in hopes for good in my life. Over the last 7 years of being fully surrendered to Christ I have endured much. Sometimes so much that fear stamped me. Not in a I won't serve God anymore type of way but in a I'm cautious and I certainly don't let myself get my hopes up. Well this year I felt the Lord ask me to rest in His love for me. I felt Him whisper several times that I would not lack anything and I would not toil or work in my own power for the things I hoped for. This would be difficult for me but God is faithful to His kids.

This afternoon the Holy Spirit used my 6 year old Lincoln to let me "feel" how much He hungers & desires for me to trust Him for good in my life. How He actually aches to give me good things & is on the edge of His seat saying YES Katie! Dream! Have fun! Enjoy my Presence because I'm waiting in anticipation for you!

Lincoln has a small kiddy pool. One that keeps him from "jumping" deep & restricts his adventurous side. The neighbors across the street have a nice sized pool. He sat out on the front porch in 100 degree weather longing to "swim in a big pool". He even gathered the courage to walk across the street in his swimsuit (of course as long as I accompanied him) to ask if he could swim. The little girl who lived there wasn't home so back to the front porch he went dismayed. This deeply began to grieve me in a way that I didn't expect. So I called around & thankfully found a friend of my older son who said yes to letting Lincoln swim. Here was his conditions. "Mom, if you won't swim with me then I'm not going. I want you to jump off that board at the end of the pool too." He went on & on with a grin so big my heart melt even more. It would be just he and I, free reign over a big pool. To be honest I'm still quick to tear up typing this because my boy was pursuing time not just for himself but with me. That was hitting a deep place inside. We arrived to the pool & immediately he jumps in & invites me in too. He encouraged me to get my hair wet & to see who could hold their breath the longest. He was so impressed when I dove off the diving board and to be perfectly honest I was too. My middle son, who happened to be already visiting his friend stopped by for a brief moment and said "wow mom, you look like you've done that before. Good job." I'm telling you this story tonight because as I fully engaged my son tonight I felt Holy Spirit encouraging me to let myself fully feel again. To let myself experience life just like I was tonight with a little boy who had dreams of jumping in a big pool. As my heart ached to find a pool for Lincoln so too was Holy Spirit eager to dream with me again. He wanted to accompany me through more laughs, more adventures, and spend time with me feeling free from the weight of the world.

What a gift of refreshing in the natural & in the spirit did the Holy Spirit deliver to me tonight through my sweet Linkylove. I did not expect that my heart could feel so full. I could have cared less what I looked like in my bathing suite or what a mess I had made of my hair or the mascara that smeared across my face. I floated in the sun & for moments at a time I felt overwhelmingly like God was smiling face to face with me. I was for once in a long time...carefree.

Has life gotten so overwhelming that you can't remember the last time you let yourself be a kid. There's something to child like faith. There is something about those who chose to follow after God & believe that the limit is so much further than the sky. Holy Spirit wants to speak to us about the world around us. He wants to release the Father's heart of hope over our hearts. He wants to show us greatness right under our noses that the heaviness of life has distracted us from...

"The sunrise, of course, doesn't care if we watch it or not. It will keep being beautiful, even if no one bothers to look at it." ~Gene Amole

Cause He's a good good Father...it's who You are and I am loved by You...it's who I am.

Don't miss out on the adventure God has given us called LIFE!

How to grow through resistance...

Most of my life as of late is met with a certain level of resistance. To be honest I live in a perpetual state of resistance and have since the moment I surrendered my life to Christ. I am just now grasping this physical/emotional occurrence in my life.  It would be best described as a tug bent towards running after Christ while being faced with my flesh that resists. The resistance isn't voluntary. To be honest it's my involuntary desire to fulfill my humanness that desires comfort, ease, and the safe route. Every day we awake, by an act of our will, we must choose to follow Jesus. By doing so it's a path set apart from the world and many times met with resistance inside. What I've learned is, it's ok to feel resistance but not ok when it manifest itself as anxiety, fear, or complacency. I believe the Lord was showing me that I can trust Him in the unknown and in the moments when nothing makes sense. Resistance should lead us to is the deep places of God. The moment the feelings begin to manifest we should take the signal to press in to the Lord
I can look back at my life and can confidently tell you every bit of resistance I faced was always the precursor to new growth in the Lord. He is so awesome, always teaching us something valuable. He also knows us so well that He knows exactly what needs to transpire to position us to grow. To be real honest this is where many of us miss the mark. We say yes to Jesus but run for cover the moment we face the least bit resistance. There is no way out of facing resistance head on if we truly want to follow Jesus. In these moments we must cling to the Word of God & declare victory. We have already won in Christ Jesus. The enemy has no power over us. We have authority over the accompanying thoughts & feelings he may attempt to oppress us with.

Resistance looks like...

being presented with forgiveness after a betrayal

wanting to forgive but not knowing how

trusting God for your future in uncertain times

releasing anger & resentment

denying the flesh

hearing the Word but not doing what it says

obeying when you don't really want to

needing answers

We thrive through resistance when we...

choose to forgive no matter how painful

look to the scriptures & lean on the Holy Spirit for direction on how to forgive

choosing to believe God only has good planned for us

submit to the authority of Jesus Christ in our lives & emotions

consider it a honor to lay down our lives for HIS

hearing & doing well according to the Spirit's direction according to the WORD

Obeying always no matter what

Seeking His face for the answers we need

We will all be faced with resistance at some point in time. I felt lead to share this with you because I know the Lord wants us to know that resistance isn't permanent and that we can surrender through it all. In pressing in we learn endurance & we know that "he who endures til the end shall be saved."(Matthew 24:13)

"And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and the words of our testimony. And they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die"(Revelation 12:11)

Let us not perceive resistance as a reason to quit or run but instead let us press on in Jesus name to lay hold of the prize. Let us see resistance as the white flag waving in the wind reminding us to seek out God in the matter & grow! Let us continue to grow through the hard stuff, the silly stuff, and blossom into the beautiful souls God destined us to be. Let us say like the Psalms "I run in the path of Your commands for You have set my heart free!" Let us bear witness of the Light of Jesus just like John did in all things. (See John 1:6-8)

photo from the web

From the depths of my heart,

Katie Joy