Got 8 minutes? Then you should take the time to watch this amazing story...one that changed my life forever! Last year on my birthday I got the chance to meet Jamie who started TWLOHA, it was the best birthday present ever and it changed everything! One person can make a difference if we allow God to use our hands and feet to do His work here on this earth!
Renee's story mirrors my story in so many ways it is very eerie and although no one stepped in to help me...God allowed me to survive somehow, some way I survived! For so many years, I felt shame for the scars both seen and unseen but never again! Shame will no longer silence me but don't get me wrong my life is not an open book and some things are kept private but my story is my testimony on how God delivered me, his daughter for a purpose larger than anything I could ever have imagined. In some very odd way it has brought me to a better understanding on how my pain has purpose in this life. I no longer ask God "why did this happen to me" now I ask "how can I use my past to help someone else". It is crucial for me to get in the trenches just like Jamie to be Christ to those who are lost, broken and dying in this world. Otherwise, I could...no, I will miss out on what God has called me to do if I sit back and do nothing.
I have allowed shame to silence me from sharing what I have been through in my life. About 5 months ago it felt like someone had pulled a string out of my beautiful tapestry of life because everything I had ever known started unraveling in front of my eyes. It became one of the darkest places I had been to in a long time. I walked to through the darkness with only a flashlight God gave me and his strength but I got through it and the feeling of releasing bondage I had held onto for over 26 years of my 34 year old life is an indescribable feeling! I have gained a peace over the past that could only come from my father in Heaven.
Looking back I wish God would have sent someone to step into my life to help save me as things began to spiral out of control so many times. Yet I realize now God did send people who I look back upon realizing they were angels to give me just enough hope and strength to not give up until he stepped in to save me. I had to go through it all to be the person I am today and to prepare me for the work he is calling me to do!
Over the past week or so God has been really been bringing clarity to me about what I have been called to do with my life. He has used various people to give me confirmation without them even knowing what I am struggling with in regards to my future. It seems like such a big dream and I wonder why me God...I'm not strong enough but really I AM...after all I am an example of what happens when you hold on, don't give up and surrender to God. By no means do I have all the questions of how this larger than life dream will come true but all I know is I trust God and I know this is what he wants me to do.
This TWLOHA story has been remixed with more details of the 5 days a group of people became Renee's church, it wasn't about a building or a Pastor but ordinary people there to help her. They became the body of Christ coming alive to meet her needs while sacrificing their time, energy and whatever else was needed...this one act of love not only changed her life but has touched countless others too. This is such an amazing example of what God can do if we just surrender our will to Him!
I agree with Jamie: Many times we pray for God to be our rescue, but maybe God has called us to be that rescue, to be His body to move for what matters. He is not invisible when we come alive. "We are only asked to love, to offer hope to the many hopeless, we don't get to choose all the endings but we are asked to play the rescuers. We won't solve all mysteries and our hearts will certainly break in such a vulnerable life. But it is the best way. We were made to be lovers, bold in broken places, pouring ourselves out again and again until we're called home."
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