Saturday will be six months in Georgia. Six months since I left the safety of my tower and ventured “out there” in hopes of living out my Kingdom dream.
Six months is a good time frame to look back and assess the lessons learned so far:
LESSON ONE: Thank God for GPS.
The roads in Georgia are all wonky. In Iowa, streets go either due north, south, east, or west. In Georgia, streets go south-ish and then veer off from there.
LESSON TWO: Thank God for perfect love. (See 1 john 4:18)
There hasn’t been a day of this Kingdom dream journey that hasn’t been riddled with my fear somehow. I’ve run into just about all the situations that I feared most. Many of the “what -if’s” that kept me in my safe tower for fear of them, have actually happened or come close to happening.
It is like God took me right to the things I feared the most, and stood there by me as they happened – so close I could feel His love all around me. Now when my mind goes into the scary details of the “what-if” scenarios, my answer is “But, God is with me.” And I don’t say it with a quiver in my voice anymore of hoping it to be true. I can say it with authority because I know it to be true.
God didn’t protect me from my “what-if’s”, instead He loved me through them. Guess His perfect love does dispel all our fear.
LESSON THREE: Thank God for my weaknesses. (See 2 Corinthians 12)
One of my scariest “what-if’s” has been, “What if I can’t cut it? What if I’m not capable of doing what God is asking of me?” Well, you guessed it, I CAN’T. In fact, I’m weaker than I even thought. I keep running into the limitations of Teri in every direction; financially, emotionally, spiritually, and mentally.
It’s pretty humbling. It’s pretty annoying. It’s pretty freeing. It gives God a lot of space in which to work His power for His glory. It makes me realize how much I need and want Him to fill in that space.
LESSON FOUR: Thank God for the Body of Christ. (See Acts 2)
I can’t cut it, this much is true. But, I’m learning to end the sentence a little differently. I can’t cut it alone. I can’t do what God is asking me to do without Him and the Body of Christ.
When the Body of Christ comes together in Christ, it’s a pretty awesome thing. We aren’t perfect. We allow the enemy to work. We allow resentment, fear, and insecurity to fester and grow against each other. We say things we don’t mean. We don’t fully obey God. Yet, we forgive, we encourage, we support, we teach, we learn, we love. When it works like it should, it is a miraculous and wonderful thing.
I’m not going to lie. It is scary sometimes depending on others rather than being self-contained. It hurts when our imperfections and insecurities play out. But, when we forgive and love and persevere – it brings great healing.
LESSON FIVE: Thank God for grace. (See Ephesians 3)
This journey has been much harder than I thought it would be. I still mess it up. I still worry. I still fear. I still get too busy. I still neglect to do some of the things I should do and do some of the things I shouldn’t.
This journey has been more miraculous than I ever dreamed. My faith is deeper. My love is wider. My peace is almost unshakable. My joy grows more each day. The people I’m meeting are inspiring. The future is brighter. My God is bigger than I could have imagined. And HE IS WITH ME, always.
The journey starts with a dream. Once again I ask, “What is your Kingdom Dream?”
May your journey be harder, scarier, and more wondrous than you imagined.
