Surprise Blessings
Wow. What a week it has been. God has given me so many unforeseen blessings it is unreal. As you know I have been support raising to be on staff full-time at New Life Church for over a year now. It has been some of the best but also some of the hardest time of my life. Each day I have been learning about myself, about God, and choosing to trust that he does indeed have what is best for me in mind in spite of what I am feeling or my reality seems to be telling me. In the past couple weeks I have been thinking through numbers and talking with a few trusted friends and mentors and we all came to the realization that I can lower my support goal somewhat significantly. This may not seem like good news, but it is. It means that I am a lot closer to reaching my goal (assuming GCM approves my new goal). As I reflect on how I was feeling before this revelation I think I was feeling really hopeless in the process and like there was no end in sight. God has blessed me with a renewed sense of hope and shown me so many blessings. I think one of the biggest things I have learned over the past year in support raising is to be patient and faithful even when I can't see the end. There isn't really an element of faith if you know what the end looks like right? Also at times I have struggled to feel like my efforts really mattered at all, but in this I feel God saying, "I see you, I see your hard work, and I am proud of you. I desire to bless you and surprise you in ways that will bless you more than you can imagine." So beautiful.
So that was midweek last week. The weekend proved equally as joy filled and surprise blessing filled. My parents came down on Saturday night and took me out for birthday dinner and stayed the night to be with me on Sunday morning for my actual birthday. Saturday night's dinner was so great with my parents and my brother and sister-in-law. I was so grateful to be surrounded by people that I care so much about and that I know care about me. Sunday morning I spend some time with my dad, just the two of us. I have realized as I have gotten older how much I cherish these times. It is not often enough that I take time to just waste time with my parents or anyone for that fact. We got coffee and just chatted for the better part of an hour before joining my mom and a few friends for breakfast at my favorite Ann Arbor diner. After breakfast I had some time with my mom and again just really enjoyed being able to pass the time with my mom and enjoy her company. As family can sometimes be sticky I was very grateful for great conversation and quality time.
As the day went on, the weather proved to be absolutely beautiful. Before yesterday, I can only remember 2 years in which it did not rain on my birthday and I was so incredibly grateful for the sunshine and 50 degree weather. It felt as though God knew that the sun would feed my soul and I couldn't help but smile. I went to the 5:05pm church service like usual and was so pleasantly surprised to find a group of my old roommates waiting to embrace me and bless me with chocolate! Later two other friends gave me unexpected gifts that were so personal and wonderful. To round of the day I went to get some free birthday gelato with one of my good friends and really enjoyed the long walk (and of course tasty treat!) just talking and sharing life. I can't explain how full of joy and overwhelmed with love I felt. I can tell you that Satan was very upset yesterday because of the way God was using so many people to encourage and affirm me yesterday.
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So to make a long story/reflection longer here are my thoughts on what God has shown me in the last week: We cannot predict the future. We cannot change the past. We can embrace the present and praise God for the exact moment we are in. We can find the beauty, the joy, and most importantly the love that God longs for us to feel each moment of every day. I feel so renewed and so refreshed by all the love that I have been shown. By doing away with unreasonable expectations I have been able to embrace what God is placing in front of me and I want to encourage you to do the same.
Standing in awe of all the blessings this life contains,
Sigourney
So that was midweek last week. The weekend proved equally as joy filled and surprise blessing filled. My parents came down on Saturday night and took me out for birthday dinner and stayed the night to be with me on Sunday morning for my actual birthday. Saturday night's dinner was so great with my parents and my brother and sister-in-law. I was so grateful to be surrounded by people that I care so much about and that I know care about me. Sunday morning I spend some time with my dad, just the two of us. I have realized as I have gotten older how much I cherish these times. It is not often enough that I take time to just waste time with my parents or anyone for that fact. We got coffee and just chatted for the better part of an hour before joining my mom and a few friends for breakfast at my favorite Ann Arbor diner. After breakfast I had some time with my mom and again just really enjoyed being able to pass the time with my mom and enjoy her company. As family can sometimes be sticky I was very grateful for great conversation and quality time.
As the day went on, the weather proved to be absolutely beautiful. Before yesterday, I can only remember 2 years in which it did not rain on my birthday and I was so incredibly grateful for the sunshine and 50 degree weather. It felt as though God knew that the sun would feed my soul and I couldn't help but smile. I went to the 5:05pm church service like usual and was so pleasantly surprised to find a group of my old roommates waiting to embrace me and bless me with chocolate! Later two other friends gave me unexpected gifts that were so personal and wonderful. To round of the day I went to get some free birthday gelato with one of my good friends and really enjoyed the long walk (and of course tasty treat!) just talking and sharing life. I can't explain how full of joy and overwhelmed with love I felt. I can tell you that Satan was very upset yesterday because of the way God was using so many people to encourage and affirm me yesterday.
So to make a long story/reflection longer here are my thoughts on what God has shown me in the last week: We cannot predict the future. We cannot change the past. We can embrace the present and praise God for the exact moment we are in. We can find the beauty, the joy, and most importantly the love that God longs for us to feel each moment of every day. I feel so renewed and so refreshed by all the love that I have been shown. By doing away with unreasonable expectations I have been able to embrace what God is placing in front of me and I want to encourage you to do the same.
Standing in awe of all the blessings this life contains,
Sigourney
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