Journal Entry 11|17|22

I was just laying in bed this morning thinking about the fact that I’m less than 5 days away from launching this blog, which brings me so much joy and fulfillment that I really can’t put it into words. I was reminded of the word the Lord gave me coming into 2022, that for me, it was going to be ” A Year of Restoration and Revival.” The word he gave me to embrace and hold on to–Better!

When He spoke this to me He gave me a vision of a house that was being rehabbed and fully restored. All of the old was being ripped and gutted out to make way for the fresh and the new. All new floors, all new windows, all new walls, and fresh paint. Everything was new with stainless steel upgraded appliances. In other words, everything was going to be upgraded and better.

Coming into 2022  I knew it was a significant year for me. I knew that God had been speaking to me and that it was time to move. He was requiring more of me (remember that song by Shekinah Glory titled, Yes?). I knew in my heart that the move was going to cost me significantly more than what was previously required in other seasons and I had to be willing to go all in and put it all on the table to take this next journey with Him. And it was hard! I know people like to give the impression that following God is just super simple and easy and that it doesn’t come with anything but blessings and things that make you feel good all the time. That’s a false gospel. I knew what following Him up until that point had cost me–some relationships, things I thought were good for me that weren’t, things that made me comfortable, desires and dreams that didn’t align with His plans for me, parts of me that I thought made me, “me” but wasn’t the “me” He created. So my mind couldn’t fathom what “more” would require when it seemed like I had given so much already.

But I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to brush this to the side and procrastinate thinking “I’ll get to that later.” Because what if later doesn’t come? Or better yet, what if that door of opportunity closes? One of the things I’ve learned the hard way is that just because God has called us to do something doesn’t mean it’s just going to happen. Fam, it’s not so! He gives us a choice and we have to make the decision “to do or don’t, to stay or go.” It’s all up to us.  Just like Queen Esther had a choice in Esther 4:14. Either she was going to rise to the occasion and intercede for her people or as her uncle Mordecai said, “If you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place…” Just like Esther, I had a choice. So with everything I could muster up, I cried out to God and laid myself on the altar of sacrifice and asked the Lord to help me die to myself.

That’s the decision I was faced with this year. And as we are just a few weeks away from the end of the year God has fulfilled the promise He gave me at the beginning of the year. He has restored things in my life that I didn’t think I’d get back and even some things I wasn’t even aware that the enemy had stolen! He has revived me in the depths of my soul and given me Life more abundantly. And as a result, all the fruit that is being made manifest in my life is Better than what it was before–juicy, ripe, and ready for the picking! Who could ask for more?

Well, that’s all I got for you now.

Until next time, Be Well…and know that God loves you more than you can ever imagine!

Smooches…