That time when Holy Spirit totally ambushed me...

My first "note" to update friends and family. Well, clearly I've made it back to California, which has been really amazing; I've seen family, I've been to Portland ("Keep Portland Weird" - and it definitely was), I got my parents to hike...on a mountain trail that was much longer and more difficult than expected, I also got them to go rafting ("You won't get wet," she said...as we're soaked within the first few minutes), I've been able to reconnect with some old friends and connect with new ones, both of which have made my heart full, and now I'm finally registered for my second year at Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry. Jesus really does love me; even before I got here He had it all planned out, but I'll just hit the highlights for now.

Before I came back to Bethel and California I was believing the Lord for some specific things: 

• My car debt to be paid in full before I left Georgia
• My tuition to be paid in full before I left Georgia
• My housing to be situated by the time I got to California
• My job situation to be secured by the time I got to California
• Divine appointments and connections while here
• God moments that define my future

Well, everything on that list hasn't happened, and some things have, just not in the timing that I planned, but that doesn't change God's faithfulness. My tuition was paid in full before school started, my housing was lined up before I came, God totally opened up the right job for me within 2-3 weeks of being here, but the time before I began working was not wasted. I enjoyed some much needed quality time with my Jesus where He showed me that He was the "man of the house" and that He would take care of me during this time completely and totally providing in every way, which broke fear off of me that I've been battling for years. Those of you close to me (and now whoever reads this) know that I don't like to be alone at night; therefore, I sleep on the couch to feel safe. Go ahead, it's ok to laugh. I literally slept on the couch for my first 2-3 weeks here after my parents left when I had a perfectly good bed upstairs. Anyway, I think Jesus was like, "Ok, we need to get past this." So I gave Him my fear and He totally took care of it! Yay for sleeping in my bed!

Moving on to divine appointments/connections; I've already met people that I feel are lifetime friends and through them I've met even more people that I feel will be significant at some point on my journey this season, and I'm so excited for what God has in store!

So far that's four things on my list. And then there's that time when Holy Spirit totally ambushed me in which I would put in the category of "God moments that define my future," which of course, I'm expecting much more of as the year goes along.

So one of my new friends, a fellow Southerner who literally grew up about two hours from my hometown, is also a second year student at BSSM, and is now someone I would consider one of those "friends for life" told me about an event that was being hosted for second year students. My introvert immediately responded...ok screamed...with "Noooooo, there will definitely be too many people there for comfort. Actually, the fact that there will be people there at all is too much. Let's just stay in and be fine in our happy place where awkwardness and social interaction are at a minimal, and I don't have to take any risks." On the other hand, I had recently been challenged by my pastor to "get out" and meet new people, which he and I both knew was supposed to be part of my journey this season, so of course I had his voice ringing in the back of my mind, and knew I had to go even if just for a short time. If it got too bad, and by "bad" I mean too much for my introvert, I could always use the excuse that I had to get up early for work, which was actually true. Four a.m. was coming early! 

God loves to get us out of our comfort zones...don't you just hate that? 

Long story short, I end up going just expecting to meet maybe a couple of people and at the least just get out of the house for the sake of getting out of my comfort zone. This is the part where I'm pretty sure Papa God, Jesus, and Holy Spirit looked at each other and laughed. It ended up being a smaller group of maybe 15 people and we started off with a little worship at the lake. Then it moved to some prayer where Holy Spirit started to move and people were "getting crazy" - you know, the ones who shake and fall on the ground, and laugh and you take a step back and say, "You go ahead and enjoy that, I'm just gonna stay back here and worship in my own little happy place, you know, my island with just me and Jesus." And then God laughs again, and you realize you've been targeted. Things didn't get "crazy" for me, but I'm pretty sure Holy Spirit used almost every person there to just pour into me, and speak words of life and encouragement over me and release safety and love that I've never felt in a "new" place before, and I just cried...in front of these strangers...and then I cried some more, and at some point realized I had to stop worrying about my mascara because there was probably none left. I was like "Really, God? You know I don't like crying, much less crying in front of strangers." And I'm pretty sure He kind of laughed and said "I know." And then He sent someone else to do more damage...to my pride. So crying in front of strangers was in itself a breakthrough for me, but in that time I just felt like God was saying "I'm going to show you love like you've never known it before, not just from Me, but from people," which is really significant because many of us walk around with rejection and wounds whether we realize it or not, and it can become hard to feel safe being completely ourselves around others, especially new people in new seasons, but it's important to have that in our lives so we're not an island that's only dependent on God, but instead that we're a community being interdependent on each other as we go after God together. 

Ok, that long story made short was actually long, but it was shorter than originally planned, so be thankful. All that to say, God can totally ambush us with good surprises that encourage our hearts in the moments we least expect it, so whoever needs that as a testimony just take hold of it and wait expectantly on the One Who loves to surprise you.