Wow, it’s January 16 and I’m saying Happy New Year to all of you on our blog today!

Grab your coffee, this is a LONG one…

Yes, it’s been way too long since we last posted on here and I am to blame for that. It’s been a very interesting month for us and we took some time off to really focus on the Lord and WAIT…

Here’s what I was posting on my personal IG during that break, talking about the waiting that came over the holidays due to a lump they found in my thyroid area that the doctors were very suspicious of.

January 6 ~ Waiting is so hard isn’t it? We just want to KNOW now.  Know what the future holds, or what tomorrow will bring, or what the results are. I’ve been waiting almost 3 weeks to find out if I have thyroid cancer, and it sucks. I wake up in the morning and it’s on my mind... and I go to bed and the scenarios run the course through my brain.

It has tested my patience, and if I’m honest with myself I’m in this weird place I want to get out of but feel as though I’m stuck. Yet... at the same time I have a strange (or not so strange) sense of direction. I KNOW... It’s really crazy.  It’s like I’m not moving forward but I know the direction I need to be going. “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”Psalms 119:105 

I can say 100% that the LIGHT to ANY persons path is Jesus. I know I talk a lot about Jesus on here, but He IS the light in my life, His Word is the lamp I want ON, and He is the only direction I want to run towards!  I cant imagine what it would be like to go through this without the presence of God.  He IS the only thing that has gotten me through this waiting and wondering.  How I keep close to His presence is by reading the Bible, reading devotionals, listening to worship music, writing, Bible Journaling and praying a LOT... and it’s what is getting me “un-stuck.” I read this just this morning... “The key is to remain in His Presence all times! That’s where your fears will leave. That’s where your faith will be lifted. That’s where you will know your true identity.”

So I will wait, and I will lean on Him and I will trust Him with all my days. If you are “STUCK” and don’t know how to get “un-stuck” in life... can I suggest starting with prayer. Ask God to show you His lamp to light your way.  Then pick up a bible and maybe start in the book of John. It will show you how great is God’s love for you. 

I’m headed to church this morning and still waiting... but I’m so thankful to have a place to focus on the One who loves us, has a PURPOSE for us and wants to show us His great love for us. Have a wonderful Sunday!❤️

January 6 ~ AFTER church… You know God is so good & a part of our daily lives when He speaks through so many avenues.  Through His Word, dear friends, Social Media(crazy as that may seem) & through the many preachers who speak His truths. Today was an amazing message “The Stormy Season” by guest pastor Eric from @reachjax in Jacksonville, FL. “Jesus doesn’t waste any opportunity...” Walking us through Matthew 14 & the miracles Jesus carried out: feeding the thousands & walking on water; stories we’ve heard over & over.  Yet do we see the reality of them? Both were situations that required great need. Both accounts the disciples were scared and didn’t know what to do.  And the REALITIES of both could have, (probably did) make them doubt God.  Because they/we tend to look at our problems 1st, instead of looking to JESUS FIRST.  Ok, I hear you Lord!😳

We go through these same types of storms in our lives.  Some storms may be from the enemy trying to knock us off the path God has for us.  But some storms may be “Storms of correction: a result of our own wrong choices, aka natural consequences.  Storms of inspection: testing our faith like Abraham, to see how we’ll respond. Storms of perfection: to refine and purify us.” Are we willing to look at Jesus and not doubt that it ALL ends in Victory when we give our lives fully to Him?! That we can actually have JOY in our lives during the storms because He is with us through them. “Be of good cheer, it is I.” Matt.14:27. My cousin Jill died a few days before Christmas of cancer, but she LIVED till the end with JOY.  She knew the Lord was right with her & her life was in His precious hands. Oh what an example to all who knew her.❤️

We can’t let “reality” allow our feelings to doubt God.

“Don’t let your feelings dictate who God is to you. Allow God’s Word to dictate who God is to you.” Often times it IS the storms of life that reveal who God is in our lives. ❤️🙏🏻Good stuff to hear today! Two songs I cried through at church & I recommend getting on your phone:  Came to my Rescue by Hillsong & Here Again by Elevation Worship. 

I don’t know about you, but we’re barely into 2019 and there has been lots of stuff to grow through. TRUSTING that the Lord has it ALL, and there is a purpose for it.

If you’ve followed along on IG, you know I shared my “One Little Word” for 2019 is PURPOSE. I know that the heart of it all is what the Lord is calling me to do and what that is supposed to look like this year.

So, here’s my post from TODAY…

January 16 ~ I haven’t had a chance to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who was praying for me lately! The Dr. called while I was at the airport picking up family for the baby shower last weekend, and it’s been non-stop ever since. But he told me the lump on my thyroid was BENIGN. Praise God! Its been a month of waiting, praying, trusting, and some fear & doubting.  Lots of crying and more praying, and then giving it finally over to the Lord. Yikes... what a mess I can be. 

Fully accepting whatever He has for our lives and knowing all our days are in His hands, (and that they can end at any moment) is a place I know it’s not easy to get to.  To say like Paul, “To me, to live is Christ, to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21) is quite honestly a place I didn’t understand or get to until LAST week in my life.   I get what Paul’s saying here but I never found MYSELF there.  I just couldn’t grasp wanting to die? to leave my family, my friends, my life...

But, in this journey of waiting to find out if I had cancer the Lord took me to this place where I was able to fully give it ALL to Him and say “whatever you want Lord, take my whole life.”  

See I sorta got to a point a couple years ago when I asked the Lord to USE me, and knew the tears I shed then where because I had never truly given my dreams and desires over to the Lord and said “take them, use me and do what you want through me. “

I think the Lord is always teaching us, growing us and shaping us through the things we go through in life.  Bringing us to the place where He can really use us... and I KNOW... its not always fun or easy! It IS messy,  but that’s ok. That’s what His peace and grace are there for! He doesn’t expect us to be perfect, or get it right all the time.  And yes, He may test our faith sometimes. 

Are we willing to put our WHOLE life in His hands? Everything. Not “well you can have everything, but I’ll keep this, or just don’t take that...”   Being willing to give it ALL.  Because what I’ve finally realized is reconciling ourselves with dying actually opens ourselves up to LIVING!

Living bold and PURPOSEFUL LIVES for Christ.

“Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Matthew 10:39

I hope that even just a tiny bit of this will bless someone today. We will all have struggles in life at some point… Trusting that the Lord KNOWS, and is always there for us is EVERYTHING.

Have a BEAUTIFUL day everyone!

We will be back on here tomorrow to update everyone on our retreats this year (they are almost filled up) and Rebecca will be sharing on here as well.

Hugs,

Laura McCollough