Growing?

Last night at church was amazing! Darren decided to have community time. Which I absolutely adore! He invited people to come up front and share with the church their story. He also had a time of prayer. Where complete strangers felt comfortable to stand up and ask other strangers to pray for them. How wonderful is our community that we can feel comfortable to ask for prayer when needed, to share stories with our neighbors and to have fellowship. When Darren asked for people to come share their stories I thought to myself what mine would be if I went up.

Four months ago I moved to Long Beach. I grew up in Riverside, I loved Riverside, my family was in Riverside, my friends were all in Riverside. No complaints at all about being in Riverside. But I had to opportunity to move out with friends. I like to be independent and always wanted to move out, just for the adventure of it. So when people asked me why I moved my answer was just cause there was an excuse to move out. There was absolutely no other reason to move to Long Beach, except for adventure.

So when I was thinking about my story I realized, God doesn't open doors for us for the heck of it. Theres a reason behind everything that happens. I know that I moved to Long Beach because God had a plan for me. He got me going to the Garden. He stirred my heart for serving. He placed me in an area to serve. He opened doors for me, and for a reason, not just for an excuse. He brought me here so I can grow.

Growing:

-I have the amazing community that helps my heart to stay on fire for Christ. I see things they do, or their actions and it is a fuel to my fire. I needed the family to "keep me in check"

-I have started making decisions based on Gods will and not mine. I felt the call to serve, I prayed about it. I was given the chance to help set up and tear down the church. 2 months ago I would have told God no and would have went on to seek something more "glamorous" but now I love it, I know that serving God can happen in so many different ways. I gave it all to God and am now being patient and whether God has something else for me or not I feel content with the service opportunity I have.

-I had the chance to get a job doing event ems. This is something I have always showed interest in because you pretty much go to these cool event and get paid for it while responding to injuries when needed. It sounded awesome! This job paid more than I get now, I make my own schedule and it seemed very laid back. There was nothing wrong with it. However I already work 4 days a week and so with this job I would have added at least one day a week of work. I ended up saying no to this job and realizing life is not about working so I can have extra spending money. I need more community time. More God time. More time to serve.

Thank You God for loving me so much

Thank You God for being so forgiving

Thank You God for the friends and family I have been blessed with

Thank You God for giving me a church to call home

Thank You God for life!