She DecidedExemplo

A little about my personal life, I am one of 12 siblings! Yes, there are 12 of us! My dad was an OG, original gangster, who loveeeeed him some women. If you asked him what happened his response was always, "it was the 70's." My parents were married 35 years before he passed away, but prior to his life with my mom, he was a little wild. Okay, maybe a LOT wild. Fun fact, I grew up having a brother down the street and brother across the street. I can get into details about that on a later date or over coffee.

The running joke in our house was always said if one came back that was younger than one of hers it was game OVER. Thankfully, over 30 years of marriage, one never surfaced! Praise Be to Jesus! When my parents were dating my mom fully surrendered her life to Christ and decided to walk with Him wholeheartedly. This action inspired my dad about three years into their marriage and my dad was saved. I am so thankful for this act because it radically changed his life and the trajectory of his children’s life. He became new. I grew up in the church and met the Holy Spirit at a young age. However, even though I have been a pretty solid Christian my whole life, there have been many trials and tribulations that have occurred that if allowed could have completely deterred me from my faith all together. When I think about the sweet gesture of Jesus always bringing me back I just have an overwhelming sense of peace because He renewed me, He brought me back- every single time!

There are two key words in this devotional.

First is, Renewal. What does that even mean, or how does it make sense in the middle of grief or pain? If the definition of renewal in The Webster Dictionary is, “resuming an activity or state after an interruption” then how do we resume our life as we know it if something traumatic happens?

In my walk with Christ there have been several deep, painful interruptions that have caused great grief like the death of my father, a brain tumor, two additional brain surgeries for multiple brain leaks, infidelity in my marriage, divorce, verbal abuse as a child; you name it and it feels like I have walked through it. These circumstances have prompted serious, deep conversations with God about what “Next” actually looks like in the midst of my trials. What will the next season entail, where is my next destination, what is my next journey, when will I find love again, Lord? There have been moments that I have not known my path, or even which fork to take in the road, but as I have journeyed with the Lord, I can always trust that God will step in and create a third option for me, and EVERY SINGLE TIME it hasn’t looked like either of the two original options I envisioned for myself!

My questions to you:

Is your your heart open and are your ears able to hear His voice so He can renew?

Is your heart posture in submission to whatever God wants to do?