Each Thursday I try to join Bonnie at Faithbarista.com, and the community of bloggers who gather there for a Faith Jam. Click on the Bread and Jam tab at the top of the page for the link to join the jam or to read more about seasons of faith inspired to encourage you. This week the topic of our blogs revolves around this question:
What season of faith are you walking through? Fall (letting go) – Winter (loss/waiting) – Spring (new starts) – Summer (embrace and celebrate)–Bonnie
This is a question I have been rolling over in my mind over the last week. I have been watching the seasons changing from summer to fall. The kids were just swimming in the pool this past week, and have not retired their bathing suits yet. However, they got on the school bus this morning eager to begin the school year bright eyed and bushy tailed.
It seems we are in that transition period where it is not quite fall, but summer is coming to an end. There is an anticipation of the leaves turning, pumpkins, and the stores are filled with Halloween candy that has been there a while already. Then there is a pool that needs to be covered and closed. Summer clothes to be packed away, and the weather is getting cooler here in Virginia.
That same transition period is where I am in my season of faith. At the end of the last school year I experienced a fall season when I let go of a ministry that was so very dear to my heart. Winter set in quickly as I mourned the loss of ministering to the youth I love so dearly. Then waiting to hear what God had in store for me set in. At first it felt as though I had done something wrong. There was a long silence. Yet soon I would learn that it was a time of restoration and preparation for what was coming.
The other night I was weary of waiting and after having been in much prayer, much study of the word, much seeking of God and His will all this time, the Lord spoke through a sermon given by Bishop T.D. Jakes.
The Lord told me I had to let go because He was taking me to another level. That He was doing something new. That it was time for me to become intimately involved with what I used to only dream about. That it seems that it doesn’t fit me, but it is for me. So now I am anticipating Spring. I am looking for the first sign of green to appear on the plowed fallow ground. I am waiting for the buds to appear on the trees. I do not see them and there are no blossoms yet, but I know when I do they will have the fragrance of Christ.
So what do I need to become intimately involved with? Singing, writing, preaching his word, and encouraging others for His glory. Why? Because these are my real dreams. The ones I don’t share. The ones I think could never come true.
Since I was a little girl I have been singing. A hairbrush or anything that remotely looks like a microphone would be what accompanied me as I sang my heart out. When I couldn’t sleep at night for fear that someone would come into my room and want to release their sexual desires upon me, I would read my children’s bible and sing the hymns in the back of it. I did not know what they meant. I did not know God then. But He knew me. He was there with me then. He is here now. Now I sing His praises on the praise team before the congregation each Sunday. However, I hear Him calling me to something more as a singer.
Since I was old enough to write I have been writing. Mostly poetry, songs, and journal entries. I poured my heart and soul out upon those pages. When I met Jesus at 17, I gave my life to Him. Then I stopped writing. The pain of incest and an abortion stopped the flow of words from my heart. My life went wayward and my heart followed. Ten years ago I began to seek the Lord again. Today I can write again as I seek his healing. It is a long process which I intend to finish. Only because of the healing power and embrace of Jesus am I venturing in to writing more than what I have written before.
Preaching His word and encouraging others just comes naturally to me. In everything I do I see Christ. So it is only fitting that I tell the world what He wishes and what He has done for me, that others may be set free. That is true redemption to me. It is time to step out and speak in His name.
It’s Spring here in my heart and the fragrance of Christ fills the air without one blossom yet seen.
14But thanks be to God, Who in Christ always leads us in triumph [as trophies of Christ’s victory] and through us spreads and makes evident the fragrance of the knowledge of God everywhere,
15For we are the sweet fragrance of Christ [which exhales] unto God, [discernible alike] among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing: 2 Cor 2:14-15 AMP
Another Samaritan Woman 