Walking With Unexpected Expectations

I knew when I left TTH the first time that God was calling me to Galveston and I WASN’T EXCITED. For the longest time Galveston represented bondage, broken relationships, and a lost identity. I wasn’t ready to face it again and fear of losing my identity once more made my heart heavy. God revealed to me that my story was like the Israelites leaving Egypt. They were brought out of bondage and were no longer called to live as slaves but as children of God. The shackles were off and they were called to walk in that freedom. I am awe struck looking back and seeing how he took all the broken pieces in my life and made something beautiful from them. I'm positive that God placed me in Galveston as a season of preparation. Everything that I learned while working at Galveston Urban Ministries overlaps and is being implemented in the work that I am doing here. I couldn’t have asked for a better group of people to learn from.


When I arrived at Ten Thousand Homes, the ministry was on a two week break because it was school holiday. It gave me a chance to get over jetlag, start building relationships with the group of people I will be living with for the next year and be approved to drive on my own. Class started up and we laid everything out on the table. We shared what we were excited about and the expectations we had for what this next year would look like. I don’t think I was ready for what God was planning.


It's taken me weeks to write this blog because I haven't been able to sort through the sea of emotions that seem to change with the tides of the day. Everything felt normal, as if I had never left and yet everything seemed completely foreign to what I had known before. As the days continued, it became more apparent that I had brought unexpected expectations with me and God was about to shatter them in order to create something new in me.

 

God came in and wrecked shop…in a good way!

 

Alone time doesn’t actually exist in the same way it does in the states. Being an introvert, I have had to learn that quality alone time is more important that quantity.

There is no time frame on how fast God will start to use you, even if you don’t think you are ready.

The level of surrendering is uncomfortable and yet there is freedom in it.

Understanding and being understood takes a lot longer when there are cross culture differences in the community and even on base.

Most importantly, my definition of the built in family waiting for me was too small compared to what God designed.

He creates family out of unexpected people. I am blessed with a whole base full of people who have come together for the same reason and we are called to represent His family in the way we live in community.

 

 "God settles the solitary in a home" (Psalm 68:6a)

 

I feel like I'm about to be bungee jumping. My heart is anxious, excited, and yet terrified as I stand on the edge, looking down into the depths of what he is calling me to. He is pressing in on me to lean forward and let go of all things that are holding me back from the edge, that I may free fall into the great unknown with Him as my only anchor and security.