OK- so we've been mentioning Beth's book about Reckless faith. Here is one of our "faith" stories...I have to start off with our move to California. You see, Brandon and I are Okies- we have been here most of our lives. We had 2 toddlers at this time (about 5 yrs ago). Brandon was talking about fulfilling the dream of going to get his masters degree. He had applied at one school on the East coast and had been accepted but we just didn't have a peace about it. I asked what his dream school was and he mentioned Biola in La Mirada, CA. I was thinking "Ok, well that's never going to happen".
About a month later, I was finishing up the book "Wild at heart". John, the author, mentions someone having the choice of attending seminary and being broke (but being in God's plan) or staying where he was and being comfortable. I began to sob. We were def. comfortable where we were. I knew we were being nudged to step out on faith. At that moment, I felt I heard an audible voice saying "Trust me". Of course then I was sobbing uncontrollably but in a happy state. I truly felt God was holding me at that moment.
Brandon arrived home from Leadership summit and was going on and on about Erwin McManus. I found out he pastored a church in California. I then sat Brandon down to tell him about my experience earlier that day. We were filled with peace instantly and KNEW we were supposed to head to West coast and Brandon was going to be able to attend Biola.
We sold our house, and almost all of our furniture, to anticipate the expense of moving and living in California. We didn't have a job or a place to live when we loaded the family into the moving truck. God calmed us and helped us take one step at a time.
I don't want to say everything went smoothly. We had lots of stress about finding where to live and where to work once we arrived, but it's amazing when you know you are in God's will that those things don't seem as big. He is the God of the universe, right? It was a growing, stretching, challenging and rewarding time for us. I wouldn't trade it for anything.
I will continue this week with some other stories that just blew us away. Our faith was only the size of a mustard seed, I promise you, but God came through every time for us! If I went into all that God showed us just through this one little step of obedience- it would be a novel and not a blog entry. But, I will tell you that this is a happy ending and Brandon now possesses his Masters in Christian Apologetics degree from one Biola University. :)
Are you facing a decision where you need to step out? Would you say you are person full of fear or faith? Any "faith stories" of your own to share?