Making the Leap | Jonah Part 6

Photo by Crimson1d on Deviant Art

When Sophie was about 3 my mother in law got a swimming pool. My own mother had one as well but this new one was now practically in my backyard since our houses are close together. I was adamant the kids had to take swimming lessons for obvious reasons. I found a local class and signed the kids up.

Ethan had been in classes before and was excited about going back. Sophie on the other hand, wanted no parts of water.  She’s always been kind of timid and you could tell that she knew the body of water was bigger than she was.

In this particular pool, there was a little ledge on the inside so children could step down into it then either stand or sit in about 3” water while listening to the instructor. I can’t remember the duration of the classes. I think it was 30 minutes every day for 2 weeks. Sophie never got into the classes at all. While the teacher would talk, Sophie would turn away and face me (along with the other parents) and cry. Repeating “mama” over and over.

Sometimes having the parent present makes it harder on children. So, I tried to sit far away and avert eye contact. If I accidentally made it, I would gesture with my finger in a circle, to turn her toward her teacher and then I would look away. She never stopped crying and often never turned back around to face her. It was positively one of the hardest things that I ever had to do.

The mama voices rang in my head “go rescue her” and at the same time “don’t give in, this is an important life lesson”. So I stuck it out. She NEVER got into the class. 

In fact, it took the rest of that summer for her to tolerate even being carried through the water. We had to start over the following summer; introducing her to the water again. Although, I didn’t do it with classes that time and thankfully by the end of that second summer, she grew to love it.

***

I’ve been writing a little about Jonah lately and I can’t help but see a similar scene from Chapter 1. When the men on the boat realize who’s having the issue, Jonah says in verse 12, “pick me up and throw me into the sea.” Whether or not going overboard is the right answer, Jonah acknowledges that he needs to get ‘right’ with the Lord but

he can’t even bring himself to do it. Someone else has to play a part in getting him to the resolution. -And should we gloss over the fact that it’s an unbeliever or two? I love that! Also, note that everyone in the picture gets restored. Jonah returns to the Lord and everyone else is awakened. (v16)

Anyway, you know what comes next, right? One of those passages that brings the record to a screeching halt-

…a whale did what?

Before I get into that, think about this for a second.

Psalm 139:7 says “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?”

If the Lord’s presence on Jonah was so intense that he got on a boat and tried to flee and even went to the bottom of the boat without escape; could you imagine what it must feel like inside the whale? Better or worse? What do YOU think are the similarities or contrasts?

While he was on the path of correction in this scene, there were no people to argue with or good scenery to distract him. There was nothing but the Lord to consume him in that place. –Wow, is all that I can say.

Now, I’m going to take you on a detour.

***

All of these Jonah posts have circled around my transition in a job. Wrestling with the promotion until I took it. Then wrestling my way through it. What’s crazy was that there wasn’t any part of the job that was so terrible and I didn’t think that I couldn’t do it. I have no doubt that I would have done [and did do] things well.

It wasn’t about management or even defining the role. Nearly every job I have ever had was either one that I defined or led to a management opportunity. –But there was a restlessness that I could not get away from. No matter how much I prayed or how hard I worked. There was no victory that assuaged the struggle. 

Eventually, I would get to my own ledge and finally tell God that IF all of this twisting was the wrong direction, I’d let go and he could have it. I sat in my bed with my Bible and repented in case I was wrong and I asked God to change my heart if it was not what he wanted. Especially, since I was so certain that he brought me there. I didn’t want to be out of his presence.

In that instant, a friend from Helping Hands camp replied to a text that I’d sent 2 weeks before asking her what verse we were using in the devotions.  Her reply, “Joshua 1:9”.

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

The irony struck me…

Later on, when camp actually rolled around, I had a conversation with a friend that led me to turn in my notice (I wrote about that earlier). After I began conversations with HR. I spoke to two other departments about possible openings; just trying to feel out what this might look like. I started updating my resume and began looking at classifieds.

While I pray every day; eventually, there was another significant moment in a prayer for direction. Am I supposed to stay at the bank but just be open to other opportunities?

Imagine my surprise when I get back to work and a coworker and friend whom I didn’t know too well before this says “While I was on vacation, I saw this and just felt like I had to get it for you.”

Only to open a box revealing a star-shaped plaque with the words “Don’t quit” across the top.  

Hmmm. The irony again…

So, I prayed and fasted some more. I practiced taking a break from “me and my ways”. I studied “Discovering God’s Will” and continued “collecting information” and considering opportunities.

But I was tired. Too drained to fully absorb what I was reading in my Bible or to talk and really connect with my family. –And just to be clear, I wasn’t working overtime. The Bank really doesn’t support that and I had been really good about watching how I spent my time. I simply felt consumed by something else instead.

So, I told God I wanted to be able to enjoy him and my family, and ministry and whatever that looked like… I wanted energy again and I wanted those things to be in a place where they got the better parts of me, not just the left overs. It seemed the minute that I said that the marketing opportunity came available.

Not long after that prayer, I was in the branch working on an issue and the Director showed me the job description. I didn’t really think too much of it at first. It didn’t strike me as a fit. But when I got back to my desk, there was another message from a co-worker that needed to talk to me. When I sat down at her desk, she slipped me the same piece of paper. I thought to myself “Okay God, this is weird.” and “If this is what you want for me, don’t let me miss it. Open my eyes.” Later in the week, one more friend called to make sure that I knew about it.

I realize that this might sound like I’m only looking for signs. But I’ve been there done that. When I was looking for signs, I wanted a quick fix, not a relationship and I probably didn’t want to invest a whole lot into reading or praying either.

While it may not always be so blatantly, I believe that the good Lord speaks to us in many ways. Through scripture primarily [like the book of Jonah speaks to me] but also in prayer and through confirmation of others and through restlessness [or affliction] and sometimes even “signs”. –But more importantly, when you’re sincerely and earnestly seeking God, you can begin to see his hand in many things.

-And I do want to point out [and not to fluff myself up but to show the difference in the way we tally answers] that in this junction, I don’t think I have ever prayed so hard and so long in all of my life. I was fasting and going to counseling, doing a study on His will. I wasn’t asking God for any sign like a fleece or a burning bush. I wanted to know HIS will for me. The “signs’ in this case seemed to come from all around me. Everything in me was on him and each “sign” seemed to be lining up with what I was already gathering on my own.

So, I continued through the process and interviewed. Irony struck again  when I remembered that I was originally accepted to VCU for Mass Communications. While I never went to school, here I was 20 years later, likely entering into a position into the same field anyway.

I asked the Director for some activities to get a better picture of what this position would look like. Completing them became part of the interview process as well. Having the ‘real paper in hand’ mystified me in another way altogether.

Years earlier I had started trying to schedule play dates with other moms around free things to do in our area, which involved researching different resources and coordinating with others. I also tried to get involved with the Gloucester Resource Council, which is a deeper network of resources for the community. Yet, I couldn’t seem to get connected no matter how I tried to make it work. I even updated some Facebook pages for our church that required keeping a light calendar of future posts. (Just pointing to experience). -Not to mention that I have this blog and have been considering other ways to write.

After several people asked me to consider the play date thing again; I sat on my couch one-night last summer and tried to plan it out. I kept finding cool things worth sharing-

Anyway, have you ever just asked something out loud? -Kind of rhetorical question or just humoring yourself? Well, that night I did just that! “God, why can’t I have a job where I just do this all day.” –At the time, I didn’t see it as a prayer. I didn’t even really think about the words, it just bubbled out. But it felt like a place that I could be really passionate about if I could just figure out how to work it.

What you might not know is that Chesapeake Bank is incredibly involved in their communities. It’s one of the things that I love about them. In this new position (working with social media) there was a need for some more “connections” in the Gloucester area. The person also needed to work closely with I.T. (and that’s where I already was). In this position, I could also learn a lot about better ways to communicate those things (connections & resources).

When given the assignment to come up with a calendar of events, I noticed the similarities to things I did in my personal time. I remembered that prayer from earlier on my couch and simultaneously the verse “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.” –Psalm 37:4

**Poof**

I might as well fall over.

Not only was he catching me when I let go, he was B-L-O-W-I-N-G my mind.

Kind of like Jonah jumping into the mouth of a whale I suppose….

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[Let that settle]

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A whale…

You don’t have to be a bible scholar or a scientist to know that whales are found deep in the ocean.

And

In my last post, we already looked at the fact that water represents God.

And

I don’t know what kind of storm you're facing or if you’re even facing one at all…

You might not need a whale or a job to prove anything. Your biggest test of faith might even be just staying where you are until this season passes. But the Lord wants to reveal something [that we can’t possibly anticipate] to each of us so that we can trust HIM on another level. –For many of us, the only way to see “that big” is to “get that deep” in the Lord. [1Cor 2:10]

That might not have been Jonah’s plan when he first decided to run from the Lord.  But in Jonah 2:2 says “In my distress, I called to the Lord and he answered me.”

Jonah continues “From DEEP in the realm of the dead I called for help and you listened to my cry.” So maybe your deep was in self, in the bottom of a boat or in some other kind of struggle not even looking for him. But Psalm 139:8 says “If I make my bed in the depths, you are there.” So, if you invite God into your depths; into those most secret pains and struggles and he can come right in and use it just as surprisingly. It’s almost like he just comes in and swirls things around so that your deep becomes his…

Doesn’t Psalm 34:18 say “The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”

Romans 8:28 say “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

And Isaiah 41:10 says ‘Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’

So why are we so surprised when he does it?

***

Faith is hard, isn’t it?

It’s hard in different ways and at different times for each of us. It’s hard getting started in church. It’s hard to act in the present, in response to something in the future. It’s hard waiting on the Lord. You might have had to wait a month for these posts but it took months to years for some of these pieces to make sense to me. There’s a good chance you’ve been waiting even longer for some of your own pieces to come together.

…and you’re still waiting.

It’s also hard learning how to share your testimony or to pray out loud and boy sometimes it’s hard reading your bible, isn’t it? I will be the first to admit that not only did the verse about the whale stop me but I have had a really hard time with understanding how a man dying on the cross saves me from anything. –I don’t mean that disrespectful, prideful or however that comes out in text. My mind just can’t compute it.

Doesn’t our nature beg us to wait until something makes sense before proceeding? Whether it’s in transitions like jobs or houses, calls to ministry or having a baby or even in the steps of faith and moving forward. Real faith brings us to new ledges all the time. Sometimes the ones outside of church are the hardest to leap from. I guess that’s why Henry Blackaby calls it a Crisis of Belief.

It’s no wonder that it is said that some variation of “fear not” and “do not be afraid” is shown more than any other command in the Bible.  

But did you know this-

Jesus himself referred to Jonah in Matt 12:40 “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.“

In his book “Surprised By Grace”, Pastor Tullian Tchividjian refers to the book of Jonah as a storied presentation of the Gospel. You can find many lists and commentaries from others that also compare the similarities between the two. (This is a cool one.) Not just for the reference to 3 days being hidden away. They were both “messengers” and called to face a people and persecution.

You know what gets me the most about both of those; is the transformation that happens while you are hidden away with God alone. Jesus was resurrected. Jonah was suddenly strong enough to hit the ground running. Although, this time, it wasn’t away from the Lord. He did exactly as the Lord instructed.

NEVER underestimate your time alone with the Lord in prayer!

My favorite part is that Jonah gets a second chance to do what he was called to do and isn’t that why Christ died on the Cross in the first place; to give us second chances? Don’t get stuck on the word “second” as if you need to correct or redo. It’s not always about that! A good synonym for second is next. – You might even call it “new”.  

You may never understand what the heck a boat, a storm, and a whale have to do with anything. You may never understand how a man dying on a cross changes everything. I still don’t understand it. But I can assure that if you can take your hands off the deck of your life and be bold enough to make the plunge [however & where ever He’s leading you], there is a grace as certain as the sea and as surprising as a whale that will blow your mind.

***

Even when I look back at the image of Sophie standing on the edge of the pool; it’s hard for me not to see the similarities in our positions and the instructions that we both got from above. Just as I wanted her to be safe, I knew ultimately that it would bring her joy. And THAT is what the Lord promises to each of us, my friend.

If you don't know that you've gotten your answer, wait right where you are until you get it. You're where you're supposed to be. Ask God what you can learn right in this season and ask him to show you someone that you can help along the way. On the other hand, if he's leading you to jump, you can do it. Don't delay!

I noticed after posting this that her bathing suit was covered in peace signs. It's worth pointing out that I too am pretty peaceful these days. The same God that brings the storm can also still it. Seek his hand and follow where He leads. :)

Blessings to you!

Found on Deviant Art by Crimson1d, then modified

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A little I.O.U. to the BIG guy!

I've got a testimony that I've been sitting on and I just need to come clean with it! Oddly enough, it's not a bad one. It's a great one! I've just been worried that it will come across like I am trying to boast about myself instead of glorifying God. But I don't only want to talk about how I see God help me in the storm. I want to talk about those radical ah-has that got my attention!

In 2012 I shared my first testimony. In 2013 I changed my life to focus only on family and God. I also started writing as a bi-product of that. On a June day, I posted a prayer. I felt strange as I did it but I had made a challenge for myself with God that I would accept every opportunity to pray out loud for a year in hopes to overcome my fear of doing it. I felt like this post was just another variation of that challenge. So, I accepted. One of the many lines of that prayer included "show me one new thing that I miss in my every other day".

It took me two weeks to write about it but THAT VERY SAME DAY the motor in my 4Runner blew. It might not sound like such a great God testimony at first but hang in there.

ALL of the events of that day really spoke to me. I had such a feeling of his nearness. True joy & true peace. A calmness, unlike me, that just covered me. Everyone that was involved seem to have the same phrase "never seen that before" which just made me tune in that much more to my earlier prayer and what he might be doing. Little things also made me see how he provided during the storm.

As it turns out replacing/repairing the motor in that year 4Runner is double-triple what I anticipated it to be. We weren't in a position to buy a car or even fix this one. From the moment it broke, I knew that God was going to have to be involved in the solution. But he met my need along the way at every junction.

It actually took a few months for us to decide what to do. So August comes along. We still don't have any money. A relative offers to help but really can't do more than what the motor costs and the 4Runner needed more work before this issue. We're not sure which direction to go. We look for cars that might match that allowance but sadly, even though it's a lot of money to me, we couldn't seem to find a vehicle that matched what we had to give.

I once heard Joyce Meyer talk about a bracelet that she gave away. It was a foreign concept to me that God might want me to give up a "thing" that belong to me in order to make someone else happy [or even to give him glory]. I mean sure it's easy to give up old clothes and broken dishes especially when someone else needs them. But why would he want me to give up something I liked; something I loved and was even given or blessed with? I mean I did "earn" it, right? Funny how we think that...

But something else that she said resonated with me even more. She said that God told her "Once I tell you to give something away, it no longer belongs to you, and if you keep it after that, it will never give you joy"

I never considered myself to be a "things" kind of person. However, some memories of my childhood were harder than others. We moved a lot and so we never kept anything. We didn’t have much money and so what we did have was usually second hand if we didn’t go without. -Not that there is any shame in that but because of that, a pair of diamond earrings that I had made me feel special.

Not only that they were sentimental. I know that I received them as a blessing from God but I also received them from a person that I deeply love.

Then one day on my knees in prayer over this situation, I was considering things that I might have to sell. These earrings suddenly came to mind. It will sound ridiculous but I sat in my closet and sobbed. Not over having to get rid of things but it almost felt more like a sob of repentance for storing some kind of worth [maybe even my own] or value in things. The moment was brief and when it was over, I just knew that they had to go.

I tried to sell them but even with the rising cost of gold, I couldn't even get a third of what they were worth. Because they were special; what I was offered monetarily just wasn't enough to justify my getting rid of them even if it was just a contribution toward my issue.

But Malachi 3:10 just kept circling.

So again, in prayer I asked God what he was trying to get me to see. I just kept feeling like I needed to give them up for God. I remembered that story from Joyce. I thought about holding onto them and then possibly losing them later. Then I would be without the obedience and possibly still without the earrings. I can't explain the urgency that I felt but I needed to be free of them at once. Maybe because I simply didn't trust myself to not try to dictate who he wanted to have them.

So, I wrote two letters. One to my preacher and one to the "recipient" [if my preacher felt like it was appropriate]. The letter to my preacher contained my explanation and I am going to share one paragraph from it below:

"I am in a real place of need now. Not just monetarily but spiritually and even physically. I want to be in alignment with God more than anything else. I feel like this was just one more stone that needed to be plucked loose. (pun intended) I am thankful that I don’t need “things” to feel special anymore. I am also thankful that much like the two coins, he accepts what we have. The world might not buy what we have to sell but if it’s the only treasure that we have and if we give it to him; he not only accepts it but he can do more with it than the world ever could!"

My letter to the other person contained a testimony about something that I was given and a promise that I felt from God because of it. (Ask me about it sometime and I will share it with you.) I met my preacher on the corner and gave him a box with the two letters.

Meanwhile, family offered to help us find something newer than what we'd been looking for. I cringed but following my husband's lead, I went along. I prayed for God to give me an answer. I didn't want anyone going into debt on our behalf or even paying for that kind of expense. When we came to the first van, we opened the back and tears just started pouring from my eyes. ...It sounds silly, I know.  -But there was the same "nearness" in the tears.

If that wasn't enough when we sat at the table the salesman, JJ, tried to close the deal. I just couldn't commit. When he asked why, I explained about our truck and how family would have to help. We didn't technically have any money to give him right then. Then in one of those "Godly & coincidental" kind of ways the salesman (whom we've never met before) started giving a testimony about how God helped him in a real time of need and he used the generosity of others to bless him. Then he just kept repeating, "If someone wants to bless you, you should let them." I was still crying... just so much more by this point.

I know that someone on the other side of this screen is thinking "Of course he'd say that, he's trying to sell you a car!" But you'd have to have been there. My husband who, if the truth be told, is not really sure how he feels about God and who is also a man that is usually pretty itchy about talking to people. And yet, this same husband was chillin' at the table like he had all day to sit there with a car salesman. Seriously, we were there over an hour just talking about God. Not only that I am crying like a fool and JJ is practically preaching. It was a surreal moment. I mean can you just try to picture this for a second!?!

When JJ asks why I am still crying if someone wants to bless me... Colin just shakes his head and says my wife likes to hear people talking about good things! (And boy do I. Can somebody puh-lease tell me a testimony about blessings!!)

Even so, things were moving so fast. We needed to step back for a moment. I needed to pray and there were some other vans that we wanted to look at. So we stopped at a few dealerships on the way home.

In the next day or two, I got a phone call at work and thought it was a salesman for a van but it turns out that it was our youth pastor. We laughed about how I thought he was trying to sell me something. Then he asked if we were looking. I explained the situation. He asked if I'd like him to post an anonymous ministry need on his Facebook page. It felt a little weird but I said sure. I'd actually had peace since the motor went out and I had peace now too.

The next day when my youth pastor called to tell me that a family had a car that they wanted to donate, I really wasn't surprised but all I could muster up was "wow"... I was literally speechless. I mean what do you say to that other than Thank You God! -And thank you Ed and please, oh please, THANK THAT FAMILY!

This conversation is a little hard for me to figure out how to have with my husband. He doesn't know Ed or this family and this element of faith is a new area for both of us.  ...I know that it's a God thing but how on earth will I be able to convince him that I'd rather have the car. But it's too late. My husband and the relative have already found a van that they wanted to get.

I could have pushed the issue but while I may not always act it, I do feel a tremendous amount of respect for my husband and I do want to also respect his wishes. In this scenario, I feel like God has plainly met a need and revealed himself in it in either outcome. I try to talk to Colin but truthfully, the timing for this discussion is just never right. I blurt it out but can't possibly connect all of the dots in just a few moments. (In fact it has taken me 2 years to get it spelled out here.)

It ends up that we go with the Van. I call Ed and tell him to bless another family with the car and he has a perfect family in mind. (Gosh I wish that I could've been there when Ed told them the news!)

Now before you start trying to rationalize all of this; go back and read the prayer when I discovered my 4Runner was broken. "I want a running vehicle. Heck, a new car is just fine. I boldly ask for it. Why not?" - Did he not give me both! You can credit my family with one but how do you explain the other? Does his word not say "Come Boldy" and to ask for ALL THINGS.

But aside from that, I prayed for some other stuff even BEFORE the truck messed up. Read the last two paragraphs of the original prayer.

"If it's my rules that destroy my visibility, take me back to infancy. When I was so fresh from you, that I was not aware of my own desire. Did I then know, where I came from? Reduce me to tears and no other form of words. To be satisfied with what you give instead of what I want. -When I had no choice but to see what only you set before me. Even then, I am sure that I could not retain all of you but would I be able to see more? 

Prepare my heart God so that I can see, then show me at least one new thing that I miss in my every other day. Make this day new. Find me worthy of your secrets. My heart so longs to know more."

I mean "Reduce me to tears" and "Return me to infancy" -what does that even mean???? Don't feel weird. I had no idea either. I thought it was odd when I said it. But I have discovered that it was my heart [or my spirit man] asking to unlearn things that were holding me back in my faith. So that he could teach me what he wanted me to know about him instead.

If you know me at all, you know that I've become a crier. I might have cried at other points in my life. Maybe even all through my life. Truthfully, I can't remember how often. But I can tell you that during the last two years I have been a wet mess. (A good mess but a wet one! And literally choked up "as no other form of words") And as much as I want to explain it, I simply cannot tell you how I know that all of this crying is a God thing but I know that he is working in me with every.single.tear that falls!

When I told my preacher that I wanted my heart to be right with God, to give up superficial special things in order to right me.... Well he answered that too and made me see how insecure that I was. Gosh and I know that sometimes I might even portray the faithful life as only a struggle and maybe even condemn myself too much but I know that I know THAT I KNOW that God is with me now! And he promises to right ALL my paths that aren't straight!!!

And even still, I know that someone else saying, well if this is God and he did this for you why hasn't he done this for me or for anyone else that I know. Let me just tell you how much I have struggled with giving this testimony. For that reason...! In fact I have struggled more over this than giving up the earrings.

I don't know where you are in your life right now. But I once took an Experiencing God study. In this study there is a moment that is referred to as a "Crisis of Belief". In January 2013, I hit mine. I didn’t feel like my life was fitting quite right. I knew that it was finally time to stop going with the flow of life. I needed to pull over so that God could really do some work in me.

I started this strange little blogging/prayer/testimony thing. I actually had no idea what a blog even was or why exactly [at first] that I was writing. But it was my way of listening. I started changing some habits. –Wrestling with a few others! But documenting every piece of it helped me see his hand in my life. And any little thing that I felt like God was telling me to do; I really tried to be sure to do them. 

I want to say that it's about obedience but it's so much more than that. It's about the desire behind your motives in your relationship with God. Anyone can be obedient. The things that you are doing, are you doing them because you have to or because you want to?

If you take anything away from this at all, do not let it be anything related to the prosperity gospel. If you think that I am telling you that coming into faith suddenly means you get the presents. TRUST me when I tell you, that is not true!! Heck, follow the lives of Joseph, Job, Jeremiah or countless others to confirm that! 

In fact if you want to know the truth, I was paying my full tithes and working in the church and my motor still blew and I still could not afford to fix it. Bad & hard things happen to faithful people! BUT God was able to show me something else in that hardship that I had been blind to! He provides what we need in our absences. I assure you that if you're struggling, God will meet you in that struggle.

Confess your issues and the status of your relationship with him. Accept him as your Lord so that you can hear his replies. Believe for once that he might just be able to reveal himself to you and then ask him to help you be obedient. But when he answers BE SURE to GIVE HIM THE GLORY!

Acquiring faith is hard work and some serious dedication. But when I rearranged my life to know him, he met me at every level that I sought him. He continues to do so.

I implore you to do the same! Please Believe!

Go backs

1. It's not only your obedience but your delight in being obedient.
2. I see God more during the act of obedience or after than I do before my obedience. When he reveals himself, it makes it easier to trust him again later. So obedience is not just about completing tasks but rather building faith. 
3. Be specific & be bold in prayer!
4. Do not get stuck on the thing that I gave. If this seems boastful to you, I can totally tell you some areas that God is working with me now where giving for me is hard. Let's talk about it. 
5. It is not about the monetary value of things. Sometimes it's about what the thing represents in your life. Or he might even ask us to give up things that don't make any sense to us because it will mean a whole lot to someone else. You may never get the answer as to why you had to give it but if you were obedient, I guarantee you will see his hand somewhere else, look for it!
6. The way that I received the earrings surprised me. The van and the car surprised me and I have had other similar situations both great and small where he continues to surprise me. If God does something once, Trust that he can do it again! 
7. 'It' is never yours or ours, we are just stewards. When God blesses you with something, see if you can use it in a way to share a testimony OR bless others with it and also include with a word of encouragement about their relationship with God [giving him glory]? When you have to give it up, will you give him glory once again?
8. If you're not sure how to have a testimony about it, set a reminder. Try to write down as many of the details as you possibly can because you might forget some of those details later. If you can't complete it, it might not be time. If it keeps coming to your heart, he might have more for you to know. Keep collecting details until it is finished. Then you will know that it's his timing!

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