Tuesday, September 28, 2010

"I Love Your Journey"

I was talking to my best friend Alyssa on the phone the other day and as I was in the middle of telling her about my "not so normal day," she blurted out, "Sarah, I LOVE YOUR JOURNEY!" It caught me off guard because nothing about my day sounded interesting or exciting enough for her to tell me that she loved my journey. She continued by telling me how my life has inspired her in so many ways. Tears rolled down my face and I was speechless. I had just spent the past few minutes telling her about a tutoring position I picked up for some extra money and how BJ had just passed his "server test" at Olive Garden and how he had been up the night before studying the ingredients that go into Chicken Marsala... nothing about this update was inspiring to me. In fact, it had made me weary and a bit embarrassed (if i could be honest). After all, we are a married couple who has twins on the way. We should have our dream jobs and dream house by now...shouldn't we?


As I sat on the other side of the phone, Alyssa said two words that seemed to be louder than any other word she used when talking about my journey and the effect it has had on her life. She said OBEDIENCE and RISK. 


I realized in that moment that my journey, my life had been a summary of steps of OBEDIENCE and RISK! And unlike sacrifice, when we chose to be obedient, we are simply choosing to act on what God is speaking to us regardless of the pay off. You see, when we are obedient we don't always see the reward right away. When we sacrifice food when fasting, we usually see an immediate reward, answer prayer, etc. But it is much different when it comes to obedience. 


Mark Batterson, in his book, "Wild Goose Chase" says, "sometimes the will of God is IRRESPONSIBLE." I love that statement because it really helps me understand the season I am in... and not only that, but it excites me to know that the uncertainties and the craziness is only a mere result of being in the will of God. Mark Batterson goes on to say , " We feel something is wrong when we experience circumstantial uncertainty, but circumstantial uncertainty goes by another name.... ADVENTURE!" 

When Alyssa made that statement to me it was like a light bulb went on in my spirit. You and I are on a great adventure filled with seasons, moments, jobs, situations, that don't always make sense; but when we understand that this life God has chosen for us to walk in is confusing and complicated at times, we will be able to enjoy the journey rather than curse it. 

I embrace this season not because it is my end result, but because it is a part of my journey, it is a part of my story. In these seasons we grow, we learn, and we gather our weapons that will make us ready for the next. I am so glad my life isn't a cookie cutter, boring life, but instead is filled with uncertainty...filled with adventure! I love my journey too, and today I hope that my honesty has helped you get excited about yours. I know that those who choose to walk in obedience no matter what it looks like, and those who choose to TRUST God in the uncertain times, will truly live the life they were meant to live. 

Let's be risk takers, let's step out and trust God in a new way...let's be people that are willing to walk in the fullness of our purpose and destiny no matter what!!


I love my journey...and I love YOUR journey too!












3 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing Sarah! It was amazing! It brought me to TEARS. I loved it!!!

    It is SO TRUE that we must love our journey and TRUST that God is still in control and Sovereign, so when we choose to obey and do HIS will and not our own, it may not be such an easy road....but I LOVE the road less traveled anyway, like you said, it is ADVENTUROUS and exciting to trust God instead of leaning on our own understanding....He will direct our paths, we just have to FULLY trust and know that He is working things out for HIS purposes and glory and for our good. A lot of people focus on the DESTINATION or the END (like a dream career) and are NOT HAPPY until they ARRIVE to that destination, but I say we should enjoy the RIDE as well! If we look at only the endpoint, we will NEVER be happy, there is always that NEXT thing that needs to be done..."I can't wait to be married, then I will be happy...then you get married and now you are thinking...I cant wait to have kids....THEN, I will be happy....and so on... I I can't wait until the kids are in school...I can't wait until they are done with school and off to college...I cant wait until they get married...I can't wait to have grandkids....I cant wait til I retire...I cant wait til I am dead! Lol....

    Of course we look forward to all the wonderful blessings God has in store for the future and of course especially when we are with our Lord in heaven, but we cant just keep waiting for the next thing without enjoying the JOURNEY.

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  2. Sarah!!!

    Thank you so much for sending this! I am going thru something at the moment that has made me quesitons my "journey" and my current path and this is something i really needed some reflection on.

    I'm not sure if you know but in March I got into an accident and had to turn down 2 job offers because of the severity of my head trama. So I had to be stuck in Wyoming for 6 more months at the minimum....well now that I can leave, I just had an interview for Fox in Salt Lake City which would be a dream for me not only bc of the sports market but because my boyfriend (future hubby lol) lives there as well. Anyway, I just found out today that they hired their Freelance Sports guy full time, so that definitely crushed me because I am seriously going crazy living in Wyoming lol. It's been almost 2.5 years and I'm away from my family and friends to "live my dream" but i'm 26, in debt, and barely financially surviving out here. So when I got the call that I didn't get the job I basically turned to God and asked him why he is doing this to me. I know that was awful, but i'm human.

    Anyhow, I know God doesn't put us through more than we can handle, so I know I will be fine and he has something else in store for me. But when you said that comment about being a married couple and that you guys should have ur dream jobs and dream house I TOTALLY FEEL YOU ON THAT! but one day we will both look back and be able to tell our kids the Journey that we went thru to get to where we're going to be, because of the God of course :).

    So again thank you for sharing this!!! I have to enjoy my journey!! :)

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  3. Sarah, I'm late posting on this one...this is one of my favorites!!! obedience, risk, journey!! I love it!! I read it to your brother when you posted this while we were eating dinner. Very enjoyable :-) thanks for the love, hope, and inspiration!!

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