I am more "Me" than I have been in forever...

I wrote this as a Facebook status which really is what prompted me to start writing again.  This was like God saying, "It's time. I'm letting you speak out again."  I just wanted to share it on here for the record.  Who knows...someday I may need to reread this to get back to this point!

This isn't going to make sense to some of you, and to others it will make perfect sense. There will be a few who have no idea what I am truly talking about but will totally understand without knowing. And then there will be that select few who are going to see this and immediately judge me just because I'm popping up on their newsfeed, then maybe they will actually read, and that will lead to talking negatively amongst themselves about me, saying I'm being fake...and yadda yadda. Bear with me while I declare something....

Life is really hard, and frankly, it's really scary too. I've never had to do it on my own. I've always had people around to save me whenever I asked. Some of it their fault for not letting me do stuff on my own, and most of it my fault for not letting them let me do stuff on my own. Although, I am so grateful to have had them in my life, I'm abundantly grateful NOT to have them in my life to save me right now.

For the first time in almost 33 years, I am genuinely being me, only me. Not a daughter, not a sister, not a wife, not a mom, just me. This is the least "fake" I have ever been. God gave me a journey that is harder and sadder than I could have ever wanted to go through, but like we all say, "There's a reason for everything." He wanted me, only me. He needed me to find me, to know me. And He needed me to need Him and only Him so I knew that I could do anything through Him.

I'm proud of myself tonight because I did yet another thing on my own. Something so small and insignificant probably to most, but something that made me so proud because I did it. All the small things I do on my own, build up into one big thing. Finding a job, making a budget, moving furniture, endlessly unpacking, shoveling snow, putting together five shelving units, a desk and a filing cabinet/printer stand, making candies, cooking dinner from scratch, reading the Bible daily and making sure I make the time for that, cleaning the stove, negotiating a fair price for plowing my driveway, attending to other business like Friend of the Court, car insurance, bills, etc., truly and faithfully tithing, getting the kids to school on time while trying to figure out a new routine, making and sticking to priorities, and generally troubleshooting life... They build up to me growing up, to me having confidence in myself for once, to me not being the victim all the time, to me relying on the one and only thing that I should be relying on--God.

I have no idea what the future holds, only God does. The only thing I can do is pray about it and trust His will be done (and that I will be able to accept it when it does happen). All I do know, though, is that I am walking into the future a totally different person. A person I actually like and have faith in. I know I can do anything. It may be hard, it may be sad, it's probably going to break my heart even more, there may be times when I still want to curl up in my bed and give up, but you know what? God's got this...and that's all that matters.

"Trust Me"

I've been kicked.  One of those hits-you-in-the-gut-and-makes-you-instantly-wanna-puke moments.  I've gotten two of them in the last 48 hours.  I've seen a lot of them in the last 4 months, but this week has been the first in a month, so it hit hard.

I noticed something this time though.  I didn't ask God, "Why?"  I've come to a point where I don't need to know why, because asking "why?" is why I'm here.  Did you follow that?

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. --Proverbs 3:5-6

I questioned God a lot in my life.  Why do I have to do this? Why are You doing this to me?  Why am I being punished? Why, why, why?  God is at a point where He's sick of me saying it, and He wants me to just trust that there's a reason.  I don't need to know it. I just have to trust that He's doing something.

And He really is doing something.  The fact that I didn't ask "Why?" but immediately said to God, "Thank you for holding me in this moment, and thank you for promising that you will get me through it", is huge. I'm almost having anxiety over the fact that I'm not more anxious right now....

God's got this.

That's my new motto.  As soon as I feel the anxiety well up in me, as soon as the racing thoughts about finances, a place to live, a job or schooling or anything else flood my head, as soon as I feel that familiar dark shadow pull me into feeling like I can't do it...I say to myself, "God's got this."

A lot of people have said to me that I need to prepare, to "get my ducks in a row."  But I have the biggest duck there is.  God's got this.  He'll tell me exactly when I need to start focusing on that stuff.  And right now is not the time.

And if you don't believe me....

I had a rare moment in my day where I had to wait to do something.  In that moment, one of those waves of anxiety about what I have to do next flooded over me and I started to hyperventilate.  I seriously said out loud, "What the heck?"  Where on Earth did that come from?  Since I had to wait for something, I had the time to "listen" to God.  I opened up my youversion app and read the chapter it randomly chose for me to read today:  Isaiah 40.  NIV labels in "Comfort for God's People".  I don't believe in coincidences.

As I read, the anxiety washed away.  Like a hug from God at the moment I needed it most.  I was telling a friend about that tonight and just started crying at the sheer awesomeness of our loving Father.  He knew what I needed.  He needed to speak to me at that moment.  He opened the door to give me a second to listen to Him.  And I obeyed.

God's got this!

...but those who hope ("wait" in ESV) in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.  --Isaiah 40-31 (NIV)