Some people have heard my testimony on when I "found the Lord" but for those of you who have not I will try to make it brief. When I was 18 years old my boyfriend and I decided to go to Florida for spring break. I was a senior in high school and I knew everything there was to know in the world about everything. It was my first time on a plane. My first time out of Minnesota, and I was with the love of my life, whatever his name was. Now I wasn't going to spring break to do the usual spring break stuff because I didn't drink or smoke or do any of that crazy stuff but I did want to let my hair down and have some fun. Splash on the beach and sneak into hot tubs after dark kinda stuff. I was in the prime of my life and didn't have a care in the world. I was far from an angel, I was a senior in high school and away from mom and dad I was ready to Par-tay. Part of the reason I was making some less then perfect choices was because in 1997 I lost my best friend to suicide. It ruined me and I thought I would never recover, it was at that point I decided in my 14 year old wisdom that God did not exist. No God of mine was going to let a 13 year old end her life and so I decided to live my life without him. Living a life without God was far from fulfilling but I really didn't care. I was full enough.
When we first pulled out onto the beach in Tampa bay I was speechless. I walked out of the car and looked at that Gulf and I was awestruck. I fell to my knees in the wake of that water, I turned my eyes to the sky and I asked God to forgive me. I started crying and I realized at that moment that I had been mistaken He did exist and He was powerful. It took seeing that Gulf to make me realize how small I really was and how mighty He really is. This is where I "found the Lord." I keep putting that saying in quotes because I say I found him on this day, however that does not mean I all of a sudden changed my life and became a perfect Christian. It took a few more years and a lot more bumps in the road for me to really come around and fully get what being a Christian meant. However had I not hit my knees in the Gulf of Mexico on spring break in 2002 I would have never even believed he even existed. So basically I found Jesus enough to ruin spring Break for my boyfriend. I battered him with questions all week like "Do you believe in our Lord and Savior? Do you think the Lord would like you doing that? Do you think the Lord built everything? The poor man thought he was going down to the beach for a nice relaxing time with his girlfriend and he came home with a Holy Roller.
* I have told this story before to people and I have always reported it as going to Daytona Beach first and seeing the ocean. However upon looking through my photo albums I have recently discovered I remembered the story wrong. We first went to Tampa, Florida because my boyfriend was a huge Buccaneers fan. I thought the ocean had changed my life forever when really it was the Gulf of Mexico.
So let's now fast forward to 2013. Some friends of mine asked me awhile back if I was interested in moving to Corpus Christi, Texas. They would help me out with cost of living by getting a big house and we would all move in together. I could help my friend out with his ministry for single mothers and I would have a network of built in friends and connections through their church. It all seemed nice enough and very tempted but I was fearful and so I needed some time to think it over. Things weren't great where I was at, but they were good enough and I really enjoyed the church I was at. I was tempted to tell them no and stay at, good enough awhile longer. Well, it so happens God had other plans for me and he kept telling me I was supposed to go to Corpus so I called up my friend and said "let's do this!" So the search for a house began, we met dead end after dead end when it came to houses. People were treating us like some kind of religious cult or sister wives when we explained our purely good intentions. I really didn't think the idea of us living together was that strange but we met a lot of closed doors in our quest for housing. Through it all I began to get nervous and wonder if this was really His plan then why were we having all of this trouble? Well it turns out that the reason we were being shot down was because we needed the perfect house and today we got it. It is everything we need and more and I am feeling very blessed. So as I sit and think about all of the things I have to clean and pack, it occurred to me that God himself is sending me back to the Gulf of Mexico! He is sending me back to the place that I first realized He is real and he is King. Not only did he tell me to go to Corpus but he got a house that is right on the water. I will be across the street from the Gulf. My eyes are welling up right now at the thought of being moved according to his will back to the water, the place that started a change in me that will last a lifetime. I am so excited to see what God has in store for me and curious as to why he wants me back to where it all began...
Sarah...what a touching, heart felt blog. I didn't know you had a blog but I will be your avid follower now. God is so good...and like we all learn, in HIS time he will make things work if you're willing to go by His Will instead of what we think He wants us to do. LOL That's a hard lesson to learn. I have loved getting to see you more and I will miss you, but am so happy for you all that this wonderful, deeply meaningful change is coming to you in your life. Ordinary and "okay for now" is going to be changed to extraordinary. GOOD LUCK and GOD's PRECIOUS BLESSINGS TO YOU and your babies. :)
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