Decisions, decisions...(Easter pt.2)

For anyone who is not aware, I was given a huge opportunity to touch a lot of people's lives. Before I accepted it, I had to make sure that this was in line with what God's plan was and really examine my own motives before agreeing to share my Life Change story for the Easter service. I have to be honest and say my mouth is still hanging open with shock that this all happened in the first place. Each year, Pastor Guy extends an invitation to share our stories of coming to Christ. Last year the Women's Retreat was such a catalyst of change for me that I wrote him my story as soon as I got home. This year I wrote an updated version to let him know how God has impacted my life over this past year. I had a message a few weeks ago from Pastor Guy thanking me for my stories and asking if I would be willing to share last year's story. Before I called him back, I went to the Lord in prayer. I did not want to share my story of sexual abuse because I need a pat on the head or someone to feel sorry for me. I wanted to share because I know the pit of shame that the Lord has rescued me from and I know I'm not the only one who could use some rescuing. I opened my FRCC journal to do the daily reading and it was 2 Corinthians 1. Verse 2 says: Blessed be God, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation, who consoles us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to console those who are in affliction as God has consoled us. Wow! I felt like God Himself was telling me to do this for Him. My second confirmation for doing this was because of our Woman at the Well devotional at this year's retreat. We were asked to consider if we believe that God is big enough to meet our every need. My answer was absolutely, and that's the scary part. Letting go of control so He can take me where He needs me to be. If I let Him have control, my life could turn upside-down. When I used those exact words while telling a friend what was going on, I realized that I was taking a huge step in letting God take me to the scary places that only He can see us through. This weekend has had such an impact on me, which I will share more on tomorrow. p.s. If you didn't get to the retreat, Renee Swope is doing the devotional on her blog, the Journey of My Heart, which you can link to off the bottom of my page.