Advent: Becoming a Child of God -Wednesday, December 11
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckle.
Psalm 91:1-16
I struggled in the past. I did not have a clue who I was. I was a stranger to myself. I sought love that ended in rejection. I sought alcohol that ended in depression. I sought help that ended in attempted suicide. I sought drugs that ended in addiction. I sought beauty that ended in bulimia. I sought materialism that ended in debt. My life was filled with darkness and loss. I was lost. I had no identity. I was screaming for help.
It was not until I had exhausted all avenues of worldly help, that I landed in the arms of Jesus. It was through Him I found my identity. In helping me find my identity, He called me to share this knowledge with other women.
I don’t only share the good in my life, I share the messy things. The things that brought me to my knees and helped me recognize I needed a Savior.
Outward appearances are so misleading, and I prefer to shed the layers early and quickly. Connections come by being real and being honest. I wish I would have had a Godly woman who was brutally honest with me about their struggles when I was growing up. I had Godly women in my life, but their outward appearance seemed perfect like they had never struggled before or sinned the way I had. This barrier kept me from reaching out to them.
God has given me the opportunity to share, connect, and walk with the young ladies at Haskell Indian Nations University, by speaking to them about rejection, depression, suicide, addiction, bulimia, debt and, most of all, their Savior - born in a manger, rejected by his own, and risen to given them a new life.
Dear Heavenly Father, I ask, as a new semester approaches, that you watch over the young ladies arriving at the Haskell campus, who are lost in the world without an identity. Prepare their hearts for You and help us to show them their worth and their identity as your children.