Breakthrough
August 22, 2011
It has officially been one year since I resigned my position at Itron. While I mention this alot in my blog, where I used to be really never crosses my mind. This morning during my quiet time I felt the Lord pull me to pick up a book that was given to me on my last day at Itron. I finished reading it several months ago but for some reason I felt led to dive back into the last chapter. The words resonated on a completely different emotional and spiritual level as I am in a much different place one year later.
The Lord knew that I am struggling through a very narrow place right now in terms of not really knowing exactly where He is taking me on any of the endeavors I am involved in. The opportunities are overwhelming and each day there is more and more work to do. Everything that I do on the business front is to fuel Ripple of One. Without a doubt, we are called to get debt free and pour into helping single parents break the cycles of poverty and abuse. God has opened some unbelievably HUGE doors recently, and His timing is perfect. Yet, I find myself in this narrow place waiting...as things seem to be pushing back to October. June, July and August have been the toughest months for budget - especially in relationship to gas prices and working hard to see the rewards and yes even in ministry these things impact you greatly. As soon as I opened the Joyce Meyer book Never Give Up, I knew instantly why God pulled me there.
The last two chapters in the book are on hope, hard work, and the rewards that come with following His plan. You see, one year ago when I was reading this, it was all about hope. Hope was all I had because I had no idea how the Lord was going to take me from having zero of a plan into His plan. What did I need to do? How was I supposed to spend my time? How were we going to have the money we need? YIKES...and now - one year later, I can read this with ultimate BELIEF that the power of hope is everything. Hope in Him got me up everyday, gave me the mind to work, and the strength and endurance to keep on going even when days did not come together and nothing was making any sense. I literally worked for free for at least 7 months in terms of money, but the emotional and spiritual rewards came instantly and dissolved any concern over stuff and money. And today, when I needed it most, He is faithful to deliver to me through His word the power of hope reminding me of how far He has brought me this year. Psalm 42:5 commands us to Hope in God and wait expectantly for Him. And then I see in this chapter my favorite verse - Jeremiah 29:11 - and this verse was the very hope that delivered me 15 years ago from an abusive relationship and here I sit still experiencing victory because God's word and His promises NEVER fail.
There have been many disappointments along the way this year. So often I was hit hard with trying to avoid losing perspective balancing ambition, working hard, embracing responsibility and fueling this ministry. But because of His word, the power of Hope, and prayer - I was able to stay the course so far. We are designed to pursue His design for our lives relentlessly and I believe that He showed me this morning that this pursuit requires hard work equally in every core area of relationships - wife, mother, sister, daughter, volunteer, Ripple of One Community Outreach Director, Aflac team member, and principal owner of Unsworth Marketing - but the right balance among all of these can only be found in Him, designed by Him, with work ordained by Him. Our job is to show up every day with the right heart and attitude, a mind to work, and a relentless pursuit. Once we turn our prayers into actions ordained by Him - Everything else - the results and when they come - are up to Him.
Work in every area of of your life brings rewards. I can be okay with the passion I have for working hard because working hard is how God allows us to accomplish what He has called us to do and to follow the dreams He plants in our hearts. He promises us that if we are diligent we will have reward. There is no room for self pity or self focus in the path of diligence. It is a marathon - not a sprint - and His word is our water along the race and prayer is our protein. I get excited when I realize the progress that has come in a year - and how much more is on the way! I see how Faithful He has been to our family and His calling for us and to Ripple of One - and I am so excited about the future it is very hard to sleep. Each day He gives me more clarity for what He is building and the role that He wants me to have in it and how He wants to use me and my husband. The highest rewards so far have been the growth of leadership in my husband's heart and sense of urgency for him to find the path God has for him. The highest rewards have also been in seeing Jesus on a daily basis in the lives of single parents accepting Jesus Christ and recognizing that apart from Him we can do nothing, but in Him we have hope and rescue and victory over depression, poverty, and abuse. Hebrews 11:6 tells us the HE - God is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek him - and Ripple of One is all about teaching this. Earnestly and diligently - yes it is no cake walk and it takes days, months, even years. There is no such thing as a drive -through breakthrough! (Meyer 238) If you want the reward, you have to do the work. This part really got me "God is working in you and moving you along, little by little, in such a way the you may not even notice you are no longer where you were LAST YEAR" (238). It is no coincidence that the Lord led me to these pages at this time as I am going through this narrow tough place - He wanted me to see by comparison - how faithful He has been this year and merely refusing to give up is a victory in itself. I reflected on this - over the past year, three absolutely amazing jobs came my way. 6 Figure salary, great people, great industries, glamorous work...and each time I prayed "Lord if this is not your design, then I pray I will know it" and each time He showed me in very different ways that these opportunities were not from Him. To look back and know that He gave me the wisdom, courage, and discernment to walk away from opportunities that looked perfect but were not part of His design for me - is His mercy, grace, and strength living in me to refuse to give up on what He has for me and not what Keri may want for me. And ironically, each time one of these "dream jobs" came my way - we were always in the red in our bank account. HA! We were the most vulnerable but because we stayed focus on His plan and His word - we were empowered by His Spirit to make the right decisions and we never think twice about it. The power to overcome circumstances like these that are so appealing and seemingly perfect comes from Revelation 2:7 - "He who is able to hear, let him listen to and give heed to what the Spirit says" - and its a focus on everything opposite from money and putting in check your heart to be sure you do not exalt the pursuit of money above the pursuit of His plan. And that battle takes place in each of us daily. +
"Everything God asks us to do as we walk the narrow way may not be easy, but it will be good for us. It may not feel like a blessing as we go through it, but it leads to blessing in the end" (242 Meyer). It can be very tempting to go back to the broad road when the narrow one loses its appeal but the broad road is very deceptive - it may look perfect for a while - but it leads to trouble and dissatisfaction. Pay the price to stay with God on the road that leads to life.
On a practical note, I was reading one of my friend's facebook notifications the other day. Most of the time this person is struggling - either in career or with money. They do not follow Jesus and their lack of joy and fulfillment in life is manifested daily by their behaviors and perspective on life. Recently. they posted a question, "Why are we always broke?" Someone following culture has a false belief that they on their own can control their destiny and their financial situation and their ability to experience joy is tied to money. My answer is that you are following the broad road and you are not seeing Jesus in your life. The good times seem good when their is money rolling in, but where do you turn when the money and the business is not there? Therein lies the difference - full satisfaction and completeness of joy come from the heart and God's path - not our own.
Several years ago someone VERY special to me asked, "Keri, why do I need Jesus. I am perfectly happy the way my life is now and I just do not see the need." For some reason, I was not able to answer. In fact, I was speechless. BUT TODAY - I can answer - and my answer is this, "Dear person that I love, you need a relationship with Jesus Christ to experience the fullness of joy and satisfaction you are meant to have, which far exceeds whatever happiness you are experiencing on your own!" and then I would ask them, "Why not?"
It has officially been one year since I resigned my position at Itron. While I mention this alot in my blog, where I used to be really never crosses my mind. This morning during my quiet time I felt the Lord pull me to pick up a book that was given to me on my last day at Itron. I finished reading it several months ago but for some reason I felt led to dive back into the last chapter. The words resonated on a completely different emotional and spiritual level as I am in a much different place one year later.
The Lord knew that I am struggling through a very narrow place right now in terms of not really knowing exactly where He is taking me on any of the endeavors I am involved in. The opportunities are overwhelming and each day there is more and more work to do. Everything that I do on the business front is to fuel Ripple of One. Without a doubt, we are called to get debt free and pour into helping single parents break the cycles of poverty and abuse. God has opened some unbelievably HUGE doors recently, and His timing is perfect. Yet, I find myself in this narrow place waiting...as things seem to be pushing back to October. June, July and August have been the toughest months for budget - especially in relationship to gas prices and working hard to see the rewards and yes even in ministry these things impact you greatly. As soon as I opened the Joyce Meyer book Never Give Up, I knew instantly why God pulled me there.
The last two chapters in the book are on hope, hard work, and the rewards that come with following His plan. You see, one year ago when I was reading this, it was all about hope. Hope was all I had because I had no idea how the Lord was going to take me from having zero of a plan into His plan. What did I need to do? How was I supposed to spend my time? How were we going to have the money we need? YIKES...and now - one year later, I can read this with ultimate BELIEF that the power of hope is everything. Hope in Him got me up everyday, gave me the mind to work, and the strength and endurance to keep on going even when days did not come together and nothing was making any sense. I literally worked for free for at least 7 months in terms of money, but the emotional and spiritual rewards came instantly and dissolved any concern over stuff and money. And today, when I needed it most, He is faithful to deliver to me through His word the power of hope reminding me of how far He has brought me this year. Psalm 42:5 commands us to Hope in God and wait expectantly for Him. And then I see in this chapter my favorite verse - Jeremiah 29:11 - and this verse was the very hope that delivered me 15 years ago from an abusive relationship and here I sit still experiencing victory because God's word and His promises NEVER fail.
There have been many disappointments along the way this year. So often I was hit hard with trying to avoid losing perspective balancing ambition, working hard, embracing responsibility and fueling this ministry. But because of His word, the power of Hope, and prayer - I was able to stay the course so far. We are designed to pursue His design for our lives relentlessly and I believe that He showed me this morning that this pursuit requires hard work equally in every core area of relationships - wife, mother, sister, daughter, volunteer, Ripple of One Community Outreach Director, Aflac team member, and principal owner of Unsworth Marketing - but the right balance among all of these can only be found in Him, designed by Him, with work ordained by Him. Our job is to show up every day with the right heart and attitude, a mind to work, and a relentless pursuit. Once we turn our prayers into actions ordained by Him - Everything else - the results and when they come - are up to Him.
Work in every area of of your life brings rewards. I can be okay with the passion I have for working hard because working hard is how God allows us to accomplish what He has called us to do and to follow the dreams He plants in our hearts. He promises us that if we are diligent we will have reward. There is no room for self pity or self focus in the path of diligence. It is a marathon - not a sprint - and His word is our water along the race and prayer is our protein. I get excited when I realize the progress that has come in a year - and how much more is on the way! I see how Faithful He has been to our family and His calling for us and to Ripple of One - and I am so excited about the future it is very hard to sleep. Each day He gives me more clarity for what He is building and the role that He wants me to have in it and how He wants to use me and my husband. The highest rewards so far have been the growth of leadership in my husband's heart and sense of urgency for him to find the path God has for him. The highest rewards have also been in seeing Jesus on a daily basis in the lives of single parents accepting Jesus Christ and recognizing that apart from Him we can do nothing, but in Him we have hope and rescue and victory over depression, poverty, and abuse. Hebrews 11:6 tells us the HE - God is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek him - and Ripple of One is all about teaching this. Earnestly and diligently - yes it is no cake walk and it takes days, months, even years. There is no such thing as a drive -through breakthrough! (Meyer 238) If you want the reward, you have to do the work. This part really got me "God is working in you and moving you along, little by little, in such a way the you may not even notice you are no longer where you were LAST YEAR" (238). It is no coincidence that the Lord led me to these pages at this time as I am going through this narrow tough place - He wanted me to see by comparison - how faithful He has been this year and merely refusing to give up is a victory in itself. I reflected on this - over the past year, three absolutely amazing jobs came my way. 6 Figure salary, great people, great industries, glamorous work...and each time I prayed "Lord if this is not your design, then I pray I will know it" and each time He showed me in very different ways that these opportunities were not from Him. To look back and know that He gave me the wisdom, courage, and discernment to walk away from opportunities that looked perfect but were not part of His design for me - is His mercy, grace, and strength living in me to refuse to give up on what He has for me and not what Keri may want for me. And ironically, each time one of these "dream jobs" came my way - we were always in the red in our bank account. HA! We were the most vulnerable but because we stayed focus on His plan and His word - we were empowered by His Spirit to make the right decisions and we never think twice about it. The power to overcome circumstances like these that are so appealing and seemingly perfect comes from Revelation 2:7 - "He who is able to hear, let him listen to and give heed to what the Spirit says" - and its a focus on everything opposite from money and putting in check your heart to be sure you do not exalt the pursuit of money above the pursuit of His plan. And that battle takes place in each of us daily. +
"Everything God asks us to do as we walk the narrow way may not be easy, but it will be good for us. It may not feel like a blessing as we go through it, but it leads to blessing in the end" (242 Meyer). It can be very tempting to go back to the broad road when the narrow one loses its appeal but the broad road is very deceptive - it may look perfect for a while - but it leads to trouble and dissatisfaction. Pay the price to stay with God on the road that leads to life.
On a practical note, I was reading one of my friend's facebook notifications the other day. Most of the time this person is struggling - either in career or with money. They do not follow Jesus and their lack of joy and fulfillment in life is manifested daily by their behaviors and perspective on life. Recently. they posted a question, "Why are we always broke?" Someone following culture has a false belief that they on their own can control their destiny and their financial situation and their ability to experience joy is tied to money. My answer is that you are following the broad road and you are not seeing Jesus in your life. The good times seem good when their is money rolling in, but where do you turn when the money and the business is not there? Therein lies the difference - full satisfaction and completeness of joy come from the heart and God's path - not our own.
Several years ago someone VERY special to me asked, "Keri, why do I need Jesus. I am perfectly happy the way my life is now and I just do not see the need." For some reason, I was not able to answer. In fact, I was speechless. BUT TODAY - I can answer - and my answer is this, "Dear person that I love, you need a relationship with Jesus Christ to experience the fullness of joy and satisfaction you are meant to have, which far exceeds whatever happiness you are experiencing on your own!" and then I would ask them, "Why not?"
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