A VESSEL OF OPPORTUNITY

From - Day 7 faster

My dear friend from high school is working with a group in south Alabama, dealing with the oil spill in the gulf. Her program that she works with is called “Vessel of Opportunity” (they hire charter boats to go out and help with the clean up) Well I thought about it for a while and thought, that’s exactly what we should be on this earth, a vessel of opportunity. SO many times we just float around this earth wasting a perfectly good vessel to use to spread God’s word and his greatness. Fasting for me so far has been quite a roller coaster of emotions. This is my 1st experience with this and seeing how wonderful God works, if you let him. That’s another thing that I’ve learned lately is, you have to untie God’s hands and let him work!! That sounds so simple but its something that I struggle with as I’m sure a lot of other people do as well. Trusting God is one thing that we have talked about a lot lately and what do you know… on the Sunday of my 1st fast, that’s what my pastor preached on. I always have that little feeling that “he’s talking to me!” But I truly believe this message was for me. Sunday started out pretty rough, Addison was running a fever of 102. It was so surprising b/c we had just had a great time the night before fellowshipping with our best girls… and she was completely fine! We all thought “Humm Addison feels hot, but then again we were in the furnace basement at my house painting, so I really didn’t think anything else about it. Ashlee and I decided to go on to church anyway because she has wanted to hear Mr. Jimmy (My father in law) preach, so we went. Addison was ok during church, nothing really out of the ordinary, but a few hours later her fever spiked and we decided to take her to the American Family Care in Trussville (her dr is not open on Sundays) Well after a few hours in there, 104 temp, screaming poor, poor pitiful baby, and a HUGE shot in her booty, we left. I thought to myself… wow God, you are really pushing me today!!! But the thing was it wasn’t God pushing me, it was quite the opposite. I was in prayer all day that day and I realized that through it all, I TRUSTED God to take care of me and Addison. My sacrifice seemed a little silly to me, but as I went through the day with NO caffeine, drinking only water… I realized that it wasn’t so silly after all. My body is so used to having the caffeine to get through the day, it was right on, because I then relied on God to get me through, and was constantly in prayer. I’m certain that I would have been praying throughout the day, but I feel like Addison was used to remind me what a great, powerful and merciful God we serve. I never once got anxious or too worried about Addy (Don’t get me wrong, of course I was concerned of her fever) but usually I am a WRECK when something is going on with her. I felt so peaceful and so calm, because I was in prayer all day and I had the support of my sisters!!! I thank God for the things that happened to me this weekend. I truly feel as if the water washed away doubt, insecurities, and some fear that I had. I actually called my father in law one day this week and said “is it ok for us to be family and for you to be my pastor?” He said sure why? I said “because I feel sometimes like I’m bursting at the seams to tell you about the wonderful things God is doing in my life” I Just want to rejoice in them, but I feel like sometimes it could be a conflict of interest. Maybe that’s just the fear boiling inside of me. The fear of letting my true feelings be known, the fear of “what are they going to think?, are they going to even take me seriously?” Most of you know what I deal with daily regarding this spiritual life. I just pray everyday that God will shine through me and without me saying anything directly to a person, that they will see him in me and realize that it’s not a joke… it’s real. God is real and he is GREAT! I’m so glad that I’m involved in this fasting time that we have. I love hearing and reading about the revelations of God. It truly is amazing. So… it’s almost Friday, ready for the weekend and to sail away with our savior.