One Choice Away

Have you ever felt stuck in a season of life? Even in the midst of gratitude and seeing all of God's blessings you can still feel stuck and that's OK. Maybe you feel stuck in a certain cycle of relationships, health issues, living situation, etc. The good news is that you are one choice away from your new season.

While many people started their "new" season on January 1st, I started mine months ago. I think it was around July that I made the choice to move towards a new season of life. I felt stuck in a cycle of living in rentals and then having to leave abruptly and I felt stuck in bitterness towards broken relationships. There were times when I genuinely felt that I couldn't escape this and that God must be trying to teach me something through all of it.

Then a wise man, my amazing boss, said something that changed my outlook. I was telling him that I was still in prayer that God would open a door for a home for me. He replied "Why don't you just go ahead and buy a house?". Ok, maybe he didn't say it exactly like that, but he was essentially saying to put action with my prayer.

Sometimes people of faith can be stuck in a situation because they are simply choosing not to take action as a way of praying and waiting on God. Alternatively, it also takes a lot of faith to go ahead and make a choice based on the knowledge God has already given you and then trust him to walk with you through that choice. I am not saying that one way is better than the other, but I do think that it takes faith for both.

I decided to walk out my faith in a different way and started making choices towards the new season that I wanted. Here are a few choices that I made that led me to where I am in this moment:

I made a choice to not give up every time a buyer didn't accept my offer. Previously, if my house offers got rejected I saw it as God saying to stop trying. I changed my perspective and saw every rejection as God getting me closer to my home. I became a first time homeowner in October!!!! The season of rentals and being pushed out is OVER.

I made a choice to sign up for foster parent classes. Since I was a little girl, I wanted to open my home to children in need. I had been waiting to get married first so that the kids in my home would have a fatherly figure. I felt stuck because I was still single and figured that I shouldn't foster. I start my first foster parent class in two weeks and I can't wait to offer a safe space for children. A single parent home is better than no home.

I made a choice to forgive. I still feel wronged and rejected by a few people in my life who will probably never truly apologize. To shield myself from further hurt and being taken advantage of I basically tried to ignore these people which was virtually impossible. It was taking so much energy for me to "protect" myself and I cried almost daily. I prayed daily for God to help me to forgive. The Lord showed me the wrongs I have done against Him and in light of that, I cannot hold anything against anyone. I also trust that if I was truly wronged then God would vindicate me in his time. Today, I am friends with those who hurt me and can actually laugh with them. I feel free.

I made a choice to buy a plane ticket. I have traveled out of the country over a dozen times but haven't traveled for some years. Traveling is a big part of me and I had been feeling stuck because of college loan debt. I would say to people, "I used to travel a lot, now I can't". A dear friend from college had been telling me that she planned to get married in Greece and that I was invited. I had saved for this trip and then had to use the money towards my car engine that died. I was devastated. I reasoned that God must not want me to travel anymore because there was always a more important expense. Last week, I purchased my ticket to Athens!!! On top of that, a good friend of mine decided to come with me and now I am having a girls trip in GREECE....how amazing is that?!

You are ONE choice away from your new season...what choice will you make today?

#ninaelaine #motivation