Grabbing Onto Growth

by Cindy Hester

What an amazing week this past week was! God blessed me with the opportunity to worship with my Momma last weekend, and to hear her and my daughter minister to young adults at our church. 

Mom and I then traveled to Seattle, Washington where I attended one of the most informative work conferences I have experienced to date. We had a couple of evenings of planned events, and another couple of evenings on our own to take in the sights. We must have crammed two weeks of fun into those evenings. We stayed up laughing and talking until the late hours (or early hours,) but I felt refreshed and ready to learn each day.

Perhaps the most important thing I learned, however, was to grab hold of those precious opportunities God presents us to create memories. I also realized moments of restoration. There was a time when I wouldn't have even considered hopping on a plane with my 77 year old Mom and just the two of us flying across the United States. I wouldn't have had the confidence to walk into a room of strangers at a company meet and greet and enjoy making conversation, or venturing out to points unknown in a city where I have never driven.

A few short years ago, I was crippled by the belief I could not trust myself to do such things. God has a way of bringing His children full circle by restoring us in ways far beyond our wildest expectations. God granted the opportunity, and Mom and I reached out in faith grabbed it. Had either of us allowed our fear or insecurities to rule, we would have missed out on a priceless gift.

Many may not understand the significance of this experience for me. However, anyone who has ever been the circumstances that ruled a part of my past will totally understand. If you find yourself in a similar situation in your present, take heart. God knows where you are, and His plans for you include abundance, and safety, and security in Him. Take heart, and "Don't let the inside of you shrink to the size of your present circumstances." Ron Cox

Joel 2:25-26, ESV I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you. You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, who has dealt wondrously with you. And my people shall never again be put to shame.