As I’ve mentioned a couple times, one of the things that I have been learning on this journey is deep rooted trust in the Father. The Lord has continuously sought after my full heart, but I have been hesitant to give it to Him. One day last week we were on a train headed to Naples. One of my friends and I were reading Psalm 125 and talking about it. Verse 1 says, “Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever.” At that moment I had a revelation that I can choose to trust the Father. I can make a decision to trust Him, and it doesn’t have to be this long drawn out process of me tip-toeing around. I can choose to trust Him and then watch Him show up, because consciously I know He won’t break my trust. So from that moment I made the decision to put my trust in the Father, realizing that similar to surrender, I can make that choice daily. 

Surrender is an area in which I am very familiar. The Lord has taught me so many lessons about it. Then my friend and I got to talking about how faith and surrender work hand in hand. By choosing to put my trust in the Father, I am actively choosing to surrender my ways and my plans. Now that was a lesson the Lord was building up for a while. Learning about surrender has been near and dear to my heart for around a year now, and the Lord used that to prove Himself faithful once again. 

My favorite lessons from the Lord are the ones He takes a while to teach. Ones that He prepares us for, revealing them only when we’re ready. It shows me not only that His timing is the best, but also that He cares for me deeply and He wants me to understand His character on a more intimate level.

Last week my prayer was simply, “Lord please show up.” I knew He would, and I knew I just had to sit back and watch, but I also felt like I should write things down. So that’s what I did. At the beginning of each day I would ask the Lord to show up, to prove Himself trustworthy. Then throughout the day I would watch, wait, and listen for Him to answer my prayers. The whole week was incredible. He not only did things that were simple and obvious, but He did things that were so detailed and intentional for my heart. A couple things happened where I was thinking about future circumstances and I was very slightly worried or stressed out, only for a few minutes - but then God showed up for those needs in a way that was more than I would’ve even thought to ask Him for. 

The Father showed me that He is trustworthy. The Father showed me that He knows me, and He knows my needs. I’ve always consciously known that He will never forsake me, but sometimes we just need reassurance. Reassurance in the perfect Father that reminds us of His goodness. My life verse recently has been Psalm 9:10, “And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you.” As we get to know the Father, there is no other choice than to put our trust in Him. I am excited to just see Him prove His worthiness time and time again. I am excited to serve Him for the rest of eternity! Because He is good, He is trustworthy, and He deserves all the glory. 

A physical update ~ this week we have spent our days in a small town in Sicily. It has been a restful week, growing in relationship with Jesus and with each other. Tomorrow we fly to Milan, where we are spending only 2 days and we have tickets to see the Lord’s Supper. Then we are spending 4 days in Northern Italy, then 10 days in central Italy. After, we are headed to Rome for New Years and our flight to Mexico on January 2nd. This may sound a little insane, and all over the place, but I promise there is a reason. Seth Barnes had wanted us to plan this month, a month of travel, rest, and quiet time with the Lord. We all had a bunch of ideas, but we sat down and prayed about where God wanted us to go. We all got random pieces or people or places, we ended up piecing everything together like a puzzle. We still haven’t figured out everything, or what all the Lord wants to do through us, but we are going to step out in faith and trust that the Lord will guide our steps. Until next week!