Rejoice!

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 

Philippians 4:4-7

Wow. So much has been going on in my tiny little mind and soul over the past several weeks. I have felt many different emotions including joy and thankfulness yet also feeling anxiousness and even confusion. I obviously haven't put much effort into the blog world in quite awhile because I haven't really felt like I knew where my thoughts were going. More to come soon on some really exciting life adventures that have been unfolding for me.

For now I want to tell you this story:

Just yesterday I decided that I needed to quit complaining about my lack of x,y, and z in Abilene, Kansas. I often tell people that I enjoy the activities I'm pursuing here, yet feel like a few key things in life are missing. So enough of just talking about it, I decided that I need to start being proactive and lay all my wants and desires at the feet of Jesus. I decided to go for a prayer walk. I walk often and yesterday I decided to actually pray out loud to Jesus as I walked around town. I was actually inspired to take this action after spending time with a dear friend in Philadelphia who walks weekly in prayer for her neighborhood. I walked past our community garden and prayed that the space would come together and we would fill all our garden spots with excited neighborhood people wanting to garden. I then walked around town and simply prayed that God would provide other like-minded people right here to invest in this town. I know that I'm here right now for a specific reason and it would be really great if I had a few other people as excited about the things that I am excited about. I also prayed for a great number of others things and people but I want to tell you about how God has already provided.

Today, I met an amazing like-minded lady. One of my co-workers introduced us as we apparently share many things in common. In the short 10 minutes of a conversation I learned that she is writing a grant with hopes of starting another community garden at a local church. She mentioned she tries to eat as much organic food as possible and has her entire yard in edible landscape. She also is involved in natural healing and acupuncture as her career. Wow!

I am simply amazed at how quickly God speaks when we ask. Rejoice. I say it again, Rejoice!