Worth It All

I grew up in a very conservative house hold and in a very conservative church. The Holy Spirit was always an ambiguous character that somehow played a part in the Trinity and I guess he lived in me once I "prayed the prayer" but that didn't really mean much to me because I didn't feel anything differently when that happened.

After my Sophomore year at Taylor I got so fed up with how mundane my simple Christian life was. I was so sick of reading about all of these incredible lives that the heroes of my faith lived, while looking at my own life and feeling .... well.... bored by it all. So I took that summer and cry out for truth and clarity. I decided that because my life didn't match up with what i was reading in scripture about TRUE Kingdom living; this equation meant that either I wasn't living right or scripture wasn't true. I had to figure it out and got the point where I said that i was sick of living a faith that didn't match up and i wanted all or nothing- if i didn't find it to be true after seeking for it then i was ready to be done with it.

So that summer i finally gave my faith my all. I spent hours in prayer daily (i have to add my best friend Carly was in on all of this with me too- so we had each other to spur one another on), we would spend extended amounts of time fasting, we'd go out into nature away from anyone else (which isn't hard in N.Michigan) and then separate from each other and just be in the Word crying out for Him to meet us and show us the truth about all of this. I wanted to live the Christian life that involved healing, prophecy, deliverance, speaking in tongues, and all of the miracles that Jesus and the disciples walked in( ICor. 12). I wanted normal Christian living, not the lame walk that i had been journeying through live in. And that was the beginning of everything changing. I had so much to wrestle through and so much to learn but as soon as i truly desired it, and i mean desperately yearned for it (ICor 12:31)- He met me right where i was.

I hate that I live on the other side of the country from you all. I wish that I could just come there and we could all just sit in your living room Brad and Shannon and cry out to God together for his Spirit to fall on us the way that it did at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4). I wish i could be there to just soak in His presence with you and encourage one another with the Word and testimonies of His goodness. But i have to trust that His Spirit is powerful enough to unite us even when i can not physically be there. I have so much that I want to share with you about my experience with the Holy Spirit and how i had the scales removed from my eyes and how i really fell into an intimate deep loving relationship with Jesus because of it.

Shannon I've especially had a continued burden to pray for you and cry out that God would fill you with such a renewed sense of Joy in Him that it would remove the burden of all of the thoughts that and worries that are holding your heart captive right now.

Ok so i'm ALWAYS wanting to have you guys listen to different songs that are powerful to me in my times of prayer and so i think that you all need to go to imeem.com (if you haven't already) and set up an account NOW. it's free......

after you do that- in the search box type : Rita Springer, and then on the second song listed "Worth it all". I feel like it could touch all of our hearts in different ways right now- but please listen to it and I hope it is encouraging for this season. He pulls us closer to Him and into His ways even when it feels painful or frustraiting to us.

Sorry for this SUPER long post. I love you all (and i like you Alan)- ha.