February 4, 2014

I have heard it so many times.  The first time was enough.  But she continues to testify to HIS goodness…

With each time she unselfishly shares, I hear something new, another part to her journey. Usually more gripping than the last.  But what rips at my very soul is that she tells it each time.  It is not a book I pick up and read or an article I have ear-marked for later.  But a woman, a person, flesh and blood with feelings. She is her child, their mother and thankfully my dear friend. And for the sake of His Kingdom, she tells her own story over and over and over and over again. God bless her.  

How many times has she relived those moments, the misery and pain.  I watch her beautiful face and I am doubled over, blinded by tears and my heart aches.  I choke with the pain in my chest.   Moving the cursor back, hearing her words, her voice again and again…  It is almost too much.

But there it is. Radiating through the broken chains.  Shining like a light. His radiance breaks through and takes captive the pain, the brokenness and all I see is what He has made whole.  I hear these broken words and my heart aches because all I can see through this distorted and safe perspective is the beauty of my sweet Lord.  His perfection.  His peace.  His plan.  

She tells her story for the sake of His.  She is my friend.  She is my sister in Christ.  She has been bound and broken in more ways than I would ever want to imagine.  And truly, she is a new creation in Christ, giving God all of the Glory.  

The harvest is plenty but the workers are few.  

You have one you know?  You have a story.  He has given you a story.  Will you share it for the sake of His Kingdom?  

We hear story after story.  Passed down on the laps of loved ones, snuggled close to comfort at story time…  taught in circles on Sunday mornings.  We have come to know them, love them. Depend on them.  We lean hard on the faith of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.  We trust their story and are encouraged by the unwavering faith, the bravery of David and his one stone.  We cheer with certainty as Daniel bravely stands in the den of lions.  

Throughout our lives we are energized and strengthened by these acts of faith, the Firsthand Faith stories; encouraging one another to stand strong and have steadfast faith.  But at what point do we take these second-hand stories of their Firsthand Faith and make them our own.  

When do we grab hold and believe that truly the hand of God reached down and shut the mouth of the lion?  Truly one stone and one man seeking the heart of Christ brought a giant to the ground. Unfaltering faith.   Will we trust God to give us our very own First Hand Faith stories?  

Tajuan shares her story, her Firsthand Faith stories over and over, again and again and again in hopes for truly one thing…  you will see Christ.  

My hearts desire is to simply write here, sharing our life, our struggles and our victories. Hoping that something is stirred deep within you, something you can not ignore.  I hope that you will see adversary and resolve,  pain and peace.  But most importantly, that you see freedom from BROKEN chains.

I pray you listen and you hear.  I pray that you take her Firsthand Faith stories, our Firsthand Faith stories and you refuse to settle for anything short of YOUR very own.   Believing that Christ died so you would be truly free.  So not to live this life barely breathing…  sucking fumes from a bottle of secondhand faith.  But to BELIEVE what God did for her HE can do for you.  KNOWING that God answers prayer, restores marriages, removes addictions and brings peace beyond understanding.  

I pray you are broken and brave enough to recognize that HE wants to give you a Firsthand Faith story to pass down to your children and grandchildren.  I pray a door is open and with deep conviction you desire nothing less than to step through grabbing someone’s hand.   Reminding them of the three men who walked away sans a singed hair.  And as you relish in the old stories from long ago, you realize you have your own story to share.  

It will take the broken, the surrendered and their stories to remind this tarnished world that there is one who redeems and restores and that He is coming back again one day.   It will take obedience and those that love like Christ encouraging you that HE desires NOTHING LESS. 

Please take a moment, she is sharing again.  For Him.  As you listen to her story and as you read ours here…  KNOW He desires for you to have your very own Firsthand Faith story to share.  You see it isn’t my story or Andy’s and it really isn’t Tajuan’s story to tell.   It is Christ story being told through beautiful brokenness and complete surrender.  

Share your story, His story for the sake of The Kingdom.  You have one.

The harvest is plenty but the workers are few.

desperate to tell His story,