Living the Journey

Last week marks one year since I went on a Journey to the Heart. I can honestly say that the Journey was the most awesome and blessed week of my life!

I think the most wonderful part was the prayer—just spending hours praying with the girls . . . not knowing how much time was going by! It was SO powerful. I can honestly say that until the Journey praying out loud in public was terrifying to me for some reason. And most of the time I found prayer meetings to be really, well, boring! All that changed by the time I came home . . . and now the prayer really stands out in my memories of Journey. We really saw God work!

I learned so much, and the Lord really convicted me of some things in my life that I needed to change. Even more than that, however, it was very refreshing spiritually. And the Scripture that I memorized in the Northwoods has continually been a blessing to me . . . a constant reminder of the wonderful memories of God’s goodness!

But here’s one thing that really made the difference for me. On the Wednesday during our Journey, an issue rather randomly came up for discussion in our group. By the time we were done, I felt prompted to call home and talk to my mom . . . but I fought it. I convinced myself it was just a really little thing—and it would be SO much easier to do in person (yeah right!). Long story short, however, I DID call home and talk to my mom. Afterwards I felt TONS better. It was a minor little thing—something I thought was no big deal—but it was an issue that my mom and I had never really discussed before.

When I got home from the Journey, I was REALLY on a spiritual mountaintop! Little did I know what was waiting for me. The DAY that I got home, something happened in our family that developed into the biggest and hardest struggle that I have ever been through. It was exactly related to what God had led me to talk with my Mom about while I was on the Journey.

And what did I learn? First, I should never question the Holy Spirit. Second, that just because I’m on a spiritual mountain doesn’t mean I’m invincible! I find it rather ironic that the hardest struggle of my life so far was literally waiting on my doorstep when I got home! I believe what I learned and experienced of God on the Journey helped me get through it all . . . and be stronger in the end!

And third, never underestimate the little things. I started a relationship with my mom in an entirely new area with just ONE phone call that I tried to convince myself didn’t need to be made! Yet if we had not opened the doors to discussion on this issue, I can honestly say that today, I would not be sitting here writing about how good God is!

God is merciful. I am SO grateful that God is using the Journey in the lives of young people across the country!

~ Elianna
June 2008 Journey

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This entry was posted on Sunday, July 5th, 2009 at 6:20 am and is filed under The Journey Continued. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.