New Things.

So, two weeks ago I closed up my Etsy shop. I was sad, but it was in response to direct leading from the Lord to make room for the new in my life.

The night before I was making the announcement, I was wrestling in bed trying to fall asleep - questioning God as to why He would give me something only to take it away. Little Branches and all that it has become, was {and is} a gift from the Lord - completely of His doing, not mine - and so why, God would You feel the need to give it to me only to take it away from me a short time later?

God gently reminded me that night :: "Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert." {Isaiah 43:19}. He kept whispering to me, "I'm doing something new, Becky. Let me do something new."

Let's be real. I don't want to do something new. Well, let me back up. I want to do something new - it's just that I want to do it the way I want to do it. I want to know where I'm headed and I want to see that it builds on where I already am. I don't want to go somewhere completely new, right? Just sort of new. Lord, I don't want to keep starting over. I don't want to lose focus or to lose ground - I want to keep moving forward. Not backward or seemingly sideways. 

The reality is that it doesn't always feel like He's doing something new. Sometimes, in the midst of hard days - especially consecutive boring and mundane days - it feels a little more like He's not doing anything at all. It feels a little like I've met my quota - I've peaked {at age 33!} - and now I'm supposed to just step back and be "normal". 

Y'all. Just typing that out I want to scream to myself "that is a LIE!" None of us are called to be normal - to live boring and mundane lives. We are called to follow Him step by step until the day we die! Life is full of peaks and valleys {ugh, those valleys...} but He's faithful every step of the way! I need to be reminded often that just because the NEW isn't coming as quickly or clearly as I want it to, He is still working in my midst, building on the very foundation that He has already built in my being.

Can I not see it? Will I not look for it? 

Is God doing a new thing in your life? I would love to hear about it - it would be of such encouragement to me to hear of God's hand in your life. I was with a friend last night who was speaking of all of the hard junk God is working her through right now - and although it probably sucks for her right now, it is such a blessing to me to see God working on her. He's not done with us, y'all! Not by a long shot... and when I do go out, I don't know about you - but I want to go out swinging.