The beginning

Thanks for joining me on my journey chronicling what God is doing in my life.  My journey began in December of 2016, after I read Jennie Allen’s book Anything.  I prayed a prayer, “Lord, I’ll do anything.”  At least that’s what my heart desired to pray.  My prayer went more like this:  “Lord, I wish I could say I would do anything for you, but if you asked me to walk away from my job with nothing else lined up…I just don’t think I could do that.”  You see, security was my big hang up.  I knew everything I had was from God but it was comfortable knowing there was a steady paycheck to provide the “necessities” – with a few extras.  Well, He showed me I could walk away.  And that He is faithful and does provide.  In Matthew 6, Jesus questions us about why we worry about food and clothes.  In verse 33,  he tells us “seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”  James tell us in chapter 4 how arrogant we are to make plans for our lives.  Instead, we should be saying “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” (Verse 15).

You may wonder where the title Rainbows and Otter Pelt came from.  Early on, I related my journey to the Israelites crossing the Jordan River into the Promised Land.  In Joshua 3:4, God directs them to follow the ark of the covenant and keep it in their sight, “then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before.”  I prayed for firmly closed doors and giant neon signs as I tried to discern God’s leading for my life.  When I would question whether I had interpreted something correctly, sometimes I would ask God to show me a sign.  I saw more rainbows in the summer of 2017 than I had ever seen in any other given timeframe!  Once I saw rainbows 2 days in a row!

In August 2017, I returned to school to receive training as a pharmacy technician and answer the call to serve on international missions.  The weekend before I started classes, I was questioning if I was doing the correct thing.  It didn’t make sense – in the world’s eyes- to abandon a job search and return to school.  A friend of mine, who was also a coworker at my previous job, sent me an Otter Pelt that I had always admired hanging on his office wall; along with an encouraging note commenting on how he and his wife were impressed with the joy I expressed in following God’s direction for my life.  God had instructed the Israelites to gather stones from the middle of the Jordan, while the waters were parted, and set them up as memorial stones to commemorate what God had done for them that day.  The Otter Pelt is my first “memorial stone” commemorating what God is doing for me along this journey.  A friend of mine who encourages me along the way suggested the title Rainbows and Otter Pelt.

God continues to confirm I am on the correct path.  I have already had the opportunity to travel to Guatemala this past spring and help build a house for a young couple.  I have 2 more mission trips arranged for this summer, each a medical mission and I will be serving in the pharmacy.  July to Colombia and August to Ukraine.  I invite you to follow along on my upcoming adventures, as well as future adventures, in this blog.  I will try to share joys, as well as trials, and spiritual insight I gain along the way.