Some­times I can get so darn dis­cour­aged with God. I know that’s such a sharp state­ment but it’s the truth. I think its only nor­mal for my flesh­ly self to won­der how in the world some things are going to work out. One thing I know for sure is that God con­sis­tent­ly shows up at exact­ly the right time. Some may say it’s easy to be pos­i­tive when you’re on a moun­tain top but I’m telling you God is just as present in the val­leys too. 

For the longest time grow­ing up, prob­a­bly just because of my naivety, I found that state­ment very cliché and it kin­da annoyed me. You’re prob­a­bly think­ing “Gosh whats up with this girl and her atti­tude” But I am just being hon­est. Those of us that have had the bless­ing of grow­ing up in church know what I mean. I had become numb to the true mean­ing behind the words I had heard over and over through­out my child­hood and ear­ly adult life. That is until I woke up one day IN the val­ley. Then its hits you, like woah this is what its like down here. It’s awful, lone­ly, and depressing. 

And then you start to real­ize that no one can get you through this tri­al or open a new door for you oth­er than your Cre­ator.

Being in the val­ley stripped me down real quick and made me real­ize that maybe those ole church folks knew a lit­tle more than I’d like to admit. God brought me through some of the most depress­ing and painful times in my life, and rela­tion­ships. I did not have to fear because I was not alone. My shep­herd was lead­ing me to still waters. He would nev­er give me any­thing I couldn’t han­dle. One inter­pre­ta­tion of Psalms 23 can be illus­trat­ed like this. Just a fun fact, sheep can only drink from sill water. Now I can’t 100% remem­ber why but I think it has some­thing to do with it knock­ing them off bal­ance. Like the sheep, God leads us to still water because its what we can han­dle. He wouldn’t lead us to a riv­er and throw us in, we would drown. He makes me lie down in green pas­tures. Holy moly am I thank­ful for this verse. This is God say­ing to me. Go rest where you have plen­ty. You’re in the val­ley but God is still pro­vid­ing and giv­ing you rest. Now the verse goes on and I could elab­o­rate more, in fact I have it tat­tooed to my chest. Call it my life verse if you will. It says, “For though I walk through the val­ley in shad­ows of death I will fear no evil for Thou Art with me.”

I say all that to say God is with me on this moun­tain right now. The oppor­tu­ni­ties he has pre­sent­ed me with over the course of the past cou­ple months is unre­al. I have over­come post par­tum depres­sion, got a new job, met some amaz­ing peo­ple and just launched a new online store where I can share my favorite home décor with peo­ple. Talk about blessed! Some­times I have to pinch myself to make sure this is real life. But God. But God felt I was ready. Just remem­ber when God does open a door that you are there to answer the door and receive His blessing!