In January, Jordan and I participated in a 3-week fast with
our church. City Life fasts every
January up until our anniversary service at the end of the month, as a way to
listen to God, prepare our hearts for the new year, and be present with
Him. In the past, Jordan and I have
fasted for part of the three weeks, or only fasted something like coffee as
I’ve been nursing or pregnant for most of our time at City Life! Ha!
But this year, even though pregnant, we decided to do a
sugar-control fast based off the book The Sugar Control Bible . This program
completely eliminated all forms of sugar: no bread or pasta or really carbs of
any kind, and certainly no condiments.
Mostly we ate vegetables, meat, and fruit. We did find alternatives like Bragg’s Liquid
Aminos instead of soy sauce, olive oil and vinegar for dressing, and Ezekiel
bread for our grains. We eliminated all
juice, coffee, and desserts.
Let me tell you, the first week was ROUGH. Headaches, shakes, and pure exhaustion just
wiped me out. Jordan seemed to be doing
better than I was, but overall, we struggled.
By the second week we turned a corner, and by week 3, we felt better
than we have in months. It was worth
pushing through. I also feel like all
the fruits and veggies we were eating kept our immune systems strong, as both
our girls got sick that month and neither of us caught their illness.
But aside from the details of the physical fast, this was a
spiritual fast. A time where we cleansed
our bodies and our hearts to let God speak and move and answer prayer and just
allow ourselves to be with our
Creator. All distractions set aside,
Jordan and I began praying about some big decisions in our lives.
For the past 6 months, I have been pursuing applications to
graduate schools to begin my Masters of Divinity. This degree will allow me to pursue my Ph.D.
and ultimately find a job as a professor by the time Jordan retires from the
Air Force. See my post titled "Chadash"to read
more about this journey.
Towards the end of last fall, I had come to a decision about
where to attend school. I eliminated
several from my list, and decided on a school that was local, but I could still
attend classes online. It also has a Ph.D
program I could roll into after my MDiv.
However, after nearly three months of dead-end phone calls and emails
with their admissions and advising offices, I began to feel this wasn’t the
school for me. I should look
elsewhere. So after we returned from
Christmas vacation, and upon starting our fast, I got back online and searched
for more schools.
Denver Seminary came up in my search, as well as my alma
mater Wayland Baptist University. A
former professor and now friend clued me in that WBU was adding the biblical
languages back into their MDiv, and I could pretty much transfer my entire
first degree into that program. Denver
Seminary also offered to take a large portion of transfer credits, but they
also encouraged me to start classes this spring as they would give me 50% off
tuition due to leftover grant money they still had. The fact that there was even grant money left
so close to the semester beginning was a miracle, and definitely caught my
attention.
It came down to needing to make a choice within 48 hours, as
I either needed to enroll in classes at Denver Seminary, or continue to wait
for Wayland to reply back to me. It was
a Wednesday night, and I needed to register by Friday. Jordan left the house that night for an
appointment, so after I got the girls to bed, I just took time in silence and
solitude with my Father.
Lord, please. I need clear direction. A yes or a no will do. Please make it obvious where I should go to
school.
God gave me this verse as I had been praying and reading my
Bible: “I [You] have been anointed with fresh oil.” (Psalm 92:10)
This word “anointed” comes from the Hebrew word “balal”
which means “to fodder to overflow.”
“Fodder” means “food” typically given to cattle, or in others words “to
feed.” “Anointed” is used in many other
places in the Bible with the word “mishchah” (to consecrate), but in this case,
David chose “balal.” To feed to overflow.
I am anointing your
decision to go back to school, Amy. And
not only that, I’m going to provide an overflow of blessing. Just trust Me.
I felt I had been given the answer I needed.
Just to be sure, I called Wayland back on Thursday to ask
about their financial aid for graduate students. Unfortunately, they only offered unsubsidized
loans. We had already decided I would
not go back to school on loans, so this was disappointing news. And yet, I felt God answering my
prayers. By the time Jordan got home
from work on Thursday, I was sure of my decision. I shared my heart with him, and Jordan felt
God had impressed on him the exact same message.
I would pursue my education at Denver Seminary, and
begin classes in just four days.
I already had a scheduled phone call that Friday with a girl
from admissions that had reached out to me from the beginning. I told her I was ready to register for
classes, so she walked me through the online process. As we were talking, she interrupted me and
said, “Hey, while I’ve been on the phone with you I’ve been in communication
with the financial aid office, and we not only want to offer you the 50% off
tuition grant money for this semester, we also want to offer you a merit
scholarship based on the fact that you want to pursue your Ph.D. after
graduating.”
My jaw-dropped. And I
began to tear up as I asked her to repeat herself.
“Yeah, we have a renewable scholarship for you
effective immediately. So you can use
some of that to pay for your credits this semester, too.”
Ok guys, this was truly unbelievable. I had literally been hitting dead-ends for
months. And what seemed like overnight,
I was accepted into one of the top three seminaries for online MDiv programs in
the country, and offered a ton of financial help to get started.
I will feed you to
overflow.
Having to make huge decisions in a limited amount of time is
overwhelming. But knowing I was trusting
in God who loves me, guides me, and sees my future was so reassuring and gave
me such peace. I knew without a doubt I
was meant to go back to school. That
decision was made last summer. So
deciding to begin classes last minute for spring semester seemed like a rash
choice, but really, it wasn’t. It was
time to walk out my faith and TRUST.
And so, friends, here we go! I’m just beginning my third
week of classes, and so far, I’m having a great experience. This school is everything they claim to be,
and have impressed me so much with their program, professionalism, and
curriculum. I am so honored to be a
student at Denver Seminary, and am more than excited to finally get going!
If God has impressed a dream on your heart, what are you
doing about it? Are you praying? Have you fasted? Have you removed all
distraction so you can really hear from Him?
I would love more than anything to encourage you to lean into what God
is calling you into, and to be here as a sounding board if you need a listening
ear!
Here’s to more new beginnings and to living out my dream!
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