HEY! Welcome back! I hope your holiday season was full of beauty and that your new year is being met with lots of love and joy. I am honored you're here reading!
I haven't been as active on this space as I desired to be when creating it back in July. This blog post has a lot to do with why. As much as I enjoy writing, and as passionate as I am about telling the current-day stories of what Jesus is doing, I've felt for months like I just had no words, and for good reason. Not that Jesus wasn't moving, or that there weren't stories to tell, I was just left speechless. I was in a season of deep refinement. A season where Jesus was drawing me close to Him...like super close. A season that was difficult and challenging, but a season where I experienced the rawness and beauty of the Father's heart for me. Let me tell you about it!
When I moved to Colorado back in July, I was praying for more vision about what this move would look like. The words I felt God press on my heart were "Beauty, abundance, pour-over, and GO". I walked into this new season fully expecting it to be those things and more, and it was!.. But it looked nothing like I expected it to. Life here was literally running 100 miles per hour. I was working full time at Samaritan Coffee @225, Part-time at Starbucks, making an effort to go to the gym, trying to be intentional in spending time with my "host family", seeking to get plugged into community/ministry/a church body, and also was just deeply desiring adventure. As you can imagine, it quickly became exhausting. Persevering became a battle, loneliness crept in, and the question of "am I even doing the right thing" became a cry to God. I just didn't get it. The Lord spoke sooooo many sweet things over this move to Colorado. I know Him to be a man of His word, but I was frustrated. I brought my frustration to Him. He would say the same thing over and over..."Draw near to me". So I would.
In the midst of my questions, weariness, doubt, heartache, longing, and defeat, I was met with hope, strength, peace, joy, celebration, embrace, and closeness. In the most supernatural way. Time and time again, the joy found in His presence would literally lead my feet to dancing...like no joke! His Spirit within me became my daily strength. My every breath was met with His. When I say He was close...He was CLOSE. I became like Mary. Just sitting at His feet. Experiencing King Jesus being moved by MY tears...even when they were tears of doubt and little faith towards Him (like in John 11). Anything I was doing was literally straight from Him. He became my everything, and just when I thought I couldn't be anymore in love with Him, I fell for Him even deeper. I learned again and in deeper measure that nothing I do is about me at all. It was a season of learning how to let every breath of Jesus' be my own. It really is His breath in our lungs and it really is all about Him. Even with the vision and hope of what moving here would be, I was reminded that it's all for ,by, and through HIM. It was a season of dying to my self all over again, and fine tuning my ears to better learn the voice of my Father.
His kingdom. His will. His glory.
December came. It came with breakthrough, revelation, transition, and newness. It was in the winter where clarity came. It was FULL in the best ways. In the fullness, the Lord revealed to me what it was I just walked through, and opened doors to what was to come. All in the midst of December, my life was completely redirected! Literally by the snap of His fingers. It's almost too much to share in an entire blog post, and I honestly don't really know how to put it all into words, but something I have come to love is the art of sharing stories through photos.
Down below I created a photo blog that takes you through the journey of December...in just a glimpse.
So, here we are now. As January comes to an end, I am seeing the Lords goodness and intentionality when it comes to leading my life, caring for my heart, and preparing the way. I have taken the first few steps of journeying into this new season and I am left in awe at the beauty that came from the recent wilderness season. I am grateful for a God who desires with all of His heart to be close to His people. This season was met with His overwhelming and sweet, sweet closeness.
Here's all the "new's" That January Brought Me:
I am now manager of the sweet little coffee shop Samaritan Coffee @225.
I no longer work at Starbucks.
I moved into an apartment and my roommate is Paige (my TL from the World Race)!
I committed to living in Colorado Springs for 13 more months...which is wild because I originally only planned on being her for just a few.
I deleted my Instagram.
I am a blogger for my CO besties business, Freedom Creators Co.
I have had some exciting local ministry opportunities come up (I'll share more about them all in another bog...)
I am officially beginning the process of opening my own coffee shop (EKKKKK!!!!!).
GOD IS GOODDDDDDDDDDD!!! Thank you for taking this journey with me. I plan to share more in this space as the Spirit leads. I love you all so so much! Please reach out!
This life is a joy, and to think it's not my own ;)
You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. JEREMIAH 29:13
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Kourtney V.