Unraveling

Hello from Jackson, Kentucky! 

The race is flying by and we are already a month in! I wanted to update you all on what life will look like for the next two weeks. We are going to be working with Samaritan’s Purse for the next two weeks. A few weeks ago, flood waters submerged houses all over Breathitt County. The Kentucky River was reported to rise a devastating 47 feet! Looking around the area, you can see flood debris in the trees. Samaritan’s Purse has set up a base here in Jackson to serve the surrounding area. We will be going to various homes to help clear out debris and anything that can’t be salvaged. A cool thing about Samaritan’s Purse is they emphasize ministry to the homeowners first. As a task-oriented person, this is going to be challenging for me to keep my focus on people instead of the work that needs to be done! We start tomorrow and work 8 hour days till October 8th. On the 15th we will leave for our first country, Nicaragua! 

This past week the word “unravel” has come up in my prayer life. This word has come up multiple times since then. I have been mediating on the prayer, “Lord, unravel what is not you in my life!” It wasn’t till today that God revealed to me the full meaning of this word. 

I grew up crocheting and I still come back to it as a hobby. When you crochet you start off with a chain stitch that makes what you call a “daisy chain.” It serves as the base for the whole piece. It’s vital that every stitch is the same size and that the perfect tension is maintained throughout the chain. The cool thing about crocheting is that, at any point, you can simply pull on the lead thread and the piece will start to unravel. You can unravel how ever much you need to and start again. All of a sudden, my request for the Lord to “unravel” me made so much sense! 

Here’s a prayer I wrote today:

“Jesus, you are unraveling the lies and the built-up perceptions of your character that aren’t truth in my life. Continue to unravel anything in my life that is not you. Help me. Highlight the strings in my life that need to be unraveled. God, just as a daisy chain can be unraveled, I desire for you to unravel the things that aren’t of you. I want to be unraveled to be woven again into a new creation. A new piece where the old thread is completely gone and the new thread is all that remains. Thank you Jesus for teaching me how to maintain the perfect tension in my life.” 

We don’t often stop to see every stitch of our lives that God is building, but each one is vital to the whole. I see the lies in my life as “loopholes” for the enemy. These loopholes must be unraveled by God and replaced with truth! The more I rest in the Lord’s love and his truth, the more the loopholes in my life will be exposed. 

So I ask you, what are the loopholes in your crochet life? That is, what are the current lies in your life that need to be unraveled? 

Identity the lies and replace them with truth. Ask God, “what is the truth that replaces this lie?” You will be surprised how he shows up! 

PSALM 139:1-3,5,13-15,23-24

“You have searched me, Lord,
    and you know me.

You know when I sit and when I rise;
    you perceive my thoughts from afar.

You discern my going out and my lying down;
    you are familiar with all my ways.

You HEM me in behind and before,
    and you lay your hand upon me.

For you CREATED my inmost being;
    you KNIT me together in my mother’s womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well.

My frame was not hidden from you
    when I was made in the secret place,
    when I was WOVEN together in the depths of the earth.

Search me, God, and know my heart;
    test me and know my anxious thoughts.

See if there is any offensive way in me,
    and lead me in the way everlasting.”

2 CORINTHIANS 5:17

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

PRAYER REQUESTS:

-Pray for the homeowners that we will encounter, that their hearts would be softened to receive the Gospel. Also for those who have are saved, that they would be re-ignited to shine the light of Christ in their communities! 

-Pray that I would have eyes to see people as Jesus sees them—as his beloved! 

-Pray for physical health and protection as 50+ of us work long hours

Here’s some pictures of my team and life in Georgia: