blessed fruits of sacrificial choices...

"Have you ever experienced the blessed fruits of sacrificial choices, in a renewed fullness of life in which you believed but could hardly imagine, leaving you wondering how could it ever be that you even questioned or doubted a certain path? Ever looked back and wondered how could you have ever craved for "garbages"? Ever got tempted to celebrate what is in view (coming) but kept experiencing what was too wonderful to gloss over, being unwilling to fast-forward in a yet brighter future, lest you would miss much of the awesome present?"
This paragraph may need to be read more than once to get anything out of it and if you don't that is ok also because I am going to share with you what it means to me. Since before I even got to Greece I have been having so many feelings and emotions trapped inside me but I didn't know how to express myself or put into words how I felt so I just keep them all inside. My heart and soul were crying out for help but I didn't know how to ask. I needed understanding and guidance but didn't know what to say. I was looking for answers in all the wrong places. I was not fully relying on God and I was not summiting myself completely to Him. I thought I was taking a step of faith when I came to Greece but I did not know what God had in store for me when I got here. I have felt like I am standing on the edge of a cliff and God is showing me His deepest desires for my life but I have to have the faith and trust to jump. I have been standing there looking over the edge telling myself how far the fall is and the possible traps along the way; when God has been trying to show me the blessing it will hold. He is trying to show me that He will be my parachute. He wants me to experience the excitement and fear of the free fall but in the right time He will open His chute to gently lower me to my feet on solid ground. God is ready but I am not.
Someone once told me that our life is like a parade. We are standing on the street watching each float go by. We will see the full parade and experience the excitement but will only see one float at a time. By the end of the parade we will have seen each float and have been able to enjoy each one for what it is worth; not anticipating the next. But then there is God and He is looking down seeing the whole parade all at once; He sees the full parade and knows what float will be next in our life. He knows exactly where we will be when it comes and who we will be with; but the greatest thing is He will know where our heart is. This is how He looks at our life and He will not allow a float to come into our life if we are not ready to see it or to experience all it has to offer.
The part of the paragraph at the beginning that really stuck out to me was "blessed fruits of sacrificial choices". This has come to mean many things to me. I will share two of them now. The first being that sometimes we have to sacrifice what we love the most in order to gain the blessing in life. We have to be willing to follow Christ at any cost; not on our own terms. And the second is the sacrificial choice Jesus made on the cross for all. He gave His life in order for me to have to blessings I have today. He willingly bore the agonizing pain of the scourging and the cross that I might have the opportunity to live eternally with Him.
Christ did this unbelievable act for each one of us and He is waiting for us to surrender to Him.
Prayer Request
Pray for me that I might have to faithfulness to jump of the cliff.
Pray for my family and me that we might take the struggles we have and allow God to shape and mold us into the beautiful creatures he wants us to be. Also for a stronger bond of unity and love for each member of the family no matter the situation.
And for Yiannis who is still on the long hard path to recovery.
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