When the Lord says "STOP!!!"

I have been in the states on a Visa run/family/friends visiting-staycation since last Friday. Wow. What a whirlwind tour! I have really wanted to see EVERYONE while I'm home. I got in Friday night late (there was high winds in Ohio and Indiana that killed like 30 people and delayed my plane by a bit over an hour). I had the joy of seeing my best friend, Liz, who "happened" to be in Findlay from Cincinnati for the weekend ("happened" is kind of like saying one got fat by reading the labels of the chocolate bars. It just doesn't work like that. I know God had his hand in that timing!!!). After a quick lunch I drove up to Michigan in time for Kasey's 30th rock-tabulous surprise birthday party ♥♥♥ AWESOME ♥♥♥ What an amazing time to see friends, completely surprise Kasey, AND totally get to remember the good old days and roller skate the afternoon away!! Right from that I was swept away by some of my favorite people in the world to hang out at Rockwell's for the evening and just sit and talk. I was so blessed to see so many good friends and really feel their ♥ and encouragement. 

I had purposefully made no set plans for my time in Grand Rapids, knowing things would fall into place, while also feeling the Holy Spirit tell me to just rest. Just rest. Just rest. Well, the beginning of the week went by in a whirlwind...breakfast with one friend, brunch with another, shopping for those few things that can't be purchased in CR. I stayed at Tanya's house and had a WONDERFUL time making her family rice and beans, playing piano with her daughter, Toryana, and chatting until the wee hours of the evening (ok, like 11:00. But still, for me that's late!). I was still hearing the Holy Spirit tell me to rest, but I still wanted to see everyone and not miss out on anything. ♥


True to form in my rush to get to Michigan I may have forgotten something. My razor. Phew. Thank the LORD it is winter in Michigan and as the rules apply, pants and long sleeves cover a multitude of unshaven hair. Overshare? Maybe. But there's a point to it. I asked Tanya if I could have a razor to use. Ok, even in Michigan I can only take scratchy underarms so long. She had one of those great razors that have the disposable blades on top that you can pop on and off and change. She lent me the handle and a clean blade. On Wednesday morning when I was packing up, I felt the Lord tell me to take off my blade and take it with me. Weird, I know, but I have learned that obedience to the slightly weird that the Holy Spirit asks me to do is still much better than having to repent later. 

This is Sue in Costa Rica just a few weeks ago!!

My next destination was Bill and Sue Golder's house. They came on the last team from Grand Rapids just this February and we had such a great time! I was tickled pink when they invited me to stay with them while I was home. I planned on staying the night Wednesday with Sue and Claire (Bill was out of town and going to get in late), having breakfast with another friend in town on Thursday morning at one of my favorite restaurants, and driving down to Indianapolis to stay with my brother right after brunch. It was all set. 


I woke up Wednesday morning and as I was laying in bed saying Good Morning to the Lord I heard him softly say "STOP!!" That's all I heard. Just "stop". Instantly I knew what it meant. Stop. Stay where I am. REST. Don't go running off again. Take time. Shoot. BUT GOD!!! I have breakfast plans! What am I supposed to do?? I have my day organized!!! I already told Sue I was jetting early, what if they're not expecting that?!? But okay, I will be faithful. I will be obedient. I will stop.  I texted the friend I was supposed to have breakfast with. She's amazing and I just told her the Lord told me to stop. She texted back and she understood. I walked upstairs and Bill and Sue were having coffee in their front office. I simply said, "The Lord told me to stop. I hope you don't mind, but I cancelled my plans and would love to spend the morning with you guys."  Sue was THRILLED!! She was like, "REALLY?!?!? I selfishly prayed this morning that your plans would change. We would love to spend more time with you.". HA! God is so good. And funny. I teased Sue she's really lucky that God heard her prayer so quick. Sheesh. I wish all my prayers were answered that quick. ♥

What a relaxing morning! We sat and visited over coffee and just had wonderful, life-giving conversation. Sue asked me if I wanted to go to the gym with her for a bit. YES!! I LOVE the gym! Uh-oh, one problem. Those legs I had been hiding behind jeans all week? Nasty. I asked Sue if I could borrow a razor. Yup. You guessed it. She had the SAME handle that Tanya had. Either Tanya and Sue have been the victims of clever marketing by the razor company, or God knew exactly what he was doing. I told her the story of what the Lord had told me at Tanya's. Once again not only was it a confirming word to me that I wasn't crazy about the razor (ok, take that with a grain of salt, I am a bit crazy) but it was a confirming word that I was obedient that morning in cancelling my plans. I was exactly where God wanted me to be. It also lead to a great opportunity to encourage another woman at the gym and share Christ's love with her, too. And the best part was, I got to rest with some awesome people!


So what's the point? Some times God uses really practical things to speak to us. Some times he uses weird things to confirm that he was, in fact, speaking to us. Have you ever thought you were supposed to do something, but you didn't do it and then later in the day something came up and you wished you had done it? Maybe it was to put something in your bag, but you didn't put it in there, and later you needed it. Or maybe it was to shut something off and you didn't, and it ended up causing a mess. Or maybe you did do something and later on in the day you were really grateful for it. Some times that can be the Holy Spirit speaking into our lives, leading and guiding us in all our ways. The next time it happens, take that split second to think about it and see if it was actually the Lord talking to you. You never know when a razor blade can confirm that the Lord really just wanted your obedience and have you exactly where He wants yo to be.