Click HERE if you missed Part 2 of Kelsey’s Story: “The Little Things”
Being Set Up
The first few months of my transition season actually set me up for the second half of the transition – which, I am pleased to report, was the upswing. The first few months of the transition season fell at the end of 2017. The word the Lord gave me for 2017 was discipline. Without even fully realizing it at the time, I would need increased discipline to stick to what the Lord had told me; discipline to consistently, daily press into the Lord. I believe this discipline was a test of my seriousness about wanting to step deeper into the calling the Lord had placed on my life. My faith and my beliefs were being tested: Did I truly believe God to be who He says He is even when my circumstances might try to call His character into question?
Did I truly believe God to be who He says He is even when my circumstances might try to call His character into question?
The word the Lord gave me for 2018 was faith: to expect, to call out the unseen and bring it into the seen. After going through a devotional series where the topic was “randomly” on faith, hearing Mia Fieldes’s story of how to move in faith, and specific passages of Scripture concerning faith the Lord would lead me to, all I could say (with a chuckle and a smile) when I heard the Lord whisper the word “faith” to me for 2018 was of course it is!
So with greater boldness I thanked God in advance for things He was going to do in 2018. I thanked Him for the opportunity to have a greater manifestation of my calling. I thanked Him for the victories He and I would claim this year. I thanked Him that He didn’t bring my husband to me in 2017, but was already thankful that He would in 2018. I thanked Him for the justice that would be served in 2018. On the day that the tides began to change in my heart, I prayed, “God, I know that You are my Father who only gives good gifts and looks to provide for me, Your child. You are my Provider, not my job, so I expect You to provide and thank You for providing. Spirit, help me to not put Your provision in a box of what it’s supposed to look like.”
The Lord answered these expectant prayers quicker than I anticipated, and in such an intentional way. There was no option for me to give glory to anyone but HIM, and I still laugh when I remember His overwhelming provision. We’ll get back to this… and I have no doubt you will be as blown away as I was.
It was the week of Thanksgiving in 2017. My family had driven an RV down to California from Washington State, and I jumped on a flight from Texas to meet them in Palm Springs. Together, we enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner at Disneyland and then made the drive up to Sacramento. My parents had friends in the area, and my stepdad was invited to share his testimony at Bayside Church during our visit. As my parents’ friends showed us around the church campus, we got to chatting about life and I mentioned my unknown and upcoming transition. It was suggested that I look into the church’s Thrive School.
There was no option for me to give glory to anyone but HIM, and I still laugh when I remember His overwhelming provision.
Like I have previously said, I didn’t want to make any moves if the Lord wasn’t in it. I figured I’d knock on doors and if one opened then I’d walk through it until it closed. With an open heart, I started researching the school. Thrive School is a Bible school aimed for those who have just graduated high school and have a church-ministry specific calling on their lives. While the school sounded like a great opportunity, it sounded a lot like the YWAM DTS I had already done when I was just out of high school. As I explored further, I found a position called a Staff Lead. The role included staffing and assisting with running the Thrive School, discipling a small group of girls who were enrolled at the school, and interning with a ministry of my choice at the church. At the end of the commitment, if I still felt that ministry in the church was what I was called to, then the school administrators would help me find a full-time, paid ministry position either at their church or at another. Now that sounded like a great opportunity and right up my alley.
After an initial phone call, I had a few FaceTime interviews with the Thrive School administrators. These interviews confirmed for me that this where I was supposed to be – I had deep peace during and after each interview, and had zero red flags go up. So I began to plan. My word for 2018 was faith, so in faith I started to figure out how much I would need to save up for the internship, how I could cut back my costs over the next six months, and shared the anticipated plans with my close friends, family, and pastor who all supported the opportunity. About a month later I was visiting the school and meeting the staff.
I’m so glad that my transition wasn’t simply from Texas to California. Yes, I did visit Thrive School about a month later, but instead of flying into Sacramento from Texas, I would be flying in from Washington State…
UNPRECEDENTED 
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