Vulnerable.

Today is day 8 of my 7 journey.

These words are a reflection of day three....5 days late.

Last Monday night as I was doing my devotions, I really felt like the Lord was telling me that I needed to practice being still and position myself to be a better listener. My devotion was saying that we say that we want our relationship with Christ to be first and most important, yet we do not put in time and effort that reflects that. I know that I get so busy talking and being busy that I do not spend a lot of time being still in his presence. As I was going to sleep I prayed and asked the Lord to help me be still and listen for his voice. I prayed that I would acknowledge the voice of God and really seek him throughout my day Tuesday....little did I know what the day would bring.

Rewind: The past two months the Lord has been teaching me a lot about being vulnerable. More so that I really suck at being vulnerable. The shallow, easy stuff is way less messy.


Tuesday: These two things collided. In my preaching class we have been sharing our call to ministry. Most people were really personal and vulnerable in their stories. I shared my super short and to the point story. I did not really share anything past surface level. I had some things to say past surface level, but I didn’t do it. When I finished I had this feeling telling me I was not done. When everyone finished, I spoke up and asked Dr. Dunn if I could share a little something else. I had this huge burden lifted from me after I shared a vulnerable truth that the Lord had given me about my call. It did not take long for me to realize that in that moment God was answering the prayer that I had prayed on Monday night. I was reminded of chapel Tuesday morning and the story of Habukkuk. I expected God would answer it in a certain way instead of just committing this request to him and listening to him when he answered in his timing. I was embarrassed with myself that I had prayed, asked and received, yet when I received I fought it off long before I accepted his gift to me. The Lord spoke to me even when it felt like an inconvenient time. His timing is perfect and he is faithful.

Seven.

A few months ago I was just sitting on the side of a pool dangling my feet in the water when I heard "Oh, let's ask Tyler. I bet she will join us." I perked up as I heard my name. Lana and Kate swam over to me and explained their proposition. They were interested in going through Jen Hatmaker's Journey of 7. I had heard about it before and decided to join in.

"7 is the true story of how Jen (along with her husband and her children to varying degrees) took seven months, identified seven areas of excess, and made seven simple choices to fight back against the modern-day diseases of greed, materialism, and overindulgence. They would spend thirty days on each topic, boiling it down to the number seven. Only eat seven foods, wear seven articles of clothing, and spend money in seven places. Eliminate use of seven media types, give away seven things each day for one month, adopt seven green habits, and observe 'seven sacred pauses.' "

Due to camp, moving into school and a few other things I decided to wait and join in on month 2 (I'll tack month one onto the end). The whole month of August I was freaking out about only getting seven items of clothing for an entire month. I do not buy high end brand names; I really like target's clothes actually. However, I really like clothes and I have a lot of them. I knew this was going to be the hardest month for me. Ya see, I do not wear repeating outfits to church within a couple months of each other. I have been trying to justify my 7 clothing items in my head. It's a pride issue really. I should be able to alter it a little since I am a student, a pastor, the weather's crazy, the buildings are cold......blah blah blah. Saturday I was driving home from work thinking about the clothes I would pick. I had about 12 hours left to pick them before 7 would start. I drove by this corner where quite a few homeless were laying in dirty clothes with their heads on their backpacks that held their belongings. God brought me back to this pride again. In reality, I have to be vulnerable. I have to give up control. I can't hide behind my clothes.The Lord has showed me the past couple weeks that I am chilling up on a pride pedestal that I am pretty sure I am about to get knocked off of. I am so excited to see how The Lord is going to move this next month. It's going to be hard and frustrating. I know he is going to teach me about the excess that I am living in, the pride I have and much more I probably do not even know yet.


I chose:

2 Pairs of jeans, 1 pair of yoga pants/shorts, 3 shirts and one flannel shirt/jacket.



I am finishing up day two....Stay tuned this month is gonna be good...