Hitting Pause

Hello friend, long time no Coffee Chat. As you may have noticed I took a break from writing blogs. This wasn't intentional, but I am truly grateful for it and I can't wait to share with you what God has been doing over the past few weeks.

As some of you may or may not know, my goal for this year was to make more space to hear God's voice. I made steps towards this by prioritizing quiet time, ordering and using a Brick (DM me if you want to know more about it) and being okay not filling every moment with noise.

Around Easter life started to feel a little overwhelming. We were blessed with my husband having a decent amount of time off, family visiting and opportunities to lean into and love on the people directly in front of us. However, this left little space for recording podcasts or writing blogs. Initially I was still trying to do it all. Not out of a deep calling or obedience to God, but out of duty. Because the blog always goes out on Wednesdays or because I said that there would be a Raising Arrows Podcast. As a result the last few were not done well or at least they weren't behind the scenes. While you may not have noticed much until the absence of them, things were crumbling.

While trying to juggle all the responsibility, I heard the Lord ask me to stop. Asking me to pause. To take time to realign. To seek His will for Kingdom Arrows. To make space to see and receive His vision for where we are headed next. To gain some clarity on how to steward all of my roles, as a wife, a mama, a daughter, a sister, a friend, a church member, a business owner and most importantly a child of God, well. So I stopped. If I am being honest I didn't stop because God asked me to, I stopped because the idea factory went blank. There was no desire to come here and write or to pick up the mic and record. I feel like this was truly God's protection in keeping me from doing something that was out of step with His will.

During the weeks that I wasn't here the Lord met me in SO many ways. One of which was by showing me Kingdom Arrows doesn't need me. While I was on pause we received three new subscribers. If that is you welcome! I am so glad you are here. I am excited to partner with you. Another way He partnered was to give me topics, passion and vision for where Kingdom Arrows could go. I won't say it is where it will go only time will tell, but for now it gives me a path to follow. He also has been working in my heart preparing me for the season I am currently walking in and part of that was calling me to hit pause and to rest. God works in seasons and He is faithful in all of them.

Which leads me to ask...where is God asking YOU to hit pause? Is there an area of your life you are holding onto SO tightly you aren't making space for the Lord to do a work? Are you actively choosing not to partner with Him? Are you trying to run a relay race, but you never pass the baton? We aren't created to carry all the roles we hold on our own. We are children of a BIG God. One who can hold all of our worries, doubts, anxiety, responsibilities, clunkiness and use it all to bring people into His kingdom.

The Bible has so many examples of God demonstrating the importance of rest. From God Himself taking a day of rest, to Jesus withdrawing to quiet spaces to be alone with the Father during times of heightened ministry, to God giving Elisha a snack and a nap before He continued on. We need rest. It is Biblical, it isn't an opinion, but a command. Our world is obsessed with hustling and achievement. But to what end?

Perhaps today, what God is calling you to do is to take five minutes to close your eyes wherever you are and to simple step into His presence. To ask Him to show you if there is any area you need to hit pause. To surrender it over, trusting that God can take the shift while you rest. Because the truth is, is He is always present anyway. Our striving doesn't gain us anything. Nothing is possible without God. Let Him steer the ship. As the cliche Hobby Lobby sign says, "Let go and Let God." It may sound cliche but it is true. Whether that is our businesses, our marriage, our kids, our friendships, our dreams, our to-do list. We have to surrender it all to Him.

What if our morning prayers shifted from, "God here is all the things I have coming at me today please give me the strength to get through it all" to "God where would you have me serve today?" The schedules and demands don't necessarily change, but our hearts do. It shifts from us asking God to put the stamp of approval on our plans to seeking what He would have us do for His kingdom.

I am beyond excited to step into this next season of Kingdom Arrows. I hope you are too and I hope that this encourages you to take a pause too. Let me know in the comments where you are reading this from and how you found Kingdom Arrows!