“If I told you my story
You would hear Hope that wouldn't let go
And if I told you my story
You would hear Love that never gave up

If I should speak then let it be
Of the grace that is greater than all my sin
Of when justice was served and where mercy wins
Of the kindness of Jesus that draws me in
Oh to tell you my story is to tell of Him”

Lyrics from “My Story” Big Daddy Weave

The words to that song are the words to my song – my story.  And to tell you my story is to tell of Him.  My story of the last year is one filled with hope, love, victory and abundance.  It has been a jubilee year indeed and it all started with the Rosh Hashanah community fast here in our Sum Community. 

It was Monday, September 14^th.  I had not fasted in a quite a while and I was actually at a very stagnant, even stale, place in my prayer life.  I was disappointed with God for not moving in my timeline, I was stressed out from the contentious relationship with my ex-husband and I was doing this fast because I just needed to feel that closeness with the Lord that I had not felt in a very long time.  And the thought of a Jubilee year on the heels of one of the hardest 3 years of my life sounded very appealing too.  While it was not my driving force, a breakthrough would definitely have been welcome.

It would be very hard to fit an entire year of blessings into a blog post, so I will start with that day.  On that day, everything with my ex-husband (for whom I have been standing for over 4 years with no hope in sight) turned on a dime.  It started with him calling me about his sick grandfather (shocking in itself) and since that conversation we have become friends, gone on family outings, helped each other out and even attended church together on Easter Sunday– ALL a result of that one day of fasting when everything turned around. And I believe that every day since then has brought us closer to restoration – no minor miracle, my friends!

For our first day of fasting, I will tell you of one other amazing story to bookend this past Jubilee year.  It ended as grand (grand as only God can do) as it started.  As you are reading this, I am moving into a house I purchased for me and my girls.  I had been renting a house for the last 4 years, but my daughter was starting high school and wanted to attend a particular school in a different area.  I decided I needed to go ahead and buy a house in that district.  So we started praying back in March for a ranch style house (just a personal preference), within our budget and with a school bus for both girls. 

The housing market in Denver is just crazy, so after getting outbid on every house we liked, I decided a new build was the only way to go.  Upon inquiring about new builds, I found out ranch style houses are VERY popular and there were none of those models available.  Apparently they were the first to sell.  So I settled on a 2 story house, significantly out of my comfortable price point and decided this was just the way it was meant to be.  At least both girls would have a bus to and from school. 

Fast forward to Sunday June 19^th… I got a call from the sales office saying that our house completion had been pushed back to next year instead of the original Oct/Nov date I had been told.  Oh – and did I mention my lease was up in July and we had moved into my sister’s basement for what we assumed would be a short amount of time?  This news was devastating, BUT GOD!  As I am in tears with the poor sales lady, she says “We do have a ranch that is available and finished.  The family who originally intended to buy it was transferred out of state. If you’d like to come see it, we’d be willing to work with you on the price and transfer your earnest money.”

The girls and I went to see it that day.  It was everything we wanted and we fell in love with it immediately. It even had the same finishes (white cabinets, gray quartz countertops) that we had picked out for the other house.  We closed on September 30 and best of all; the price they gave us was well within the budget I had prayed for.  Wow – don’t you just LOVE how God rolls!?!

The kind of fast I am choosing to do this week is solid food from sun up to sun down Monday – Friday.  The breakthrough(s) I am particularly praying for are the usual ones I’ve been praying for years – that J will come to know the love of Christ first hand and know true unconditional love for the first time in his life and that my marriage and our family would be restored.  I would love to hear the breakthroughs you are all fasting for so we can pray for each other during this special time.  What mountains do you want to see moved as a result of your fast this week?

I am absolutely thrilled and honored to be leading this fast and doing it with all of you. Tomorrow I’ll be talking about obstacles to fasting and how we can stand strong against them.  “See” you then!