31, The Beginning of a Decade

I don’t know where to start telling you about this trip, and how it’s changing my life.  I knew going into the Tour that the Lord had great things in store for me.  I even had many people tell me before I left on the Tour that the Lord was going to be ministering to me more than I was going to be ministering to others, but I still had no way of understanding this.
 
What I can tell you now, assuredly, is that this trip is changing everything in my life.  EVERYTHING.  It is truly changing me.  It’s only been a week, but I could tell you a dozen stories of not just other people’s lives being changed, but probably a dozen stories of how my life is being changed. 
 
However, for the sake of keeping this blog from becoming a novel, I am going to just share one of the stories from early in the tour.

 
During the first 3 days of the tour we intended on being in Minneapolis.  However, God hijacked this plan in a wonderful way (another story for another time)…and we ended up going to Kansas City.  When arriving to Kansas City, someone I met shared with me, “Do not question why the Lord rerouted your trip.  This stop in Kansas City is going to have a greater impact on your trip than you can understand right now.  It is not an accident.  It was important that you came to Kansas City first.”
 
Some powerful truth there.  God is still unfolding all the reasons as to why this is true.  However, one story in particular comes to mind that reminds me of why Kansas City was important.
 
Kansas City is home to the International House of Prayer Missions Base.  For many years now I have been hearing about some of the things happening at IHOP, and I  wanted to visit.  So my friend Molly, Heather, and I went during our visit.  Within a few minutes of walking in,  we all found ourselves talking to a man named Philip who worked at the front desk, or information center.  I went to the front desk to simply ask a question, but instead Phillip instantly had something to TELL ME.
 
Our conversation went like this:
Phillip: “What is your name?”
Me: “Julie.”
Phillip: “Nice to meet you Julie. What’s your middle name?”
I began thinking, this is an unusual introduction, but continued answering,   “My middle name is Ann.”
Phillip: “Ann without an ‘e’?”
Me: “Yep.  No “e” here.”
 
He then looked at me closer and said, “When is your birthday?”
I had no idea why this man was asking me all this, but I felt I should answer, “July 15, 1981.”
He then looked at me intently and said, “That was an important day.”
Some may have thought this conversation with Phillip was strange, but something in his eyes reminded me of Jesus.  And he again, he reinforced,  “That was a really important day. The day you were born was significant.”
 
I nearly started to cry.  I am not a crier.
 
He then asked me, “Do you mind me asking, how old will you be on your birthday?”
I told him, “31.”
 
And then he said, “I don’t usually ask people their age or their birthday, but I felt it was important that I ask.  By your next birthday, you will enter into a new life.  It will be the beginning of a new decade. The Lord is bringing you into a new season.”
 
Phillip then asked me, “You know how a farmer likes to plant his paths in straight rows?”
I said yes. 
 
“Your path in life has not been a bit windy, there have been some tough times, some hard blows and some tough bumps…but the Lord was always there.  And, he is going to use it all.  It will not be wasted.  He will USE IT ALL.   Your path is about to stop being windy and become straight. This new decade will be totally different than ever before. Your 31^st birthday will be the beginning of this.  It will be totally different than the past.  And, Julie, you have been faithful.  Even when the road was windy and hard, you have been faithful. Thank you for being faithful.”  He pauses.  “And Julie, God trusts you.”  He leaned in further.  “He really, really trusts you.  You have been faithful and He trusts you.”
 
Again, emotion is welling up. Phillip had no idea what saying that meant to me. 
 
I said to Phillip, “Phillip, you don’t know this, but on my 30^th birthday I was looking at my life and reflecting on the past 30 years, and I didn’t really like what I saw, where I was at, and how uncertain I was of where I was headed.    I wondered if I had wasted the last few years.  I was trying to be faithful to God, but I wasn’t sure if I was really headed towards any one clear calling.  There wasn’t a straight path ahead of me.   I told my friend all of these things on my 30^th birthday, and I DECLARED that by my 31^st birthday I needed everything to be different.  I told my friend boldly,  “I need to know where I am headed by then time I am 31.  I don’t have to know the whole plan, but I need to be on a straighter path towards whatever it is that God has for me. So, Phillip, you didn’t know any of that, but I believe that hearing what you told me just confirms for me that God did hear my prayer.  He knew my heart and I had almost forgot about what I had said on my 30^th birthday.  Thank you Phillip for sharing that.  It’s exactly what I needed to hear. “
 
 
 
I realized in that moment, if I hadn’t gone to Kansas City, I would have never met Phillip, among many other things that God did that weekend in Kansas City. And all because God re-routed our plans.
 
I am beginning to believe that if God hi-jacks my plans again, I will gladly let Him. Clearly, His ways are far better than my ways.  His plans are far greater than my plans.