Church Bells | Bridget Marcus

Today was one of those days. One where I chose to stay home instead of entering a church building. Where I didn't have to face a crowd of people even if I do love the ones that attend it. Some days are easier than others. But today I chose to put on my comfy clothes and grab my blanket, my coffee, and my bible study and went to set outside on the front porch with Jesus. It was the first real cool day of the fall season, and I loved it, despite the over casted clouds and the drizzle of rain.

I didn't catch any livestreams as I felt like I just needed to be still and know. I began reading and doing a bible study I know God placed in my path intentionally that I grabbed unintentionally and had purchased the day before as I was early Christmas shopping with my mama. (I'll put it in my resources section so you can check it out too) But isn't God funny and good like that? How He will just candidly place things in our path for us even when we just have no idea at the moment. But He did and it was good for me and right on time. As I began reading, I heard the church bells ring from the little Methodist church down the road that many know in the area.

Every Sunday at the start of service they will ring the church bells. I have often got to catch the sound on occasion as I have spent some Sunday's home this season spending time with the Lord on my parent's front porch instead of a pew. If I'm honest it's one of my favorite places to be and to meet with Him. But as I listened to the bells ring, I felt a familiarity in my spirit, a calming, a peace. A feeling that I haven't had in a while. It was a gift from the Father and a message of hope that everything was going to be ok and that He had just walked me through Egypt and was bringing me to the other side. Healing can be a hard process to walk through. It doesn't look or have to be a certain kind of way nor does it have a time limit. It doesn't happen very quickly for some as it does for others, but I just know God was telling me not to rush anything but to overall just trust in Him and lean on Him in this process.

When you have been years in survival mode and feel like you have missed out on the majority of your life because of it and where you even have trouble remembering some pieces of your life due to it, it does take time. I am learning to be gentle with myself and give myself the grace I need through the process. And I know that in due season I will have further clarity on things but for now I'm just thankful to be alive, breathing, and being able to set out on the porch in my fuzzy house shoes, covered in my blanket, with my bible study and the Lord getting to hear the old-fashioned church bells. He is such a good good Father. 

So, if you too are walking through a difficult season, a time where things are just unfamiliar and unknown, I want to remind you it's ok to rest both physically and in the Father. To take time to be still and know. To love yourself enough to allow yourself to heal in the areas where you need it the most and to trust Him in the process. He will see you through. And take time to listen to what God is speaking in the season you are in.