Immersed - I'm All In!

This summer was a hard one, a season of transition of letting go and being in a vulnerable place of not knowing what’s next. It’s not the first time I’ve been in a season like this, but let me tell you, I’m still not a fan. God told me I needed to close House of Rhema, our family business for the past 7 years, a business that came out of my cancer journey. There were a lot of reasons behind why it was necessary that I won’t go into today, but the biggest grief of this step of obedience was knowing House of Rhema’s potential wasn’t fully realized AND that in laying it down I wouldn’t know if would ever get permission to pick it up again. But that’s obedience for you, right? It’s all about surrender and leaning into the goodness of a Father’s magnificent love. Every. Single. Time. God’s goodness is on the other side of that step of obedience, and sometimes, that goodness means Him holding you in your place of pain and grief.

 

His other ask of me at the beginning of the summer was to enroll in Immerse Bethesda School. I had wanted to join when they launched last year, but the timing wasn’t right for us. This year it felt right, and Preston was good with it. In a baby step of faith, I registered and paid the $25 enrollment deposit. Then, we made the decision to close the business and moving forward with Immerse felt a bit more complicated since now we had business debt to think about, and a new job with a new schedule for me to navigate, and no clue what any of it looked like. Investing $1,500 of tuition suddenly felt reckless and irresponsible, and Preston and I weren’t on the same page on how to make it happen.

 

I went to Father God and was like “If You want this to happen for me, then I’m going to need You to finance it. I’m asking for Your provision in this area. I command the money to pay my tuition in full to come.” I really only needed $500 to pay the first installment for the first trimester, but if you’re going to petition a King for resources, why not go all out and meet the full need, right? I want to say it was maybe a week later over $1,900 was deposited in our account from the IRS. Say what!? I was rocked, shocked, amazed….but confused, and honestly, I thought it probably was a mistake because we had already received our tax refund months ago! I searched everywhere on the IRS website to try and figure out where this money came from with no luck. So, I decided to just let it sit there thinking they would take it out of our account at any time. A couple weeks later, Holy Spirit confronts me, “Why haven’t you paid your tuition yet?” I’m like, Dude, I don’t even know if that money is mine yet, and I’m gonna need you to verify it for me before I touch it. You guys….THE NEXT DAY, I get a letter from the IRS explaining they had to correct and amend our refund. WHAT!? Like when does that ever happen? Regardless, the money was legitimately ours! Father God not only paid my tuition in full, but He also blessed us beyond my ask!

 

To be completely honest, once it was all “signed, sealed and delivered” so to say, I started to feel a sense of uneasiness. Holy Spirit had told me I was going to become undone in this next season, and He needed my “all-in-no-takebacks-YES” and to keep that “yes” surrendered when I got uncomfortable. Because I don’t get to walk around as a new creation with an old man mindset or way of doing things anymore. There’s no more hiding. So here we go. I AM ALL IN! And I know I’m not alone in it either. He’s got me and He’s given me a community of amazing church family to walk the journey with linked arms. 

And He told me to bring YOU along for the ride.

 

Let me give you a little disclaimer though…This is going to be raw, messy and a little crazy. There’s no painting in the lines when God shows you how many colors you have access to and just how big your canvas is! If you’re carrying around even an inkling of a religious spirit with you, then it’s likely this blog will offend you at some point. I know this, because mine has already been offended! LOL And I know it will be reoffended until Jesus cleans out every thought, every belief, and every form of identity that HE didn’t give me! His explosive, transformative, relentless, all-encompassing love will offend the fear right out of you and in its wake will fill you with freedom and abundant joy that is the fullness of Christ!

If you'd like to learn more about Immerse Bethesda School, click here or check out this cool video: