Woah it’s been a good minute since I’ve written on here, so much so that so much has changed! Back in March, I was sent home from what was meant to be a 6-month trip in South America to a 2-month trip in Colombia. When I came back home, I was confused but for some reason felt the most peace I had ever felt despite the circumstances that myself and the whole world was facing. Fast-forward to the end of May, my team was introduced to a green-lighted 1-month trip to Asheville, NC or Wisconsin Dells. Initially it made more sense to drive 5 hours for a month than to fly across the country for a month, but as always, the Lord had different plans. So, June 29th came and I was in Asheville, NC with some familiar faces as well as new ones and to say the least… the Lord changed my heart position, he freed me and redeemed relationships and eventually told me that I would be living in Asheville, going to school, and stepping into so much for the next 2 years. Which brings me to, today, I am now 3 weeks into school at the Created Institute and it has been SO GOOD. I may say “so good” a little too much but we can all thank Greg Hildebrandt for that one!
Before I moved across the country and started school, my team from July prayed/prophesied over me and this next season of my life and one of my leaders ended up saying “you work behind the curtain, and that’s something so beautiful and you are going to keep on doing that, but there is going to come a point where God is going to be like – okay get infront of the curtain! And He is going to show you off and say – THAT’S MY GIRL, He is going to claim you, champion you, and you honor Him so He will honor you back”. WOAH! WHAT! DANG! COME ON! As he spoke those things over me, I knew that those were from the Lord, I knew the Lord was calling me into a season of boldness, I knew the Lord was calling me into a season where the gifts He has given me, the ones known and unknown would come out.
All of this to say, the Lord is doing those exact things He said He would do IN THIS MOMENT. Buckle your belt because I am about to share an insanely good story of His goodness, faithfulness, and pursuit. Last week, one of my classmates was SO kind and picked me up from work, I was so thankful and knew the long-ish drive back home would consist of a good conversation. Well, the long-ish drive ended up being a 45-minute conversation in the parking lot about God, who He is, and what He’s done, now this may seem like “well yeah! You are at a Christian school!” but this classmate of mine, was sitting in doubt, he was questioning and debating whether or not this whole “God” thing was real, so much so, he was headed towards atheism. I got to share my experiences with the Lord, things He has miraculously done in my life and how much I love him for it, all real things. On Thursday nights we have ALL TEAM, where we all eat dinner together, worship and have a someone speak on the practical and professional aspects of life with God. As worship was beginning the Lord said “Ritzy girl, tell him this song is going to be his anthem song” and sweetly, defender begin to play and I agreed. I spent those 4-5 minutes praying for him, and as I prayed for him, the Lord spoke one thing after the other to me for him (WHAT!!!!!!!!!). As soon as ALL TEAM was over, I ran to my classmate and told him as much as I could remember and I was HYPE meanwhile, he took it in and thanked me and walked away. Fast-forward to a few days later, he pulled me aside and shared with me something so so incredible. THAT NIGHT, after I got to tell him the things God said he got into his car and began to drive while listening to the song, defender, his anthem song. As he drove, tears rushed down his face and next thing, GOD WAS RIGHT THERE IN THE CAR WITH HIM, saying “Hey… I am with you”. As he told me this I screamed in joy (literally) and repeatedly said “COME ON! WHAAAAATTT! DANG! THANKS GOD!”. I couldn’t believe that my friend went from thinking nothing of God to getting to experience HIM and deciding that maybe, after all, He is real and “this” is real.
Since he has told me this, I have been in awe that the Lord showed up so so so clear to him and that in that process, God, opened my heart and made it obedient to walk my friend through it. Not only did He open my heart to what was going to happen but He reminded me of the prophecy circle my teammates did, that gifts were going to come out and that I was going to step into boldness. GREAT IS YOUR FAITHFULNESS TO ME. I am beyond thankful to know the Lord and be known by Him, I am thankful that when He speaks, things happen and I am thankful that He has placed me in a community to be impacted by and to impact.
Coming to Created and living in community is going to shift my life and joyfully with that, comes the cost of school. I am currently fundraising just 7% of the tuition total and only need to raise 2,900 to reach my goal! Thank you to all who have donated and supported me through prayer this year for the World Race, and now for Created, none of the experiences I’ve shared would be possible without you! If you would like to donate, I’ve attached my GOFUNDME link below!
https://www.gofundme.com/f/kingdom-dream
-Spider
So glad you are doing this school Ritz! God is using you, and I’m believing that He is protecting & providing for you as well all the way out in NC!