Tag: faith

Posted in Moments and Musings

This New Season

Posted on by Vikki Lynn Sorensen

A few short years ago, both my girls were planning to get a place of their own. I sat looking through apartment listings (just for fun), looking at one-bedroom places and dreaming of how I would decorate it without any input from anyone else. I pinned meals “for the single gal” to my Pinterest page and thought about how grand it would be to have the whole TV all to myself.

I could do what I wanted when I wanted. The ultimate single life.

We moved in here and shortly after, Emilie got married. And then there were two.

Emilie has always been my “big idea” girl. Big dreams. Bigger plans. So full of sparkling conversation. She outwardly expresses everything and this lead to hours upon hours of endless chatter. She filled my days with talking. I honestly can’t remember a time in her life when she wasn’t talking. So many late night talks, some full of fear but most filled with faith and a lot of tears.

But Shelby isn’t like that. She doesn’t have huge dreams.

Shelby works an overnight job and sleeps during the day. She has her own set of nerdy friends she prefers to spend time with, which is very normal for a girl like her. I want to give her that
space. I don’t want her to feel like she’s her mother’s entertainment committee. The few times she’s decided to spend her day with me has been a gift and I’ve made the most of it. Her big ambition right now is to work, make some money, and play video games with her friends. Even when she is with me, she’s quiet. There’s never been a ton of conversation that’s
happened between us.

So, my home when from being loud to being very quiet.

In the beginning, I took advantage of it. But it wasn’t long before conversations with Jesus
turned into mindless chatter with either myself or with the dog. (He doesn’t ever engage. He usually just licks himself and finds a new comfortable space on my chair.)

Now, that season is ending. I just bought a house with my sister. And my other sister (there’s four of us girls in my family) will be moving in with us along with Shelby. My very quiet, boring existence is about to be replaced with conversation and activity once more.

I can’t wait!

Moving to my current home was a huge blessing. We moved right in the middle of 2020 from a super small apartment to this one. My old apartment was only a mile away from the home we shared with my mom for 12 years. It was the home that healed us from a painful divorce. It was my mother’s house and for 12 years, we were secure and stable.

Then we lost her and everything changed.

The two years we spent in that first apartment after she died were so full of grief and pain and adjustment and just emptiness. We had no family nearby. My girls and I clung to each other and together, we held onto Jesus. But that grief – it was so hard to heal. I remember when we moved into this place, it almost felt like I was leaving my grief behind. So much closer to my sister, this place gave me breathing room, and not just literally.

It changed everything.

Being close to people who I loved and who loved me was the healing balm I needed. We healed together, in a way. God blessed us so much in this place and in this current season.

God gave me this season and I have not squandered it.

But now it’s time for the next step in my life. To go back to living in a space where I can put color on my walls and have my own laundry (it’s the little things). I won’t just be close to family; I’ll be living with family and closest I’ve been to my dad and stepmom in decades.

The challenge now is to stay in an attitude of gratitude. I’ve got just under 2 months until we move into our house – hopefully, our forever home.

Seasonal transitions are hard because the closer you get to the new season, the less tolerant you are of the season you’re in. It’s easy to get edgy and start to dislike what once was a blessing.

I’m determined not to let that happen to me. I love my home. I love every minute here. And before I leave, I want to pray over it, touch each wall and walk its floors one more time. I want to leave a bit of Jesus here. I want the next family to feel peace, love, comfort, and healing when they want through the door – just as I did.

When I get to my new home, I’ll do the same. Touch the walls. Walk the floors. Speak Jesus to it all. This home was a home of healing but the next home…that will be a home full of joy!

Photo by Tierra Mallorca on Unsplash

Posted in Moments and Musings

Steeped in God

Posted on by Vikki Lynn Sorensen

“Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” Matthew 6:33 NLT

Back in the days of being married with littles running around, we went through a season of being so very broke. Our furniture consisted of an old, worn out blue rocking chair, a scratched and faded coffee table we got from a second-hand shop and a sofa-bed couch that looked like it had been transported right from the year 1970. I was a young, stay-at-home mom with two babies and a husband I never saw due to his work schedule. Money was non-existent and so, it seemed, was the dream of ever getting anything new. 

One day, while reading my Bible, this verse fell out. To be honest, I didn’t jump on this right away. No, God had to take his time with me, like always. But what he started planting in my heart was, “You can take this literally. You can believe my word just as it is.” 

Not long after, a close friend of mine invited me over to her beautiful house to show me some new furniture she and her husband bought. A beautiful couch with recliners on each end. A loveseat to match, also reclining. A matching coffee table and two tall bookshelves finished off the collection. As I admired it and congratulated her, God said, “Take me at my word. Believe me. Seek me first and I will give you everything you need.” 

So when I got home that night, I told God nothing else matters but him. I want him more than I want new furniture. I laid this dream of mine at his feet and told him that I want this but I want him more. I want him first. 

Two days later I received a call from this same friend. She was so excited as her mother-in-law just gifted her with the furniture set of her dreams. I was confused. She’d just bought a beautiful set! I wondered what she would do with what she already had. Then she told me she and her husband had decided to give us – not sell us – but give us their set they’d just bought. 

That was God moving to perform his word!

Where there’s a promise, there’s a performance! 

I love The Message version of this verse best.  

“Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.”

Steep your life in God’s word. If you think about it, to steep something is to keep it in water, completely covered until you get the best flavor out of it. Steeping yourself in God’s word means the same thing. 

You are literally keeping yourself completely covered while God refines you and pulls out the very best version of you. AS YOU STEEP YOURSELF – not after. During. Which means you only need to take the first step. 

Is what you’re waiting on God for standing in between you and God? Have you made it more important than him? It’s ok to say yes – we’ve all done it. Can I pray with you now?

“Heavenly Father, we thank you for all things. But the biggest thing we thank you for is your Word and the precious blood of Jesus. We’re so very thankful you chose to love us so much that you gave to us first. You gave us the very best Heaven had to offer and all you ask in return is that we seek you first. Where we have failed to keep you first, Father, we ask for forgiveness and thank you for your perfect mercy. We make a new commitment now to seek you first! Redirect us, Holy Spirit! We seek after you and your truth, your ideas, your provisions, and your ways, knowing no part of seeking after you will result in failure. We put you first, Father, because we love you so much. In Jesus name, Amen!”