Our Journey with Christ: June 2024

God Moves Olive from Grief to Joy

Posted by Dan and Carole McClelland |1 comments

(This blog is written by me from my eyes, but it really is Olive's story of how God met her at her deepest place of sorrow about the move. She agreed to share it with you if I included lots of pictures! Both, Olive and Valor checked and approved it before publishing.)

June 19th: Moving Becomes Real

I started packing today. I boxed up all the toys and books that we will not be taking to PA, and we are leaving them in a different house on base as a blessing to other families who come to serve at YWAM Jamaica. When I was finished, Dan helped move them to their new home while the kids were at school. Three of the four shelves in our living room are empty, and the reality that we are officially moving has begun to sink in.

We also sold the car today at a low cost to YWAM Deaf World! Due to the fact that Dan and Marion needed the van to the go to the tax office, I used Marion's car to pick up the kids at school today. To me this was just a necessary thing. However, when I picked up the kids from school using Marion's car, Olive immediately said, "What happened to our van?" And she almost refused to get in the vehicle. Hoping to diffuse the situation, I calmly shared that we were selling the van to YWAM, and Daddy needed to take it to the tax office. Olive tearfully cried, "But we have 2 more weeks left! It is still our van! I do not want to move!" I knew then it was going to be a hard day for Olive, and even harder to arrive home to empty bookshelves in our living room.

Since it was a swimming day and was the first day back to the pool since my divine encounter with God, I was curious what happened to my plant. I found the garden was all put back together, so I looked and looked and finally found it. My plant was planted in a different pot than I had thought my friend was going to use but it was planted in a unique planter and did look beautiful. I took a picture to remember.

On our way home from swimming, I knew I needed to warn Olive and Valor about the house and the empty shelves. As I did, Olive started to cry and say, "I don't want to move! This is not fair. We have 2 more weeks. Why are we moving things now! I am NOT moving. I don't want to leave my friends." As I drove, I gently grabbed her foot (A funny comforting thing I do in the car when I can not snuggle) and shared I completely understood, and it was okay to feel this way. During the day, I actually had written out prayer requests for our family during this move (see at the end of the blog). For Olive I asked for COMFORT and for God to meet her exactly where she is just like God did for me. I decided, in that moment in the car, I was going to be intentional today and share with Olive my grieving blog.

(Kenroy and Peta-Gay who got married in January are pregnant! So we are able to bless them with some of our baby things.)

We arrived home and Olive walked in saying, "NO! This does not feel right! I am not moving. Where are all of our things?" She stomped around for a while not sure what to do, so I asked her to come with me and process as I was hanging up the swimming things to dry. She followed me with continued stomping and intense angry, verbal processing. One of our staff who loves to play with our kiddos, Ellie, passed by and noticed Olive was struggling. I shared with Ellie that Olive arrived home to empty shelves and does not want to move. Ellie understood since she was actually moving into her new living space at the base too. She told Olive she had something for her so Olive went with her to get a glow stick pack (which our kids LOVE) and some fun hats. Then to avoid coming home to empty shelves, Olive asked to continue to process with Ellie, which I agreed was a wise decision. While Olive helped Ellie move her things to her new place, I messaged Olive's teacher saying we would not be able to complete her homework as I wanted to intentionally help Olive handle her strong emotions over moving. The teacher was understanding and caring in her response.

(There has been a lot of extra snuggles this season as the kiddos have needed more comfort and stability in this transition. Snuggles with Daddy happened the next morning before school. Ellie left for summer the next day, and it was an emotional parting for both of us too!)

After dinner, Olive normally has reading time, but instead, she brought a new game to me, asking to play it with me. Even though it was late, I agreed knowing this was what Olive needed. It definitely relaxed her. Afterwards we got ready for bed, and I shared I wanted to share my grieving blog with her. As we sat on my bed, snuggled up together, I read my journey of grief. Olive loved the picture of the tree and roots in the air. As I read, she would interject with comments like, "I feel the same way" or "I don't feel that way." For example, she responded to the part in my story when I did not want to share with friends about the move by saying, "I share with my friends everyday that I am moving. We are different, Mom." When I got to the part about Zacchaeus, Olive shared, "I am not ready to climb the tree and see Jesus either, Mom. We are the same there." It was such a sweet Mommy- daughter time, and I could tell it was helping her process what was happening in her own heart.

As we continued, Olive loved the pictures from my blog, and she laughed so hard over the part where I said Zacchaeus just pouted! At the last part of my story (when swimming was cancelled and God met me), she remembered the details exactly! We ended with the final picture of God holding the tree, and I asked her a few questions to help her to process what was happening in her heart. Olive shared honestly she did not want to move, and it was hard.

By now, she was getting tired but I shared, that just like Jesus met me, He wanted to speak and meet her too! I asked her to close her eyes and see if God showed her anything. She responded she might fall asleep but she would try. 2 or 3 seconds later Olive confidently said, "Isaiah 1:2. That just popped into my head." When I said, "Awesome" and suggested we look up the verse, Olive got nervous as she never had expressed God giving her a Bible reference before. (Olive has got pictures from God when praying often but never a Bible verse.) As she started to doubt what she heard, she said, "Maybe I was wrong. We don't have to look it up. Maybe it does not match." Encouragingly, I told her we would just see what it said either way. As we began to read the verses together, she said, "Verse 3, too, Mom. I got verse 3 first."

Isaiah 1:2-3

A Rebellious Nation

Hear me, you heavens! Listen, earth!

For the Lord has spoken:

“I reared children and brought them up,

but they have rebelled against me.

The ox knows its master,

the donkey its owner’s manger,

but Israel does not know,

my people do not understand.”

We processed through Isaiah 1:2 first as I asked Olive if she felt she was rebelling against God, As she processed the scripture, Olive confessed that she knew that God was calling our family to move and when she was declaring she was not moving, she was directly in opposition against God. Her face changed to sadness as she said this. My daughter got it. At that moment, I encouraged her to say a short prayer. She closed her eyes said a simple but powerful prayer!

"I am sorry God for rebelling against you. Will you forgive me? Thank you for giving me your Word. In Jesus' name, Amen."

We continued on and read verse 3 too. Again, the Holy Spirit led Olive to recognize that she does not know God as well as she wants and does not understand just like he people of Israel. Again, I encouraged her to pray another prayer. And she did!

"Jesus, will you help me get to know you more than I know you now? I am sorry for my rebellion. I will let you move in my heart and move me physically. In Jesus' name, Amen."

Wow! My momma's heart was soaring for how God was meeting my daughter exactly how He met me! We closed with asking God if he had any pictures for Olive to help her remember what God spoke; like my last picture of the blog with God holding the roots. (We had definitely talked about that a lot, and Olive really liked that picture.)

She waited on God and said, "I got two! A happy face and a moving van."

After she shared her two pictures, she asked if she could research on Google for a picture that matched and found these two. As we looked for pictures for her to chose, Olive explained why she pictured her two pictures, " I am happy but not so happy yet. And I need a picture that says MOVING on the truck because that is what I saw from God."

As we finished up for the evening, Olive said this final declaration:

"I am happy that God is moving in me, and I am happy to move in PA. And the Lord is happy with me for making that decision."

I was so in awe of what God did and how He met her! I asked if I could make a blog, and she said okay as long as I put in a lot of pictures. Right then we took a few pictures remembering some important moments of the evening and wrote down her prayers together.

Moments like this is part of God's plan for our move! I want to have more of these intentional moments with Olive and Valor and with all four of us as a family. We have created a safe place for Deaf people to experience God and have a depth of relationship with Him and I know that will be multiplied around the world. However, I also know I am called to do the same thing every day in my home. We have had moments like these throughout the 5 years in Jamaica (as I read this blog to Olive and Valor for accuracy and approval, Valor added that He remembered when we asked HS where my lost phone was and HS told us where it was), but God is calling me to disciple my children everyday the same way I disciple and am intentional with our staff! I am called to go deeper with my children and "be famous in my home".

I am READY! I am EXCITED! God was so gracious to me as He allowed me to experience this spiritual breakthrough moment with Olive. It encouraged me in the transition. What a joy to be this beautiful, fearless, free, young girl's mother! And what an even greater joy to be able to help her discover who God made her to be and disciple her to "know God and make Him known" wherever she goes!

To close, I am reminded of the words Dan and I received for Olive during my pregnancy that still reign true today. In Jeremiah 1:5, God said to Jeremiah, "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, before you were born, I knew you." Similarly, God knew Olive before she was born and shared with us some truths about who she was created to be. Now I am so excited to see her embrace and celebrate who God designed her to be! She hears God at a young age and will thrive in all circumstances!

OLIVE is a bringer of hope, is full of life, brings life to dead places and will thrive in all circumstances! She is one that is BRAVE and will bring BRAVERY to others around her.

Precious, Spirit of Joy, Faith, Blessing, Promised One, Radiant, Knows God (hearing His voice at a young age), Daughter of Nations (one that brings people together from different nations), Bringer of Peace, Bold and Fearless, Worshiper and Full of Life

Transition Prayers for the McClellands: written Wednesday, June 19th before this blog happened.

Pray for a strong finish for:

Kids school
Last week in Jamaica
Last week with our team
Peace, comfort and closure for each of us as a family

Olive - Comfort
Olive specifically has been crying and grieving at night expressing that she does not want to move, does not want to leave her friends and does not feel right moving. She has needing more snuggles and comfort and does not want them to stop. My prayer that God would be so evident to her and that she would experience Him in a deep way through this experience and meet her just like He did for me.

Valor- Peace
As we are transitioning our schedule and routine are changing and that is hard for Valor who thrives on routines and stability. He has been quick to anger and raise his voice when there are changes instead of breathing and communicating kindly with words. He also has needed hugs even when he does not initially want them. My prayer for Valor is that he would slow down, connect with what is happening inside of him and God would give him a deep peace because he can trust God and us as his parents as the stability in his life.

Dan- Strength
-Strength to finish the gestural gospel presentation in time to show our Deaf friend without language, Donna and get feedback to share during one of our new connections during our July trip.

-All the extra projects that are almost finished around the base that he needs to close up before we go.

-Helping the team move into their new homes in base making space for large number of students in the Fall.

Carole : Wisdom
-Lunches dates with people who want to say goodbye (So MANY people! Definitely can't say yes to all).

-Packing the house- what to pack and what to leave

-What do to when to do it - taking deep breaths and doing one thing at a time - let go of things we are not supposed to do

I am the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE

Posted by Dan and Carole McClelland |0 comments

It was the same day that we found out from the lawyer that there was no other way to build the house this summer that our community had a 12 hour BURN. Dan shared the news from the lawyer right as I was entering the prayer room, so I was a little distraught. The prayer room was the perfect place to go! One of our staff, Veledise, was leading that BURN hour on Jesus’ 7 "I am" statements in John. She encouraged us to read all of the I AM statements and choose one on which to meditate. As we thought on that scripture, we were to reflect how Jesus was that I AM in our life right now. As I read through these 7 statements from Jesus, the words from John 14, “I am the way, and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” jumped off the page. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, so He had a WAY for us this summer! To know HIS way and plans for our summer and for our house, I just needed to surrender all OUR ways.

After the Holy Spirit led me to this I AM scripture, I started to read the whole chapter of John 14 for context. As I did, verses 1-3 stood out. Jesus was talking to his disciples for the last time before He went to the cross and died. He told them not to be troubled but to believe. Then He went on to say in His Father's house there are many rooms, and He was going to make a place for them so they could go where He was going. This immediately gave me peace in my heart about what we were called to do this summer.

An idea that we had been lightly discussing over the last couple months was that our vision was TOOO BIG for Dan and me to accomplish on our own. In the initial planning for YWAM Deaf World, our original thought was to move just our family to PA, but as the vision became clearer, we realized that we needed staff to join us at the new PA base to achieve all God desired us to do through this non-profit. Just as Jesus was leaving his disciples and going to His Father's house to prepare a place for them, God was calling us to leave our YWAM Deaf World JA team, the ones we have discipled, and go literately to Dan's father's house. As I allowed the Holy Spirit to speak from John 14, I understood that God was calling us to also "prepare a place" for Deaf staff in the future at YWAM Deaf World's PA location. Once again, I LOVE how God meets us exactly where we are when we are open to Him! I had so much peace in my heart and could not wait to tell Dan after the prayer room time ended. Over the next couple days, God confirmed this way multiple times to both Dan and me (car sticker pictured below was one of them). As we continued to seek God for direction, we both had a peace to move forward with fundraising for a building project for Deaf staff housing and an office space for the non-profit. The building of our home was delayed so God could turn our hearts towards His bigger and better plan for YWAM Deaf World and for us! Jesus IS the Way who makes our paths straight; He IS the Truth in our circumstances if we seek Him; He IS the Life life that gives us all we need to live abundantly!

Grieving Journal: Transition Journey from Jamaica to PA

Posted by Dan and Carole McClelland |3 comments

This blog is written from my journaling pages. Therefore, I have kept them in present tense; dated so you can see my journey through grief.

Prologue
Tuesday, May 7th

I am grieving, a deep grief. I feel like I am a tree that is being completely uprooted. The tree is healthy, green and bearing fruit but now is up in the air with roots completely exposed in the air. Dirt and mud are still heavily connected from the ground, but someone is shaking the tree to get the roots clean. It hurts, not a physical hurt since the shake is gentle, but it is a hurt of the heart.

Part 1: Being Honest with Myself as I am Uprooted
Friday, May 17th

As this journey towards moving back to PA begins, honestly, I feel lost and can’t see the next steps of my future. I don’t know what it will look like and where my roots will land. I feel like a fish out of water and want to go back to my old pond instead of jumping to a new one.

I don't want to move; I don't want to experience change. From past experiences, I know that change and new things are hard for me. Realizing hard times are coming, I feel like I am stuck; stuck in mud and not willing to even try to move forward or to think about the future. I am avoiding conversations with Dan and am reluctant to share with others in Jamaica about the move because I just don’t want to acknowledge it is happening. I realize that part of the grieving process is admitting where you are and recognizing your true feelings. Also, I know from experience that I can't move forward without going to that place of vulnerability and rawness and honesty. However, knowing something in my head does not mean it reaches my heart.

Truthfully, in these last weeks, I have been afraid of facing what is happening inside of my heart. I have been holding all of my thoughts and emotions concerning the move inside and have been afraid to go to that real place. However, recently I went to these deep, hard places and allowed myself to truly grieve and be sad for the things that are coming to a close (even though I know that closures are part of life.) I realize that God has good things for me, for our family and the ministry, but in order for me to see these things, I have to get to the place where I am honest with myself about what I am grieving and what I am feeling. It is only in that place of vulnerability, openness and rawness that Jesus can meet me exactly where I am and lead me to a place of newness.

Part 2: Being Honest with Others as I am Uprooted
Saturday, May 25th

As I have started to really process the deep grief that I am going through, I am recognizing that this season is not just a closure of leaving Jamaica, though that in itself would be enough for me to grieve! I will miss the people who are so thankful for life, the sun and beauty of the land surrounded by water, the amazing fruit trees, the way Jamaica celebrates and takes care of each other! Once again, just leaving Jamaica would be enough for me to grieve. But there is sooo, sooo much more that I am processing and grieving in my heart with this move and transition.

This move is a clear closure of 3 very dear things for me. Each one feels like too much to give up at one time, and, yet, God is closing the doors on all three of these areas at the same time. This is so hard!

I am grieving the loss of:

1. Jamaica/International Living
2. DTS leading season
3. Living with the Deaf community

First, Dan and I know that this move requires leaving Jamaica, but it is also giving up international living for an extended long season. For quite some time, we knew that our next move was always going to be a long- term move as we desire consistency in the children's education. This meant a relocation of possibly 10-12 years. So I am giving up international living for perhaps the next 12 years!!!! That is hard to write down, let alone process. The truth is, I absolutely LOVE living internationally! I love being out of my comfort zone. I love being a minority and learning about another culture and its people. And I love how much I grow in these places! It was always my dream to live as a family internationally, and now God is removing this experience from my life.

Secondly, this move and season is a closure of leading DTSs. Dan and I have led 12 DTSs over our 14 years in missions, and I ABSOLUTELY LOVE DTSs! I love 3 hours of truth being taught everyday as it encourages new growth in my own life. Even if I have heard the same teaching with the same teacher 12 times, the teaching hits me in a fresh way every time and can be applied differently. In addition, I love discipling others towards a stronger relationship with Jesus and seeing them experience Him in the same deep way I have. I love challenging students to grow, seeing people’s lives transformed, and encouraging them to be all that God is calling them to be. Most importantly, I LOVE that I have the honor of doing this with God. So my grief comes as I realize that moving signifies an end of the season when we lead DTSs.

Lastly, this is a closure of living life in a Deaf community that has allowed our family easy access to the Deaf. Not only have we had 14 years of living within a YWAM community, but 11 of those years we have lived as part of a Deaf community. I LOVE it! I love Deaf people. I love sign language. I love having Deaf people hang out with my children, and personally being able to hang out with Deaf on a daily basis. I love being in the middle of a thriving Deaf community. However, I know with this move I am surrendering this piece of my heart and life.

As I have started to process these things I am feeling and grieving, I have begun sharing them with Dan. I need extra grace from Dan and others as I voice out these feelings in a raw, unfiltered way. Even though my head knows I am only seeing what I would be missing and am not looking forward to what God will be providing, I recognize that I need to speak them out. Dan needs to hear them, and I need to know how they affect Dan as well. He needs to know where I am in my process and how I am honestly feeling about the move.

I have also begun to share the deep, grieving process I am going through with some of my friends in Jamaica. I am so thankful, God, that you started the process with my good friend, Leah Gregg (pictured above). Thank you for the time that we got before moving. As I have been honest with her and others friends about my thoughts and feelings, they have helped challenge me to gain a new perspective, and have provided words/ prayers of encouragement which are so needed. One of the biggest encouragements spoken to me, by my friend Janielle on a field trip with Valor and her daughter, Zora, was “to let go and trust the process” (pictured below). I also called and shared my feelings with Dan's mom. (Our family will be living with Dan’s Dad and Mom initially in their farmhouse.) After this conversation, God made it clear that for each of the three things that I'm giving up, He's giving me three good things that He wants to bring into my life in the next season. These things have been stirring in my spirit for about a year, but He made it clearer than ever. Maybe, I was just ready to listen to Him.

What I am Gaining:

1.Closer to Family and Community

-McClelland grandparents

-Support community be more involved

-visits to my family in Chicago and other places

2.Multiplication: training leaders to lead DTS
-Jamaica
-Brazil
-South Africa

3.Creating our own Family Culture
-Homeschooling
-Playing outside and being creative
-Discipling our children in a deeper way

I still need to be honest. Even though God has revealed these three things, and I am excited about them, I am still grieving in my heart and am not ready to move forward.

Part 3: God meets me where I am through the story of Zacchaeus
Monday, May 27th

I have still been in the place of not wanting to move forward; wanting to just stay stuck in the sinking sand of my emotions. On Saturday, a team arrived for a week at the base. One friend was leading the team, and I was able to process with her a little of where I was on Sunday (yesterday). Then, this morning, Caleb was leading a Bible study and a drama for a devotional to do at a Deaf School. He led the Bible study on Zacchaeus in Luke 19:1 through verse 10. As I was interpreting for this Bible study, God was moving in my heart in a completely different direction. I realized that God wanted me to be like Zacchaeus, but I was not willing to obey.

I need to write out what I was hearing from God. Zacchaeus was trying to see Jesus but, because of the crowd and how short he was, he couldn't see. So, if I am Zaccaeus in the story right now, it would read that Zacchaeus just stood behind the crowd and pouted! But that is not God’s story! Zacchaeus ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Jesus for he knew that Jesus was going to pass that way. Then he had an amazing encounter with Jesus, his life was completely changed and he had so much joy in giving and living freely in Christ!

I recognize I am at a point where Jesus is “walking by” sharing the 3 things that He wants to do in the future. In response, I have not been passionate but only a little interested in “seeing Jesus” and having Him share more about what He wants to do in my future. In the past, I have always struggled with looking ahead and seeing the vision and goodness of the next season while still finishing out the present season. So, instead of running ahead and climbing a tree like Zacchaeus, I have been stuck behind a crowd. Honestly I realize that I have given up on “seeing Jesus” and have just sat down behind the crowd. I have chosen not to seek or search out Jesus to find out more about my future. I have refused to move forward.

During this Bible study, I realized that God is calling me out of the mourning stage, but I have become content to sit in grief. I even studied the length of time people in the Bible had for the grieving and mourning process. In those days, they wore sackcloth so others would know they were grieving. From my research, I learned the normal grieving process was 1 week for the death of a loved one, but for spiritual leaders like Moses and Aarron, the Israelites mourned for 30 days. I have grieved way over 1 month! I have been experiencing deep grief since February.

Jesus is clearly calling me to move on and look for him in this next season. I know when I see him fully, like Zacchaeus, I will experience and encounter Jesus in a way that results in my whole perspective, attitude and life to change. And this change will affect everyone around me. Today, I say “yes” to seeking him, running forward and starting to climb a tree to be able to see God in a different way in the next season.

Part 4: God meets me and gives me strength to move forward
Wednesday, May 29th

So remember when I said I was ready to run forward, climb a tree and seek Jesus? Well, I needed a little more encouragement to actually do it. At first, I was so excited to share with Dan what God spoke about the Zacchaeus story, but when the opportunity arose to share, I did not share. I still was not ready to move forward!

The picture of the uprooted tree in the air keeps coming back to me. With the tree’s roots in the air, I can not tell from the picture how it will be planted, what it will look like when it is planted and how it will grow once planted. That is me! Since this picture kept reappearing in my thoughts, I actually looked up a picture on the internet in order to get a better visual for myself. This is the one I found (see above) and identified with the most! When I share this grief journey in a blog, I think I will begin with this picture.

Well, let me fast forward to Wednesday. Swimming was canceled due to rain, but the kids asked to go anyway to play with friends. I said “yes”, we could go for a short time. We went to the gated community that has a playground as well as the pool where the kids take swimming lessons. There are many friends that live and go swimming in this gated community that were already playing outside. Olive and Valor ran off to play at the playground, while I started to make messages to the last few friends in Jamaica that I needed to share with about the move.

After a while, I went to get the kiddos, and they were playing at the playground I am so thankful that I stopped by the home of our very good friends, Janielle and Zora and it reminded me of your message to "let go and trust the process". I LOVE this family and this house is a place of peace for me. Well, I saw Maxine, my friend, who helps with Janielle's kiddos, outside gardening, so I gave the kiddos a 5 min warning and went to say hello to her. She had heard from Janielle that I was moving, so she asked how I was doing. I started to share and found myself pouring out once again my grief as she continued to water and prune plants. I ended with the Zacchaeus story and how I was still stuck in the mud, sitting down behind the crowd. She recognized very clearly that I was hurting but challenged me that I needed to let go and trust God. I said “I know I know” while internally I knew I was not going to change anything. Then, for the first time since I had arrived (which now was 25 mins after the 5 min warning), I saw a plant, completely uprooted, laying on the ground. It triggered something in me as it was the exact picture God gave me of how I was feeling about the move! I asked almost angrily, “What are you doing with this plant?!”

Maxine explained in the kindest voice, “The plant has become stagnant and stopped growing. I needed to uproot it in order to put it in a new, bigger pot to give it more space for its roots to spread out and grow deeper. Only then will the plant thrive again.” I just stood in awe at the divine encounter I just had with God, my gardener, who was uprooting me to put me in a bigger, different pot in order for me to continue to grow! I stood with my friend and tears just started to roll down my cheeks. I told Maxine that I needed to pray. The tears continued to roll down my face as I prayed a prayer for surrender and trust. I told God how I was scared, unsure, nervous and afraid, but I could and would trust him as my heavenly gardener . I would “let go and trust the process” just like our mutual friend had shared with me a few days before. This raw, honest prayer was my act of standing up and running ahead to climb the tree to see Jesus. And I loved that it happened in our friends backyard as this family has meant so much for us these 5 years in Jamaica! They have taken care of Valor and Olive on field trips, sports days, and always have an open home for us to visit when swimming is cancelled. Such a reflection of God and how He cares for our family and my heart as well!

I know that there is more that God will do as He replants me in PA. But for now, I feel like Jesus saw me (even before I stood up from behind the crowd) and called me out of the mud! I see you; hurry, get out of the mud; I am coming to your house today! He encountered me, and I already feel a change of perspective and a change of eagerness to seek Jesus. I am ready and able to see all the good things that God has for me, for us as a family, and for the ministry in this next season. Wow! God is so good to meet us exactly where we are, and pull us up into the place where we can see!

My biggest revelation is that without God, accepting this move and getting out of the mud of grief seemed impossible! However, now as I am trusting the perfect gardener to uproot me and plant me, I look forward to growing and fulfilling His bigger vision for my life. Now I am able to stand up, run forward and climb that tree to see Jesus!