Thus says God the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it, and spirit to those who walk on it: ’I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness, and will hold your hand; I will keep you and give you as a covenant to the people, as a light to the Gentiles, to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the prison, those who sit in darkness from the prison house. I am the Lord, that is My name; and My glory I will not give to another, not My praise to carved images. Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.’
That was Isaiah 42:5-9. As I read through my daily Psalm today, I close the Bible, and the passage Isaiah 42:6 flashed in my mind. I decided to check it out because I didn’t know what it said. Go back and re-read that amazing promise. Verse 6 is the one in bold.
It was especially encouraging to me this morning because I’ve been feeling a little lost down here recently. I want to see people with passion and I just can’t seem to find that yet here in Ocala. I was blessed in Atlanta with people that had like passions as me. All over. I don’t think I ever took that for granted, and I seriously miss my family there already. But it’s been very noticeable not having close friends down here, and I can see how much of a blessing they were in my life.
BUT GOD.
He promised me this morning that he will hold my hand. He has a purpose for me being down here, and whether I ever have community like I did in Atlanta, I know I have a friend that sticks closer than a brother.
…and everyone said: AMEN.
After an interesting turn of events yesterday, I was informed that I got the job at Starbucks. I will start tomorrow. Here’s how it went down:
Yesterday morning I woke up at 8:00 and decided I wanted some pancakes. However, I did not have the necessary ingredients, so I decided to ride my bike to the nearest food mart. It just so happens that it is a Walgreens. I needed butter, syrup and salt. After I had gathered what I needed, I headed toward the checkout counter. At that time I received a phone call from Manpower (they are a job placement agency I had applied with last week). Stacie informed me that there was an opening for a seasonal job stocking shelves. I informed Stacie that I was waiting to hear back from Starbucks as to whether I had received the job or not. Stacie informed me that if I wanted the seasonal job I needed to be there by noon with a pair of khaki’s and a blue polo shirt on. I told Stacie I would call her back. She said asap. I said ok. I checked out. I went outside and called Starbucks. The nice lady that answered told me Steve was unavailable because he was getting ready for Christmas, or something. I informed her I was inquiring on whether I had received the job or not, and then let her know it was important that I speak to Steve. I told her it was a matter of life and death. No I didn’t. She told me Steve would call me back asap. I then rode my bike home. Steve called about 10 minutes later. He informed me the position was still available if I would like to take it. I said yes. I then called Stacie back and declined the job. She was happy for me. And so was I. The end.
Thank you for your prayers. Getting a job right now is always a gift from God. I know He wants me down here, and now I can focus on what it is He wants to do.
PS – I have been doing quite a few haircuts also which has provided a little extra cash. The ladies at church have been spreading my name like wildfire in a windstorm.
Well, I officially have a place to lay my head at night. God provided a spacey, cheap apartment, conveniently located close to the big downtown Ocala. The first night started off exactly how I would’ve wanted it to. After going to singles, and then the dollar store for essentials, and then Publix for the essentials we couldn’t get at the dollar store, about 6 people joined us at our apt. We don’t have any furniture as of yet, but everyone just sat on the floor in the living room and chatted. And that’s exactly what I want this apt to be for. Hanging, talking, encouraging, praying, laughing…you get the idea. I hope and pray people feel comfortable here and I hope God gets the glory, well, since He provided it and all.
I had my 2nd interview at Starbucks yesterday and I believe it went really well. Steve the manager was a really nice guy and it was a pretty comfortable interview. He ended the meeting by saying he had to interview a few more people and he was hoping to get back to me by Monday. Keep praying. It would be great to land this job. They have great benefits and a flexible schedule.
Other than that, nothing too substantial to report about. God is good. Oh, and for the record, I have been learning much about God lately, I just haven’t had time to write about it. I will soon, I promise.
I was encouraged by God Himself today. I was praying this morning, asking Him where I should read. It seems recently I’ve heard numerous times about how difficult it is to get a job here in Ocala. Yesterday I spent a good 6 hours online applying and looking for opportunities. So, I was just talking to the Lord about it and I believe He hinted to Psalm 27, which is one of my favorites anyway. Here are a few excerpts for anyone feeling discouraged:
When my father and my mother forsake me, Then the Lord will take care of me. – vs 10
Now, I will never actually experience this in my lifetime because I have been blessed with some of the most encouraging parents in the world. But I think what King David was trying to do was relate a feeling. I think the feeling of your parents turning their back on you would be one of the deepest hurts and most painful feelings to bear. David was trying to say, when the whole world falls apart, when you feel like no one is behind you and no one has your back…even your own parents…THEN the Lord (who is your Father) will take care of you.
Wow. What a heavenly Father we have! David goes on to say this:
I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. – vs 13
Here is where the FAITH aspect comes in to play. I don’t really know what David was going through, or what you are going through. But when we put our faith in God and believe that He wants all good things for us (James 1:17), I think it opens a door for the Lord to shower us with blessings (see James 1:6).
Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord! – vs 14
…but we cannot do this without patience. Time after time we pretend to understand and comprehend God’s timing, and time after time it proves to be a difficult task. And yet, in hindsight, it has always been perfect.
Do you believe it? I do. Maybe I’ve had to remind myself more often recently, but I do believe God will provide because it is a little something we call a promise.
He is good, all the time.
Here is an excerpt from my daily devotional Jesus Calling:
Try to stay conscious of me as you go step by step through this day. My Presence with you is both a promise and a protection. My final statement just before I ascended into heaven was: ‘Surely I am with you always’. That promise was for all my followers, without exception…The way to stay on the path of Life is to keep your focus on Me.
Let’s not forget that we do not have to, nor are we supposed to do this life alone. Jesus promises us He is with us and even better, in us. I need to remember to turn to Him with the difficult and even the mundane situations.
He doesn’t want to be a part of our life.
He wants to BE our life.
So, I’ve been doing a study on my name…well, sort of. I decided to study Aaron in the Bible and see what kind of guy he was. I’m learning something I believe they teach in Sunday school, but it’s lead to a chain of thoughts that is proving to be very challenging. Now, I’m still working through these thoughts, so bear with me.
Aaron, as we all know, was Moses’ mouth (Exodus 4:14-17). Moses got all self-conscious and what-not and complained to God that he wasn’t a good speaker, so God decided to use Aaron as his mouthpiece (you can read from the beginning of chapter 4 to get the whole context). None of that was new information to me, again, I learned all that a while ago. But what I either forgot or never heard before was how much Aaron was actually involved. Initially I thought this “mouthpiece” thing was just for when Moses went to Pharaoh, but it was so much more than that. Aaron was the one who performed the miracles in front of Pharaoh, he was the one speaking to the children of Israel, in fact, he was pretty much the physical voice of God to the people. It was like a chain of command – God spoke to Moses. Moses spoke to Aaron. Aaron spoke to the people.
I think what I’m learning most from this is how much Aaron and Moses had to be a team. They both had to be following God, they had to be obedient to everything the Lord said, and they had to be completely HUMBLE. Aaron’s humility came because he was waiting to hear from Moses. Moses’ humility came in the fact that Aaron was the one up front. I think so often in leadership these days, there is competition, or people fighting for the limelight. There was no room for competition in this situation. Both were trusting and relying on each other to do/say exactly what the Lord was leading them to.
This applies to me so directly right now! I desire to do BIG things. I want to see a generation catch fire with passion for reaching the lost. At times it’s hard for me to find people on the exact same page as me and I very much feel alone in this quest. BUT I’m learning about how much I need other people with the same passions but different talents.
Aaron couldn’t have done it without Moses. Moses couldn’t have done it without Aaron.
Find people with the same heart. Join them. Celebrate each others gifts. Advance the Kingdom.
Well, it has been quite a minute since I’ve updated, mainly because I’ve been waiting until everything was confirmed so I could let you know all the details. But it is official, I’m moving to Ocala, Fl in the next couple weeks. Since YWAM was over I’ve been praying about where I felt like God was leading me, and my good friend Chad called me up with an offer to move down there. So last I just spent a week down there with intentions of checking out the church and seeing if it would be a place where I could continue to grow. The church is great. The people are great. I had the privilege of meeting with the pastor for breakfast and we had some great convo about Ocala, and where there church is at. I definitely feel like it is a place where I can be invested in, and invest my time in others. Which is possibly something I’ve been missing. I’m excited about the size of the church, it runs around 350. In the last couple years I’ve been in churches of 50 and churches of thousands. Now, please don’t overanalyze my post, I know that numbers don’t mean anything. Just personally, I’m excited to get in a church of medium size and find out where I fit in the body.
My goal is to serve.
Whatever that looks like. I don’t want the limelight, I just want to be a part of a body serving the Lord in every way possible.
Thank you all for your prayers and support over the last year of my life. It has been an incredible journey, and I’m excited to continue on this journey in a new location. I will definitely continue updating this blog on a regular basis. The last few months have been crazy, moving from one place to another. It’s been a blessing.
I would covet your prayers next week as I am heading down to Texas for a week.
Feel free to let me know how you are doing. Love you all.
I would appreciate some prayers for the next week. I’ll be leaving tomorrow to go down Gainesville/Ocala, Florida for the week. I’ll be meeting with my friend Chad and we’ll be talking about what we feel God is leading us to do for our next step in ministry. I’m excited and nervous and a bit anxious. I know it’s silly, but a lot of my future hangs on this week. I know God is completely in control, but my humanity fogs the lens sometimes. Thanks for your prayers.
Love. That’s what it’s all about right? I ran across a great reminder this morning and I wanted to share it with you.
For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the width and length and depth and height – to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. – Ephesians 3:14-19
I know there is so much more to be said about those verses, it’s jam-packed with goodness and truth, but I needed a quick reminder this morning of why we’re here. Loving God. Loving People.
I’m back in Atlanta now, but I don’t know for how long. God has opened up a opportunity for me down in Florida that I am continuing to pray about. I can’t give you the details now because, well, honestly I just don’t know the details. It would be a new ministry with my best friend Chad and his wife Ashley. I’ve known him since I was 8 and he’s been a great friend. We have been involved in 2 church plants together where we led worship and led the high school class, and now he is down in Florida leading worship for a great church. He’s an incredible musician and writer and loves God with all of his heart. I will tell you more about the ministry when I go down to see them in the next month or so. I would covet your prayers about this situation. I desire to be nowhere other than where God can use me at my fullest potential.
Meanwhile, I’m trying to meet with as many people as possible here in Atlanta. I would love to sit down with you and talk about the journey I have been on in the last couple months. Feel free to email me. You can go here to get my email. Either way, I would love to hear how YOU all are doing.
Thanks again for your prayers. You are laying up treasures in heaven. I love you all.
*Update*
This conversation just happened on Facebook. Look at the times, God is so good.
Anonymous September 1 at 1:48pm
can you pray for us to see a financial release. thanks
Aaron Coury September 1 at 2:29pm
yeah definitely. let me know when it happens.
Anonymous September 1 at 2:54pm
it just happened. someone just called us and said that they wanted to wire us $2500 dollars. I am amazed…
Aaron Coury September 1 at 2:55pm
unbelievable. God’s pretty ridiculous. now i will thank him for you.
