A new independence

I am taking a break today from the normal online series...(I'll have a new post for the series tomorrow).

But today I am stopping to give thanks and remember that yesterday was my independence day.  Yesterday, Jan. 8 was the one year mark of my incarceration release date. Last year at 8 a.m. I was walking out of a 9 month prison sentence and into a new life...a fresh start...a new beginning.

I say "new" because I came home a different person....not because of the experience, but because of the amazing transformation God made in my soul during those nine months.

In the first few weeks of being locked up, I was angry - beyond description I was angry, bitter and done with God. But I soon opened up my heart and mind to the slim possibility that He had a plan in all this...and He did.

That anger melted away and within the first few months, I slowly took down the walls around my heart and let the Holy Spirit start to clean house.  And not just clean out the big stuff....I'm talking all the little piles I thought I had hidden in the darkest corners of my heart. He saw that every closet was opened and every hiding place was discovered. It was painful...it wasn't easy...there were a lot of tears.

But through it all I could feel God telling me, "Just surrender and work with Me and I promise the reward will be great."
And He fulfilled that promise in great ways....

While I was in prison, God saw that I was placed in a dorm that is only reserved for a small number of inmates...somehow there was a spot for me. When the system told me I wouldn't be able to take a class in order to cut my time served by three months...God saw that I did indeed get into the class, finish just in time and complete it with the highest grade ever. When I was ready to take a job at the prison, God saw that I got one of the most elite jobs and so happened to work with a counselor that grew up a few streets from where I lived in Memphis. God put people in my path that encouraged me, befriended me, cheered me on, became my shoulder to cry on, made me feel loved and held me accountable to the good things God was doing in my life.

Coming home, God prepared my husband to accept me.... with all my previous mistakes and with my new heart. He gave me a job that is unheard of. He blessed us with a new home - fully furnished. He granted me a promotion. He then saw that I was put in charge at my job. God healed relationships within my family and allowed me to spend a fabulous week with them all.

This is a quick snap shot of the year...I can't even begin to share all of it with you. But know this....with a surrendered heart, God can do anything. Truly. And the best part...if He doesn't want to take forever to do it, He doesn't have to....look at what He did in a year.

So yesterday was my independence day...the day God released me back into His world to do His work and be His hands and feet. What's this next year going to hold?  I can't imagine...but I know this...He promises that it will be good, blessed and powerful.