A few days before the new year, I felt God telling me that 2013 would be different. When I said okay, I honestly didn't expect it to be much different, but I wanted it to be. I didn't want 2013 to follow in 2012's footsteps, because 2012 honestly kind of sucked. On New Year's Eve, all I could think about was "I want 2013 to be different. 2013 has to be different." Actually, my first words once the ball dropped and everyone finished cheering were, "I want 2013 to be different." I really didn't expect a lot, but then it started happening.
On New Year's Day, God gave me more peace and joy than I have experienced in a really long time. Why? Because I said okay. Because I decided to let go of something that had been weighing me down for way too long. Because I was ready for something different. That peace and joy is unlike anything I have ever felt before. It is still with me just as much as it was that first day. I finally understand when people say that they have a joy in Jesus that no one can take away. I understand because I have that joy.
Three days after that, I was at Corrie Oates's house. I wasn't supposed to be there, actually. It was a last minute decision to come over and spend the night with her and Savannah Walker. But I said okay. I'm not going to go into the whole story, because I think I could write an entire BOOK on what happened that night. But I will say that it was very obviously God-orchestrated. In short, Savannah, Corrie, her brother Ben, and I ended up talking for four hours about Jesus and how we see Him moving. Ben told us about how God had told him that 2013 is going to be an adventure, and I shared how God told me that 2013 is going to be different. God spoke to us through His Word, The Hobbit, and so many other things that night. It was wonderful, and it was definitely shaping up to be a different adventure for all of us!
The next day, the four of us went to Starbucks and invited Abbie Price and Samuel Hinchman to come along as well. Again, I won't get into how incredible that day was, because if I start, I'll never stop. It was just really obvious that God brought us all together and that God was present and moving. I have literally never felt so close so fast to a group of believers. Especially a group that never would have come together if it weren't for God.
We met the next day, too. We were just six brothers and sisters getting together, worshiping Jesus and reading the Word. We sang songs and shared what God had been doing, and just fellowshipped with each other. We all had the same vision and same mind. We decided to call ourselves Rekindle, because the word rekindle means to restart, or revive. We want to revive what the church looked like in Acts, to restore a fellowship once lost. We decided we wanted this to be something different and something totally centered on Christ. We pray for each other often, share Scripture with each other, and just love on each other. We meet together as often as our schedules allow, constantly inviting more people. We want to share what God has done. It's unlike anything I have ever experienced.
That's pretty much how everything got started, and I promise that was the short version (even though it may not have seemed like it). Not a day has gone by when I haven't thought about Rekindle and what God has done, how He brought us together. So many more things have happened since the beginning of January, but I'll stop here, because I really could go on forever about it and about how incredible God is. I think about the joy He gave me every day, and I am so thankful that 2013 has been so different. I can't describe how thankful I am for Rekindle and for my brothers and sisters in Christ. I'm so thankful that I've had such a beautiful January, and I am so crazy excited to see how the rest of 2013 will be a different adventure for all of us.
