1440 But Wait … There’s More

God is not done with your story. This is not the end of what he’s doing in you, through you and for you. Oh honey, there is soooooo much more. More than you have dared to dream. More than you can imagine. Your story is MORE. Yesterday was the ribbon cutting ceremony for the 99+1 Coffee House in Stratford, Oklahoma. This is the ministry BIG Life partnered with a year ago to turn an old abandoned, condemned nursing home into a beautiful, sacred space for girls who have aged out of foster care or been rescued from horrific situations like sex trafficking. Those old rooms with broken windows and holes in cement walls became designer rooms straight out of a magazine. Literally the things dreams are made of. And these girls, the ones once not chosen, the ones once used and discarded, the ones deemed broken beyond repair … they now call this their home. But wait, there’s more. As if that weren’t enough, God went and did MORE. He turned the huge lobby space of the old unsightly nursing home into the most perfect coffee shop for the girls of the home to be able to have jobs, build their futures, and serve their community. And yesterday, the big golden ribbon stretched across what was once abandoned and condemned, to declare the space has been restored, remade, redeemed, and reopened for so much more. Where life had once ended, now life overflows. Where hope had been lost, joy now abounds. Coffee was officially shared in this space for the first time. The velvet couch held conversations of restoration and God’s glory. People walked into that space and saw in neon lights on the wall a sign that says, “Look and see what God has done.” What has God done? MORE THAN WE COULD EVER ASK, THINK OR IMAGINE. What’s God doing next? Even more! And this is precisely the picture of what God desires to do in your life! Indeed, he wants to step right into what is too far gone, undesirable, shameful, and totally given up on, and do his miraculous work. God doesn’t just make it ‘good enough’. He doesn’t just make it suitable for the basics again. No, God goes exceedingly and abundantly above anything we could ask, think or imagine. You’re willing to settle for a tent in your wilderness at this point. Lord, just give me something, anything. But, God says, keep moving my girl, I have a Promised Land waiting for you, and when you get there, it will be so much more than you could have ever dreamed of on your own. There’s a gold ribbon to cut in your future. A reopening of what was walked away from. A restoration of what was too far gone. A redeeming work within your life that leads you to so much more. A reopening of your great big, beautiful, destined and purpose filled life. So, here’s what you can’t do here … you can’t give up. Restoration work is ugly and messy. It’s overwhelming at times. That’s why we’re willing to settle for a fresh coat of paint to cover up the damage and move on quickly. Yes, we’re willing to settle for fixing up our tents in the wilderness over taking another step on a journey that feels impossible. But, Sis, when we settle here, when we don’t take our next steps, when we opt for quick and easy new paint rather than complete restoration, we miss the divine opportunity to experience so much more in our lives. Don’t you pitch your tent here. This is not the end of your journey. Don’t you settle for fresh paint on crumbling walls, there’s demo work to be done here first. Dare to believe things that are far beyond your reach, things that are above your abilities, things that are infinitely bigger than just you, are all in God’s design beyond where you are today. THERE’S SO MUCH MORE. Ephesians 3:20, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.” GOD IS ABLE TO DO SO MUCH MORE. The power for this work is already within us. We’ve already got what it takes through Jesus. Wha