We’re excited to welcome Kristi Tomlinson to the Women Doing Well blog. While she shares the same last name as the author of Tuesday’s post , they’re not related. They do, however, share a passion for listening to God’s voice and following where He leads. We hope Kristi’s story encourages you today.
The smell of salt in the air.
The sand on my feet.
A book in my hand.
That’s where God met me.
He took me miles away to Mexico to unplug and hear him. It’s there He whispered, “I have something more.” He wanted to move me forward into my calling. He wanted to use me. But I didn’t know all of that then. I just knew that as far as my career was concerned, I would be moving. But then, nothing happened….and the waiting began.
Over the next two years, I kept searching. I would pursue one path and a door would close. I would turn another direction and there was no peace. There were days I would decide that God was, in fact, leaving me in my current position. So I would go back to work with new motivation, being “all in” and, BAM! There was my confirmation again: this was not my place. It was a frustrating season, but I found peace there—after I quit trying on my own.
I started pursuing God, pressing in. What does pressing in look like? Pressing in sometimes looks like loneliness. Pressing in is diligence. It’s reading Scripture, letting the Holy Spirit speak and love. Pressing in looks like quietness, meditation, hearing His voice and putting others’ opinions aside.
It’s just real.
It’s just love.
It’s just saying Yes, Lord, I want more of you.
Yes, Lord, this doesn’t feel good, but I know you’re growing me.
Yes, Lord, to the next thing. Show me what the next thing is.
I’m going back in my mind to the place I know I heard you and saw you the last time, to that place where I felt your presence. It’s in the last place that you show me the new place.
Ahhhh, the new place. It’s where I live today. After over two years of pressing in, God began opening doors. He radically moved me into a new career and a life better than I could have made or imagined for myself.
What I’ve realized on this journey is that you never arrive at your permanent position. When you walk with God, you live in an ever-changing, ever-evolving plan. And that plan will blow your mind at times. I am living a life where my career, my faith, and my passions have come together. I didn’t know this was possible. I still have to pinch myself every once in a while.
Isaiah 43:19 says, “For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?”
He is doing the new thing, even when you can’t see it. Say yes and press in.
