Cadence, Haille, and I were able to attend a conference earlier this month in the mountains of Matagalpa (pictured right with Ixil who coordinated the entire conference). The conference was hosted by Bethel Church in Redding, California. It was an incredible

time of worship, prophetic ministry, encountering the Lord, encouraging one another, and connecting with some incredible Kingdom-minded people throughout Nicaragua. The Lord refreshed and spoke to my heart so much during that week. I have been processing and trying to put all the pieces together in my heart so that I would be able to communicate all that He did during that week. So, over the next few weeks I want to try and share parts of what the Lord spoke over my heart during that time....

     I stood in the room surrounded by worshippers. Everyone was entering into the fullness of the Lord's presence. My heart still held onto the heaviness that had been filling it for the last couple of months. Honestly, the last couple of months have been difficult for me personally. There have just been a lot of things that have been weighing on my heart. There have been so many ways that my spirit has felt so held back and restrained and then I have been walking through extremely heartbreaking situations with some of my kids and families here. I have been feeling really heavy-hearted. 

    Then the moment came when I realized that I just wanted to be done with the heaviness. Enough. The heaviness I had been feeling was warranted from the situations that I had been facing, but

suddenly I no longer wanted to sit in this sadness. And I realized I didn't have to. Yes, I'm still in the midst of so many difficult situations. Yes, these things continually break my heart. However, I am also a daughter and heir of a God who abounds in JOY. 

"Splendor and majesty are before Him; strength and joy are His dwelling place." -1 Chronicles 16:27 

    Joy is a part of my inheritance in Him. It is MINE to have and to walk in. So I know that I can choose to step into the river of that joy whenever I want.

"Surely you have granted [me] unending blessings and made [me] glad with the joy of Your presence." -Psalm 21:6

    And so I began to pray breaking off the heaviness and stepping into the joy that is mine in Him. At some point JOY is a choice. We have to decide to set aside the things that can constantly weigh us down and choose instead to walk in joy. As I began to choose and to proclaim joy, my heart began to fill to overflowing with that joy. It will happen every time because, like I said before, joy is part of our inheritance.

    I entered into the joy of His presence. I deliberately decided to throw off that which had been weighing down my heart and to step back into the river of His joy. It was beautiful and liberating! And just as a little gift to my heart, to let me know that it's really just that simple to choose to walk in the joy that is mine, as we finished worship that night one of the guys from the Bethel team came over and said to me, "I love your joy! You have mega amazing joy."  It's really that simple. Choose joy. Take hold of your inheritance and walk in it.