When God goes digging in your heart...

These pictures below don't have anything to do with this post, just an Aunt 

bragging on her cute nieces and nephew! More adorable candids below! 

Peppa Pig - A Schaefer household favorite! 

When you live in Texas and not on the farm, this will have to do! 

When God goes digging in your heart...

It doesn’t often feel good when it’s happening, but when it’s over, I am always grateful.  

Always grateful for those times when God decides it’s time to go deeper and starts to mine away at the crud, yuck, and muck and shows me the gold that truly lies within me. 

A while ago, as I was experiencing God going deeper, a good friend of mine sent me this description below of the actual process of gold mining.  

Today the process of mining for gold is very complex. It does not begin with a pick ax and shovel and hopes of striking it rich. It begins with a well thought out plan.

Today, large machines are used to grind away rock, ply away soil and basically strip down the earth until they reach the "pockets" where gold is located. In some cases, this requires drilling through solid bedrock. 

The shaking causes the unwanted material (soil, gravel, etc.) to be eliminated and allow only the valuable substance (gold) to remain. The superfluous material had to be discarded in order for the valuable substance to be exposed.

This description hit the nail on the head for what I was feeling.  God was shaking away, digging away, and in some cases drilling away what needed to go so that He could reveal the gold.

When I first left for England, I heard God say it was going to be a season of “training and preparation”.  I didn’t know what I was going to be trained and prepared for but I was excited and knew it was going to be good. 

Now as I am back in the states, reflecting on what this time of training and preparation was all about, it’s clear one of His main focuses was mining for the gold within me.  

He was doing a deep “who” work in me that was narrowing in on my character. 

He was stripping away anything I could have placed my identity or worth in and awakening me to who I am when it’s just me, myself, and I.  How comfortable would I be in my own skin, with all my insecurities laid bare?

I was being taken through God’s gold sifter, and it was up to me if I would engage with the process.  I know in a sense we are always in this process, but I believe some seasons God turns up His sifter’s intensity, and the question always remains the same. 

Will I engage with the process?

If I choose to say yes, gold will always be the result, and every ounce of surrender will always be worth it. 

One of the biggest lessons I learned in this season was the power of declaring this newfound gold over myself each day, and reminding myself of who God says I am.

Therefore, I am doing my best to now speak these truths below (out loud) each day,  reminding myself who I am and what I carry into the environments I enter. 

I am His Daughter, I am loved, I am valued, I am worthy of love and to be loved.

I value love, honor, service, unity, freedom, generosity, good communicate, His word and truth. 

I am an apostle at heart with a Prophetic anointing to release Heaven to earth and build His Church throughout the world.

I am a born leader, I want to invest in the people God gives me, building team and leading others to be equipped and released to live out their identity and calling.

I am a writer of the Fathers heart, making Him fiercely known to a lost world, always pressing in for more of His heart.

He says…Mikaela, you are enough in Me.  I am with you, I am for you and already paving the road before you as you step out in faith.

You can do anything you set your mind to.  You have stamina, strength, and courage to push until you get to where you desire to go. 

Mikaela I believe in you and believe in the person you have become and are becoming. 

As hard as the sifting process can be, I will never trade it for anything.  Not only has it opened my eyes to the gold within me but also to the gold within others as well. 

Which only makes me wonder how would you answer these questions…

What has God been digging and mining out within your heart? 

What’s the gold within you?

What words do you or should you declare over yourself each day?

As always, questions to ponder…

And more pictures to make you smile!  Bella's first daddy/daughter dance! 

 

Who knew the doctor's office could be so fun?! 

This picture is a little outdated but in honor of our fast and furious Cyclones doing so well!