LEXI

Have you thanked Him?

Have you praised Him?

Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?

Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?

1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)

The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

Such a sweet smile.

Eyes that dance with youth, vibrance, hope and optimism.

A radiant beauty with so much unbridled zeal that it can’t help but flow out of her!

Who is she?

A new friend, Lexi.

She is the personification of John 7:38 that says,

…rivers of living water will flow from the heart of the one who puts his (her) trust in Me.

Lexi has an indomitable flow for sure.

You see Lexi lives in Jackson County, Ohio one of the hardest hit by our well documented opioid crisis not to mention a deeply impoverished county. 

She just graduated high school. 

Yet her high school years were not like most kid’s. Not at all.

Her mother left she and her siblings some time ago.  Her father suffers with a severe substance use challenge. And for the past several years Lexi has been taking care of herself even when that meant sleeping in the car she purchased by working before school and after school.

Lexi comes from generational poverty and generational addiction and yet you would never know it for Lexi decided some time ago to TRUST WHOLEHEARTEDLY in this verse!

I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. – Jeremiah 29:11

Lexi’s story of trust and reliance on GOD is extraordinary.  This young lady despite circumstances that would hamstring the strongest of adults is the valedictorian of her senior class.  She is a cheerleader.  She is faithful follower of Jesus Christ.  She is an amazing volunteer and mission worker at her church and in her community. Add to that, she is headed to THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY in the fall making her not only the FIRST in her family to graduate from high school but the first to go to college!  

There is so much more to Lexi’s story, but I am confident you are getting a pretty good picture of an amazing young believer with limitless potential.

So why tell you?

To hopefully inspire you.

Zig Ziglar once encouraged, “Make failure your teacher, not your undertaker.”

Lexi has been and continues to be surrounded by failure and brokenness, but she has used her CHALLENGING CIRCUMSTANCES to MOTIVATE her rather than discourage her. 

And as she and I enjoyed our coffee I just kept hearing Ephesians 3:20 repeatedly in my head!

by his mighty power at work within us is able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of—infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, or hopes.

Zig and Lexi have a resounding message for all of us today:  

Resilience and hope are by-products of unwavering faith and that our circumstances don't define us, but refine us, turning the ashes of our past into the diamonds of our future. – (Unknown)