Hello world! I am officially entering the bloggersphere, and
I hear that there’s no going back. For a while now I’ve wanted to blog, but
never got around to starting one. There’s the first thing you should know about
me – I’m a visionary, I dream big yet I can definitely lack on follow through.
But look, here I am blogging so I’m already growing. Glory to glory. After I
got over that hump, I felt like all the sudden blogging became this huge trend
and everyone was doing it. That made me not want to blog because I didn’t want
to just be the latest trendy fad follower (there’s the leader in me coming
out). However, I decided to get over myself and do it anyway. So, here I am.
My blog is called “Doors Fling Wide” because that is the word
God has spoken continually over my life and my journey with Him. It all started a little over a year
ago at a prayer night at my church, Antioch. Our college pastor, Carl, called
Jake Griffin (the pastor of soon-to-be ACC Baton Rouge) to the middle for us to
pray over him. He started talking about the church plant and made a statement
something like, “and I’m even believing that some of you are going to transfer
to LSU to be a part of this church plant!” You know whenever there are hundreds
of people in the room but you just know that the person is speaking directly to
you? Yeah, that happened. I can’t really explain this experience, but it felt
like time stopped and God said to me, “that is you.” I know this sounds
dramatic, and it was (another thing to know about me- I kind of have a flare
for the dramatic so I’m pretty sure God just meets me in that place). I was processing
this experience with God that night, and I asked him to give me a dream about
moving to Baton Rouge if this really was from him. It isn’t that uncommon for
me to have dreams through which God speaks to me, but I almost never have them
the same night I ask for them. So really, I was using this as a cop out. I
figured when I woke up and didn’t have the dream, I could just write off this
whole thing. YEAH RIGHT. Long story short, I did have a dream that very night. When I am
faithless, He is still faithful. God spoke so clearly to me in this dream to
begin the process of praying through moving to Baton Rouge. I started a 21-day
prayer journal, and one of those days God revealed this verse to me:
“These are the words of him who is
holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and
what he shuts no one can open. I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you
an open door that no one can shut.”
Rev 3:7-8
He said, “Katie, I am setting open doors before you. As long
as the doors keep opening, walk through them.” And I have. As soon as I heard
this from God, I remembered when I had been at a prophetic night a few weeks
earlier and the phrase “open doors” had been prophesied over me. God has opened
door after door after door for me to move to Baton Rouge. So, yes, I am
transferring to LSU my senior year for the sole purpose of being a part of
planting a church and seeing the kingdom of God advance. Jesus recently
confirmed the “open doors” word for me again. One of the members of the BR
church planting team, who I had never told about this,
came up to me one night and told me that God was giving me the keys to the
doors of LSU’s campus. I had every key and there was no door that would not
open for me. The next week I was actually at LSU meeting with professors about
transferring. I went to reach for the door handle of this one professor’s
office, but it was locked. At the very moment I touched the handle I got a text
from this same guy that said “Remember your keys Katie!” In a moment when I
would have been tempted to doubt that I had favor, God tangibly reminded me
that he has given me the keys and what he opens NO ONE can shut. I have many
more stories just like this that testify to the faithfulness of Jesus. I am
overwhelmed by the graciousness and clarity of God. He has been so faithful to
me. He has moved mountains and done miracles to get me to this place. I don’t
think I can begin to imagine the treasures he has stored up for me and the
doors he will open once I get to Baton Rouge. I love dreaming with God. I love
walking with Jesus. It is an exciting, wild, and beautiful adventure! And I
know with certainty that this is only the beginning. God will always be setting
an open door before me until one day I am standing before my last set of doors.
Then the gates of heaven will fling wide
and I will see His face.
