Back To The Roots

 

 

After we left the Airbnb where we found refuge during the Holidays, we packed up our things and prepared to trust God to keep the Promise to cover our needs on this journey. 

 

From there, we spent two weeks at a hotel in downtown Chicago, where we also spent my birthday. It was so much more than a birthday….it was a returning to who I was made to be at this time as well. I’ll address that in a moment…

 

We had no way to get by. The donations were pretty dry, there were no sales, and our two-week reservation was coming to an end. Just before it was time to take the next leap of faith, God started to talk to me about taking a new route, and turning over a new leaf. 

 

There was so much to process at once. God was talking to me about what He wanted to do next with this ministry and our journey, and quite literally, where to go. 

 

It was scary, and yet I felt so much peace, because I had an inner knowing that God would rescue us with His words, to be our Home. A few days before we had to check out, God sent someone to cover us to stay a month at one of our favorite Airbnb’s that we have stayed at before. 

 

I was beside myself in tears because it was the coldest I could remember outside. It was around 7 degrees as a high and at 7 a.m., it was in the negatives. Trying to imagine being stuck on the street in those conditions was really terrifying. 

 

If I did not have God’s promise and His ever-present rescue, we would have not survived. Just before the rescue arrived, God kept saying the word “LOVE” to me. He was giving me signs of His life-saving love, to sweep us up and lift us into safety. 

 

That is just what happened. So yesterday, we checked out of the hotel. It was around 20 degrees outside, and I was layered up in as many clothes as I could. There were a lot to carry, because there are many things that we must take with us every time. 

 

After walking down the freezing city streets to carry many loads of baggage with many trips back and forth, we finally left downtown, and our found way to a division of the city that is very busy, but so very cute. 

 

Every time we have a need, I have to lay myself at the feet of Jesus and surrender my fears, doubts, and insecurities all over again. Even though He has rescued us over and over for more moves than I can recall, I still need the comfort of wrapping my thoughts in His promise to keep me warm, from the fears that are freezing cold

 

We got settled into the new Airbnb, and I was in tears all night and the next morning, out of sheer gratitude to have a warm comfort from the cold. We both have a bed this time, and it feels so good to have the enjoyment of laying down and resting after such an exhausting move. 

 

The pillow on the couch was the first thing to greet us when we stepped in, and it said that “Love is what makes a house a Home”….just like God was whispering to me, His love would be our Home. 

 

The other move that God is having me make is to come back to my roots and to start doing more of the motivational, and speaking gifts He has called me to use. Even though I share the very vulnerable parts of our journey, I never share me. 

 

Long ago, I got so hurt, and since then I always protected myself from getting hurt again, by hiding who I am. I share the journey, I share the messages, I even share my emotions of facing life and death situations, but I never share who I am. She is under lock and guard. 

 

The truth is, I hide. I don’t like being exposed or being open, or vulnerable. It hurts to be poked and prodded by those who have no clue what it is like to walk in these shoes. But by doing so, I was shrinking, and giving myself over to the fear of man. 

 

There were many times when I had encounters with Jesus, and He would give me important messages to share, and I hid from doing it. I ran in the other direction, because I chose to protect myself instead. And I know that was wrong…

 

Before we left for our journey, back in Florida in 2016, I wrote an incredible book that is the roots of what I am going through now. I had this glorious encounter with Jesus, and I was given revelation that it was something He would have me share. 

 

The book is full of deep roots of Jesus, scripture, teaching, and a life-changing revelation. As I prepared to follow Jesus on this journey of housing miracles, God had me close up the book and set it aside, so that I could learn from actual experience. 

 

So I did, and then God asked me to start sharing the journey openly and vulnerably, and I did, and it was one of the hardest things I have ever done. Having to be exposed was a nightmare to me, because I am one who hides and protects myself. 

 

But God needed me to be open, to help me and to help others. So I obeyed the call, but I often cried myself to sleep at night because it hurt so much. While some precious Christians were loving and kind and generous, many were awful and would turn the other cheek, rather than help our cause. 

 

Through that experience, I grew bitter and I avoided Christians. I just stayed close to Jesus and I would dance with Him through His words and laying my fears and needs into His hands. It was a deeply intimate and beautiful time. I had my church, and those who were called to be in my intimate circle, but the gates were closed to being open to anyone at all. 

 

But then, when God asked me to start going back and open up to those that I was protecting myself from, I could not. I would not. I went through a deep anguish of the idea of having anything to do with those who spoke of God’s words, but did not ever show love. They did not have experience and experience is the rarest gold. 

 

For many years, I hid behind the ministry name I have, “Diamonds from the Dust”. When God asked me to start using my own name and not that cover, it was hard for me. I felt uncomfortable, but, I trust in His ways above my own insecurities. 

 

Then, here we are….God has revealed that He is taking me back to my roots, of sharing more depth of His words, and sharing the real colors of who I am and my love for Jesus as my first love through speaking, preaching, and teaching. 

 

He is mingling all of it together to make a tapestry of what was always meant to be. Both the passion for faith and a new mindset apart from fear and doubt—and the passion that I have for Jesus and sharing the deep depths of beauty in His words. 

 

It is the best feeling to see everything coming together to finish this book that has been waiting for more than 8 years to be seen. It is so deep, like a treasure trove of unfathomable beauty, and yet so delicious to read. 

 

There is a physical and a financial miracle that God promised that I would encounter to accompany the ending of this book, and then it will be ready to finally be seen…just like me. 

 

Both of us, the book and me, will finally come out of hiding, and running from this destined calling. I am sure that God has many more treasures up His sleeve too, and I will be sure to share that with you! 

 

We are constantly changing into the beauty that God made us to be. Sometimes that means closing off chapters, so that we can return to them later. That is what happened. God took me through a beautiful time of focusing only on hope, and healing my mind, while we put the deep things on the back burner for another time. 

 

Like cooking a meal, and having many side dishes cooking in separate pots, there are so many shades of your life that God has been preparing, to put together a scrumptious feast for you and those called to sit at the table to enjoy. 

 

Sometimes, God has to take us off the beaten path, so that we can find the treasures that He has placed along the way. Everything that you have been through has been coming together to make a big picture, and there is so much more than meets the eye. 

 

If I had released that book back then, I would have missed out on so much growth and understanding. I would have never really trusted God, but it would have just been saying the words. 

 

It took facing life and death circumstances for me to see that God’s promises are real, true, and powerful. It took being completely alone, for me to see that I was not. Not only that, but it took losing EVERYTHING to receive from the hidden storehouses of God’s loving provisions. 

 

It took losing old fake connections, to find my tribe, my church, my family. It took being hated by those that didn’t understand, to love myself, and to stand on my own with an audience of ONE, as I put Jesus at the front of it all. And now, it takes letting go of the self-protection and bitterness of the past, to be the vessel of God’s love that He always planned. 

 

You never believe that you could be thankful for suffering, until you have seen the breathtaking beauty that follows the storm. If I had not gone through all of that, then I would have never met Jesus in the way that I have. 

 

I would never have found out who I am, or received the passion to help those who will follow the same path that I have. I wouldn’t have love, or empathy, or hope. 

 

But just like Romans 5:3-5, it is through the hardship of where our feet meet the pavement enduring what we do, that we come to expect God’s goodness, because it is an endless experience in all we go through. 

 

We also celebrate in seasons of suffering because we know that when we suffer we develop endurance, which shapes our characters. When our characters are refined, we learn what it means to hope and anticipate God’s goodness. And hope will never fail to satisfy our deepest need because the Holy Spirit that was given to us has flooded our hearts with God’s love.

 

Everything is coming back around. In going back to the beginning, back to the roots, the fullness of who we truly are and what we are called to be, can finally be seen. 

 

There was a reason for everything. There was a reason for what you have walked through. Also, there was a reason that some people had to temporarily walk away from you. It was creating the very best for you, and leading you into the place where all of your promises are seen, and experienced as fulfilled and true. 

 

The ending will be stunning…and it will also become a new beginning, that is far better than you’ve imagined or dreamed. 

 

I love you, and I am looking forward to sharing the first chapter of the new with you. 

 

♡

 

Dannette 

https://diamondsfromthedust.com/