“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love Him.” - 1 Cor. 2:9 NLT

At this point in time, throughout my years of serving Tirzah Ministries, you have heard the behind the scenes story of my time of preparation.  You’ve seen what it’s like to burn ships - to destroy old ideas and concepts that no longer serve the future God has planned for me.  I can’t say it is easy to be transparent about your life.  However, I have been so fortunate to have so many AMAZING women ministry leaders, authors, and pastor’s wives pour into me.  I may never meet you in person, but I hope my stories teach you and your ability to share your story on Tirzah inspire you to a deeper faith.  

I want to build a bridge for you today before this story and this chapter of my life that I’ve shared with you concludes.  That is the bridge of abundant life.  Like those young adults refusing to receive the blessings and grace had in store for them, I did the same.  I hid behind the screen, never showing you my face and did my best to stay in the background when God made me to be light.  Guess what?  God built a bridge and showed me how to burn the ship of being less than God created me to be.

After a lot of prayer, I decided to build a bridge between all of the ministries I’ve served.  God burned the ship of believing I needed my old job and gave me Care Net, a national company devoted to teaching those who don’t understand about family, how to be a family, and how to love Jesus.  He transplanted me out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin and into Kenosha, Wisconsin.  While He took me out of those areas, He allowed me to build bridges.  I’ve served and continued to serve in Kenosha, Wisconsin.  God has built an AMAZING team there.

God allowed me to complete a dream I had for years, to build a pregnancy center in the inner city that rivaled Planned Parenthood.  He allowed me to build a bridge to help show people how to serve in the pro-life movement.  Guess what?  God gave me a female drummer my age in a massive Christian rock band who remodeled my entire center because she was super artistic and she was looking for a way to show women she cared and Jesus loved them.  I prayed and God literally brought me a young married couple with 5 kids to run the center to show the inner city what it looked like to have a family and to serve together.  He built a full on professional medical clinic piece for the pregnancy test/ultrasound test.  On top of that, He brought a man to guard the women and show them love while they walked in and out the doors.  He brought so many volunteers that we almost had to turn people away.  When I talk to these women, I get to tell them the body of Christ funds and runs this place, with many volunteers.  

I want to tell you one of the most shocking parts.  

God did this in one year.  

I was executive director for one year before stepping down to allow the couple to lead.  Our team had varying opinions and we continued to fight through things.  I burned the ship of running when things got hard during that year and stayed with the same team because our minor disagreements paled in comparison to our passion for the Kingdom.  Due to our faithfulness, God did immeasurably more than anything we could see or imagine.  We were invisible because we needed to become a team and now we are seen because we completed a mission that will continue to grow.  

I had to burn a ship that this pregnancy center would be in Milwaukee because God had other plans.  There was a prophecy for years throughout this community that revival would start on that block.  The week I started was the week riots broke out on that block.  An invisible city became a city known around the world.  We worked through those riots to build this center today.  While the block was literally burning, we were building.  While Presidential candidates and Civil Rights leaders marched down our streets, we persevered.  I don’t know that our center is the focal point of that revival, but we certainly saw God revive the ashes of something that was believed to be dead.  Burn the ship that your dreams are impossible.  If they are from God - He will see them through.

Who knows what will happen next?  Maybe what we did in Kenosha will become a model for a nation.  The places close to my heart could become future locations for similar programs.  Burn the ship that those who help people or those in poverty deserve less than and have to avow to poverty.  Build a bridge that those are the people who deserve that abundant life.  

Speaking of finding abundant life, not just on a personal level, but a personal level, check out my final article on building bridges & burning ships to see how personal God can be!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Alycia Marie is a free-spirited wanderer learning to find roots. She currently resides in Milwaukee and serves the community of southeastern Wisconsin. You can typically find her outdoors, as long as it’s warm, hanging out with family/close friends and meeting soon-to-not-be strangers. In her spare time, she writes, drinks chai tea, and builds non-profits, homes, families, and people. Some people like to call it missions. She prefers well-digging.