“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” - Matthew 7:7 NIV

On this conclusion on how to burn ships and build bridges, I want to burn the ship that your actions are necessary for God’s work. Guess what I learned? All the people, places, and things I thought God needed to complete His will - they were not necessary for GOD to complete what He wanted. Others chose their stories and I miss them dearly. However, I made the choice to follow God to where HE wanted to do a miracle.

I’m currently standing in the middle of a miracle. However, my actions weren’t needed. God has pretty much allowed me to sit and observe HIM work. He has shown me the power of fervent prayer. Today, I am sitting in the backyard of a house I’ve dreamed of living in for a year. It wasn’t a house I knew to dream for until God showed me it when I started working in Kenosha. Y’all - I live two blocks from a lake and can see it from the back yard!!! The people who are the landlords are dear friends I met - thanks to the involvement I had in serving young women at a church. We now have a fire pit with porch swings and a hammock around it. There is a rock - climbing wall to climb the tree. Treehouses that are liveable and a zip line that crosses the yard. I've got a trampoline, swings, a hot tub, and a bunny - all in the city on a lakefront - blocks from the inner city.

Everywhere I look I see the favor and hand of God in this. When I finish working hard to serve others, I get to play with animals, walk along the lake, and swing like a child. In addition to this, I may be far from rich but God provides. He reduced my hours so I could serve all of you at Tirzah again and truly make Tirzah Ministries everything He desires it to be. I get to write, edit, and serve you while also serving the inner cities I hold dear.

In addition to this, He has given me a group of incredible women across the state who check on me frequently. They are dear and on fire for Jesus in powerful ways. I hope someday you will all see them up close. In the meantime, they are my prayer warriors, my personal friends, and my partners. He has continued to bring back some old friends I never thought I would receive again and redeemed our stories. Speaking of which, this is how personal God is!

It just so happens at the same time I moved into Kenosha, things started to shift in Kenosha. I usually don’t share when I’m in the middle of a miracle but more towards the end. However, I would love prayer! As the story goes, a residential home that used to be a home for teen moms became empty and available a few months ago. The city is trying to figure out what to do with it and guess whose name is in the ring? If it were to become mine, it is beyond beautiful and ready to receive women. On top of that, I actually feel ready to receive the house.

As you can see, my story is still unfolding and I am truly in the middle of a miracle unfolding. I wanted to finish off my story that you’ve read about for years on Tirzah Ministries by burning the ship that we can do things in our own power. Hopefully, I showed you that God does His best work when we pray for His plan and follow His path. He has done a mighty work inspite of me. If you asked me a year ago, I was so upset to lose what I thought I needed for God’s story. Today, I am sitting in the midst of almost everything I’ve asked for and praying for some of the same things still today.

One day I will have that home for boys on a farm and most likely, in my ideal world, it will be mine and my husbands. Since I don’t have that husband quite yet and am still learning about farming, I am beyond content to live in this dream. I want to build a bridge that we are always in process and our dreams will coincide, collide, and grow throughout our lives. For now, I get to finally build my home for teen moms, live on a lakefront, zip line every night (if I choose), and celebrate life with family and friends. You’ll also see me preparing for my next miracle. A family has already offered to let me keep a horse at a barn right down the road for me and a dear friend gives me private riding lessons. This is the start of preparation for yet another miracle.

Please know - this is the start of my even deeper journey with Tirzah. I used to think my dreams had to only include ministry, but not what I desired on a personal level. Since I was a little girl, I dreamed of being a writer and speaker. Having my house full of boys, but talking to girls through writing - which impacted my life in the inner city so deeply. While I’ve been building these ministries, Yelena was faithful and helped build my dreams. Thank you to Yelena for being faithful to God!

Moving forward, I would love to invite you to follow my journey on my Instagram at @alymarie1991 and on Tirzah’s Instagram as we learn as a team how to engage y’all at a deeper level on social media. I want to burn the ship of separating my personal life from this ministry that is so dear to my heart. You can watch for the conclusion of this story in book form, but in the meantime I want to spend some time focusing on building Tirzah behind the scenes and building the miracle God is currently creating in my life (which you will see glimpses of on IG). Thank you to everyone for reading and listening to the ramblings of one girl’s dreams, mistakes, failures, and successes. I’ve so enjoyed sharing my story with you!

***PS - None of this would be able to happen, dear friends, if I hadn’t burned ships and built bridges. Pray, seek, and ask what God is asking you to leave behind, where He is asking you to move forward. He is your friend and He has a personal dream for you. Dreams for you in your relationships, in you personally, and in your community. God is waiting for you to ask Him what your dream are, who is best for you, and how to align your life.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Alycia Johnson 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.

Building Bridges & Burning Ships: Part 12 (The Finale)