An Exciting Update!

Dear Friends,

My life has taken an exciting turn recently, and I'd like to share it with you. I have been given an awesome opportunity to be a part of great organization, and I'd like to tell you about it and what led me to it.

As a result of my failed marriage experience, I feel called by God to pursue a ministry encouraging youth to pursue lives and relationships that mirror that standards God set for us in the Bible. The vision I have for that ministry includes close involvement with the Christian music industry. As a result, I have pursued and obtained a summer long internship with an organization called Worship and the Word Movement, which every summer coordinates a huge Christian music festival in Colorado called Heaven Fest. Heaven Fest includes over 70 Christian music artists and bands, about a dozen different stages, and other entertainment and activities on the property. You can learn much more about Heaven Fest at www.HeavenFest.com.

Heaven Fest is all about:

- Giving to the poor, the exploited, the orphan, the widow, and the sexually trafficked.
- Bringing people that follow Jesus together to worship HIM.
- Planting and watering seeds of God's word in the hearts of people.
- Lastly, Heaven Fest is what we call a "hope dispenser." We want people that feel hopeless to hook up with the Source of hope - Jesus.

This internship program offers me a unique and exciting learning opportunity to experience the day-to-day logistics of building a massive, one-day, Christian music and arts festival.

Some of the things I will be receiving are:

- Receive hands-on education and training on the planning, coordination and execution of a music and arts festival.
- Understand the influence of music and arts festivals in the public and spiritual communities.
- Establish relationships for my future network.


In addition to being selected as an intern, I have been offered and accepted the position of Retail Director. This is a volunteer leadership position in which I will be managing the 7-8 retail booths that are specifically designated for Heaven Fest merchandise. These booths are essential to helping raise the funds that we donate to organizations that help the poor, the widowed, the sexually trafficked - as mentioned above. This year, one of the main organizations we are donating a portion of the proceeds to is Love 146. You can learn more about them at www.Love146.org. I would especially encourage you to visit the video section of their website - they are very impacting and give an excellent view into the sex trafficking industry and how Love 146 aims to help.

I am thrilled to be a part of Heaven Fest, and I feel that this is an open door to the call that the Lord has placed on my heart to lead a purity ministry. Heaven Fest is a volunteer-based organization that depends heavily on the generosity of others to fulfill its purpose every year. As you can imagine, a commitment like this requires a great deal of time and financial support from a number of people. In order to be able to commit myself fully to this endeavor, I need to raise financial support of about $1,000. If you can give a donation it would be greatly appreciated. And, most importantly, I also need your prayer support. Prayer is the fuel that will allow us to be successful as we follow God's leading in our ministry. Without prayer, little, or nothing will happen. I strongly feel that this is the beginning of a new journey in my life as I devote my time and my heart to serving the Lord in whatever purposes He has for me. This summer, that entails working for Heaven Fest, and I am faithfully trusting that the Lord will sustain me financially as I follow His leading. One of the ways He has been doing that thus far has been through the generosity of friends and family, and I pray that if you feel so led, you will prayerfully join with me by supporting me financially this summer.

Please know that you are all in my thoughts and prayers! I feel truly blessed to call you friends. You have all blessed me and been a special part of my life. Thank you so much for considering supporting me in this endeavor. I am excited to regularly update you about the experiences I am having and the new things I am learning. A great way to keep up with me would be through my blog, as I will definitely be blogging about my Heaven Fest experiences.

I love you all!

Wishing God’s Blessings Upon You This Summer,

Sara



A Few Details About Donations:
- Your donations can be tax deductible.
- If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation, you would need to make the check out to “Worship and the Word Movement.”
- If you do not wish to make a tax-deductible donation, you may address your checks directly to me at “Sara Gonzalez.”

A New Adventure in Ministry!

Dear Friends,

After much prayer and anticipation, I am thrilled to announce that I am an intern for Heaven Fest 2010 - AND their retail director!!!

Heaven Fest is a huge one day Christian music festival here in Colorado (this year in Longmont). This year there will be over 70 bands, and it goes all day long on July 31st. It is an awesomely fun event, and a large portion of the proceeds go to benefit other ministries such as Love 146. The video this link takes you to is a good introduction to their organization.

I felt led to apply for this internship because I feel it is an open door to pursuing the vision for a new ministry the Lord has given me. This ministry will encourage youth to strive for lives of purity and Godly standards, largely through the Christian music industry - at least, that is the vision God has given me! Hence my interest in learning the insides of this ministry that also revolves largely around the Christian music industry. I felt that I could really glean a lot of knowledge and valuable learning experiences from this internship.

While I was at my first interview for the internship, I was introduced to the possibility of also being offered the Retail Director position. This is a volunteer position (both positions are unpaid), overseeing the 7-8 retail booths that benefit Heaven Fest by helping to raise money for those organizations to whom we are planning to donate.

After that interview and during my time of prayer over Heaven Fest, I felt such a peace over working with this ministry that I told Him I would do whatever He wanted me to do with them. I had a second interview with everyone in the core leadership team yesterday, and today I was offered both positions!

While I was already unemployed when I learned about and applied for the internship, I was so convinced that it was divinely ordained that I made it my first priority in my schedule. I am certain this is the Lord's will and that He divinely placed me in these positions, and therefore I am relying on Him to provide for me while I give the best efforts I have in me to Heaven Fest. Though I am still seeking part-time work to help me get by during my time with them, I haven't had any luck yet. I feel like this is just a season that God is calling me to be unemployed while He does a really exciting work in me through this ministry and gives me a blessed experience. I see this as the beginning to the ministry to which He is calling me. I just know that this is going to be a very exciting time!

Thank you to all of my friends and family in Christ that have been encouraging me and supporting me thus far! I know I can rely on you to continue, and I am so thankful for each and every one of you! You have been the biggest blessings during this season of my life. I continually lift you all up in my prayers and thank the Lord for you.

My first day working with Heaven Fest is tomorrow at 10 a.m.! Check back for regular posts about my experiences and how God is working!

Love in Christ,

Sara

My First Portrait

My dear and talented sister in Christ, Marlene, made this amazing portrait of me as a belated birthday gift. It's the first portrait anyone's ever done of me in any format, and it is the biggest blessing to my heart! She is so gifted! The theme is "beauty from within," and confirmed what the Lord had spoken to me that day. It just blesses my heart so much, and I will keep this for the rest of my life!! Thank you, Marlene! I love you!

 

Digging up Weeds

Dear Friends,

This past week has been pretty difficult for me. I have been getting anxious and restless as I've been at a loss with how to fill my time while still unemployed. And whenever I am in that place, it leads to a lot of anxiety and desperation over what I am supposed to do with my life - what my calling and destiny is and how I'm going to get there. I suppose the anxiety is a result of trying to figure out those things for myself, when I'm not supposed to - and when doing so is impossible anyway! The thing is, I'm much clearer on what God's destiny/calling is for me, these days - ever since I've been free from my marriage and back where I am supposed to be, which is in Colorado. Perhaps that made this week even more frustrating. I guess the way my mind was really working was, "Ok, we've got the calling part figured out - now what do I need to be doing?!"

The relief from that came as I was journaling today, to God - half of my prayers are journaled, half of them are prayed in my head or out loud. I just started listing everything that was causing me anxiety, everything that was unresolved in my mind - how I was going to get from point A to point B, whether or not God is going to allow certain things to happen and other such things. And I looked at that list and I realized there was nothing I could do about any of it! There was nothing I could do to generate the answers or solutions to any of my questions. They are pretty much all things that I just need to leave to the Lord and "wait and see!" And you know what? Weirdly enough, that gave me such relief!!! It was such a relief to see that I wasn't missing anything - that there wasn't anything I was supposed to be doing right now that I wasn't, and that the only thing I can be doing right now is waiting and praying. God is in the midst of answering these questions and burdens of mine, and He's also in the midst of working out the details of several of the things that I am looking for answers regarding that are or would be taking place now or in the near future.

One of the things that was causing me anxiety, ironically, is KNOWING that this is a season of waiting and just seeking the Lord but not wanting to screw it up! Not wanting to screw it up by not seeking his face enough, or not finding the lessons that He has for me, or hearing what He wants to say to me... all I want to do is just sit in His presence so I don't miss anything! haha :) And even though I have been spending a lot of time with Him, I've still been badgering myself that it hasn't been enough....I think I need to ease up on myself juuuust a little bit.... badgering yourself TOO much is not so healthy.

I've also been realizing over the past I don't know how many weeks or so that I have an argumentative spirit within me that has been wanting to fight against positive spiritual things... like correct heart attitudes, positive outcomes to difficult situations, and close friends feeling confirmation of God's calling. And I am just left thinking, "What the heck is wrong with me?!?!?!" I love God, I love my friends. I am seeking after the Lord with all my heart. I want to spend my life serving the Lord in ministry. I want with all my heart to become a beautiful, holy woman of God. I have been asking God to show me where from within me this is coming from, but so far I have nothing. But it troubles me, it burdens me. I certainly don't want to be that way! How can a woman after God's heart be so opposed to the things the Lord is doing? It quite confounds me at the moment... but I will seek the Lord for understanding and healing until it comes, because that is not ok to let continue without uprooting.

And finally this week, God has dealt with me on saying goodbye to someone who should not have been allowed to be in my life up to this point... I hadn't wanted this person there past a certain point, and that point was almost two months ago. This week I had just reached my breaking point, and the Lord was clear that I needed to let this person go, even though it wasn't going to be easy. My heart and the Lord's were in agreement, but I had fought the Lord a little bit on doing what needed to be done myself versus wanting the Lord to do it for me. Sometimes that just isn't an option! But today that was done, and that has also brought relief. That was the last piece of my past that needed to be let go, and I'm rejoicing that it's done now. My past does not belong in my life now that I have fully given it to the Lord. Rejoice!

And so that has been my week this past week, and it was hard. I didn't even want to write a blog post this week prior to today! I was struggling with how to turn all of those inner conflicts into a post that had some rhyme and reason or ended nicely! haha! That's why this post is calling "Digging up Weeds"... God is in the process of digging up some weeds in my life. Some were dug up this week, some are still in the process... but God is faithful and will uproot them all, so that only His glory and light will shine through me, as is my prayer and the desire of my heart. My desperate cry is, "Lord, use me!!" .... and He will... because God is faithful. And I believe that whenever we pray something in accordance with His will, He answers, always. And I know He wants to use me!

I love you all. Thanks for reading :)

Memorization and Meditation

Hey friends!

Throughout the season I have been going through these last few months, I have been convicted of my need to really get deeper into God's word. One of the primary ways I wanted to do that was through resuming scripture memorization. So, I started writing verses I wanted to memorize on some index cards.

The verse God had really impressed upon my heart these past two weeks was Ephesians 3:20, which says in the New Living Translation, "Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think."

I have been clinging to that verse in the moments that felt difficult... the ones where I felt heartache and the ones where I wondered about the future. Now, as I sit here continuing to put my hope in that promise, I realize that God really made that promise come true in my life last week, by no merit of my own.

As I have written about before, I am currently unemployed. I have applied for a part-time unpaid internship because it strongly relates to the vision God has given me for the ministry that is on my heart, and therefore am looking for a part-time job - though that is sightly difficult given my schedule restrictions with the internship. However, I believe that the internship is part of God's plan in preparing me for this ministry, so I am making that the priority and trusting Him to provide.

Well, last week, He provided "infinitely more" than I imagined, for sure! After not having received the monthly spousal support I was supposed to be receiving from my estranged husband for three months, it finally arrived last week - giving me enough money to cover my bills for the month. Then, when I needed money for the divorce filing fees sooner than I thought I would, God graciously provided again - in a fashion that was far more amazing than I expected! His provision last week was overwhelming and amazing. It blew me away. It really showed that promise to be true in my life. Again, thank you to everyone's generous support!

Today, God gave me a verse that kind of echos the same sentiment as Ephesians 3:20 for me, which is 1 Corinthians 2:9, which says in the New International Version, "However, as it is written: No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him." They both really talk about God going far above all that we can imagine or dream - in everything He does.

I think we should certainly have big expectations of God and not limit Him - but I think even in our humanness, God's way is to out-do even our biggest expectations :) And it leaves me full of praise!

Dear Friends

Dear Friends,

On January 24th, 2010, I started this blog with a post called "The Confession." This post confessed my sin in marrying a man that I should not have married. One who turned out to be abusive emotionally and physically as well as dishonest and unfaithful. At that point I was separated from him and have since cut off all communication with a protective order against him. I planned to proceed with a divorce as it was now biblically ok for me to do so and in my best interests.

I have struggled a bit financially since I separated from him. Though I had a job when I moved back to Colorado, it was not God's will for that job to work out, and I am currently searching for a new one and whatever God has for me. God has graciously provided me with a free lawyer - a friend of a friend who works for a very reputable law firm in Denver.

While God has graciously provided for my needs this month in terms of money for bills and food, I am without the money that I need to pay for the fees in order to complete the divorce - I am still responsible for those, though I am not responsible for the fees I would normally incur for hiring the lawyer. I am meeting with him on Friday in order to sign the papers, and I need to bring in all or a portion of the fees.

I would like to ask those who have read my story, followed my blog, or been a friend who has helped me through this ordeal to prayerfully consider assisting me with the divorce filing fees. At this point I need about $400 to cover the filing fees and the fees to serve my husband with the papers. Though I know I wouldn't receive the money in time for Friday, it would help me immensely, even if I was delayed in making the payment. Please know that I would not ask if it were not a sincere need. I trust the Lord for all of my provision, and one of the ways that He often provides is through the giving of others. If you feel led in your heart to give, it would mean the world to me. You would forever be in my prayers and my heart.

I am going to attempt to set up a paypal link on my blog for you to easily be able to make a donation that way. if you would like to mail a check, please contact me at Sara.Fachetti@gmail.com for my contact information.

Thank you a million times over, from the bottom of my heart. The support and love I have received since being back home has left me in awe and utter gratitude. It is all the proof I need to know that God loves me, has a plan for my life, and that I am exactly where I am supposed to be. I love you all.