The pressure's off!

I love this lady. Charlotte Knapp is such a gem. I met her when she did TSM at the King's Arms and then she did a year interning with me. It was amazing to watch her change so much in the course of just a couple of years.

Charlotte is a gentle and powerful woman and she carries such beautiful gifts from God. She is married to Matt, who did one of my earlier blogposts, and they are a brilliant couple. I am excited for you to read about how God is getting her attention at the moment and for all of us to be inspired by another fire starter in their 20's.

Here's a reminder of the questions I've been asking:

- Who are you and what do you do?

- What is God speaking to you about the moment and how are you responding to Him?

- What would be your tops tips for people in their 20's to thrive in their relationship with God?

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Hi I’m Charlotte, I’m 29yrs old and currently a part time artist. I love anything nature, fashion and art inspired. I’m coming up to nearly 2 yrs of marriage to Matt and have lived in Bedford for the past 6-7years. I love being part of King's Arms Church family.

Recently I’ve been feeling God speaking to me about really investing in and praying for the town that I live in.

Since all the restrictions with travel over the last year, I’ve felt God's opened my eyes to the significance and privilege we have to invest in the regions He's placed us. In the past, if I'm honest, I’ve been very good at investing in my local church, but not so much in my town. I think I’ve always had a mindset of travelling, overseas missions and ministry trips as the goal; as the places we really make a big difference. As a result, I’ve never let my roots run deep in the places I’ve lived.

This realisation has made me want to steward the places God has put me. I don't want to be constantly looking into the future and wondering if God may call us somewhere else. I don’t want to live only focussed on the future that I don’t yet know about. Instead I want to live in the present and focus on what God has given me to steward here. I'm being obedient to what God is showing me by starting to pray more for our town and asking God to grow my heart and love for it and the people. I'm excited to see how and where God leads me.

I feel like for most of my 20’s I’ve been trying to figure out what I’m really called to

I've often felt driven by a need to be seen and significant. I would see a lot of other young people achieving their dreams on social media and I wanted that for myself too. I remember Wendy having a word for me 4 years ago about me going into the secret place for a season before seeing dreams awakened in my life. If I’m honest I didn’t really want that! I really hoped it wouldn't be a very long season!

Looking back I can see that I resisted that word in my heart for quite a while, until I had no other option. I came to a place of breaking, a place of coming to the end of myself where all I wanted and needed was Him. All I wanted was to surrender to His will. All I wanted was to be hidden, not in a insecure way, but in the secret place. So my advice for others in their 20’s would be that the pressure is off!! You don’t need to strive to be seen and your significance doesn’t come from what you do. Get low and seek God in the secret place.

It really is the smallest of things that matter to God. When I feel pressure to be doing something big and significant in the eyes of man, I love to remind myself of Matthew 25: 35-40:

'for I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you visited me’.

When we do these things we do them for Him.

These are all hidden acts of kindness; none of them are public for all to see. It reminds me that this is what is close to God's heart. This is what is significant to Him.

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Wendy Mann Equip | www.wendymannequip.com

Building Family, Prioritising God's Presence, Extending God’s Kingdom