Episode 326: My Testimony – How God Has Worked Throughout My Life and Business

Full Episode Transcription:

Arianna Vernier: Hey y’all, I have been feeling a nudge from God to share my, like, faith journey, my testimony, whatever you want to call it, here on the podcast. I can’t remember if I’ve done this before. I would assume within the last 300 episodes, I probably have, but I didn’t want to go back and check because I didn’t really want that to influence like what I was going to speak on today. So, I’m just going to share with you what my faith journey has looked like. I hope that maybe it’ll inspire you, encourage you, maybe to share your journey with someone and just to trust in God. A little bit more. So growing up, I went to a Lutheran church. I’ve been in the church since I can remember. My family’s always been like very involved in the church. And so I was always there, always had, like always knew who God was. But maybe this just, this is just my experience. But I felt like the Lutheran church was just very Rules focused and that we had it. They just, the message that I was taught was that. You need to follow the rules, or else, basically. And I just never really felt like growing up that I had this, like, strong relationship with God.

I just kind of did what I was supposed to, with the hopes that I would get into heaven someday. And I know a lot of people in, like, the Lutheran denomination, Catholic, some other ones, have felt the same. And it wasn’t bad, like, I didn’t have any, you know, bad experiences, but I just never, like, felt that closeness. I just never felt that closeness to God that a lot of people talked about. So, fast forward to when I met my now husband. We were newly dating, and I went with him for the first time to his non denominational church. Where they are a lot more focused on having a relationship with God and just talking to him all the time and, you know, sharing your gratitude, like crying out to him, all of these things.

And that kind of opened a new door for me. I’m like, wait, you can actually like talk to God like that? I didn’t really realize you could do that. So at first, you know, I felt awkward doing that, but I. I quickly got over that awkwardness and just started, you know, bringing him into my life more, talking to him more, just in throughout my little like day to day things, and just growing a lot closer. And I think he opened that door for me so that I could work through some of the hard things that were coming in my life. And So that I could that I could understand that I could cry out to him whenever I need to so that was I think my Like freshman year of college. Yeah freshman year of college is when I met my husband So that’s when I started going to church with him sometimes and then Sophomore year of college. We had actually switched to different colleges. My husband and I were at two separate colleges and one Weekend when I was visiting my now husband, my roommate, I had two roommates in my apartment and one of my roommates was actually killed in our apartment. They still don’t know who did it. It’s now been, I don’t know, 12 years? Some, no, not that long. Maybe, I think it’s been a little over 10 years since that happened. And when that happened, it kind of removed my rose colored glasses, just about life in general. Like I had never had someone close to me get hurt like that. And to understand that that level of evil could live in the world.

Like I was honestly, I was mad at God. I’m like, how could you let that happen to My sweet friend And how is this evil like still allowed to be in the world? You know, like I said, it’s been over 10 years we still don’t know who did this to her and That’s always been kind of something i’ve struggled with like god. Is this person just like out in the world living their life? Doing whatever they want to do or you know, what’s up with that? So I had a lot of anger towards him during that time, but I think You Actually, I know God is not afraid of our anger. We can cry out to him in pain, in anger, in frustration, all of these things, and he can handle it. Because, God He is our father and He knows that we will come to him with whatever we have and he has a plan and a purpose and that’s not to say that like he planned for her death But he’s going to use that for his good his purpose his glory and to further his kingdom And I know that now but at the time I really really struggled with that.

So That anger eventually turned into just like sorrow, sadness, but that really helped me to build my faith and trust in Him. And to just understand like, yes, this world is evil, but He has our backs no matter what. He will keep us safe and that’s not necessarily like safe in this world, but I know that My friend who was killed, she is now safe with him, and I really truly believe that he probably protected her when that occurred so that hopefully she didn’t, like, feel anything or whatever. So, after that, you know, I started going to church a lot more because I just, with the rose colored glasses leaving, I just needed to know that he was alive. He had our back and I wanted to learn more about, like, what his plans for us in this world are, even though we’re, like, surrounded by evil. I wanted to know that he cared for us on a deep, deep, deep level, and I, like, I kind of knew that, but I just, I just needed to understand it more. I hope this is making sense. So, I, a couple years after that, I graduated from college and I wasn’t really sure where I was going to get a job. You know, I lived in Michigan. I had pretty much always lived there. I wanted to be a teacher, but teaching jobs in Michigan just, like, didn’t pay that well. I probably would have had a hard time, like, getting a job. Paying rent somewhere and paying student loans and all those things by myself. My husband and I weren’t married yet So I was like, am I supposed to stay in Michigan? Like yes, this is where my my future husband is my whole family But I really started feeling a nudge to look at other areas for jobs and when I went to a job fair for teachers at my college I All the Michigan schools like had lines that were super long because everybody wanted a Michigan job.

They lived in Michigan They wanted to stay in Michigan So that was their plan. And I’m like, well, I’m not going to waste my time here standing in line. I want to get the interview experience, see what’s out there. So I ended up just picking a couple of schools that I don’t know, sounded good. I don’t even remember like how I picked them. But one of them, actually multiple of them that I talked to were Texas based schools. And I had never really had Texas on my radar, but I was like, I’m just going to get the experience. And there was one school, not like school system in particular, that I really enjoyed talking to them. I felt like the interview went really well and they ended up Asking me to come to Texas and tour a couple of their schools and interview at a couple of their different schools in their, in their school system. So I was like, well, why not? I really felt like I was being nudged in this direction. And my family was, a lot of my family members were not thrilled because they didn’t want me to move so far away by myself. But I just really felt strongly that. I was supposed to go down there. So I did. I toured the schools.

I had one interview. I was supposed to have a couple more at a couple of the other schools. But after that interview, later that day, I got a call from the principal offering me the position. And I just had this, like, when he called me, I remember I was sitting outside of an apartment complex that I had like gone to look at to see if I could envision myself living there and he called, offered me the position and I just had this like really strong clarity of like, This is where I was supposed to be. So I said yes and I spent the next couple months getting ready and moved down to texas By myself my husband we were engaged at that point But he decided to stay up in ohio to work at the company. He had interned at when he was in college Just to like give them, you know a year of actually working for them after college You And then the plan was, like, the following summer we would get married, and then he would move down to Texas as well. So that first year that I was down there, I was by myself, which was really nerve wracking and terrifying, but you guys, he always has a plan. Like, literally, I was moving into my apartment My upstairs neighbor came outside to let her dog out and we started talking and she, that was about my age, she worked at the local Lutheran church, which again I was, like, I still, you know.

consider myself, you know, kind of a Lutheran because that’s what I grew up in. And so she invited me to go to church with her. She also started a small group that she would host once a week in her apartment every night or not every night, once a week in her apartment. And that’s how I met a lot of my friends and built my like support system in Texas. I’m pretty, you know, introverted. I’m usually not the one who like. just goes out and makes friends, you know, like super easily. So having her and, and having God just place that support system, literally one floor up for me. I know without a doubt that that’s, that was him making sure I was supported. I’m literally tearing up saying that. So once I moved to Texas, I feel like that’s when my faith got like really, really strong and just continued to grow. I was in my Bible a lot more, praying consistently and just trying to stay in alignment with what he wanted me to do. I always, like I said, I was, I felt that nudge to go down to Texas. I have always just really had a strong feeling and I, I just know when God wants me to do something and sometimes I argue with him about it.

I’m like, this is not what we’re doing, but he’s always like, nope, this is what we’re doing. And I eventually come around and do it. So staying in alignment with what he wants and not what you want, I think is really, crucial in understanding when it’s him calling you to something and not just, you know, your wants or needs. Something that’s also helped me with this is, um, asking for signs from him. If I feel like I’m supposed to do something, but I’m not exactly sure if I’m questioning what he wants me to do, I’ll ask for like a little sign. Kind of my go to is asking to see like different bugs. I don’t know why, but I try to make it like a bug I can’t easily see. So if, if I’m trying to decide between two different things and I’m like wondering what he like has for me, wants me to pick, I’ll be like, okay, God, show me a ladybug if you want me to make that choice. Show me a caterpillar if you want me to make that choice. And I always. Keep an eye out for ways that he can show me those signs that are not the way that I would expect.

Because most of the time I’ve seen the signs that I’ve asked for, if, if I wouldn’t have been paying attention, I would have missed it. So for example, I don’t even remember what it was now, but I had asked him for the sign of like a dragonfly if I was supposed to do something. Um, And my husband and I were driving home from somewhere.

We were coming through Cincinnati. I think we’re coming home from our Kentucky property. We’re driving through Cincinnati. We had to go a random way that we never go because there was just traffic. We had to go around it. And I, I didn’t look at like any billboards the whole trip. I was napping, looking at my phone, working on my computer probably. But I happened to look up at a billboard when we were passing through Cincinnati and the billboard that I saw. With some business name with the word dragonfly in it, and I was like, okay I hear you guys, and another time I had asked for a sign of a caterpillar and I went into the child care at my kids At my gym, the child care that the kids can go in while I’m working out And next to the sign in sheet, there was a whole stack of like these collage caterpillars that the kids had made. And I was like, okay. So if you’re asking God for signs, just like keep an eye out for things that you might not expect or ways that you might not expect for him to show you that sign. It could be like a screen saver on your computer. It could just be a random image that pops up on Google, whatever it is, just keep your eye out for signs.

Um, And understand that he might not give you that sign for a while. You might have to take a couple steps in faith first, but if you’re doing it in faith, he’s going to redirect you. You also need to know how to know when he’s asking you to wait versus telling you that he has a different plan. So one example of this that I’ve seen throughout. My faith journey Is my husband We now live in ohio But my husband still works for that same company in texas that he worked with when he moved down to texas and They have different projects like all over the u. s and they Shortly after we moved to ohio They really wanted him to go Work on this project in superior, wisconsin It’s in about as North of Wisconsin, as you can get. Super cold, not a lot around. And him and I both never really felt like we were supposed to go there. It was very scary because my husband was really concerned that if he said no to this new position, that they would not keep him at his job. And it was great because he was able to work remotely most of the time.

He really loved what project he had been on, but that project had ended. And. He was just like kind of concerned that he was turning down the next project, but neither of us felt like God was calling us to go there. Now we could have ignored what God was telling us and just gone, but I’m very, very thankful that we did not because he’s still with that company. He got a different position in the company that he really loves. And shortly after They filled the positions at that project in Superior, Wisconsin. That project ended suddenly. And basically we would have moved there, moved our kids there, gotten them in a daycare, everything. And then just a couple months later, we would have had to move again. So I’m just so thankful that we listened to him, that that was not meant for us. We were not supposed to go there. I truly feel like that was a test of like, are you really listening to me? And. I’m just so glad and thankful that we did. So I just kind of wanted to share all of this to encourage you to look for where God is working and moving and talking to you in your life, in your business, in all different areas, because He’s got your back and he just knows the plans that he has for you. And you just have to have that trust in him. And I also want to encourage you to look for the little things, the little God winks in your everyday life. An example of this my husband and I just went on our anniversary trip recently And we went to this little town in ohio that was on lake erie We’ve never been to it before and we’re literally pulling up to like the downtown area And it was blocked off because there was a car show and my husband loves cars.

So i’m like, that’s fine We can go walk through it. And so we park and we get out and there was like an announcement Um from the dj or whatever at the car show that it It was like all Corvettes there and that is my husband’s Favorite type of car. So the fact that we didn’t know that that was happening and we just happened upon it Like that was totally a god thing. So I just want you to remember to follow his nudges Even if they don’t like make sense even if he’s asking you to move across the country or if he’s not asking you to move like That’s okay, too. Don’t be afraid even if it’s not it seems like you should if he’s telling you. No, don’t do it Know that he always has your back and he can turn anything bad Into good and for his glory and to bring you closer to him Stay in alignment with what he wants not what you want Ask him for signs when you’re not sure what you’re supposed to do And know when he’s asking you to wait versus telling you that he has a different plan. So that was just kind of an overview, quick journey through my faith testimony, but I just felt like he was calling me to share it. So I wanted to share it with y’all. All right. Thank you so much for listening to today’s episode, y’all. Love you so much, and we will see you next time.