FAITH AND A SUITCASE: The God Who Sees Me
She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.”
Genesis 16:13
Hi Kingdom Family,
This week, I am wrapping up a four-month solo journey with the Lord Jesus. For more than two years now, I have been traveling with Him across nations, states, and unfamiliar places, learning what it means to follow without a map. By this point in a trip, I usually feel the weight of distance and miss the comforts of home. However, this final week feels different.
Instead of rushing toward what comes next, I have found myself slowing down and reflecting. I feel deep gratitude for all Jesus has taught me. He has faithfully walked with me through it all. We have shared many mountaintop moments and just as many tears. Every part of it has a purpose.
I have learned a lot from the sloths in Costa Rica, who take their sweet time and move with quiet intention. I have truly embraced the slow life, and I leave this place with a renewed sense of joy that was born through simplicity.
I know many readers come here for prophetic words, and I will continue to share them. In fact, I have a new one ready to be released! But for now, I wanted to share more about some of my latest adventures.
Last week, I was in La Fortuna, Costa Rica. The name itself caught my attention. La Fortuna means “fortune” or “blessing.” I believe names matter in the Kingdom, and this one feels like a prophetic marker for the upcoming season, one that will be filled with God’s FAVOR!
While there, I hiked through the volcano region on a trail called El Silencio, which means “the silence.”
The sun was out when I started the journey, so I did not bring a raincoat or any covering. But once I was deep in the rainforest, the skies suddenly opened, and rain poured down without warning. Within minutes, I was soaked and cold. There was no shelter, no one else around, and no clear way out. My tears mixed with the rain as the forest roared around me. I was too overwhelmed to even pray, I just thought, “Please help me endure, Father!”
And I did endure.
I kept walking, step by step, through pounding rain and discomfort. At times, the trail grew rough, and I nearly panicked. Still, I had no choice but to keep moving forward.
It was not until I reached the summit that God provided.
When I finally arrived, I looked down and saw something that stopped me in my tracks. A plastic rain poncho was just sitting there on the trail, directly along my path!!!
I laughed out loud because it felt deeply personal and I just knew it was for me! The journey down was so much easier once I had cover, and I felt like a happy child in the rain.
Prophetically, this moment mattered. God did not stop the rain. He did not remove the storm halfway up the mountain. He strengthened me to endure it, and He met me at the top with provision. The covering did not come at the beginning. It came after perseverance. The gift arrived only after I kept walking, without knowing how it would turn out.
In the days that followed, Jesus continued showing up in tangible ways, meeting needs only He would know. One day, I was hungry and did not have time to get groceries. As soon as the thought crossed my mind, a neighbor came over with soup. Another day, a shuttle dropped me off in a new town, and I had no idea how to get to my Airbnb. At that exact moment, a young woman walked up and asked, “Do you need a ride?”
It is my prayer that in this season, we all slow down enough to notice the practical ways Jesus answers our unspoken prayers. He truly is an ever-present help in times of trouble. He knows our needs before we ever voice them.
Scripture reminds us of this:
“Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear” (Isaiah 65:24).
“You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.”
Isaiah 55:12
Traveling with Jesus has become one of the places I feel Him most. I’m in awe of His creation. In nature, everything feels quieter, closer, more alive. I took this photo at a waterfall the other day, and I felt an overwhelming sense of joy, the kind that settles deep in your chest and reminds you that God is near.
Moments like that also bring a familiar ache. They make me miss my mom. Toward the end of her life, she talked about all the places she hoped to see and never did. Now, as I travel, her memory becomes more alive; I often feel that somehow, we are seeing the world together. Happy times are the hardest. Whenever something funny happens I miss calling her and laughing together.
This journey has been a profound part of my healing. Along the way, I meet people carrying deep grief, from loss and divorce to the slow surrender of a life they once imagined. There is a shared tenderness in those conversations, a recognition that we are all learning how to let go and trust again.
I rarely meet other Christians, but I am often given the opportunity to love people as they are and to be the hands and feet of Christ in simple ways. All we are called to do is plant the seeds, and Jesus takes care of the rest. My life’s calling is to meet people in painful places, and I am deeply grateful for the stories I am entrusted to hear.
Years ago, after Jesus healed me of my own cancer, I committed my life to helping others stand again, while pointing them toward a loving Father who never forsakes or abandons His children. I hope I am making Jesus proud, and my mom too.
Each day, I walk with deep gratitude and thankfulness for the life I have been given.
El Roi is my everything. I love Him so much.
YOU ARE SEEN BY JESUS
In Genesis 16, Hagar gives God a name. She calls Him El Roi, “the God who sees me.”
She encounters Him in the wilderness after rejection, mistreatment, and being driven away. Scripture tells us the Angel of the Lord found her. In the Hebrew, this implies intentional pursuit. God did not stumble upon Hagar. He went looking for her. In the same way, Jesus seeks us when we feel unseen, forgotten, or cast aside.
This season has been teaching me that God sees the endurance no one applauds. He hears the prayers whispered just to make it through another day. Silence does not mean absence. Often, it is where He is forming trust when sight and certainty fall away.
People often ask me, “How do you do this alone?” What they do not realize is this. I am never alone.
Jesus is always with me.
And still, we are human. We were created for connection. Jesus Himself chose people to walk closely with Him. He shared meals, conversations, grief, and friendship. He withdrew to be with the Father, yet He also invited others into His life, because relationship was never meant to be optional.
That truth has made me more attentive to the hidden loneliness others carry.
One of my dear friends is a strong business leader and a mother with full days and heavy responsibilities. She once told me there is a loneliness people rarely talk about, the kind that exists even when you are surrounded by others but still feel invisible. People value what you can give, but they do not always care to truly know who you are.
Lately, the Lord has been bringing her words back to my heart because many of you feel this way.
Some of you feel misunderstood, overlooked, or unseen. I believe Jesus is intentionally drawing near to those who have felt hidden, dismissed, or forgotten in this season. God wants you to know that He sees you clearly and knows you deeply.
He notices His faithful servants who keep showing up without recognition. He sees you in crowded rooms where laughter fills the air, yet your heart feels unseen. He counts the tears shed in private. He hears the prayers whispered when you are too tired to speak them aloud.
Jesus has always moved toward the unseen. He noticed the woman who touched the hem of His garment. He called Zacchaeus down from the tree. He stopped for Bartimaeus when the crowd tried to silence him. Again and again, Jesus went out of His way for the one.
This is the heart of our Savior.
To the unseen, hear this. You are not invisible to God. You’re truly precious in His sight. He knows you. He is nearer than you think. Often, it is in quiet and misunderstood places that His presence becomes most real. Please remember El Roi this season because He loves you so very much. 🕊️
A YADA KIND OF LOVE
Yada in Hebrew means to know through experience, intimacy, and relationship, not just information.
I’m writing this word from the very spot shown in the photo above, tucked away in the jungle in Puerto Viejo, on the Carribean side of Costa Rica. Monkeys move high through the trees above me, while brilliant butterflies and lizards dance all around. In this place, God is healing my soul and restoring my freedom. In Him, my heart has found its home. Jesus truly heals the broken and makes us whole.
Sometimes God leads us into El Silencio, like that volcano hike, because He is drawing us into deeper intimacy, where faith is formed without noise or constant signs.
It is a yada kind of trust, a knowing shaped through experience, relationship, and shared history with God.
The children of Israel encountered this kind of faith as they prepared to cross into the Promised Land. In Joshua 3:4, the Lord instructed them to keep their distance from the Ark of the Covenant so they would know which way to go, because they had never traveled that way before.
The Hebrew word “know” here is not about having detailed instructions. It is knowledge formed through lived encounters with God. This is covenantal knowing, not informational knowing; it’s the same word used when Adam “knew” Eve.
This is yada.
It is the kind of knowing that comes from walking with God long enough to recognize His movement, even when He is not explaining Himself. This is what God forms in seasons of silence. Silence strips away dependence on signs and teaches us to move from relationship.
In El Silencio, God is not withholding direction. He is refining our ability to recognize Him. It is a deeper, more mature faith, one that moves us off the milk of constant confirmation and onto the meat of trust and obedience. In this place, our hearts become so attuned to Christ that we learn to walk in step with Him, guided more by peace than by signs.
If you are weary today, know this. Jesus is with you. You are not alone. In the silence, He is forming something strong within you.
The Holy Spirit is releasing a finisher’s anointing over your life.
Keep going.
The summit holds a sweet surprise.
You will laugh at what God does.
Deuteronomy 31:8
“The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Isaiah 26:3
“You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you.”
Here are some of my pictures from my trip. This is my current “secret place,” where I meet Jesus each morning. It’s in Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica. My Airbnb hosts came from New York and built this space with their own hands. They told me people back home thought they were crazy, but they knew it would work. For ten years, they cared for their mother as she battled Alzheimer’s. After her death, they built this home here. Over and over again, God places me alongside others who are walking through grief. We form close connections.
The sloths are my favorite. This little baby was right outside my house while in La Fortuna. I like to watch them take their time eating and moving. It reminds me to slow down.
In every town I visit, I always go to the churches.
Regardless of the denomination, the power of Jesus is always present in these towns where the people don’t have a lot, but they have mighty faith!
During this trip, I also did a turtle release! All the new babies made their way to the water. It was so inspiring to watch them flap with all their might to set out on their journeys! This was my turtle. He was one of the last to make it, but he finally arrived at the water! I was so excited for his new voyage!
From the moment the baby turtles hatch, they are ready for the ocean. Before the turtle release, we were told how we couldn’t carry them to the ocean. Their bellies had to touch the sand because in 20 years, they will return to the same beach to give birth to the next generation. It’s estimated that only 1 in 1000 turtles actually survive. :( I have massive respect for sea turtles now.
I spent Thanksgiving walking this beach. I just felt so much gratitude for this past year. God’s truly a good Father and I love Him with all my heart.
One final look from La Fortuna! It’s so green and bursting with life!
