FREEDOM

Who the Son sets free is free indeed! 

That doesn't mean that your enemy will shut his mouth, but that does mean it doesn't matter what he says! 

Can I get a hallelujah?! 

I've been thinking so much about this lately. Everyone goes through battles: emotional, physical, mental, etc. There's no new battle for anyone, ever, in the history of the world. The devil's the same jerk he's always been, pulling the same stunts he's always pulled. I'm so glad the Bible tells us that we have the victory through Jesus, we're more than over-comers, greater is He that's in us & no weapon formed against us will prosper! Praise God!!

Did you know that walking in victory doesn't mean your enemy will stop trying to talk to you about the battle? The devil will try to convince you that the battle is still raging, but did you also know that he's the father of lies?! 

Just because the enemy tries to come back at you with something you've been set free from in the past doesn't mean you're back in that trench, it just means your enemy needs to be reminded that who the Son sets free is free indeed. Remember he's a deceiver, he's going to try & tell you that it's back. Right then & there it's your choice who you're going to believe - the devil who's lying to you & telling you that the battle is back, or Jesus Christ who not only defeated satan & took the keys from him, but who set you free to walk in abundant life & Who told you that no weapon formed against you will prosper? Which one will you believe...because you'll have the fruit of that decision. 

If you wait to rejoice in your victory until the devil leaves you alone, sweet loved one, you will never get the opportunity to rejoice. You need to answer those wrong thoughts, words, symptoms, & emotions that are trying to tell you that you didn't win & you're back in the battle. Authority has been given to you & now must be taken by you! Any gift you ever get is of no good to you unless you apply it to it's purpose. God has gifted us authority, now apply it! Speak the Word, pray, repent, forgive, answer, & declare & rejoice in the victory that belongs to you!

Regardless of what you feel like right now, begin to do an act of faith over your situation... rejoice, sing, dance & watch God come into it. The step of faith might not always feel good or even real to your 5 physical senses, but the result of it will be power-packed! 

Galatians 5:1 - For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

-Amie 

- the eye is single -

- the eye is single - 

Huh? What's that even mean? 

My husband preached a message in youth like a week ago & it's still rolling around in my spirit. He was talking on Matthew 6 & the eye being the lamp of the body. It was pretty memorable when he held two phones up to his eyeballs & walked around with the flashlights on. LOL! 

It made an impression on me, because the light didn't illuminate the entire room, it only illuminated what he turned his eyes towards. 

If you go up a bit in the same chapter it talks about your treasure & your heart. You focus on what you treasure & soon after your heart follows where you've been focusing. 

A lot of times I think people feel bad about themselves because they aren't "as spiritual as they should be." (Bonus Tip: Comparison is not the correct measuring tool of spirituality. Look to others as examples to follow & to be inspired, but look to God to be your judge & standard. He's much better at it then your insecure, renewed mind will ever be & don't forget, good leadership helps too).

Anyways, back to the topic. It's okay to be convicted about not living on the level you should, but it's also an easy fix. The eye is single, remember? Change your focus, change your life. Yes, it's that simple, it's just not that quick. 

Your eye is single, meaning your lamp can only focus on one thing at a time. If you're shining your light on the things of this world then you won't be able to maintain your focus/passion/determination & eventually your heart for the things of God. If you hear right, that can be so freeing! You can stop condemning yourself for "being a bad person" & realize you just weren't focused on the right thing. 

There are things everyday fighting for your focus, why? If they can get your focus, they can eventually get your heart. Listen, we've got to step up & take responsibility for our eyes. It's our job to control where we look, but don't let that add pressure because His yoke is easy & His burden is light. You can't do it out of your own strength, but that's why we have the Holy Spirit who is our Helper! Do your part to keep your eyes on God & watch His light yoke begin to unfold in your life. You'll be amazed at the ease of walking with Him... of walking in His light... & walking in the abundant life that He has for you! 

Happy 2018 y'all!!
-Amie

no longer slaves

I'm learning more & more that life tries to dictate, but it's not a very nice dictator. It pushes & demands & pulls from you. Every once in a while it'll throw a crumb your way, but then demand it of you hours later. How do people live like that? No wonder people get worn out with a taskmaster like life!

It reminds me of the children of Israel when they lived in Egypt.

It was never God's best for them to be slaves. You'd think that would be obvious, but how many of us are slaves to life? That's not God's best for us either!

When Israel was in Egypt, they were busy building another man's kingdom, but when they got free & FINALLY got to the promise land where they belonged, they started taking hold of the lands God had for them!

If you let life dictate to you it will always try to suck you dry, but if you let God tell you what to do, who to marry, how to invest, what to say, what to think, how to act, where to go to church, where to work... HE WILL ONLY ADD TO YOU. You might have to fight some giants (in fact, you WILL), but greater is He that's in us than he that's in the world.

I'm not one of those "nothing-bad-will-ever-happen-to-you-Christians," but I am one of those "NO-MATTER-WHAT-HAPPENS-YOU'RE-MORE-THAN-A-CONQUEROR-CHRISTIANS!"

& God's Word & prayer is how you get there.

His Word is a lamp to our feet & a light to our path. When it's alive inside of us, it's like a well that we can draw from in every situation. It builds our faith & TEACHES US WHAT'S TRUE!

When you're at work, or driving in your car, out to eat, shopping, at soccer practice, the vet, etc...PRAYER KEEPS YOU PREPARED. Prayer keeps your heart sensitive to God's voice because it's like a phone line between you & Him. He's talking to you & you're talking to Him.

So when life is good & fun & busy, you're full & you've got a direct line.

& if life gets crazy & hard & busy, you're full & you've got a direct line.

God has called you to overcome & live victorious. The promise land didn't just happen & victory won't just magically happen either, but it can be taken ahold of by faith! Get active, get strong & get all that God has for you.

Praise

Oh the power of praise! 

My friends are you going through a hard time? Look up & praise. 
Are you having the best time of your life? Look up & praise! 

We must fight to always maintain our praise. We must not lose sight of God through the pain & we must not forget Him in the joy. 

I was inspired by Paul today. Always contented; always praising. He learned to be content in every circumstance. He learned to praise no matter what. 

Praise might not immediately change the facts about your circumstances, but it changes you & it changes your vision. Praise ignites faith & faith brings "steadfastness." If I'm being honest, I can't stop there...praise CAN change the facts immediately! It did for Paul & Silas! (Acts 16) Be it unto you according to your faith!

Emotions will convince you that your problem is big, but praise brings God back into focus. The closer you are to something, the more of your vision is takes up. Stay close to God, keep your eyes, your heart, your emotions on Him & you'll see your life, your family, friends, money, etc correctly. 

I love the Psalms because it deals with real life & it brings God into every situation. No matter who is against you or what is attacking your body, relationships, money, or any thing else - there is a song that you can sing & there is an answer from God. 

Praise is the moment your attention belongs to God. As you sing...whether it's a popular worship song or a new song out of your heart...it's about Him. You're not thinking about yourself, your problems, or anyone who might be listening. Your words belong to Him. Your heart feels like it could burst out of your chest because every word you sing holds such weight & yet they aren't enough. God is so worthy, so perfect, so deserving, so wonderful that all your words fall short, but love & awe are pouring out of you & you don't want to stop. Sometimes you can't even say a word & all you can do is stretch your arms high towards Him or dance or yell because how does a mere human express enough love & thankfulness & worship to his Creator, his Savior, his Deliverer?! 

Even as I wrote these words, my focus shifted to Him, to His majesty...I couldn't think about myself when I began to imagine Him, when I began to release my praise, & give Him my words & my adoration. It's like a floodgate. Once it starts, it's hard to stop. 

You might feel like everything within you doesn't want to start, do it anyways! Trust Him, trust His process. There is freedom waiting on the other side of your obedience. There is freedom on the other side of submitting your flesh to His truth. There is healing, there is breakthrough, there is more. 

Psalm 16:7-11 
I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me. I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure. For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption. You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

5 things

Thankfulness.

It's a powerful tool - something that causes an effect whether it's on or off. What does that mean? 

If your thankfulness is on it's powerful & on the flip side, if your thankfulness is off...well that's powerful too. 

Thankfulness increases your heart, it re-aligns your vision, it brings you back into reality & it causes your faith to grow.

When it's "off" life tends to take over. You begin to feel like your missing out, you get critical & you stop wanting to help others because you want to help yourself. 

So like I said, it's powerful whether it's on or off. & guess what? Just like most other things in life, it's our choice! 

The Bible tells us that a cheerful heart does you good like medicine. (Proverbs 17:22) What does medicine do? It heals an ailment. If you have the ailment of stress, being unsatisfied or being critical, the remedy is thankfulness. 

So many times the trick of the devil is to get our eyes off of what we do have & on what we don't have. When the actual reality is that we are blessed with so much. This isn't even a faith statement, this is an actual tangible fact. No matter what you've gone through, are going through or what you do or don't have there is so much to be thankful for. 

Do yourself a favor & make a list. Why do you think God wrote the Bible down for us? Because it helps us to see things on black & white (& sometimes red 😉 ). Write down the first 5 things that come to your mind that you are thankful for. Everyone has got 5 things! You do too, even if it doesn't feel like it.

Here's mine:
1. God
2. My Husband
3. Family
4. Church
5. Friends

Once I started there were so many other things that popped into my brain that I was thankful for - I mean just life itself, being alive, healthy, breathing, walking, talking, seeing...seriously! Or you can go with things like clothes, house, car, furniture, etc! It might seem like a small thing to be grateful for, but it makes a big impact. Just like faith as big as a mustard seed can move mountains, so thankfulness - even for small things - can change your thinking! & isn't that what it's all about, renewing our mind to think like Jesus?! 

So my friends, what are you thankful for?

lay it down

WOW!

Well, I've been walloped by the truth & challenged to make some changes. So I thought I'd share my revelation with you!

Here's the deal! We need to stop living from our own standard. We don't get to have our own opinions, truths or decisions because we've been saved from all that. Don't get me wrong, we're not robots, but if you take 2 seconds to stop & look at how the world has deteriorated because everyone wants their own way, you won't have a problem giving up your (my) finite opinions/desires. We serve the God of the impossible, from Whom every good & perfect gift comes. He holds the perfect standard & has called us to it & equipped us for it. When you remember this, it's not a scary thing to give up the idea of "making sure you get yours!"

What am I talking about? I'm talking about being commanded to forgive someone who's wronged you whether or not they ever try to apologize because releasing those feelings (as real as they are) releases you! I'm talking about giving into the Kingdom of God - your time, your money, your abilities - because God has set up the system of sowing & reaping and He wants to meet your every need according to HIS riches in glory. I'm talking about laying aside your ideals & goals to submit yourself to the Pastor of your church so that the vision God has for your community can be accomplished. God hand-picked your man of God, gave Him the call & put you in that church - so lets remember who's plan this all really is! Fight against the Pastor & I'll give you one guess Who's plan you're really fighting against. I'm talking about loving people & doing something about it. Jesus loved till it hurt. Do we? I'm talking about denying ourselves, taking up our crosses & completing our missions.

We all get to have different personalities, we all have different ways of seeing things & then we get to bring it all before God & say "what do You say about this?" We don't get to walk around as an island basing our decisions on what we think. Ask anyone who lives on an island - it's expensive. Living life as an island - as someone who can't be told anything or corrected about anything, as someone who makes it all about you, as someone who thinks they are always right, as someone who refuses to serve, forgive, love, or submit - will cost you & it will be expensive. It's truly a prideful person who never stops to ask God if what they're thinking is right. WOW! What a challenge. I know I'm definitely convicted to make sure that the way I think about my life lines up with what the Bible tells me to do!

It's time to stop pursing the American dream & start living the God dream - you know, the one where He says that if you seek Him & His kingdom first all the earthly things you need will be given to you. Oh & the one where He says that He'll give you the desires of your heart .... Wait don't forget the one where He said that He's given us everything pertaining to life & godliness. When did the American dream ever promise us that?

So don't be an island, Don't be consumed with yourself & "getting yours." Trust God that as you put Him first, He'll take care of you & cause your life to be more than your could ever dream or think. Being a Christian doesn't mean you have to forgo all the stuff you want to have or experience, it means that you trust your Lord enough to satisfy you. His plan all along was to bless you, so walk by faith, don't forget in the hard times, don't get lazy in the good times & see what God does!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year Everyone! 

There's so much to look forward to this year! Not because of what's going on in the world & not because of what's going on in your life, but because of what God says about you! 

His promises are good, they are true & they are certain. Imagine that! He's not only for us, but He's capable of coming through for us! This crazy world & the people in it might let you down, even the good ones who don't mean to, but GOD NEVER WILL! What a promise! 

Start your new year right & learn what God says about you & what is yours. Faith comes by the Word. Your faith can only be activated by what God says. It starts in the Bible! If we don't make time for the Bible we won't be making time for our faith to grow & nobody wants that! We all desire to grow & become better versions of ourselves. God has set up the simplest & most effective way to do that - discipline & sacrifice - but don't forget the immense reward that comes from those two things - being called a child of God & heir to all the promises that are YES & AMEN! 

Now that's good news & makes for a pretty darn Happy New Year! 

Wishing you all the very best & looking forward to what God is going to do in 2017. 

Grace

This last Saturday was National Pregnancy & Infant Loss Awareness Day. I saw many posts on Instagram & Twitter celebrating the lives of sweet babies that were lost too soon & it was a wonderful reminder that we're all in this together & that our babies will never be forgotten. 

But I gotta tell ya, this week I got something that meant so much more to me. God spoke to me & I've never felt stronger or more liberated. He told me it's time; "stop being a baby about your baby." I can't tell you what those words lit inside of me. 

When God speaks His truth into your heart it doesn't just make you feel good, it gives you something to grab hold of. His Word is a lamp to our feet & a light to our path. Instead of crawling through life after being knocked down, His Word causes us to stand up, stiffen our resolve & take that next step of faith. 

His Word is like no other because with it comes the grace we've needed all along to grasp the truth. People can tell you, experience can tell you, pain can tell you, so many things can tell you, but when Jesus speaks to you - grace comes. 

Oh, that wonderful grace that makes it all possible. The grace that gives us power to stomp on what tries to hold us down. Don't stop until it comes to you. It doesn't matter how long it takes you, don't stop until you hear His voice full of truth & grace & love. 

doesn't get any better

It just doesn't get any better than Jesus Christ. 

The very best of the best of the best. The perfect most wonderful person ever; our wonderful, merciful, just Lord. His love is the most, His healing is the most, everything about Him is the most. 

There isn't a word that can capture His greatness & His perfection. He is perfectly holy & pure, He is the Christ, the Lamb of God who washed away the sins of this world & brought new life to those that would believe. 

What a wonderful Savior, so full of love. The One who paid our debt before we ever knew we owed it. Oh, what a wonderful Lord who made a way for us to be connected. The One who made a way for the dead to become alive, for the lost to be found & the sick to be healed. 

Jesus, wonderful Jesus..there's nobody like Him! 

& He loves YOU! 

feelings & facts

"The most treacherous thing is to live by feelings." Leonard Ravenhill

I can't tell you how many people I've told this too in the last week. It seems like feelings are trying to take over everyone lately. 

Yes, feelings are real. Yes, feelings are strong. Yes, feelings are part of us, but that doesn't mean that they are always right. It doesn't matter if your whole self is screaming that something is true, it can still be wrong. The facts are our friends, whether our feelings agree with them or not. 

Let me tell you some facts:

God formed you. You weren't just an accident or even a scientific happening. You were specifically formed by a loving Father who put effort into you & has a vision for who you are to be. 
Psalm 139:13-16

You have a God-given purpose. You aren't on this earth to just exist, you are here to carry the Spirit & power of God to those around you. You are the temple of the Most High God, & a vessel that He wants to flow through. 
1 Corinthians 6:19 & Jeremiah 29:11

You have power. It's not your own power, but it's the power of the Almighty God that lives in you. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead, the same power that heals & delivers, & the same power that tramples on serpents & scorpions. 
Ephesians 3:20-21

You have peace. Meditate in His Word & on Him, and you will have peace because He said it was so.
Isaiah 26:3

The pressure of this world does not own you. It's way of thinking does not run you. That is why we must renew our minds to the Word of God. We cannot run with the truth if we do not know what it is, and by "know" I mean believe & have a firm grasp on. The tighter our hold on God & His word, the less grip this world will have on us. 

We are not of this world, we live above it & we shine bright in it. Thank God that He has delivered us from the "cause & effect" laws of this world. There is no "cause" or "effect" that can change the truth of His Word in our lives. 

"comfort food"

They don't call it "comfort food" for nothing...

It's the beginning of the new year & the time when my church does "The Daniel Fast."

It's a glorious, somewhat terrifying 21 days of eating only fruits, veggies & whole grains while we purpose to spend more time with God in our daily lives. We're basically setting the tone for the new year & letting our flesh know that it's not the boss.

It's always a time that reveals a lot about your character, desires & motivations.

This year I couldn't believe how much emotional stock I put in food. Really it should not have come as a surprise looking back, but the cold-turkey dismissal of all things sweet, savory, greasy, yummy & satisfying was a shock to my system.  & I came to understand some things.

1. Food releases pleasure & can bring a false sense of comfort/healing, as can entertainment, shopping, & the list goes on. The issue isn't the food, it's your heart. If you turn to food every time you're feeling emotional, you'll become an emotional eater & you'll be caught in a cycle. If however you turn to God in those moments, you become healed. That's a major difference!

2. Laziness will destroy you. Not only will it cause you to gain weight (both physical & emotional), it will keep you out of your promise land & begin to skew the truth of the Word of God in your eyes. Rather than living an active life of faith, you begin to say things like, "tithing doesn't work," or "healing isn't for today" because you don't see them happening.

Somehow in church life I got it into my brain that if I just existed in this Christian life all the good things that God promised would automatically happen for me & none of the bad things in life would ever happen to me. But the Bible says that faith without works is dead - that means I need to do something. It's not about earning God promises, it's about living a life that shows you believe Him. Faith engages God, acknowledges that He is present & then takes the step that He asks of it. Whether that step is sharing your faith, praying for the sick, believing through tragedy, dancing in worship or giving your last $10 in the offering.

Don't let life make you lazy! Don't run to anything else for comfort, it doesn't have the power to heal you. Run your race! Run to God, run with faith, it is not as hard as your flesh wants you to believe.

You don't just sit at the table & expect the food to get in your stomach! You gotta pick up the fork & chew...it's not hard to do, but it makes all the difference.

-Amie

the greatest resolution

One of the greatest resolutions you can make in 2016 is not something you DO, but rather something you THINK.

What you THINK determines what & how you DO. 

One of my favorite scriptures is Philippians 4:8. It's so powerful in it's simplicity. 
"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."

I don't know about you, but I can have a lot of thoughts run through my brain that are the very opposite of the things in this verse. & that's been especially true this last year & a half.

But guess what, we have the ability (& the commission) to change the way we think! It's time to renew our minds to the Word. We can't always control the thoughts that run through our minds, but we sure can stack the deck in our favor. 

(Someone's) Mama always said: garbage in, garbage out.

If you want to start to take control of your thought life, start to take control of what your eyes see & your ears hear. Spend more time in front for the Bible than in front of the TV, internet, games, or even other books. 

I'm not saying you have to cut out all non-Christian material from your life, but how bad do you want it? 

It's a simple "formula." 

Spend time in the Word. The Word brings faith, and as faith grows so does your thought life. It is an automatic response to the living Word. Don't leave your mind to it's own thoughts, take control of the foundation. Your mind doesn't become renewed simply by catching every bad thought that runs through it, but rather by filling it with truth & giving yourself something to fight with!

It's not a one-time-flip-a-switch-cure-all, it's a lifestyle & a life-line. God didn't leave you to battle alone. He gave you the tools & the more you use the tools, the more you realize God is bigger than the enemy we face. 

Tools can't build anything while they are laying on the ground. So pick them up & start renewing your mind. It'll be the best resolution you ever made. 

Oh the kindness of our God.

Oh the kindness of our God. 

The faithfulness He has shown is infinite. It was His goodness that brought us to repentance, His love that cleansed us, & it is His mercy that keeps us. 

In our struggle and our fight, He is rest. 
In our pain, He is healing.
He is joy. 
He is hope. 

He is every answer to every question & He is ever faithful as we work out our salvation. 

From the wobbly steps of a new Christian, to the stubborn & prideful thoughts of the aged. He is there to prune. He is there to bring us into the right places, to bring us into strength & humility. He will never stop loving you, & He will never stop growing you. 

Oh the kindness of the One who took our place & Who, regardless of our failures, declares that we are His beloved. 

With a love that never fails, He loves us.
With a salvation that makes us completely new, He has saved us. 

Oh the kindness of our God that never gives up, never lessens, never changes. He is the One who has saved us, He is the One we are trusting with our lives. He is God & we are His, 

Now let us rest in the kindness of our God.

short, but encouraging

Some thoughts...

When everything falls apart, your strength will not be enough. 
Lean in to Jesus.
For He is your Shield & Buckler, He is round about you. 
He is the One who is strong enough & His strength never fails or wears out. 
He cannot become weary or tired. 
He is your constant, He is your stay. 
Encourage yourself in the Lord, in His promises & in His truth,
For the joy of the Lord is your strength, not the joy that's found in life. 
Life changes, God does not. 

Comparison

Comparison was never meant to define you. 

I believe that looking at someone else's life is a good thing. You can use it as a guide or an encouragement or even an example, but we find out identity & purpose in the Book! God wants to build your specific life according to His plan for you, not through the plan He has for someone else's life. 

Your road is different than someone else's. It has different hills & valleys, different turns & potholes. Using someone else as a map will only cause you to get off course. 

I've used a few different women as examples & as encouragement as I navigate this bump in the road called grief. It's so encouraging to see that others have made it out stronger & more like Jesus than when they started, but I also know that He's the only one that can actually do the work in me. So I keep my eyes on Him & His plan, and just allow other people's lives to be like a billboard advertising encouragement as I go along. 

There's a whole lot of driving analogies happening in this blog today, but I think it gets the point across! 

Keep your eyes on Jesus & His Word & what His plan is for you. Don't try to live your life based on someone else's road map. 

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, 

thoughts of peace, and not of evil, 

to give you an expected end. Jeremiah 29:11

happiness

There is a happiness in His presence & no circumstance of life is able to cast a shadow on it. 

It wells up inside of you & carries you forward. 

The longer you remain in His presence, the deeper the well goes. 

It's Him & only Him that causes me to grow.

He calls us to prayer & to His word because He knows the result. He understands the process. He has all the answers. He is the answer. 

In all that life throws your way, find yourself in His presence & you'll find yourself covered. 

Life affects us all, but He is our shield & our buckler. He is our foundation & our source. He is our stay when everyone else fades away. 

Being a Christian doesn't make you exempt from bad things in life, but it does make you invincible. You can be hurt & knocked down, but you know your future is secure. You can go through the trials of Job & know that your end will be better than your beginning. You can go through the persecutions of Paul & know that even if they take your life, you have eternal life with the Master. 

He chose you for this time in eternity, trust that He knows what He's doing & live in obedience to whatever He says. That is where your happiness is. 

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High 

Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 

I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress; 

My God, in Him I will trust.

Psalm 91:1-2

Joy is on your horizon

I know sometimes it feels like it's impossible to walk, but you can put one foot in front of the other. 

I have a new revelation of Jesus walking to Golgotha. He was beaten, bruised, bleeding...so much so, that someone else had to carry His cross, but still in all the agony & pain He put one foot in front of the other. 

That's how I know I can make it, because He did. 

You might be broken & hurting, but keep walking. Keep moving towards the cross. You'll get there. & then once you get there, lay everything down at that cross & let God consume it, and watch and see the new, abundant life that He brings you. 

It seems like such a contradiction to bring your pain to the cross, but if we do not lay it down how could we ever bear it? It is not ours to bear, for He already did. He took the pain we could not heal & healed it. He took the hurt we could not bear & bore it. He did it all.

No one ever told me that I'd want to hold onto my grief. Somehow in my twisted human emotions it made me feel close to my daughter, but Jesus took that grief & turned it into joy. That's His promise. I'm not losing memories of my little girl, I'm gaining healing & the ability to remember her without sorrow in my heart. I'll always ache for her, but that aching is not painful because I know I'll see her again. 

The sorrow you are facing is not your destination. Joy is on your horizon, keep putting one foot in front of the other & let the cross do it's work. He will not fail you. 

The argument fizzles...

A little nugget I've discovered...

The argument fizzles when I stop trying to defend myself. This works whether I'm right or wrong in the situation. 

It's the moment when I reel in my emotions & understand that I love this person more than how I'm treating them right now & there is a better, more productive way to have this discussion. 

When did proving my point become more important than loving this person? 

Discussions can be had without arguing, but arguing never produces real discussions. It can only produce hurt & confusion because arguments are all based in pride. The pride of being right or defending your own actions.

Pride is sneaky & insidious. It sneaks into your life disguised as hurt feelings or justification. It wants to keep the argument alive until the other person either apologizes or concedes.  

The Bible on the other hand tells us that pride brings destruction & that God resists it. It also tells us to be offended at nothing.

That's the goal we move towards. Letting him love us, so that we can love others. 

It doesn't mean we'll never have a spirited discussion, but if we can learn to discuss out of love then not only will our topic most likely get resolved, but our relationships will flourish. 

People are worth our patience & our relationships are worth our self-control. 

1 Cor 13:4 

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant

James 4:6

But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, 

“God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

That's my hope.

His grace is sufficient for you.

That means that no matter what you have to face, the ability HE GIVES YOU is enough to win over it. 

Whether or not the outcome is what you preferred, you have the ability to outlast & not just maintain, but overcome.

Paul said that he gloried in his tribulation. I'm not there yet, but I have hope that as my relationship develops with the Lord, I too will gain the kind of revelation Paul had. 

That's the promise of it all. As I decrease, He increases & God's way of thinking & seeing is so much better than I could ever fathom. 

Jesus didn't just die on the cross. He made an impact before, during & after the crucifixion. Regardless of your tragedy, if Christ is in you, you have the power to make an impact before, during & after it. 

That's my hope. That is His faithfulness.

I know the pain will continue to heal & I know God's grace will continue to be sufficient. 

Many are the afflictions of the righteous,

but the LORD delivers him out of them all. Psalm 34:19

It was a Wednesday.

This time last year, I didn't know it, but it was going to be the worst time of my life. 

Abigail was getting ready to go to Heaven. We spent all night loving her, being with her & in the early morning she went to be with Jesus.

We went back to the Ronald McDonald House & slept for a few hours, packed up our stuff & headed home.

I remember that long drive home. It was a Wednesday. 

I remember it was a Wednesday because as we got closer to home we both looked at each other & said, "I kind of want to be in church." 

We parked around the back of the building, went through a side door & sat in the back office on a couch & just listened to the message being preached. There was a lot happening in that dark, quiet back office. We didn't hear all of the message, we didn't participate in praise & worship, we had no offering to bring, but we just needed to be in church. 

I don't think we knew it at the time, but I truly believe that was the foundation of our healing. It was as if we slammed a stake in the ground & said, "We're going to keep doing what we know to do."

It wasn't always a pretty road to walk. We didn't always feel like continuing to do what was right & sometimes we just didn't. But we never stayed there long, we knew the only way out was by doing what was right.

I can't imagine my life without my church. Not only is my church family the very best of the best, but the truth & the standard & the hope that I have gained from immersing myself in church life has kept me. 

We weren't meant to do life alone. We weren't meant to go through the hard stuff alone. We weren't meant to celebrate alone. God wants to bring us into a family. There is strength in numbers. Don't run away from the one place that tells you the truth & helps your faith. Even if the words feel like they sting, don't remove yourself from the House. Faith comes by hearing & hearing by the Word of God. Stay where the Word is preached, stay where your faith can grow, & you'll see your healing come. 

Psalm 133:1-3

A Song of Ascents. Of David. 

Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! 

It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, 

on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes! 

It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion! 

For there the Lord has commanded the blessing, life forevermore.