< forgiveness >

Here's a fun lesson,

Being wronged in life entitles you to nothing, rather it demands that you grow. 

It's a hard one to swallow, I know. BUT...

If you grow & forgive & move on, YOU become stronger. If you hold on to the wrong, IT will hold on to you & IT will become stronger. 

Think about Jesus as He hung there on the cross. After all the miracles He had done, all the people He had helped & all the love He had shown...they crucified Him....they tortured Him. Some of His final words were, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." Not too long after those words were spoken, the suffering ended & He rose again to new life. 

Today, no matter what wrong has been perpetrated against you, you have the choice to forgive & become stronger through it. Don't let someone else's actions keep you from rising up out of the ashes into resurrected life! Power comes from laying it all down & trusting that God knows what He's doing. 

To forgive doesn't mean to subject yourself, rather it means to free yourself. Sometimes that freedom looks like a restored relationship & other times it's a severed one. Either way, when you forgive you no longer allow a circumstance to dominate you. We're called to be servants of God, not our situations. Simply obey, He will never lead you astray.

After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, 

Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, 

as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. 

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: 

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. 

Matthew 6:9-13

the flowers & the weeds

There's nothing quite like the start of a new day.

It can either hold sadness or hope & it's all up to you.

New days are a funny thing. They make you feel like you've got the chance to start all over again & make something good happen...you know, until reality hits & you're dealing with all the same stuff that you've been dealing with for some time now. 

But really, IT IS A BRAND NEW DAY! & you've got the choice to deal with "your stuff" with a new & refreshed attitude or a stale & worn-out attitude. Because your attitude is a choice. 

I never said it was easy. Emotions can be big, but they can be beat. & if they happen to win over you for a day, guess what...you get to wake up tomorrow & show them who's really boss. You win by never giving up! 

--- I was doing a bit of gardening the other day & because I had left it off too long the weeds had gained quite a lot of ground. Their roots were hard to pull out, & I needed a special tool to dig them out. At one point, I accidentally pulled out a plant & I was amazed at how easily it came out without having to dig...it's root wasn't nearly as strong as the weed. ---

What am I saying? 

Keep dealing with yourself! Never stop dealing with the hard things because the longer you let them go, the harder they get to pull up. 

Keep building up the good things in your life. Spend time daily with God & in His Word, pray, worship, give, communicate with godly people, etc. Take care of those good root systems & give them time to root themselves strong! 

You can't only take care of the flowers in your garden & let the weeds run wild, or else soon you'll have a bunch of dead flowers in a weed garden. 

Pour into your life spiritually & let God tend to your garden...the flowers & the weeds.

John 15 

1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 

2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, 

and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 

3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 

4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, 

unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 

5 I am the vine; you are the branches. 

Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, 

for apart from me you can do nothing. 

dedicated to my girl

Happy Birthday to my sweet little love. 

Abi Gwyn, you're the best of the best. You took our hearts & made them explode with love. The days we spent with you were beyond words. 

You were beautiful & strong & beyond sweet. We loved the moments we shared & we'll never forget. You will always be in our hearts.

You changed our lives forever & we're thankful we were chosen to be your mommy & daddy. 

We ache to be with you again & hope beyond hope to make you proud with this time we live apart. 

We know that God will use your life to touch the world around us. You have & will continue to change & affect people & bring them closer to Jesus. 

As much as we miss you, we're so happy for you to be with Him. We're so happy you get to be perfect & pain free. & we're so excited for the day when we will all get to be in His presence together. 

Until then, we'll be here... loving you big, living out the plans He has for us, sharing your story & His hope to this hurting world.  

xoxoxoxoxoxo forever

Fragrance

Your worship impacts the atmosphere.

John 12:3 niv

Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; 

she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. 

And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

In your good times & in your bad times, learn to worship. Learn to turn your eyes on Jesus & let all the big things of this world fade in His presence. Let the fragrance of your worship fill the room, you cannot help but be changed as He receives your love. 

Honor Him above your circumstances & He will honor your faith. 

Our God is generous. He will not leave you to fight alone. Only believe.

check it

If your marital connection is struggling.. i.e. fights, lack of desire, stress, tragedy, or short fuses...

Check your spiritual connection.

It might seem like an obvious thing to say, but in the middle of a an argument who really wants to go to God? 

Do it anyways. 

You love your husband/wife, you know you do - so start acting like it! 

God is love. Bring Him into your marriage & see how He works, see how Love really works!

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Love never gives up.

Love cares more for others than for self.

Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.

Love doesn’t strut,

Doesn’t have a swelled head,

Doesn’t force itself on others,

Isn’t always “me first,”

Doesn’t fly off the handle,

Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,

Doesn’t revel when others grovel,

Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,

Puts up with anything,

Trusts God always,

Always looks for the best,

Never looks back,

But keeps going to the end.

~friends~

I don't at all want this blog to only be about the hardest days of my life, I want you to see that joy really does come in the "morning." & even though my "morning" seemed to be a few months coming, it has come & joy is here. 

I know that God is working in me a healing that no one else can do, but I also see the importance of surrounding yourself with people who will encourage you & hug you & yes, even challenge you.

When you're in the middle of quicksand you can't pull yourself out, you need friends! The man in the Bible who was crippled needed friends to take him to Jesus so he could get healed! 

There were so many days I wanted nothing to do with friends or joy or laughs, but it was the people God had put around me who helped me walk through it all. 

I'm not sure they really even realize what they did for me. But in the moments where I felt like God wasn't near, I had everyone around me telling me He was, helping me along, praying for me - how can you say thank you for that? It's life. 

Isolation will destroy your life, but so will surrounding yourself with wrong people telling you the wrong things. The relationships you create will be life or death. The Bible tells us to guard our heart because it is the wellspring of life. If I had surrounded myself with people who only ever felt sorry for me (even though their intentions were only good), sorrow would be the only thing my heart could produce. But because I have an amazing husband, family & church family - people who are full of faith, & people that don't quit - my heart was filled with that same faith & determination, so that's what came out of me (eventually!). 

I'm not trying to make it sound like it was easy, but it was right & it was life. God's Word doesn't promise a perfect life, but He surely promises victory over the junk that does happen in this life. I'd rather have victory over the bad things that happen in my life, than just go on living with them for the rest of my days. 

I guess what I'm trying to say is - GET IN A CHURCH! Surround yourself with faith-filled people, fill yourself with the Word of God that's preached from the pulpit, & believe that God is doing His work!

-Amie

God knew.

"This is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice & be glad in it." 

It's a tough verse to accept when you're going through the worst day of your life. I can't say I thought about this verse at all the day my sweet Abigail went to Heaven, but as I heal & as I look back I see the hope. 

How is it possible to see hope in times like these?! 

God knew. 

& that's where I find my hope. He knew what was going to happen & He knew that if I didn't have Him, all hope would be lost. 

I don't know why she didn't get healed, but I know I'm being healed now. If I continue to live looking back & wondering why this happened to me, I'll miss life. 

The hope of the Christian is that, I will see my little girl again. She's in Heaven & that's where I plan to go because I confess Jesus as my Savior & Lord of my life. 

He didn't take her away from me, but He's holding her for me now. I miss her, but I'm going to see her again. 

So as I continue to live on this earth & accomplish the call that He's placed on my life I can say, "today is the day that He's made & I'm going to rejoice in it."

There's no pain or sorrow that He cannot heal. It might not feel that way now or even for the next weeks or months of your life, but please if you believe nothing else, believe that if you keep turning to Jesus - He will fix what is broken. 

~Amie

My Beautiful Crown

My Beautiful Crown, it came from one of the most difficult times of my life. 

I don't want to start this out too heavy & yet, it's the heaviness that has inspired me to write. 

Let me start by saying this, I'm a Christian & I believe that God is good! I am married to Caleb, the most wonderful man in the world & we have a sweet little daughter named Abigail who lives in Heaven. 

Yes, I believe in Heaven & yes, through my hardest times, I still believe - God is good. 

My sweet Abigail was born at 25 weeks. She was with us for 45 days. They were the hardest & the most amazing 45 days of my life. I got to touch & hold & smell & kiss my little girl. 

We prayed & believed that she would make it & that God would heal her of everything that the doctors said was wrong with her. 

We still believe our God heals & that nothing is impossible for Him. I'll tell you, it was the shakiest place I'd ever been at in my faith. I wish I could say I never asked "why?" But I did & I still do sometimes. 

The immediate days following were like nothing else. I ached & cried & struggled to feel God. I often wondered if He was still with me. I can't really even explain the transition, but as I kept doing all the things I had been taught over the years - strength came. The very things I wanted to run from & blame, were the very things that saved me.

It's been 8 months since my little girl went to be with Jesus & I can tell you, I have a beautiful crown. God has begun the work of healing my sorrow & my hurt & my doubt. He has given me joy & peace & healing. I remember my Abigail & all the joy she brought me, and I also look forward to the day I see her again. 

I don't really know what this blog is going to be about, but I can see the work that God is doing in me & if by some chance my story can bring hope to someone who is going through their hardest of times...then Dear God, please use me.