31days // Truth for Thursday, I mean Friday

I posted an Ask Anything post this past weekend, and my sweet friend Julie asked a great question about scripture. She asked what my favorite verses were on purity, and I'd love to share one with you today. 

This is written on my wall at work, and I think it is one of my all time favorite verses. 

There are so many things that I love about this verse. The first is how it states "since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses," because that statement is oh, so true. 

I am surrounded by witnesses. You are surrounded by witnesses. We all are surrounded by witnesses, every single day. Whether we like it or not, we truly are a representation of Jesus Christ here on earth. We are His church, His peeps. If we don't represent Him, who will? 

"Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles," that, right there, summarizes the pursuit of purity. Throw that sin off, it doesn't belong here! We are no longer slaves to anything. We are free children of God, time to start living like them!

"And let us run with perseverance the race marked out before us." My Bible uses the word endurance, and I just love having that reminder. The Christian walk is not easy, pursuing purity can be quite counter intuitive. It takes perseverance, and requires endurance, the Bible confirms it!

I just love this verse so much. And I pray that it blesses you today!

Happy Friday, loves! If you've got something you want to hear about in the last days of this series, feel free to ask a question over here!

31days // Truth for Thursday

Man, I love you guys. I really, really do. Your support and encouragement and love means more than I could ever thank you for. But I'll certainly try: thank you. 

It has been such a wonderful journey digging into my past and writing out my story. It's one that I honestly love to share, because I know that there is incredible power in our testimonies. If you're thinking we're at the end, then I'm sorry to break the news that we're not. The moment that I surrendered my life to Jesus was almost 2 years ago, and a lot has happened since then. I want to encourage you that it's not smooth sailing once you reach that point, at least for me, it hasn't been. So if you're in a rocky phase, know that you're not alone. It's okay, and perfectly normal, in my opinion. 

But the beauty of those rocky seasons post-surrendering your life to Jesus is that you've got someone in the boat with you. Not only someone in the boat, but steering it. It's a beautiful thing, really. And it's true, happiness may come and go, but joy abides. 

Because I've already dished out a lot of my own words this week, here are someone else's:

Friends, if you are feeling abandoned today, allow me to give you the biggest cyber hug I possibly can and reassure you that you are not. He has never left you, and He never will. 

I know it can be hard to feel Him there. Maybe you've never really felt Him to begin with (I've been there), or maybe you're walking through a season where you feel angry because you're sure He's no where to be found (I've been there). I want to tell you that you're feelings are valid. Your frustration, confusion, anger, it's valid. 

And you know the one person who can help you through it? God. He wants to hear you vent. He wants to hear your frustrations, and confusion, and anger. He's big enough to handle it, and He can help you move past it. 

He hasn't abandoned you, love. He's right there, just waiting for you to reach for Him. 

Who I Am

I like to share my heart here, in case you couldn't tell :)

I like to share my struggles, my moments of weakness. I may not always be specific (thank you, discernment), but I do feel called to be open here. I feel called to share how I'm feeling, even if it's not rainbows and sunshine. 

Because of that, I can show a lot of my brokenness here. The more I get to know Christ, the more I realize how much I need Him. The more I realize how much the world needs Him. 

The more I get to know Christ, the more I realize why He was sent as a Savior. Because we are broken people who are in need of a perfect God. 

And thank goodness we have that!

If there's one thing I've learned recently, it's that God knows exactly what we need. And sometimes, that means protecting us from ourselves. Sometimes, that means saving us from the mistakes we are prone to make because of our sinful nature. 

But our God sees a whole lot more than we do, He sees the ending of the story that our vision just can't reach. And sometimes, He loves us so much, that He lets us make mistakes. Sometimes, He lets us stumble. Because He knows that when we pick ourselves back up, we will be changed. 

I recently had a moment like that. A pretty big one, actually. 

I was sharing my heart and processing with a very wise man. I was experiencing the waves of guilt, shame, regret. I was feeling every lie telling me that I am identified by my mistakes. 

And then this man asked me one question. One question that I will not soon forget. 

Who are you in Christ, Amy? 

And through tears in my eyes, I started listing the words. The words that are so much more than just words, they make up who I am. 

And they make up who you are, too. 

So while there is beauty in opening up and sharing my brokenness on this blog, I also want to stick to the truth here. 

I am not defined by my brokenness. I am made new, I have a new identity. 

And nothing that I do can ever take that away from me. 

Have a blessed Thursday, friends!

Some truth for your Monday

Happy Monday, friends!

Maybe you're like me, and maybe your Monday didn't start out quite so "happy." Maybe you woke up and just thought "you know what, I'd rather not today."

I couldn't even tell you why. All I know is I woke up today and my heart hurt. It hurt real bad. And I don't think I even realized it until the song "You are wanted" by Dara Maclean came on and the tears started streaming. 

Do you ever beat yourself up when you're feeling sad? Tell yourself you're over reacting because you have countless blessings to be happy about, and so and so has far more tragic things going on? 

I feel that all. the. time. Feel like I'm being too emotional, too sensitive, too ________ (fill in the blank with your adjective of choice). 

But I realized this morning that those are all so far from the truth. I have a Father in heaven who understands why each and every tear falls from my eyes, even when I don't. I have a Father in heaven who understands what causes those heavy-hearted mornings, even when I don't. 

I have a Father in heaven who created emotions to be felt. And boy, do I feel them. 

But I love that about myself. I love that I feel pain. I feel disappointment and heart ache, and I run straight to my Father's arms with them. 

Because you know what comes along with feeling pain? Feeling joy. God's joy. 

And feeling love. God's love. 

And that kind of joy and love? It can't be found in this world. It can only be found through the Holy Spirit bringing the beauty of another world straight into our hearts. 

God directed me to Jeremiah 14:19-22 this morning. I often get verses in my head and they rarely ever apply to what I'm going through. But this morning? God nailed it. 

The section title? "A Pray for Healing"

It was God's way of telling me that I may not understand where this morning's heart ache came from. But He sure does. And you bet He's going to heal every ounce of that pain. 

So I will wait for You to help me, God. By golly, yes I will.

On Healing

Our God is in the business of healing. 

Did you know that? He loves to heal. I believe that broken things exist in this world to show how much He loves to heal His children. 

Broken bodies. Broken bones. 

Broken families. Broken hearts. 

Our God is close to the broken, isn't He? 

I am in a season of healing. 

The very beginning phases. Because in order to be healed, you have to admit that you're broken, don't you? 

And the truth is, I've known I was broken. I came to Jesus because I realized that I was broken, and wanted to be healed. 

I just didn't realize what that would entail.  I didn't realize just

how broken I really am. 

But let me iterate something to you. Realizing you are broken 

may sound like a sad thing.  

And I will be honest and say that no, it's not a fun thing.  It's a journey, a very humbling journey. One that may seem daunting, at first. 

But a sad thing?  That it's not. 

Because with Jesus, 

brokenness is a beautiful thing. 

Brokenness is an open invitation for the healing of our Lord, and Savior.  And because of that, I will never be ashamed to admit that I am broken. 

In this season of mine, God is showing me the parts of me that He wants to heal. He is showing me recent things, things from 5 years ago, things from 15 years ago. 

And there is a part of me that wants to avoid this. To just bypass it completely, or at the very least, to hide it. 

I need healing from that? How pathetic am I?

But I have to stop myself from that mindset. I have to put my foot down, and recognize that
those are lies. 

My Heavenly Father is chasing after me to heal every single hurt that my heart has ever experienced, no matter how insignificant the hurt may seem to me. He wants to reverse that pain, to make me feel how incredibly loved I truly am.

I mean, come on ladies, how romantic is that?

So I will embrace this season of healing. 

I will overcome every lie that the world has ever told me about myself. And step into the light of my true identity in Christ. 

Have you heard about Overcome The Lie, yet?

This is a group empowering a generation of women to overcome every lie because 
Jesus overcame the grave. 

Join us, and overcome the lies in your life. 

Jesus loves you, oh so much. 

Our God is in the business of healing. How can He heal you today?

Thankful

I have no idea how many times that I've read this verse. Probably a lot. 

But this weekend, I read it with new appreciation. This weekend, it really hit me. 

Even when I am unfaithful, God remains faithful to me. 

Even a midst my lack of trust, my rebellion, my doubt. God is faithful through it all. As I'm fighting Him and running away, He is chasing after me with His love. Because He knows that His love is all I need. 

He can only be Himself. He simply cannot deny who He is. 

And who is that exactly?

The Lord is compassionate and merciful, 

slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. 

Psalm 103: 8

He does not punish us for all our sins;

He does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve. 

For His unfailing love toward those who fear Him 

is as great as the height of the heavens above the Earth.

Psalm 103: 10-11

The Lord is like a father to his children,

tender and compassionate to those who fear Him.

Psalm 103: 13

Where is another God like you,

who pardons the guilt of the remnant,

overlooking the sins of His special people?

You will not stay angry with your people forever,

because you delight in showing unfailing love.

Micah 7: 18

Our God is a wonderful, loving and patient God. And I am extremely thankful that His love cannot be earned, nor lost. 

He simply is who He is, no matter who I am. 

I haven't been blogging. 

Or tweeting. 

And I haven't even been instagramming (gasp).

I know, I know. What has my world come to? 

Truth be told, I've been exhausted. I had flu-like symptoms piling up over the last week that finally reached the off to the Doctor I go status. 

Sure enough, the verdict was a lovely case of a virus. 

And guys, I wish that the flu was the only source of my exhaustion. But truth be told, it's not. 

I stumbled this week, guys. 

One too many things piled up and lead to me getting overwhelmed. And I thought God was where I run to when I'm overwhelmed, but this week showed me that that's not always the case. 

This week showed me that I have some deeply ingrained habits, places where I'm still fighting on my own two feet and not letting God in. 

And so, this week has been exhausting. Overwhelming. Tiring. 

I looked at myself and said I can't do this anymore. This fight. It's too much. 

Because the Christian walk isn't just a walk. It's a fight. It's fighting for what's right in a world that glorifies what's wrong. 

And this week, that fight was too much for me. This week, I wanted to take the easy route. 

Heck, this week, I did take the easy route. And I thought to myself, I just can't do this anymore.

But right as those words came into my mind, I picked up my journal. 

I wrote it down: I can't do this anymore. 

And the next word I wrote down: LIE. 

Truth:

For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. (Phil 4:13)

And that's about all I've got for today. 

I Made It!

Made it through the race, guys! 

It was wonderful. Thank you so much for your prayers, they were felt!

I'll have a full recap coming soon, but for now, I'll leave you with this.

Some truth and beauty for your Monday. 

Make it a great one :)

Some truth for your day

I hope it encourages you as much as it did me this morning. 

May your Monday be so, so blessed. 

Love you friends!