Category: Uncategorized

Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:38-42

This morning I woke early to the sound of snoring. I knew then I couldn’t go back to sleep. My heart has been so heavy lately. I’ve been carrying so much and some is even too hard to utter into words. Few people know and I really don’t want to talk about it. So I haven’t even written. But my heart is heavy, so I need to tell someone. I need to cry. So I make my coffee and come to my chair where I can sit at the feet of Jesus.

Matthew 11:28 says, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” So, I come. I bring it all, and I put it at His feet. I know I can’t carry it. And I know I have to write and encourage you to do the same.

I don’t need to tell you all that’s been going on with us to tell you that the best place to take it is Jesus. Learn to have a relationship with Jesus. He wants to be your best friend. John 15:15 says, “No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.” Once you have a close relationship with Him, then you can bring your burdens to Him and leave them at His feet. He truly cares about every part of your life.

Just like Martha in the story above, we can get so caught up in things that are around us. We begin to focus on our circumstances and we forget to look up. We don’t pause to have those quiet moments with Jesus. We don’t let Him search our hearts. We just revel in our heartache, in our depression, in our regrets. And our hearts become so heavy.

But when we kneel at the feet of Jesus, when we quit looking at our circumstances, when we lay it all down at His feet, things begin to change. I don’t mean that our circumstances necessarily change. I mean our perspectives. We allow God to now have the control in our lives. Some of those things maybe some long roads ahead, but God will see you through it all.

If your heart is heavy today, I encourage you to come and sit at the feet of Jesus. If you don’t know Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, I encourage you to invite Him in your heart today. I’d love to walk you through that.

As I sat watching the news last night, I couldn’t help but cry. What happened today at our nation’s capitol building was disgusting. This past year has shown us nothing but a divided country and some of the worst acts from American people I’ve seen in my lifetime. I’ve seen more hate, and I’ve heard more hate spewed from people’s mouths than I ever want to hear.

As I watched the windows being broken in our capitol building, I can remember walking through there. I remember how beautiful it was and how sacred it seemed at only 15 years old. It was breathtaking and beautiful. We walked quietly through the halls as we were ushered in to watch Congress from high above as they worked. And yesterday, this same place was treated with utter disrespect. My heart was broken, but a question played in my head, “Where is your trust?”

You see, I think from both sides of the aisle, we have put too much of our trust in a man. I don’t care who you voted for. I want to know, who do you serve? Matthew 6:24 says, “No one can serve two masters; he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” This is exactly what we’ve tried to do. We have tried to serve God and man and we can’t any longer.

No matter your political association, my God is still on the throne. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8) He’s not changing because of who the president of the United States is. We are not bigger than Him. I’ve been reading a devotional from Life Church called “Different”. This devotional talks about how as Christians, we are set apart from this world. He asks these questions today: “Do I look to culture and government to make the world right, or do I look to Jesus and His Church? Do I try to control situations, or do I seek God with the good works and deep trust He asks for? When people treat me unjustly, do I respond with love? When I suffer, do I patiently trust God, or do I try to find my own way?”

We’ve turned away for so long, it’s time we get on our knees and begin seeking God first. Matthew 6:33 says, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” 2 Chronicles 7:14 says, “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

It’s time we decide who we serve. It’s time we realize that our battles are fought on our knees and not at the Capitol building. We’ve put our trust in man too long. No president will save us. And my God can still turn the hearts of kings. He’s in the miracle working business! It may seem like the world is dark today, but if you are a child of the King, be assured He is walking with you. And if you feel the need to battle, you better equip yourself with the full armor of God and get on your knees. This is spiritual warfare we’re facing!

[blog_subscriptiond_form]

I will lift up my eyes to the hills – From whence comes my help? My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth. Psalms 121:1-2

As I sat down to write this morning, all I could hear God saying was “Look up. Get your focus off of earthly things.” And to be totally honest, He was telling me that all day yesterday, but I wasn’t really listening. How many times do we do that in our lives? A lot if you’re me!

My morning started with me hitting snooze yesterday about ten times. Then I had early duty putting me outside in the freezing cold, not once but twice that morning with all of the kids then Prek. Let me just tell you, I hate the cold! I worked all day and rushed to Dyersburg to pick up Olivia and get her to choir, which took longer than expected. I still had to get Ann Elizabeth, and if you didn’t happen to notice here in the south, it’s bedtime at 5:00pm. I was exhausted at this point and didn’t feel like cooking. We met the boys for dinner, and I still needed to make a Walmart run. By 8:00pm, I was dragging myself in the house, and I still had things to do. By this point I was done.

I found myself yelling at Witten and wishing he knew what was going on. And do you know what that little boy did in the midst of my chaos? He leaned over and grabbed me around the neck and said, “I love you.” It caught me off guard because I was fussing at him. It allowed me to take a deep breath and change my outlook. God used that little boy to change my whole demeanor.

It’s so easy to get caught up in the here and now and not put our focus on Jesus. James 4:14 says, “Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.” In a blink of an eye, we are gone, and all of this fades away. We have to be intentional about keeping our eyes fixed above.

Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. Colossians 3:2

We have to stay in the Word and we have to stay in prayer. Romans 10:17 says, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says, “Pray without ceasing.” Lots of people think that as long as they are in church on Sunday mornings, they are getting enough of God’s Word and spending enough time with him. This is not the case. We have to have that time where we just quiet our spirits and spend time with the Lord on our own. Think of it this way, if you had a friend that you only hung out with in large groups, you would never get to know them intimately. On the other hand, when you start to spend time with them alone, you become closer. It’s the same way with God. You need that one on one time with Him. It’s hard to look up when you don’t truly have an intimate relationship with Jesus,

Without that intimacy with the Lord, our troubles become our focus. I encourage you today to spend some time with the Lord and look up. Change your outlook. Let those glimpses of God’s grade, make you step back and take a deep breath. No matter how grim the outlook, look to the One who can change it all.

If you are not sure what a relationship with Jesus looks like or even is, please contact me today. I would love to talk with you and lead you to Jesus.

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy – meditate on these things. Philippians 4:8

Yesterday I shared several of the things that our family has been going through, but today I wanted to talk about shifting our focus. I want to talk about how we can choose not to let those things consume us. Disclaimer: I’m still a work in progress! I don’t have all of this figured out, but these are some of the things God is encouraging me to do.

First, look at others. I know that sounds crazy, but hear me out. I don’t want you to compare yourself with others. We do too much of that in this digital crazed world. Look at others you can help. Once you get your focus off of yourself and blessing others, God always shows you someone in a worse situation than you. There are countless times this has happened in my life. In those moments, I have to take a step back and decide how to respond to their need. To be completely honest, I used to be terrible, but through time I’ve become intentional about helping others when I know the need.

Now, you can’t pour out of an empty cup, so you can’t stop praising the Lord. James 1:2-3 says, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.” I don’t know about you, but it is good for my soul to just praise the Lord. I’ll sit in my living room alone and turn on my worship music and just spend time with the Lord. His peace just washes over me.

Thirdly, you have to spend time in the Word. You have to grow through this trial you’re facing, and you have to have truth in your life. Only real truth comes from the Bible. Psalms 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Staying in the Word will lead us where He is calling.

Fourthly, we have to keep praying. You can pour out all of your hurt and all of your frustrations to your Savior. Psalms 3:3-4 says, “But You, O LORD, are a shield for me, My glory and the One who lifts up my head. I cried to the LORD with my voice, And He heard me from His holy hill.” I shared these verses yesterday, but I just had to again. When we cry out to Him, He always hears us and He lifts us up.

When going through things, we have to shift our focus. It’s so easy to get caught up in all that’s going on with us, but we have to give it all to God. A friend of mine commented yesterday, GOD IS BIGGER. And she is so right! He can change our circumstances in an instance or He can make us walk through it all. Either way, He is able to give us the strength and peace to get through it all. I pray that if you are going through something today that you shift your focus to the One who can change your circumstances or your heart. I pray you know who holds your future.

If you don’t know Jesus as your Lord and Savior and aren’t sure how to make that happen, please reach out to me. I would love to pray with you.

But You, O LORD, are a shield for me, My glory and the One who lifts up my head. I cried to the LORD with my voice, And He heard me from His holy hill. Psalms 3:3

Lately my family and I have been going through some stuff. It feels like one thing after another has bombarded us. First, our house flooded from a water leak. We had to pack up our whole house to move into a hotel room for two weeks. Yep, that’s right. All five of us jammed into a tiny hotel room for two weeks.

After making it through that and moving back in, our daughter had total hip replacement surgery. So we’re still not settled from the flood, and Olivia and I head to Nashville alone for this surgery because Covid of course. This was her fifth hip surgery and nothing like the others. The first night was horrible. She cried out in pain all night, and I sat praying bedside helpless. We’re now home, and she’s doing great. But recovery is no walk in the park. There are still lots of things she can’t do alone because she can’t put weight on that leg for six weeks and so she can’t be left alone.

Then we’ve just been experiencing some drama. Somethings that we’ve really had to sort through. Deep hurts and offenses. And all of these things have fallen into my life that was already a bit of a struggle in the first place due to a son with special needs and a job I’m unhappy in. So through all of this, I’ve cried out to God saying, please no more. I can’t take it.

I have literally felt as though I’m drowning, and I’ve had to shift my focus. Because if we focus on the storm and the waves, we do drown. Hebrews 12:1-2 says, “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

It’s so easy to give up when life seems to be crushing you from every side, but we have to keep our eyes on Jesus. He is the author and finisher of our faith. Philippians 1:6 tells us, “being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” No matter what I’m facing today, there is a reason. God is constantly working on us. Through trials we can either become better or bitter. If we constantly keep our eyes on our circumstances, we will definitely become bitter. We will always be asking why. On the other hand, if we keep our eyes on Him, we will become better. We will use our time in trials as growth.

It is a choice, and I know there are times I’ve failed at choosing to look at my Savior. I know, however, that the only way to keep making it through is to fix my eyes on the only One who can bring change and can bring peace. I pray that today if you are struggling with anything that you fix your eyes on Jesus.

It is Well Bethel Music

So the Lord’s anger was aroused against Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation that had done evil in the Lord was gone. Numbers 32:13

The older I get the more I understand and relate to the Israelites. Just me? Okay. I get it. I can remember reading through my Bible and thinking they were complete idiots. Yeah, I know, kinda harsh, but I mean, God not only parted the sea once, but TWICE! (Exodus 14:21; Joshua 3:15-16) God provided for their needs, manna from heaven and their clothes didn’t wear out. So many times, God took care of His people, and yet they still forgot.

Relating a little more now? I know I do. So many times I forget how good God has been to me. I go through the motions of my faith without having any faith. And that’s where I’ve been lately.

It’s been a dry season. There’s not one thing in particular I could point to, except 2020 has been a trying year. Our church has been going through a lot, and when they decided to do a Bible study last night about hope, I didn’t want to go. Sometimes, in those moments of needing hope the most, we begin to shut it out and push it away. It took everything in me to go, and I’m glad I did.

Sometimes just talking about things and remembering God’s faithfulness can begin to give us hope. So many times as our test comes full circle into our testimony, we forget God’s faithfulness as we encounter a new test. And that’s where I am. I’ve forgotten.

I’ve forgotten that God healed Olivia who was never supposed to be born alive. I was promised by man she would be stillborn, but God gave her life!

I’ve forgotten that even when things looked bleak in my finances, God always provided.

I’ve forgotten that I am blessed with so much more than I need.

I’ve forgotten that God has restored my past, and He is using my present.

I’ve forgotten that Jesus bore it all on the cross for me.

I’ve forgotten.

Plain and simple. I’ve forgotten. I’ve forgotten His goodness in my life and through my circumstances. I’ve looked to other things to fix the situation or make me feel better. I’ve prayed meaningless prayers, and set my thoughts on things of the world.

Philippians 4:8 says, “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.”

So today, I choose to change my thought process. I choose to set my thoughts on things of the Lord. I choose to remember. I choose to remember His goodness, faithfulness, and trustworthiness. I choose to remember.

‭‭

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17

Do you ever just cringe when you think about your past? Especially when those specific moments come up and you think, “How dumb could I be?”. No? Just me? Okay, well, it really gets me, and this morning some of those moments came flooding back, but instead of staying stuck on those, God reminded meHe can still use me.

Now, despite my past mistakes, I consider myself fairly knowledgeable when it comes to the Bible. I spent my childhood in church every time the doors were opened and even went to a Christian school through junior high and most of high school. In my adulthood, I’ve done numerous Bible studies, and I’ve read through the Bible several times. I definitely have the gist of the story down. So when I began a new Bible study by Angie Smith called Seamless, I started to question if I needed to continue with it.

The whole study of Seamless takes you from creation to the end of the story to show you how the whole Bible works together. After my first session, I was ready to peace out. I mean, I know how this all works out and how God has his hand in it the whole time, but then I heard God whisper, “I want to teach you something. You don’t know it all.”*

So, I soldiered on, and I’m so glad I did. These last few days we’ve been discussing Jacob, Isaac’s younger son. He was something, let me tell you. In Genesis 25:29-34 we see where Jacob tricked his brother, Esau, out of his birthright. Then just a couple of chapters over in Genesis 27:18-29, Jacob deceives his father to get Esau’s blessing. Fast forward several years in Genesis 32:22-32, Jacob wrestles with God. During this time God changed who he was and in doing so, changed his name to Israel.

I say all this to say that God can change you and me. He used Jacob to lead a nation. He and his descendants became Israel, God’s chosen people. He can take who you and I are, and He can change us. He can take the name you have (failure, adulterer, cheat, addict, liar, deceiver) and He can give you a new name (child of God, redeemed, loved, friend of God, protected, strong, bold).

I’m so glad I’m not who I was before. I’m thankful He has given me a new name and continues to change me daily.

Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.” John 9:3

I don’t know about you, but I am a perfectionist by nature. If I’m going to do something, I want it to be the very best. And if it isn’t, well, I’m probably going to cry, be sick to my stomach, and feel like a total failure at everything (because of course, that one mess up is a reflection of my whole life). I know it’s completely illogical, but that’s how my mind works.

Rewind to almost thirteen years ago, I was a pregnant, unmarried, recent college graduate. My ex-husband and I had a shotgun wedding. As we walked through this pregnancy, we found out our baby had little chance of survival because I had very little amniotic fluid. I remember asking a lady that I admired to pray for my baby. She looked at me and told me that I was going through this because of my sin. Man, that stung, and I never looked at her the same again. I never asked her to pray again or shared my pain. And I took her words to heart.

Fast forward 34 weeks later and my 4lb 7oz baby girl was born and took her first breath and cried. Something the doctors said wouldn’t happen. She spent three weeks in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) before coming home. My 12 year old daughter still deals with some issues, but God healed her lungs. And I believe He still has great things in store for her. Although, I still struggle with what I could have done differently.

Since her birth I’ve had another daughter, remarried, and had a son. This past January, my son was diagnosed with autism. I’ve spent the last year home with him, and I knew something wasn’t right. But to hear the diagnosis was a punch in the gut. All the what if’s came flooding my mind. What if I read to him more? What if I had gotten speech sooner? What if we did more puzzles or more crafts? What if I was a better mom? What did I do wrong?

And that was the one question that I’ve asked myself since the first ultrasound with my precious Olivia. What did I do wrong? You see, I have told myself my whole life that if I were just better it wouldn’t be this way, so and so will love me, my kids will be fine, ________________. I think so many of us can fill in that blank.

But spending time in the Word has opened my eyes. There are consequences to my sins, no doubt. However, not every bad thing that we encounter is a punishment from God. Sometimes, He wants His glory to shine. Sometimes, He wants us to cling tight to Him. I sat in the hospital for six weeks waiting for Olivia to be born, and I read more of the Bible than I ever had. I found myself clinging to the only thing that could sustain me, and God did a miracle in that child.

Second Corinthians 12:9 says, “And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ May rest upon me.” Whatever you’re walking through today, give it all to God. Trust His plan, and let His glory shine through your situation.

Genesis 50:20 says, “But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.”

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit. Proverbs 18:21

I don’t know about you,but sometimes I just need a good cry and to wallow in my own self pity. Last night, I was full of it. I was upset about Witten and determined that of course I caused his autism. I was nervous about an interview I have today, I was mad about something that happened when the girls were at their dad’s.

I slumped into my bedroom floor crying and feeling sorry for myself. Of course, my husband came in the room. He quoted the Scripture above. He was right, even though I didn’t want to admit it.

How often do we tear ourselves down with things that aren’t even true? How often do we let the devil tell us lies about ourselves? For me, more me than I want to admit. But God tells us something different. God tells us truth and tells us to speak truth. Proverbs 12:17 says, “He who speaks truth declares righteousness, but a false witness, deceit.”

So many times we see verses like the one above and only think it applies to others, but we have to know who we are in Christ and speak those truths over our lives.

In Mark 3:35, Jesus says, “For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother.”

Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

Romans 8:2 says, “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.”

1 Corinthians 2:16 says, “For ‘who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct him?’ But we have the mind of Christ.”

Philippians 4:13 says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

These verses only touch the tip of who we are in Christ. I encourage you today to search the Scripture to know who you are in Christ. I encourage you to speak those over your life. I choose to speak life today.

We went to a drive-by birthday party today. The family was standing on the front lawn eagerly waiting their “guests”. Dozens of cars lined the street. Some had balloons and signs on their cars. Others had little kids hanging out of sunroofs and windows. Horns honked and gifts were passed through windows. The look on the faces of that family glowed with joy.

As we passed our present along and said our “Happy Birthday”, tears ran down my cheeks. Not at the sadness of the situation, though. Of course it would be great to all be together, eating cake, and watching our kids play. But I cried, instead, of what we had taken for granted and how we were all coming together for this family. In the normal everyday of our lives, I took gatherings like this for granted or more simply disliked them. I found every reason not to attend and rather sent a present later. But today was different.

Today I realized that I don’t want normal. I don’t want things to go back to the way they were before. I don’t want the hustle and bustle and busyness that we take for granted. I want to take time to put together puzzles with my kids and teach them a new game. I want to dance around the house to their favorite songs. I want to teach them to cook more.

I’m not saying this quarantine is all fun and games. I’ve cried my fair share. Okay, probably lots more. My kids are never gone and we’ve butted heads more than once. And my husband, is also off work and today we argued about where he decided to hide the aforementioned present. We’ve all driven each other crazy to say the least. But we’ve connected more than ever. We’ve created movie night. We’ve done science experiments. We’ve stayed up until midnight playing games.

We’re also learning a lot throughout all of this. Not just the fact that I can’t get bread to rise 🤦‍♀️. No, we’re learning family and friends are so important. We’re learning to bless people in simple ways. We’re learning that stressing ourselves over schoolwork isn’t going to help. It will be there tomorrow. We’re learning to enjoy one another more.

So, I don’t want normal back. I don’t want to take things for granted that I did before. I want to enjoy my life with my family instead of everything always being a chore. The mess will still be there in the morning. I’m choosing to enjoy this time while I can. It won’t last forever. I hope you’ll take the time to enjoy this time as well. ❤️