Reflection || SheReadsTruth

Some touching words and reminders, today, from SheReadsTruth:

“I will make you my wife forever, showing you righteousness and justice, unfailing love and compassion. I will be faithful to you and make you mine and you will finally know me as the LORD.” – Hosea 2:19-20 (NLT)

But Lord, I said, I am weak and I am unfaithful to you.

My faith is weak.
The temptations are strong.
My knees are shaky.
My heart has no sentries around it so I’m falling for everything.
I am a mess.
I’m falling back on counting the gifts you have given me.
I’m falling back on scripture memory
I’m falling back

“And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as Lord, you must continue to follow Him. Let your roots grow down into Him. Let your lives be built on Him then your faith will grow strong in the truth you have been taught and you will overflow with thankfulness” - Colossians 2:6-8 (NLT)

And now, just as I have accepted Christ Jesus as Lord, I must continue to fall in love with Him…to follow Him.
To let my roots grow down into Him
To let my life be built on Him

Only then will my faith grow strong and only then will counting gifts become a joy and not a chore.

So as a new day begins and my faith feels so small in my heart, like a woman longing for water in the wilderness, I will hang on to the right hand of my God for dear life. If I can’t testify about anything else, I can testify that my King loves me that He strengthens my heart and that He holds me securely in my moments of weakness. It is when I am weak that He shines through me.

“My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart, he is mine forever” – Psalm 73:26 (NLT)

Not Just End Results

“Did you know that God is not just about end results?  I’m still learning that one!  We discovered through our loss that God is very much interested in our process- not just end results. When things don’t end the way we think they should, will we trust Him? Will we still say yes? Will we continue on His path, trusting that He knows best?  Oh boy, I am not saying I have this down, because I totally don’t, but I am slowly learning to just keep saying yes.  His ways truly are higher than ours (Isaiah 55:9).”

And I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know, in paths that they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them. 

— Isaiah 42:16 [ESV]

We don’t know the end result for any situation in our lives: education, love, relationships, family — our future. 

Father, I pray you keep our hearts and eyes awake for what You are doing, and that when you ask us, that we will joyfully reply - “yes!”

I want to live on the edge of my seat for Him. How can I answer “yes” if my spirit is asleep? How can I walk forward with my eyes closed to the needs all around me?

I want to be like the servant in Luke 12:35 who is wide awake, waiting for the Master to return.

Just keep walking — one foot in front of the other, He will take us by the hand and lead us —

[a reflection from SheReadsTruth || February 26, 2013]

You Single?

Treat yourself tomorrow to…. well, something.

Don’t have the extra cash? Go to a free museum, walk around in the displays you want to, don’t split it with someone else. Go to a movie, sit were ever you want to, and chuckle as loud as you want, or cry hard and loud.

Get a haircut. Go to the barber and get your face shaved. Buy something small. A tie clip. A brooch. Buy something big, like a leather weekend bag, or those shoes you have been dying to wear with that dress you got a couple months ago. Go to a bookstore, find a chair or corner and read a book you normally wouldn’t.

Buy yourself a plant. You could get flowers, and as I do dry them upside down on the pipes. Buy, go get a plant. Go to the closest place, hell even the grocery store. Go get yourself the first plant that says something to you. It may be the only plant that isn’t the gaudy roses, or typical flowering cuteness. Get the saddest one. Give it a little place in your heart and home.

Wear a really great outfit. Maybe it’s one you wore a couple days ago and people complimented you on, maybe it’s new. Maybe it’s just and outfit you threw together last minute. Wear it. To walk the dog. To buy yourself a bottle of your favorite champagne, or to buy a bottle of sparkling juice. Pour it into the fanciest cup you have, put on an old dance mix you found in your car. Invite your single friends over at the end of the day and be glad you had an amazing day. 

Have a day to yourself. You deserve it. 

(via)

Every Minute of It

Sweet friends, what a simple and yet very heavy phrase to try and tell yourself daily. Sure, you say it and try to make yourself feel it, but do you truly love every minute of this God-given, precious life? 

I sure as heck don't -- that's my honest-to-God-truth! 

I struggle daily with the ways of the world, I struggle to love my friends as I should, I struggle with keeping an open mind and so much more. I found as this new year has gone on its way, already a month and a half in, that I am consciously trying to make an effort to not let this year go by without meaningful decisions, friendships, and trying to enjoy these minutes of my life. 

January was found to be a growing month -- filled without Facebook, a successful Winter Session (A in the course), better paychecks, and most importantly a fire inside of me to read the Word. 

With the guiding help of #SheReadsTruth and their daily readings, I have been able to grow in my faith and have been able to explore books of the Bible that I would not have gone before. I've been filled with grace, daily, and it's a transforming experience. If you have yet to go and check these ladies out, please do so! 

Upon stumbling on this beautiful, scripted quote, it made me think: I may not be in love with every minute of my life, but I am thankful for every minute of it. 

I have learned to be thankful through the trials of this beautiful life, through the glorious moments, and the messy moments. Life sure teaches you lessons, it makes you struggle, but you manage, by His mercy and grace -- and how can you not be thankful for that?