Category: SPIRITUAL SELF-CARE, GROWTH, & PURPOSE

Anticipating Eternity

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Advent is defined as:

  • the arrival of a notable person, thing, or event.
  • the first season of the Christian church year, leading up to Christmas and including the four preceding Sundays.
  • the coming or second coming of Christ.

So we celebrate the Birth of Jesus during the Christmas season, but we also wait expectantly for his return. When Christ returns, all will be made right in this world because it will be completely made new. In order for this to happen, the final judgement must take place. Those who follow Jesus and believe in their heart that he is the Son of God who died for our sins because we need a Savior do not have to fear his return. For we will live for eternity in God’s presence with no pain, sadness, or evil of any kind. We will be blessed to live the lives God originally intended at Creation before sin entered the world.

With the recent rapture predictions from September and October of this year, this topic became more front and center for me to write about… 

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Living Out God’s Story

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Writing has been a love of mine since I was very young! I’ve always had a wild imagination and loved to make up stories.

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Testimonies Set Ablaze

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We cannot stay quiet! We cannot shy away from the uncomfortable conversation! We cannot let the negativity and darkness of this world silence us.

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Restoring Our Patchwork Hearts 

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My grandmother used to sew EVERY day. She had a whole room dedicated to sewing machines, fabrics, thread on spools covering 2 of the 4 walls. I spent a lot of time as a child in her sewing room. There wasn’t much I didn’t watch her make over the years! All the planning, measuring, cutting, piecing together, threading machines, actually sewing, surging, and depending on the creation, stuffing! She made me many outfits over the years! I have photos of me wearing vests with my name and a design embroidered on them with matching pants at an early age. 

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Heart-Shaped Locket

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When you see a heart-shaped locket, there’s a photo or two inside. The idea is that you place pictures of people you love dearly close to your heart, wearing it around your neck as a reminder that those you love are always near—even when they seem far away.

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Unapologetically

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People pleasing sucks your energy right out of you… with no energy, worship can be a struggle. Constantly apologizing sometimes for just existing. Having to say, “I’m sorry” for saying “I’m sorry” because true friends aren’t going to allow you to apologize for being yourself, for needing to take care of you, for wanting to bond.

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JOY in Surrender!

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Letting go, emptying yourself, surrendering all…

These are not natural responses but with a God so good, when you act on the convictions of the Holy Spirit, you will be blessed, filled with hope, and fueled by faith to press on.

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This Old Rocking Chair 

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A message to my almost 2 month old son…

I sit in this old rocking chair with you, my son, bundled up in a blanket on my lap with my arm wrapped around you. 

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Becoming A Mother: A Testimony of God’s Faithfulness, Provision, and Love

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I would like to share examples of God’s faithfulness and provision to women throughout Holy Scripture before sharing my own testimony. Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, Hannah, and Elizabeth are some women in The Bible who were considered barren. In ancient times, barrenness was often seen as a punishment from God for disobedience, but he had other plans for them. God used one other woman’s story of motherhood to change everything….the Virgin Mary. See Scriptures in the images below:

God showed up for these women and their families which impacted generations upon generations. With the exception of Mary, the mother of Jesus, these women had lost all hope for them to grow their family, but God knew his plan and was faithful in providing the gift of children. Mary is THE one and only unique example of God using the Holy Spirit to conceive a child, the Son of God and Son of Man, who in turn became the Savior of the world. God is the ultimate miracle worker! God blessed each of them and in turn, blessed so many others, including me. Now that you have a better understanding about the hope I was able to hold onto through the Living Word when it came to God’s plan for my family, it is time for my story:

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Mirror, Mirror

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I used to write poetry on a regular basis. It has been a while since poetry has flowed naturally. I was at a work conference this past weekend. The last night, before I headed home, I went to God to reflect on the blessings from the weekend that were a result from blessings over the past year. In my hotel room, there was an interesting wall decoration of multiple mirrors. While I was praying, I looked at the mirrors hanging on the wall. The thought came to me how we look in the mirror, and often don’t think positive things about ourselves. I have often asked God to help me see myself the way he sees me and have prayed that over my loved ones as well. I felt the overwhelming urge to write. So, I did.

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AT LAST!

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Marriage has been the intention for man and woman from the beginning. God created Adam, and for the first time, said that something was NOT good. 

“Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.” So the Lord God formed from the ground all the wild animals and all the birds of the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would call them, and the man chose a name for each one. He gave names to all the livestock, all the birds of the sky, and all the wild animals. But still there was no helper just right for him. So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. While the man slept, the Lord God took out one of the man’s ribs and closed up the opening. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man. “At last!” the man exclaimed. “This one is bone from my bone, and flesh from my flesh! She will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken from ‘man.’” This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.” 
-Genesis‬ ‭2‬:‭18‬-‭24‬ ‭NLT‬‬
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The Greatest Love Story

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2023 Lessons Overview

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2023: The word of the year was REST. Did I follow through with this well? Absolutely not… I feel like I did better than I did in 2022, but overall the word “NO” needs to enter my vocabulary more often than it has been. I’m a people pleaser and FOMO (Fear of Missing Out)  is definitely real.

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Don’t Worry God’s Got You!

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“That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing?

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Compelled By Compassion

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The Sunday before a special weekend full of students (6th-12th grade) serving the community called, MyNeighbor Mission Weekend, the second message in the Lent: The Life of Surrender series entitled, Stay Compassionate, was given as the students and leaders were commissioned for the following weekend.

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