The other day something so simple yet significant happened.
Michael and I made what seemed to be a “spur of the moment” grocery store stop. While there, I was looking for a bag of almonds and a girl was next to us looking for something. She ask, “Are these cashews healthy?” And I responded with, “yeah and yummy!” I knew in my spirit at that moment she had more to say; I just didn’t know exactly what. I knew in my spirit She was subconsciously reaching out so that I could reach out too. But I needed confirmation. I wanted to be led by the Holy Spirit. I wanted to say only what God needed to say through me. As we walked off, the song “He loves us, oh how He loves us” was on my heart and I began to worship in song as we shopped around. Then I prayed in that moment and asked, ”Lord do you want me to connect with her deeper? If so, could you confirm it by letting us bump into each other again?”
It was child-like faith asking God for confirmation. I needed it.
Then we made our way to the grains aisle and there she was and she smiled at me and I smiled back as I walked towards her singing the lyrics to the song that was on my heart. I approached her and said, “God is jealous for you and He loves and sees you.” Then I just hugged her and held her tightly. Her eyes watered up and she began to cry. I knew then that God had orchestrated that very divine moment. With many other words we introduced ourselves, chatted, laughed and ended by praying over her as well as exchanged numbers. It’s was never about the cashews; it was always about the cross and Christ who crossed our paths for God’s glory.
God was truly pursuing her. Later that day she texted me that she had not been hugged in so long and that she had just went back to church that very day after not attending for years. Again, God was truly pursuing her. Isn’t that what He always does? Isn’t He always pursuing us? Isn’t He always setting something up just so that we would feel His presence and see His relentless pursuit? He is not ashamed or embarrassed of running after us, just like the Father did to his prodigal son. He’s so mindful of us and loves us more than we’ll ever be able to comprehend. It just dies t make sense right?! That’s why it takes faith to receive. So why have you been running beloved? Why have you been beating around the bush and not really expressing the deep things on your heart to ABBA? Why have you been afraid to connect to the cross? He won’t reject you like the world has. He wants your heart. Will you give it over to Him?
Maybe you’ve felt what she’s felt before. I know I have. Beating around the bush with what we’re looking for. Not really being comfortable enough to say what’s really happening internally. We’ve all felt that. We’ve all hid behind “the cashew aisle”. But even in our hiding, God finds us and purses us powerfully and compassionately.
Receive His overwhelming, never ending, reckless love today. He sees you and He knows that you are in need of His embrace. Let Him love you.
“God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’”
Sometimes its hard to believe that my baby boy will be 1 years old in less than 1 month. He’s literally growing right before our eyes. I look back at pictures and can’t believe he’s the same baby. Since I’m with him every single day I often don’t notice the inches he’s grown until his clothes stop fitting or until we have to go up a size in diapers.
This sounds like us in our faith journey with Jesus. Sometimes in our daily walk with Christ we don’t realize how much we’ve grown until we just don’t fit into certain places and spaces anymore. We often don’t realize how much we’ve grown until we look at old photos or post or whatever other reminders.
Even if it’s in the simplest way, recognize your growth and keep moving forward in the right direction by faith. One day you’ll look back and realize that you have come a very very long way. Do not despise small progress. Just focus on pleasing God with the faith you have been given. Step by step. Faith by faith. It’s a journey not a jolt.
I vividly remember the first time I experienced anxiety. I was in ballet class in the 8th grade. I attended a performing arts magnet school and had been practicing a routine by myself while my classmates were doing something (can’t quite remember every detail). The studio/dance room was huge and it was literally surrounded by gigantic windows that were not see through glass, but sun light could still shine bright through them. I remember standing in front of the dance class’ mirrors and seeing nothing but bright light and getting so dizzy. For the very first time I felt out of control, alone and fear crept in. Thinking back, I recalled another incident that shook me. One year earlier a student at my school had just passed away from their appendix rupturing and subconsciously my mind was spinning.
I remember an overwhelming sense of fear gripping my young heart for most of my childhood. My mother is a worrier and tends to freak out often especially if it’s concerning us as her children. It’s no surprise that this temptation generationally tried to find its way in me. I’ve battled most of my young adult years trying to overcome fear and worry. Different medical concerns didn’t make this journey any easier. From extremely painful and heavy menstrual cycles, to chronic fatigue, to digestive stuff, to migraines, to random nausea, my body has played tricks on me… so I thought, but it was actually my mind believing all of satan’s stupid suggestions. With every doctor’s visit came good news that nothing was wrong. Praise God! But still I had no peace. Countless times doctors would say, “Amy are you stressed”, or “Amy I believe it’s anxiety”. I would always answer back with “no, I don’t think so.. could you run this test instead”… I just couldn’t accept that nothing was wrong. This is exactly what doubt does; it robs us of peace.
When I had just graduated college, my doctor spoke to me about possibly considering taking medication to help with anxiety. Over and over I would decline the medicated route because I knew my anxiety wasn’t medically rooted or related. I knew that I was lacking faith. I knew I struggled to relinquish control. That was the root.
So guess what I did? I went on a “google strike”…more like a “google my symptoms strike”. Yep. I sure did sis. Every time I would feel like something was wrong or “off” in my body, I would literally have to deny my fearful flesh so that I would not fall into the urge of google searching a self diagnosis. Instead, in those moments I would pray for God’s surpassing peace that would guard my heart and mind in Christ (Philippians 4: 7). I did this for months straight and eventually, I began to see an increase of faith in God’s word concerning a freedom from anxiety. It took wrestling with the word and perseverance. It took getting open chested with friends who could keep me accountable and pray with me. It took a choice to constantly choose faith over fearful feelings. It took a lot of taking captive thoughts (2 Corinthians 10:5) and a lot of prayer. You know even in all of this, there was one thing I was missing; that one thing was thankfulness.
Let’s go back to Philippians 4: 6 that’s says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”
Often times we have the praying part and the petition part down, but we aren’t THANKFUL for our current situation. Unknown to me, I was not thankful for the “good news” doctor reports and chose to doubt instead of shout “Amen”.
One day that changed and on the first day on 2017 I started a new daily routine. I began counting my blessings.. literally! I bought a small note pad and wrote something I was grateful for every single day. This simple act changed my perception and heart completely. I realized that I had nothing to fear and that God truly was near (Philippians 4:5).
One day I just didn’t worry so much. One day I just came to a place of trusting God with the unknown. One day I surprised myself to be honest. God is so faithful!
So why did I choose to fight this way instead of medicate?
It was not that I was opposed to taking medication, because I do recognize that for some people anxiety is a medical condition and I strongly believe that we have to do what is best for us in the moment of crisis according to our unique situations and faith. I believe that if you are unable to function or be at ease and it is affecting you daily from doing things that need to be done or even affecting you as a mother, wife, friend, employee, etc…then yes do your research on whatever you choose and see what needs to be done to help you function. Also look into natural remedies such as essential oils, changing your diet, & exercise/hobbies. For me personally, I knew my root & triggers were fear and s lack of faith, which were taught to me as a young child. I also knew God was telling me to lay fear & control down and pick up my sword to fight (Ephesians 6:13-18). During this time I also began transitioning to a plant-based diet (first I started as pescatarian then vegitarian, then went plant-based) and began doing more of the hobbies I love and enjoy. Whichever route you choose, do so by faith and not fear, and don’t stop depending on the guidance of God. He still wants to journey with you in addition to your method of coping.
After 3 years of walking in victory from anxiety, my husband and I got pregnant and we were expecting our first baby! Pregnancy truly put my progression to the test and it solidified my journey to overcoming. Every moment when I was faced with the common fear of not knowing whether I would miscarry, I had to choose to surrender my baby to God and relinquish control over my womb and body; it was the hardest yet most freeing journey ever. Sometimes I had to call friends and family to cry it out as I would wrestle and other times I had to stop women from telling me their pregnancy stories. I did whatever was necessary to keep my heart and mind guarded.
I had to learn to believe the best, pray instead of worry, be thankful for my pregnancy no matter the outcome, protect my peace from scary/ horror stories from mom/birth blogs, and I had to walk by faith and not by sight. It was the absolute longest 10 months of my life eveeeeer of trusting God in the process. I seriously can’t thank Him enough for bringing me out more refined and more established and rooted in His love and peace. Our precious son belongs to Him and that is the best and safest reality I’ve now joyfully accepted.
Anxiety is real y’all. It was real for the disciples who walked with Jesus 2,000 plus years ago and it’s a real temptation of ours today, especially for women and mothers. Anxiety is something so common, yet often not conversed about it; this is why I wanted to talk about it. I know too many women struggling silently with this tactic of the enemy and I want to see us walking in freedom from such a common struggle, because sis, fear is not from God.
Whether you are one who medicates to help you manage anxiety or one who chooses not to, it makes no difference. We are still called to fight by faith. I want to encourage you to choose what you’re going to believe. Everyday we have the ability to choose to believe the best in all circumstances. Everyday we have the ability to partner with God and rest secured in His loving embrace.
Can I give you some ideas to do?! I pray they help you on your journey as they did for me! Get a journal if you don’t already have one and begin to write down every single thing that worries you in certain moments and bluntly be honest with yourself. Don’t be embarrassed or ashamed. God can’t heal what you don’t choose to reveal. For the longest I was afraid of death because I didn’t understand it and this was one thing I had to take before God many time, and you know what, He took that fear away. Once you make your exhausted list of worries and fears, I want to encourage you to find that one verse that gets you so hype and you’re gonna start working on memorizing that verse so that you can fight faithfully over each of those things. For now on instead of bowing down to fear, you’re gonna fight sis. You’re gonna “it is written (insert your hype verse….” (that particular one that you just love) and start speaking life over your situation. Then sis, get back in your “safety seat” where you are seated in heavenly places with Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:6) and rest right there.
I lost so many years of peace to inwardly pacing back and forth with fear in my mind.
I accumulated so much medical debt due to not choosing to trust God who is ultimately my Great physician.
I avoided so many new life experiences due to fear and worry.
I don’t want that for you sis. I don’t want you to miss out on God’s best for you due to fear; so as you fight in faith, you better believe I’m fighting with you in prayer.
Here are my champion verses:
“God is within her and she will not fall”.
-Psalm 46:5 NIV
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him,and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes;fear the Lord and shun evil.This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.
-Proverbs 3:5-8 NIV
“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.”
Philippians 4:8-9 NIV
These verse get me so turnt up & LIT!
What I thought would hinder me for my whole life no longer holds me back. Hebrews 12 tells us to throw off EVERYTHING that hinders or entangles off and that is exactly what I started to do. I want that reality for you! I want us walking free of heavy burdens and hinderances whether big or small. I want God’s abundant life for you to be enjoyed. Quit calling yourself anxious; that’s not what God calls you and quit calling your self a victim; you are victorious in Christ. I’m convinced that God is able to grace us to overcome anything that would ever try to derail our faith. Hebrews 11:6 is so convicting and yet so refreshing! It says, “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Our faith in God to do what He said He can do pleases Him. I want you walking free not just for yourself, but so that your life will be a pleasing expression of love and trust in God.
Cheering you on as you find your way to freedom from anxiety. God is able and He goes before you, He loves you, & He’s never going to leave you. He’s got us sis. Looking forward to hearing some awesome praise reports soon about how you’ve been over(coming) it! Until next time sis!
The other day a stranger bought me a bottle of water since I forgot my wallet in the car. This parched breast feeding mama was so very thankful in that moment! I had been going non stop all day and just needed some cold water to quench my thirst. So grateful for the stranger who overlooked my forgetfulness and purchased me that water bottle. Like for real y’all, that stranger was the real MVP!
One time I was out to eat with hubby for breakfast and a random man came up to pay for our meal. Super kind right! But wait, it gets even better… 3 years ago I was an English Teacher and during my first month as a teacher, a former teacher from that high school, who I had never met before, sent me a $400 check in the mail along with the sweetest note that expressed her gratitude for me being at that school with her old students. I remember checking the mail that day and bursting into tears when I opened up her envelope after a long day at work. My heart needed those kind words of encouragement. Immediately I reached out to her friend who worked with me so that I could get her phone number to call and say “thaaaank yoooou sooo muuuch”. Acts of kindness ought to produce something in us. What if she never heard from me after sending that letter and check… wow she probably would have felt unappreciated or even confused as to if that act meant anything to me. The proper response to these acts of kindness shown to me were a humble “thank you so much”. There was no way I could have experienced their kindness and not respond to it; it’s not everyday that kind things like that happen. God used all 3 of these kind acts to encourage my soul on different levels whether big or small. But you know what no one has ever done for me? No one has ever overlooked my sin and died for me, But Jesus. When I compare every other beautiful act that we do for one another, they don’t ever come close to comparing to what happened on the cross over 2,000 year ago for you and I.
In our world today, we have definitely overlooked the fact that Kindness is so much bigger and deeper than nice random acts. God’s kindness is so much bigger than Him allowing us to have that new car, job, house, a baby, a spouse, dating relationship, promotion, etc… though these are blessings, God is much more invested and interested in our soul rather than our status.
Romans 2:4 says it so perfectly and powerfully…
“Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?”
Is God kind? Yesssss! He most certainly is. His kindness is not like ours; it’s not just intended to make us “happy“, or smile, or encouraged, or more well off financially. He paid a high price to purchase our redemption with His act of kindness. God’s kindness literally overlooked our sin by offering us a savior named Jesus, offering us a way out of death and destruction, granting us forgiveness for our sin, and showing us a new way of living life through His word and Holy Spirit. The primary purpose of His kindness is to produce transformation in our lives. I am so grateful that God’s kindness did not stop at a kind gesture or act; it didn’t stop at Christ dying on the cross. After His kind act, He gave us the good news of the gospel and the ability to willfully respond to what HE already did for us. But how do we properly respond? It can’t be with mere words of “thank you so much”. Though those words expressed are a step in the right direction, faith is gratitude in action and our true “thank you” is expressed through obedience. So what ought to be our response to God’s kindness? A repentant heart. Repentance is the only reasonable and right response! Repentance means to turn away from our sins and to turn to God! Repentance isn’t a one time thing, it’s our daily reality as we walk with Christ. Our response initially is also to be baptized (immersed in water) for the forgiveness of our sins (Acts 2:38-41). And then as we respond, God is gracious enough to give us the gift of the His Holy Spirit that dwells inside of every Christian. So it’s that simple? Repent and be baptized, and walk/live out a surrendered and obedient life in Christ? Yes, this is what is expected of us who seek to follow Christ. Our response to this kind of kindness is so simple compared to the kind of agony Jesus had to suffer and endure to be able to express this kindness to us. Our obedience to Christ is our act of love.
So have you responded to His kindness yet or have you bought into the lie that God’s kindness can’t reach you or transform you? Or maybe you don’t fully understand it because no one has ever taught you. Or maybe it’s so hard for you to see God as kind due to all of the craziness on our world today… Either way, today I’m praying for you (whoever you are) and I’m championing you on to receive the sweetest kind of kindness that all other acts of kindness stand next to.
He loves you like so much and wants so deeply for you to grab hold of this sweet grace he has to give! If you are one who just doesn’t understand God’s kindness enough to respond to it, I wanna chat with you! I wanna tell you the testimony of a girl who was so broken, wounded and didn’t learn about his kindness until almost 8 years ago when she responded. Then I wanna tell you all about the Man Jesus who made all that possible. That girl was me and I’m forever grateful for the kindness of God.
I pray that this post has encouraged a seeker who maybe once couldn’t see God’s kindness due to the craziness of our fallen world today or even for the Follower of Christ who has forgotten what God’s kindness looks like. Whichever category you fall into, I know it’s not my chance that you’ve stumbled across this blog. I’m cheering you on in your journey with Jesus. He loves you abundantly.
Almost 5 years ago we’re ready to call a quit in this marriage thing all due to fear of failure. We were 7 months into marriage and unkind, impatient & so critical towards each other. We were so easily offended by almost anything. Divorce was a commonly used word in our home and for the silliest reasons. Biblically we had no means to even go there, but we were just so stubborn. We had no idea we were cursing our marriage with that “D” word. We hadn’t understood the beauty of grace & gratitude. We were hurting & wounded by one another’s unloving and disrespectful attitudes. It was also 5 years ago almost to the day, we promised to never to threaten our marriage with a “D” again. We invited our closest friends into such an intimate place in order to help us walk out wholeness. God had mercy on us. He began a healing process from childhood wounds that crept into our marriage without us realizing it’s effects. God brought us to our knees and we had so many mindsets to be mended and repented of. We had to decide to fully surrender fear of failure and walk out the beauty of our covenant courageously. We had to learn to forgive each other from offenses that had accumulated over a short time of rudeness. We learned to accept one another fully and we also accepted the fact that we owed ourselves and our future children a power and Godly marriage where grace flows even in the hard moments. That season wasn’t the start of a perfect place, but it was the start of a new heart posture and it’s gotten more grace, love and spirit filled every year since then. On this day flowers do still make me smile, and yessss dinner still gets my tummy excited, but what I thank God for most is another day to live out loving my hubby king as unto the Lord. It’s been such a journey of growth and surrendering moment by moment in marriage and I would not trade it for anything. We needed to be refined and God has used each of us to be a tool for that painful process. We’ve come out on the other side as gold. God truly is faithful. Happy Love day everyday to you boo boo bear. I’m honored to do life as your wife, helpmate, purpose partner, & “the mother to our sweet boy! Just another day to reflect and be so grateful for how far we’ve come by the grace of God. #1John419 #MyWarrior 💕
There is absolutely nothing like motherhood. I literally can stare at my son while he sleeps and gaze upon his sweet little face with gratefulness. I can embrace him in my arms and cuddle with him like there’s no tomorrow. I remember when I would do that to my hubby and get the same mushy feelings. Then one day the mush eventually turned into much more. It got exchanged for a deeper love and commitment that is built on substance after weathering many storms together. Some stares/ gazes occasionally include those of frustration and misunderstandings… that comes with the territory sometimes. This was the reality for Michael recently. I was exhausted which then made me irritable. Every conversation included a complaint and a stubborn stare. You know the kind that includes the “side-eye” look of annoyance? God convicted our hearts during a frustrating family meeting we had this week as we were planning out schedules and such. Things got uneasy in my stubbornness when we began speaking about our days of intimacy. Yes you totally read that right. So after having our son, we decided to plan out our days of physical intimacy so that we would not get caught up with parent duties and neglect that area. If you’re not intentional it won’t happen. We’ve found that planning days of intimacy really work for us especially for me so I could mentally, emotionally and even physically prepare. So back to the meeting: Everything in me wanted to bypass that area. I felt Justified in my 10-point reasoning as to why intimacy was just not gonna fit into my busy to-do list that week. “I do this, this and this…. I’m tired, I’ve got too much to take care of this week”, and blah blah blah. I was being inward focused point blank period. Any blessing can add heat to a home. HOW? That’s because God intends for us to decrease as He increases and brings increase into our lives and with that we sometimes have a hard time decreasing if we can just be honest. When a precious baby is added to marriage it really shows you what areas needs to be dealt with. Sometimes it’s selfishness, silly and unstable hormones, and sometimes it’s a broken root system or mentality. Either way, God wants to work it out of us. Michael and I have experienced both sides of the pendulum in our parenting journey so far these past 9 months. We’re just two Jesus loving big kids figuring this marriage, ministry and parenthood process out.
I’m an exclusively breastfeeding mama and our son literally won’t take a bottle, which means that throughout the day I’m nursing him constantly and to be honest sometimes I’m literally all touched out by the end of the day lol! After breastfeeding all day I just want my body back to myself… I don’t want kisses, hugs or any other type of affection from my hubby after a long day of baby cuddles unless I can mentally prep for it well in advance. These are the moments when I have to ask God for an outward focused heart to serve and love according to my husband’s need through touch even when I don’t “feel” like it. These feelings also have a deeper root. A seed of uncertainty that was planted when I was a little girl. In my entire childhood, I can literally only recall my moment of my parents kissing in front of us… seriously only ONE time and it was pretty awkward and seemed a bit forced sadly. I believe that confused me early on about affection in marriage. Sometimes I struggle to understand what total affection is supposed to look like, feel like, be like over all so i pray a lot for a surrendered heart in the area and God always comes through with wisdom through his word and through transparent wifey friends of mine! The reality is that marriage is so much more that mushy kisses and hugs and cuddles. The cross shows me that. Jesus death on the cross convicts me at my core that love is about giving. It’s about dying to our way for the sake of God’s perfect will to be done. When Christ died and resurrected, he purchased the church with his precious blood and He calls those who have repented and been baptized into Christ his bride. As His bride we walk according to his word and we die daily to our way. It’s the same in a marriage between man and woman. It’s about cultivation. The physical pleasures of marriage often expose what’s lacking in the spiritual. It’s more than the feel good stuff, but the feel good stuff starts at the heart of serving. Physical intimacy truly is a beautiful grace gifted to us by God for those who are married. Intimacy, both spiritually and physically is about loving one another and serving one another as unto the Lord. It’s embracing hearts as well as hands. It’s locking eyes with one another’s souls and not just through sight. It’s having tough conversation and reconnecting anyways. It’s fighting the good fight even on long and sleepless nights. Motherhood comes easy and natural sometimes, because there is just something so sweet and simple about serving a precious baby that you prayed for.
My prayer today is that God would establish a sweetness just like that to all marriages. We too prayed for our spouses before God gave them to and now we must learn how to tend to our marriage so intentionally just as we do in our motherhood role. We fabulously wear both hats at all times, but the marriage and wife hat supersede mommy hat most certainly. This I believe is the order: Christ, Marriage, Children, Others…
I pray that God would reestablish hearts for spouses who have forgotten what it feels like to gaze upon each other’s beauty. I pray that God would reestablish hearts and even reconnect hands that have not been held by one another in a while. I pray for forgiveness to take place in homes where hurts have been hindering wholeness for way too long. I pray for the marriages that have taken blows at the core and are fighting to get back up. You beloved are resilient in Christ Jesus and God can resurrect a dead marriage. I pray that God would bring sweetness where things have been sour and that he would bring strength where things have been unstable. Our spouses are a precious gift from God just like our sweet babies; don’t forget to cultivate and nurture your covenant. These are the kind of cuddles our marriages need: I’ll call them Christ-centered or spiritual cuddles. When we decide to crucify our flesh and push past pride we are spiritually cuddling our spouse. When we choose to confront the enemy’s lies and attacks against our spouse, we are spiritually cuddling our spouse. When we choose to not keep records of wrong and let go of contention, we are spiritually cuddling with our spouse. When we choose to celebrate the good things about our spouse and not complain and nag about what they’re not doing, we again are choosing to spiritually cuddle with our spouse. I believe that both graces or intimacy are amongst the few things that Satan is after in our marriages. We need faith that pushes us past the mushy ideology of marriage. Marriage takes intentional work. This work will produce a harvest eventually if do not give up (Galatians 6:9).
One thing motherhood has taught me is that I better get really good at these spiritual cuddles because in case you didn’t know, physical intimacy definitely changes in consistency after having a baby (for a season at least), but that doesn’t mean intimacy has to decrease too. Intimacy is in its own special category of “cuddles”. I’ve also learned that I better be rooted and established in Christ at all times, because the enemy despises Godly marriages the emulate Christ and the church (His Bride). I know that sometimes it’s a lot easier to desire the mushy moments of marriage and even motherhood, but do not despise the difficult parts of both seasons. Don’t fail to push through the hard moments; in the push, you will find a persistence in persevering together as one flesh and yalls ability to produce a powerful partnership in marriage will pour into you more than you could have imagined! The mush is nice and all, but it doesn’t compare to the beauty you’ll discovered in the process of pushing. Think back to the day you delivered your sweet baby/babies…Remember when you were ready to push because it was the only thing that brought relief from all the contractions?! Yessss, pushing in marriage brings a sweet relief in the process too! So keep pushing, keep praying, keep gazing upon the goodness of God and His word as your standard and keep making googly-eyes with the one who God gave you in marriage. Keep “cuddling” with your hubby both spiritually and physically because one day we and our spouses will grow old just like our little ones and we’ll miss those sweet substance-filled mushy moments with them too. Embrace one another today while embracing every opportunity to grow. There’s truly nothing like motherhood and marriage. Both can bring out the best in you if you can allow God to use these two beautiful blessings to do so. Never stop cultivating your marriage through acts of service, honor, love, tenderness and selflessness. Just like you would do anything for that sweet baby you carried for 10 months (yep pregnancy is not 9 months… someone lied to us hehe) go do the same with the same heart posture for your partner! Say “I do” a thousand times again and go “do” what God is asking of you! You’ll be so grateful you did and still doing what you once vowed you would do!
As Valentine’s Day approaches us, don’t find yourself caught up in the mushy fluff of the day. And sis don’t you dare think about complaining or comparing your hubby’s gift to you with what so and so’s boo thang got her. Stay in your lane, remember what matters most, find ways to serve and stay fixated on “cuddles that cultivate”, seevingvone another, and finding ways to connect hearts and not just what each hands can give one another. Though there is an inner child in us that enjoys the mush of love, lets get to the meat of marriage and ride this journey out with some sweet substance! In God’s kingdom everyday we celebrate love and every day we enjoy precious gifts given to us by God. So cheers to another opportunity to reflect, grow and go make our marriages just as sweet as the cuddles we obsess over from our babies. Cheering you on one couple and cuddle at a time!
Be loved abundantly,
-Amy Isom
Established in Covenant 07/05/14 My King! His Queen!
Last week I asked a group of sisters for prayer for more capacity, because I felt so busy to start this assignment along with a few other ones on my plate already, but God so graciously, yet sternly reminded me through my sister in Christ that I had all the capacity already but needed INSIGHT and how my obedience was not about me, but the generations and nations attached to my obedience. I knew that mentally, but it never convicted my heart the way it did that, because who God chose to use to spiritually spank me. This sister in particular has never met me in person and we had literally just connected over a group in GroupMe that very week. My stubborn self needed that exhortation so badly and though my flesh wrestled to receive the truth about walking fully in the beautiful boldness God has bestowed on and in me, it eventually surrendered and submitted! That was the day a spirit of timidity broke off of me. That was the day I was ready to looooove deeper and more tenaciously even in spite of all the unknowns that come. I’m so Grateful for sisters and brothers in Christ who speak truth to you in love even when in stings. Spiritual spankings are so good for us!
I’ll let you peek in on the conversation from last week...
My prayer request.. (my flesh wanted pity…)
But my spirit got this spanking instead! (My stubborn butt needed it!
All I could do was receive it, repent and get started!
Now it’s your turn!
What push do you need to get started on the assignment(s) God has asked of you to do? Don’t make me come over there and spank you!
May this push given to me also propel you forward. Put your hands to the plow; God will do the rest. Simply get started by faith beloved! Souls are attached to our assignments and our obedience. Let the mission of Christ and His love compel you!
Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. 4 Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man.
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.[a
Migraines and motherhood just don’t mix very well AT ALL. But It’s like you just figure out how to function by faith when you’re a mommy. This weekend I battled with a migraine and today another one came on. I haven’t had a migraine in 3 years after battling with them for a long time.
Though today has been mentally tough, God has been gracing me through. There are no days off as a mother. You just learn to figure it out by faith. I went to war in the spirit and prayed this morning while trying to manage this migraine, because I know it’s an attack and that the enemy would love to sit me down and shut me up. Tomorrow I’ll be teaching a group of teen moms and dads about Sex God’s way and no devil in hell will stop me from sharing the love of God through His living word.
So here’s to praying and preparing anyways! Here’s to mommyhood even when it’s mentally hard some days. Here’s to awesome hubbies who help! Here’s to awesome sisters in Christ who pray for you, here’s to smiling in spite of the pain and here’s to figuring out how to function by faith! ✨ “I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the LORD, the maker of heaven and earth.” Psalm 121:1-2
Natural Remedies for migraine relief…
I also diffused Young Living essential oil peppermint and rubbed it onto my forehead!
For breastfeeding moms, drink lots of water and even a cup of hot tea/coffee. Be sure to only take supplements or medication that do not harm your liquid gold (milk) supply or your sweet baby. Try to put baby to sleep for multiple naps in the crisis of a migraine and you yourself get lots and lots of rest. Pray! Pray a whole lot. Take the lights off and do as much as you can only in the dark/dim space since the lights will hurt your throbbing head even more. Lastly, do be afraid to ask for help. God helps us through willing servants so humbly ask for help and and accept it!
Feel free to share any other natural remedies you may have up your sleeves to help aid migraine relief. One “remedy” that has blessed my life richly has been going vegetarian almost 3 years ago and now plants based/vegan lifestyle. I’ll share about journey/transition in a different post! Wife and Mommy duties are calling my name now so I’ve gotta head on outl! Until next time beloveds!
There are soooo many phenomenal teachers, preachers, motivational speakers, blogs, YouTube videos, vlogs, etc out there and the list goes oooon! Don’t get me wrong, they have their place of influence and great info sometime, but absolutely nothing or no one can compare to or take the place of God’s powerful word or intimate presence in our lives.
There are people in my life that call me in every crisis and often times it’s waaaay beyond my control. Though God’s word calls us to carry each other’s burdens, it does not call us to be one another’s God. The reality is that we are just not built to bear the full weight of each other’s load. That is why God says “come to me all who are weary”… and also “take upon my yoke”… he’s calling us into his presence because He alone can offer us peace that surpasses all understanding. I too have been that person running to people to makes sense of things that can only be accurately answered by God HIMSELF. The truth is that we often aren’t patient enough or persistence enough in his presence. We come to him with a list a questions, but often times we are not willing to press in.
Often times in crisis, who are you first tempted to call upon or run to? Your parents? Bestie, social media outlet/influencers? or even that boyfriend/girlfriend? We must guard our hearts from making people our God… our idol… our savior. People make a poor God.
I was reading a powerful verse today that had me reflect on this area for myself. My temptation to run to is often myself and try to figure out things alone by over processing it in my head. My, my, my… Excuse after excuse…. I’ve talked myself out of so many things because I was gazing at the wrong source of strength. Myself. And left to myself i’m one hot sweaty mess.
So here’s the verse I was reading and want to also encourage you with. Proverbs 18:10 say it so beautifully, ““The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the [consistently] righteous man [upright and in right standing with God] runs into it and is safe, high [above evil] and strong.” Proverbs 18:10 AMPC
The next time that crisis hits, instead of scrolling through your contact list, or scrolling through social media as your source of help, instead of running to your favorite social media influencer, favorite blogger, your family, your friend, and yes even yourself, RUN straight to God and His alive, active and faithful word and find rest and safety in the care of Him who loves you and knows your situation more than anyone else!
Amy Isom 