Grappling for Grace

I sit—I wait. I fret—I wait. I cry—I wait. I wrestle—I wait.

I want to fix. I want to take every weary heart, heavy burden, lost soul, wounded spirit, tear shed, and every broken piece in the world and repair it. My heart aches for the hurting, the anxious, the disillusioned.

With white-knuckles I grip onto these pains as I dig through my arsenal of human wisdom and limited understanding to bring some kind of light and encouragement. I bring a band-aid to war wound.

I waited patiently for the LORD, He turned to me and heard my cry…Blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods. Many, LORD my God, are the wonders you have done, the things you have planned for us.”

Psalm 40:4&5 NIV

If you’ve followed any of my story then this chapter is likely familiar to you. It has been very influential in my overall health: mind, body, spirit, soul, and relationships. It is the verse God revealed to me after my panic attack in 2015 that thrust me in slow motion into the hospital bed.

When I am anxious I pray. When I feel depressed I praise. When my mind is clouded I open up the scriptures. When I am discouraged or need wisdom I seek a trusted friend. And while I wait patiently for the LORD to intervene, what happens when its silent? When the tools of rescuing grace God revealed to me in order to get out of the horrible pit are but vapor in my grasping hands, I struggle with the patience of waiting—I wrestle.

Can you relate? In doubt, we often question the effectiveness of God’s tools. In frustration, we’re tempted to turn inward to extract any remaining resource. In worry, we frantically move at our own hurried and unproductive pace, or maybe even become immovable.

But then—God.

God shows up in a whisper, in a moment of peace, as a gentle reminder that I am not alone. He reminds me that He is God and I am not.

I am wrestling through the current hot topic of vaccine mandates. I have been text messaged this resource and emailed that research. I have been sent memes and jokes, helpful information as well as critical rants from news, podcasts, social media, churches, family and friends. I have done the sending of said info. If you’re breathing and reading this post, you probably have been inundated and participated as well. It’s likely we have different approaches and thoughts surrounding this topic. I’ve discovered in the most transparent conversations that even the people with whom I align closely we have various reasons motivating our decisions—faith, fear, science, family, health, caution, work, confidence.

What can I do? What’s the right decision? Why is this happening? What protects us more, a vaccine or the freedom to choose? How do we stand for our own freedom in the country, yet fight to take others’ freedoms away (there are so many other topics this question encompasses)? How do we say we want justice yet are more concerned with vaccine status than the lives of thousands of the enslaved and hundreds about to be executed today for what they believe?

I invite you to go on this journey with me for a few minutes as I guide you through my recent grapple for grace.

I was starting to wonder this week at what point, as followers of Jesus, does the research become less important than the wisdom and rich history God left us as a tool for living. Maybe you’re not a follower of Jesus, but I imagine you approach these heavy topics with care and precision as well and we can all learn from each other as we learn to respectfully see others’ points of view. Whose perspective are you looking at? Your’s? Your friend’s? Your favorite news resource? Influencer’s? Your pastor’s? God’s? If you are a follower of Jesus, as Christians do we not believe God gave us the Bible not only to fill our head with knowledge, but to change our heart to be more like Jesus—the One we claim to follow?

Noah in faith built a boat in the middle of a dessert—no matter the mocking and ridicule; to the world, Noah was foolish and a conspiracy theorist (Genesis Chapters 6-9). Daniel, exiled in Babylon, gained favor with a King who kept him and the Israelite people captive—he disobeyed the kings commands, continued to worship God, was betrayed by is coworkers, and sentenced to death by lions. He later stood firm in his faith with a few of his friends and resisted eating foods that were against his beliefs; God rescued him from death again and used his ministry to highlight God’s sovereign character as well as God as our Protector, Deliverer, and Savior. To most of the world Daniel was probably seen as ignorant, arrogant and an overachiever (The book of Daniel). Jonah out of fear and pride resisted God’s plan for Him and God redirected Him to accomplish the message of grace to a city of people who need to hear of God’s love (book of Jonah). The world would have likely celebrated his courage and trust in his personal conviction, but we can see from the result of the story he was full of fear and God’s way always prevails.

The entire eleventh chapter of Hebrews highlights men and women because of their faith. I encourage you to read it. These examples are not only inspiring, but also are a great reminder to focus on God rather than the circumstances that seem hopeless and confusing; they remind us to listen to God’s voice rather than the critic’s voice promoting self-service, self-pity, and self actualization.

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

Hebrews 11:1 NASB

When we read this verse at face value, faith appears to be the belief that something will happen, but the more the original language is studied, we find that this faith mentioned is a persuasive empowerment to live out God’s plan. This faith comes from God, not human effort, and is the power of God behind the action to live out the work of God.

In other words, faith requires action, action requires faith, both require God’s divine gift.

Recently, my son got a knee to his jaw during a jiu-jitsu class. If you’re unfamiliar with the sport—for the sake of brevity and simplicity—it’s a Brazilian martial art that is similar to the sport of wrestling, at least in terms of the grappling element. His tooth became loose, he couldn’t open his jaw for a few days, and for a few weeks he has not wanted to return to his advanced class because of the pain. We finally clarified that the apprehension was not because he is still in pain, but because he is afraid to get hurt in that area again. From my adult lens I lack patience for this refusal to move on. I want to stretch him slightly past his comfort so he can grow. Before you think I’m insensitive, allow me to explain a little more. He didn’t actually get hurt training, he got hurt during a game. His jaw is completely fine, now, but because he associates the pain with the class, he has succumb to fear. I want to teach him that sometimes we have to face the uncomfortable and wrestle within ourselves in order to see past our limitations. As I wrestle with how God sees the current events in the world, I can’t help but evaluate my own heart in my parenting. I’m reminded how God sees what feels like my mundane life in comparison to the tragedies and He cares.

I think God allows us to wrestle so we take our eyes off what is seemingly hopeless and turn them to his grace—His help and assistance in seeing his holiness.

We need to shift our perspective from our hopelessness to His holiness.

More of this grappling continued over recent news of Christian persecution around the globe. I am reminded of the story of Jacob in Genesis (The first book in the ancient Hebrew scriptures and Christian Bible) Chapter 32. Jacob was the son of Isaac, Isaac was the son of Abraham. Three generations after Abraham received the covenant promise from God of land, a nation, and the blessing of his name (Genesis 17), we have the story of Jacob, the heir to this promise, wrestling with God. This is the same Jacob who stole the blessing from his brother Esau (Genesis 27), and he is now running from him in fear. He knows this promise is for him. He has seen God keep His promises. Yet, here in just a short time later he is doubting God’s protection and provision.

Genesis chapter 32 verses 24-30 say that when Jacob was alone he wrestled with a man from late night until day break. Some believe this man was an angel, some believe he was a mysterious man, others that he was God himself. In verse thirty, Jacob acknowledges, “I have seen God face-to-face, yet my life has been preserved.” Whether it was God himself or not, it is widely recognized by historians and scholars that this grappling match was initiated by God. God in His character is all-knowing, so whether it was God or not—I personally believe it was—God positioned Jacob to struggle in order to produce necessary growth and trust in the LORD. Jacob did not win this wrestling match, in fact it may have even left him physically crippled, but something powerful shifted in the struggle. Jacob in his doubt, fear, and pride, wrestled the Almighty God in the flesh and as a result his spirit changed. The grappling humbled him, caused him to surrender, and changed his heart to see things through God’s lens.

At the end of the all night wrestling match, God demands Jacob to name himself. I believe this demand was God’s way of calling out his broken identity. By admitting I am Jacob aka the cheater and deceiver, he acknowledges he is broken without someone to save him. Upon his recognition, God blesses him and gives him a new name, Israel—from Jacob, in Hebrew meaning cheater or deceiver to Israel, meaning God fights. After this wrestling match we see a proud, fearful, deceitful young man grow into the leader of an entire nation of decedents that would later be named Israel. God demonstrated His protection, provision, and faithfulness to the Israelite people.

Just as God fought for His people then, He fights for us now. God promises to never leave us alone, empty, and afraid.

What about those times where it’s not in the fight that we get hurt? Like my son, sometimes out of nowhere we get blindsided and it leaves us wounded. Our focus in these moments will either leave us empty or filled with abundant blessing. Maybe it’s worth considering that in these moments God doesn’t ask us to ignore the pain, but rather in the midst of the struggle God wants us to admit our need for Him and ask for Him to bless us. We can wrestle ideas and even question what God is doing, but when we fix our focused on Jesus, we can stop fighting against Him and allow Him to fight for us to defeat these battles.

We see His faithfulness in these Biblical examples and He remains faithful to His promises today. Even when we doubt, fear, complain, and yes, even wrestle, God is always here with us. When we wrestle through these tensions, we will be better off than we were before. We will begin to see that God knows what is best and we can trust Him whether we have the answers or not, whether we hear Him, see Him, feel His presence, or not. Just because you’re struggling does not mean you are alone. You are never alone because Jesus is always with you. He fights for you.

Jacob deceived his father and stole the family blessing, he later begged God for another blessing. I am tempted to label him a liar and a cheat, as selfish and proud. I’m tempted to get angry like Esau and seek justice for the wrong. But if we examine his heart and motives a little deeper we can see more clearly the insecurity, identity crisis, and his longing to be seen and heard. I think we have each experienced at least one of those feelings.

I don’t know about you, but I am certainly thankful that Jesus came to reveal my identity so I don’t live in the labels others may out on me based on what I’ve done in my past. This forgiveness and grace does not give us an excuse to keep acting like a fool, but it certainly rescues us from the shame in which our enemy wants us trapped.

In one day, I heard the cries for freedom of choice and freedom from fear. I prayed for those fighting for their health and those fighting for justice. I witnessed the longing to have a voice and for wisdom as they use their platform for peace. Despite the denial of many, I saw posts about slavery/human trafficking in our Los Angeles cities as well as internationally, religious persecution and silencing overseas and I personally experience regularly. In our efforts to include, we the people seclude and silence.

Whether we cry out on behalf of the injustices of the world or the injustice in our homes, to whom do we cry out to save us? Friend, I needed the reminder today that only Jesus can fix. Only Jesus can truly heal the deep wounds of the world. I can, however, choose to bow in His presence and surrender and pray. That is the power we have—choice to pray. And when we pray we invite the power of God to intervene. Will you join me today to pray for these weary hearts, heavy burdens, lost souls, wounded spirits, tears shed, and for every broken piece in the world to be repaired in Jesus’ name? In that same prayer will you cry our to the only one who saves, Jesus. Maybe, just maybe, we will see miracles.

Jesus came to save the world AND He came to save each of us. By His grace, He saves and He renames. That truth my friend, is a miracle.

God wants to rename each of us. Even if you don’t believe it, this truth includes you too. He wants us to see we belong to Him. We can wrestle with our flesh and surrender our desires to Jesus who calls us Beloved.

I sit, I fret, I cry, I wrestle. I Trust—I open my hands to relinquish the grip and receive grace.

If you decide to release that grip today pray this with me:

God, you are good. Thank you Jesus for your grace. I choose today to let go of my grip of control and see that you are the One in control. I pray for those who are hurting, anxious, and disillusioned. I pray for those who feel lost. I pray for the brokenhearted. You see the hardship and the pain. You see the fear. You also see the faith. You see your precious children who trust you. We cry out to you and beg for your healing in these areas. Thank you for your compassion. Thank you for allowing us to experience the tension and reminding us in the struggle that we can trust you. You are faithful! In Jesus Name, let it be so.

Exchanging Emptiness for Abundance

Daily, we rely on the world to tell us what to think, do we not? We ask the news to inform us, books to guide us, influencers to inspire us, and medicine (or masks) to protect us. We even rely on our own understanding to sift through information and form ideas about ourselves and the people around us.

Can I confess something to you? I have been really frustrated lately. There are so many ideas swirling around in conversations, news articles to sift through, and loads of information to discern accuracy. And here I am—a homeschooling mom, wife, Bible study leader, volunteer at my local church, and writer—simply wanting to live a full and vibrant life encouraging others in their calling and giftings while enjoying the goodness God has provided here on Earth. Yet, with all of this information—and misinformation—I am struggling to set boundaries with how much time I spend educating myself because its sucking away my energy and time from the people right in front of me. All for what? To know more? To make better decisions? To tell people why I make the decisions I make? Is this information going to help me lead my life better or lead others better? I wonder.

I am passionate about living a holistically “whole” life—healthy mind, body, emotions, spirit, and relationships. Having productive, challenging, and honest conversations about what’s happening in the world is necessary for perspective, balance, and growth; specifically, referring to healthy growth in our emotions- how we respond versus react from anger, fear, confusion, defensiveness, mind-the way we think about topics, and relationships- how we build trust and unity even when we disagree. But when is enough_enough?

When do we call a spade a spade and see that all of the dissension in the world right now is a scheme of a greater enemy trying to create confusion and division between us? Sometimes “us” represents our most intimate relationships, sometimes “us” is our friendships, co-workers, or acquaintances. Sometimes “us” is the greater big “C” Church (the collective group of Jesus followers around the world, rather than a reference to a local church). Sometimes “us” is humanity. This division is real and I think we both can agree it is not an ingredient in a healthy life. When do we focus back on what I believe is the beautiful purpose we are all here in the first place—to love God and love others? When can we stop drawing from the well that runs dry and seek the one who will always provide everything we need (Philippians 4:19) and abundantly more (Ephesians 3:20)?

Friend, here is where the rubber meets the road. We must stop empty pursuit of knowledge to rid our anxieties and start looking to the One who is all-knowing by character and abundant in wisdom. Prayer has helped me surrender the desire for answers and reminds me there is a realm outside of myself. It reminds me that God is all-knowing and I am not.

This truth is good news. We can trust God to have all the answers when we don’t. And we don’t have to have all the answers ever. We can ask Him to reveal one next-step, one piece of wisdom, one ounce of clarity at a time. Even if He doesn’t reveal any answers to us, we can trust He will give us peace in the uncertainty and patience in the waiting.

Maybe you don’t agree there is a God who will provide this peace. If this is you, I challenge you to think about from where or from who you draw you peace?

Maybe you’re searching, but all you find are people who claim to believe is Jesus with whom you don’t really want to associate. Maybe you’ve been following Jesus for a long time, but you still find yourself overwhelmed and frustrated by what’s happening in the world because you’ve taken on the responsibility to try to fix it.

I see you.

Quite honestly, I find myself in both of those scenarios often. Some of my biggest frustrations are with people who claim to be “Christians”. Some perspectives are driven so much by fear that they cast a shadow over clarity rather than reflect the light that Jesus brought to this world. And I definitely fall in to the trap of overwhelm trying to play God and solve all the problems or find the answer that everyone can get on board with to bring peace. It comes from a good place, but the truth is I am drawn to the desire to control what is not mine to control.

As I was reading 1 Corinthians 2 this week verse 14 stopped me in my tracks:

“People who aren’t spiritual (those who are apart from God’s inner workings of faith) can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual (invited God’s work through the Holy Spirit revealing Christ) understand what the Spirit means.”

I can’t, you can’t, we can’t convince the world to think the way God thinks. This is not our burden to bare. However, we also cannot discern what God is doing in the world if we are not in relationship with Him. Before entering in relationship with Him, there must be an acceptance of who He is (Creator of the Universe) and that He not only represents what is good and what is true, but He IS TRUTH; an adoration, or awe of His character (all-knowing, all-powerful, faithful, etc.); acknowledgement that He sent Jesus to save us; and a choice to have a relationship with Him. Even once we have made this choice, verse 16 tells us we will understand the things of God and “have the mind of Christ”, yet we will never know God’s thoughts.

Thinking like God is different than knowing what God is thinking.

Awe—In ancient Jewish text YHWH was used to describe God. This people group had such an awe of their Creator they wouldn’t even mumble this word, His name, out loud. They regarded God as so holy that they wouldn’t even speak His name. Most scholars believe it to be pronounced “Yahweh.” (In our English translations, we’ve replaced the word YHWH with God, Jehovah, or LORD.)

Have you ever been in such awe of something or someone that you could not even use words to describe this thing or person?

Have you considered that this is the reverence we give social media voices, the latest news report, or dare I say CDC guidelines? Maybe your friends? Your parents? Teachers? We allow the world to tell us who we are and what we should believe. Maybe even our reactions or defenses to opposing views causes us to have a clouded perspective rather than a compassionate curiosity for people.

Have you ever paused to wonder about who God is and been in awe? We can learn a lot from the admiration and respect demonstrated by the Jewish people.

Friend, I think we both agree information, relationships, science, and our own ability to form thought and use critical thinking is valuable. It’s important to consider that the news changes by the minute. People disappoint, science is ever-evolving, and our understanding is often through an experiential-biased lens—emptiness.

God has an abundant life waiting for you. He cares about your life. I promise you can trust His guidance and perfect timing. Throughout history God has done what He says He will do. If you don’t believe me, there’s an entire book that scholars, historians, archaeologists, paleontologists, and other experts have assembled together from ancients stories and historical records proving this character of God true—the Bible. There is a letter in the Bible that was written to people in Rome by a man named Paul—one of the greatest influencers in spreading the word and story of Jesus throughout what is known today as Europe, Mediterranean, and the Middle East.

Similar to my reminder to you today, Paul starts his letter to the Romans reminding them of the Good News of Jesus that is promised in the ancient holy scriptures and later fulfilled. Paul reminds us that we are loved by God and He fills us with grace and peace. He reminds us that we have access to Him in prayer whenever we need and that we are forgiven. Along with the encouragement of the abundance God has for our lives, Paul writes:

“For the wickedness of humanity deliberately smothers the truth and keeps people from acknowledging the truth about God…They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.” Romans ‭1:18 TPT, 25 NLT

I don’t know about you, but I never want to be stuck looking to the world for solutions. No matter how many promises of #truth or #good we will find as we scroll, here is the reality: the world has proven time and time again to fail through violence, depravity, heartache, and selfish motives—to name a few. The TRUTH: God is a good God. He is the Creator of the Universe and has proven generation after generation-since the first human recordings-faithful, steadfast, and reliable.

When I feel stuck in the cyclone of thoughts or burdened by the responsibility to fix the world’s problems, I have to choose to surrender. Through praise—acknowledging God’s character—and prayer—acknowledging there is someone greater and outside of my small human limitations—I choose to trust. I actively trust that God is greater.

Exchange the world’s emptiness for God’s abundance.

Will you join me today?

I encourage you to pray with me today:

YHWH, you are so good. So much in this world longs to be labeled “good”, yet turns up void every time because the world can never measure up to your standard of goodness. I ask you to clear our blurry or distorted vision and mend our broken perspective. Please help us see what is good through your lens. We need truth. We long for truth. Show us how to exchange the world’s emptiness for your abundance. Praise your name Lord Jesus, Let it be so.

From Pity to Praise

You can’t feel your way into action, but you can act your way into feeling.

I hit snooze for the third time. Like superglue to paper was my body to my mattress.

Tossing and turning all night, my mind ping-ponging back and forth from thoughts. Nothing significant, nothing worrisome, merely pointless thoughts and tired eyes. Restlessness is a familiar place for me. Often the thoughts were anxious or fearful, often they created imaginary conversations or scenarios that brought fear— not that night. No, the anxiety and depressive thoughts don’t seem to haunt me like they used to, yet somehow here I was again, sleepless.

I literally woke myself up from two dreams because I was consciously excited at the realization I was dreaming—dreams meant sleep, actual sleep. Then the dreadful alarm jingle. Not again. I listened for footsteps and quiet whispers from my children. The house was still silent so I gave myself permission to snooze—not once—three times.

Sometimes we just don’t feel like moving. Whether we’ve experienced recent heartache, disappointments in relationships, confusion with our career direction, or we’re tired from the throws of daily parenting, sometimes we hit a mental roadblock. Sometimes it’s a deep thirst in our soul that needs to be quenched. Sometimes its an intense spiritual battle that requires intentional warfare. Sometimes, we’re tired. Whether its an emotional, spiritual, or physical roadblock, our bodies often become immovable as a result.

Stuck. Its in these moments I’ve been tempted to lay there, sit there, cry there — by all means, rest may be necessary at times—but we will never see progress and growth in our lives if we allow ourselves to stay put. We hear from the world choose you, do what’s best for you, love yourself, you do you. While the sentiment I don’t disagree with entirely—yes, we absolutely need to care for our health—there is a depth of our soul that will never be satisfied by seeking within ourselves. There is an ache inside us that will never be relieved if we put the power of healing in our own hands. There is an emptiness that will never be filled when we ask our empty selves to fill that void. If our feelings are telling us the story that we are trapped, stuck, immovable, worthless, and don’t have the capacity to move, then turning to me, myself, and I for the strength to climb to freedom is like reaching into an empty cookie jar trying to convince myself with one more hope and a prayer I can will a cookie into my hands.

When we’re stuck, it’s time to move. It’s time to literally force our bodies into action.

Before cameras had the technology to auto-focus for clarity, the operator would manually adjust the lens to see the target shot more clearly. Friend, it’s time to manually shift that perspective off self-help and get true help from the One called our Helper—”But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, will teach you (John 14:26 ESV).” We need His hands-on guidance to manually adjust our focus to see life His way in order to strengthen our inner selves to auto-focus into God’s perspective as the trials come our way.

“I life my eyes up to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the LORD…”

Psalm 121:1 ESV

“Behold, God is my helper .”

Psalm 54:4 ESV

Romans 12:2 says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…” It is time to reprogram our minds. If what you’ve been doing this whole time was working for you, you wouldn’t be stuck. Trust me, I’ve been there thinking you don’t really understand, but its time to stop that nonsense of sitting in your feelings and get up! Shift your focus: the position and focal point of your heart and eyes. When you can’t make sense of what is happening around you, I have learned the best place to position your heart is praise. Praise aligns our focus to what is important. Praise reminds us of who or what we worship. We all worship something or someone. We all put our faith in something or someone. Worship is where we choose to focus the attention of our heart. Praise is the expression, the action, the alignment, of that worship.

Friend, the struggle to get out of bed in the morning is real. The weight of the world resting on your shoulders before your first sip of afternoon cold brew is heavy. When your head hits the pillow at the end of the day and your thoughts are like a pinball plunging down a surface never quite settling on a target and you’re exhausted. I get it.

I’ve been there. On that recent dreaded morning listening to my alarm cycle like a broken record. I’ve learned that the only peace that comes in these moments is choosing Jesus over how I feel. I think about who He is and what He has done.

During that long, sleepless night, and the dreaded day that followed, rather than sulk in the pity of my struggles, I put into practice what God had developed over the several previous years—I put my trust in Him. My practice of praise sounded something like this:

God you are Strong. Jesus you are gracious. Holy Spirit you are my Helper. Thank you for having compassion in my weaknesses. Thank you that you have rescued me out of depression and the spiral of anxiety. I trust today you will give me the strength I need again, again, and again.

The result was not instant energy and clear thoughts. In fact, my mind remained foggy a lot of the day. Praise and dependence on God doesn’t always mean there’s a quick fix and everything suddenly works the way I desire. However, even though the circumstances may not shift, our focus does. We are filled with peace beyond our ability to comprehend. In my irritation or lack of patience because my body felt weak, I didn’t react in anger to my children, say sarcastic remarks in conversation or isolate myself. I didn’t have pins-and-needles anxiety all day debilitating my every thought. I exchanged pity for praise and received the gift of peace—supernatural peace.

Sometimes a simple meditation acknowledging God’s presence will give me breath in the moment. I inhale what I need: “Jesus you are my strength.” And exhale what I notice or feel in the moment: “I feel weak. Maybe you want to try this breathing exercise with me right now for practice.

Inhale: “God you are Good.”

Exhale: “Life is overwhelming.”

Inhale: “I need you Jesus.”

Exhale: “I can’t do this.”

Inhale: “I need you Jesus”

Exhale: “You are my help!”

The rest of Romans 12:2 says, “…so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” Living God’s way, in His will, brings freedom, joy, and peace.

When the chaos of life attempts to derail us, implementing practices of praise and gratitude can help keep us on track. As we trust Jesus to be our foundation, He calls us to pick up the pieces and build our life on Him. The first piece is shifting our response from pity to praise.

When we experience constriction, bondage, and fear, and choose to cry out to God, He is right there to help. We are not alone. He is always with us. Can you remember a time when you knew you were not alone? Can you recall a time when you felt overwhelmed with peace and comfort? Maybe you weren’t aware that those moments of comfort were from God.

When I’m stuck in the grind or feeling invisible—like I’m doing everything for everyone else—I think back to these times and remember that I can thank God that He is here and He cares about me.

Maybe you’ve never experienced that peace or comfort. As we work together to create healthy habits, it can be helpful to reflect on what hasn’t worked before moving forward. Maybe it would be helpful to acknowledge what has been lost by not applying these habits in the past. Or maybe it’s time to examine where you are in this present moment, how you got here, and realize your need to adjust.

Accepting the need to shift your perspective will help you not only survive your present circumstances; it will help you overcome being trapped and thrive. 

“He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God.”

Psalms‬ ‭40:3‬ ‭NASB1995

Are you ready to fill your mind, heart, and mouth with praise?
I’d love to hear from you. Send me a message so I can pray for you.