This is the place you’ll find hope. The kind of hope that can carry you through those hard places you unexpectedly find yourself in.
I’m no stranger to the hard life throws at us and in the midst of trying to find my way through one of those dark places I heard 4 words deep in my spirit,
“Lift Up Your Eyes.”
It was a gentle reminder from our great God that I needed his perspective instead of my own to walk through my husband’s unexpected journey to Heaven.
Those words carried me and you too if you’ve followed along with me. They also led us to creating the Seek and Savor podcast which equips us to lift our eyes on a daily basis.
I’m Mama to four amazing young adults and Nana to six darling grands with two more on the way.
My sweet husband got to meet his Savior at the age of 47 after a year long battle with brain cancer. We miss him every day.
Life for me, felt like it was ending but God was doing a new thing.
I don’t know where life finds you today beloved, but God, He is all about doing a new thing in us and it begins when we fix our gaze on Him instead of our circumstances.
Life may be filled with hard things dear one, but we were made to do hard and holy things and in the process we become vessels of beauty, fit for the KING.
“My presence will go with you and I will give you rest. ” Exodus 33:14
I’d love to connect with you.
Email me using the form below and I’ll respond soon. I’m also available for speaking events for women of all ages and stages. For a list of topics, please visit my Speaking Page.
In this “instant society” we live in it is so tempting to ask for things like hope, joy and peace in a grocery list type of way. I ask. He delivers. And please don’t require me to wait. Instead, it is more about relationship. Like Jacob wrestling the angel of the Lord it is in the process of wrestling through life while holding onto the Lord that good stuff is produced. Ps. 16:11 says, “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Take 10 minutes and listen to the rest of this episode, “Finding the Good,” on the Seek and Savor podcast. Something sweet happens when we realize there is purpose even in the hard and God wants to use it for our good! 💕...
What love are we filling our hearts with this week?
Is it a temporary one that serves ourselves?
The Word of God is able and actually designed to perform surgery on our hearts dear ones. It penetrates the deepest parts of our soul and spirit.
Where there are lies, it can uproot them and plant truth.
If you struggle with fear God’s love can uproot it and plant faith that He is able to love you well and enable you also to walk in love. He is able to wash your mind in the truth that whatever is coming against you His perfect love casts out fear and He will be the keeper of your heart.
Lay down the striving and rest in His love. ❤️ #layitdown #restinhim #loveofgod #seekandsavorpodcast...
I am loving the Bible Recap with Tara Leigh Cobble as part of my daily reading this year. She dropped this truth bomb the other day and I had to push rewind and write it down. Truth from God’s word is worth savoring friends. The reality that God is Always working on our behalf and no man can thwart His purposes is an anchor for your heart on the days your circumstances feel like mountains no man can climb. We can trust in our faithful God beloved.
“In your strength I can crush an army; with my God I can scale any wall.” Psalm 18:29
Redirecting my eyes towards the truth of God’s word always redirects my heart. ❤️#seekandsavorpodcast #hopeinhim #rejoicealways...
So thankful for this man my children got to call Dad. He was so selfless always putting our needs above his own. He was faithful and filled our home with laughter. His work ethic and how He used it to serve others and teach our boys how to serve is one of my favorite things. But nothing surpassed His desire to follow Jesus more. I love that my children will always remember waking up to Him in his chair, Bible in his lap and coffee in hand. I wish He was here today to tell him one more time how loved He is and how grateful we are for all the ways He cared for our hearts. Love is more than words. It is laying down your life, your desires for someone else. ❤️ Thank you Father for Alan Dickson. #lifeafterloss #loveisaction #fatherlove #rejoicealways...
“When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, Lord God Almighty.” Jer. 15:16 Don’t miss today’s episode of the Seek and Savor podcast, “Feasting on your Word.” #liftupyoureyes #seekandsavorpodcast #renewyourmind #wordofwisdom...
35 years ago today I married Alan Dickson. It is strange when the one you would celebrate this milestone with is in Heaven. It is worth remembering and celebrating. Though it be both bitter and sweet I make space to grieve the things that are not and give thanks for what is. I am a glass half full person. Not because I was born that way but because I have learned to fight the good fight that way. I have learned to endure and lead my heart back to a place of trusting God . It doesn’t mean the grief is gone. It means I can feel everything and land in a place of looking up. ❤️#lifeafterloss #grievingwithhope #onethousandgifts...
10 years ago we spent our spring break at the beach. Alan’s body had just been buried but I knew he was fully ALIVE. 2 years after that I penned words sharing what the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart that day. The truth of them is still breathing life into me today.I find myself growing in the fertile soil of them. I pray they will breath life into you as well, no matter where your heart is challenged in believing today.
“Yesterday as I worshipped I felt Christ brushing past the rubble in my broken heart. In some ways the pain of Alan’s absence can feel fresh all over again. It’s on those days I’m made aware again of how life doesn’t look like I thought it would. The shock has gone. The flashbacks of painful days are fewer and fewer. Yet, I often found myself kneeling in a graveyard of broken dreams, unable to find a vision for the future. As I would walk about seeing others grow old together, I would wonder what that would have looked like and sometimes the new dreams God was giving me felt too BIG or far away. But God…
I felt the Spirit whisper to my heart, ‘The graveyard is the perfect place beloved. I am not daunted by death. No, I conquered it. In fact, you must know something… I Still Move Stones.’ Cue the tears friends. He still moves stones!
Have you ever heard more beautiful words? I can hardly think of any.
Mark 16:4 says, “ But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away.” That great big stone that covered the tomb where they lay our Lord’s body had been moved. He came to conquer death. Then He tells us in Romans 8: 11, “ The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is at work in you.” At work in us? How is that possible? He is in the business of moving stones. The resurrected one wants to resurrect our hearts. He wants to conquer death on our behalf . Not just once when our earthly flesh fades, but every day! He longs to take the stones of brokenness, sin , heartache and death from our hearts. He wants to move the rubble out of our paths so we can LIVE resurrected lives. Because He lives, we can too.❤️#seekandsavorpodcast #christinus #liftupyoureyes #sundayiscoming...
I ran across this quote one day that I’d saved from T. Davis Bunn- “The whole world’s out there screaming for our attention and only one little voice in our heart is whispering ;The answers not out there. It’s in here.” Oh how I want to listen to that still small voice beloved!
There have been times in my life I desperately wanted to hear from God. I know you have too. Write it on the wall, Lord. ❤️ Isaiah 30:21 says, “And your ears shall hear a word behind you saying, This is the way, walk in it.” Now more than ever it’s imperative that the sheep know the Good Shepherd’s voice. We could just make up our own path but why would we do that when He can see down the road? He can direct our steps and lead us in triumphant procession. For more on this check out my Seek and Savor podcast and search the episode, “The Good Shepherd.” #seekandsavorpodcast #hearinggodsvoice #liftupyoureyes...
So often fear makes us want to turn around and go the other way.
Or we think we must hurry ahead to achieve all the things we want to. Staying steady, our hand in his hand is often hard. The enemy comes in and tells us that uncomfortable is not the place we want to be. He says “in control” is better.
But, oh beloved what joy is found in surrender.
“For I am the LORD your God, who takes hold of your right hand and tells you: Do not fear, I will help you. Isaiah 41:13
There’s a lot of things grasping for our attention, Situations and circumstances that would draw our hearts away from the one who brings LIFE. Proverbs 4 speaks a good word for us beloved. It reminds us to….
Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you. Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure.
Setting our gaze on the right thing is the difference between overcoming or being overcome. In Peter’s situation it was the difference between walking on water and sinking into it. I know it can feel SO very hard but today, right now, what if you just “lifted your eyes?” What if you took them off that THING and put them on your great God? I promise you, Jesus makes everything look smaller. And He will sit with you in the midst of it all. #seekandsavorpodcast #hopeforthefuture #changeyourperspective #renewyourmind #wordofgodspeak...
Who can stand in the middle of a battlefield and find peace beloved?
Peace isn’t found in the cease-fire. You CAN find it while the battle still rages when you allow God’s spirit to sift through your life and simplify things.
In the sifting some things have to go while others stay. But space is made to hear His voice and there is peace in His presence. This is your invitation to join me as we quiet our hearts together over on the Seek and Savor podcast. Let’s simplify our lives by listening to His voice. ❤️ The link to listen is in my bio. #simplelifestyle #peaceofmind❤️ #resteasy...