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.
We weren’t running to escape something, nor were we running to pursue our dreams. We were simply following God’s still small voice when we moved here 10 years ago this month. He was the one thing we could cling to in a tumultuous season of grief. We left everything we knew but we traveled with the one who knew us before we were born. Make room to hear His still small voice beloved. You won’t regret it. ❤️#seekandsavorpodcast #liftupyoureyes #rejoicealways #hopeforthefuture...
She isn’t tiny anymore. But as I look at her little bowed head and heart full of faith I am reminded that God is faithful. We may live on a battlefield and feel the tug of war over our hearts and those we love but we forget something beloved. Our God is able. He isn’t dependent on our earthly wisdom. He doesn’t rely on our ability to figure things out. Even as a mature grandmother who walks with God I find my own heart forgetting. I find myself anxious about waves that come against us, the ones that threaten to overtake us. But when I quiet my soul, and surrender I remember. I am not alone. We are not alone. He fights on our behalf. Will He use us? Yes. But the answers, the relief, the rescue lies in Him. I got the joy of talking to this dear girl this week who isn’t this little anymore, about hearing God’s voice. We talked about how to recognize it, and how to make space for it. Ah… that is the rub isn’t it friends?
“My soul waits in silence for God only. From Him is my salvation.” Ps.62:1 “My soul waits in silence for God only, for my hope is from Him.” Ps. 62:5
When was the last time you waited in silence? If your heart feels conviction you aren’t alone.
Who is willing to wait on the Lord with me?❤️ #waitonthelord #hopefortheworld #seekandsavorpodcast...
Life is always changing and change requires trust. I have walked through devastating heartache. I have loved ones that are walking through heartache. You may too. Or maybe it’s you. I see the enemy launching his arrows this way and that. It can feel like we are all just tiptoeing into the New Year, hoping for a better one. Some of us write down “words” to live by others just hope to survive. But we can do more than hope beloved. We can REMEMBER. We are not walking alone. Our God is present and He lights up our darkness( Psalm 18:28). Every time I find myself wrestling to figure out the how and the why. I am learning to bring my heart back to this place. He is here. I can lay my questions at his feet and trust Him for future answers. And while I wait, I will fix my gaze on Him, away from the darkness and toward the LIGHT. #seekandsavorpodcast #liftupyoureyes #rejoicealways Save for a day your heart needs to Remember. For more hope subscribe to the Seek and Savor podcast....
“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...
I am trying to remember to press in. I want to be in tune with His voice not just when I am desperate and in times of deep suffering. But also when the sun is shining, my to-do list is long and all is right in my world that day. Commune means: To converse or talk with profound intensity or intimacy. I have not mastered it, but I long for it to become second nature, this walking and talking with God. No more boxes of time that he must fit in! Morning devotions, Bible Studies and church, yes, but also doing the laundry, taking a walk, driving in my car. When you walk in relationship with someone beloved there is a back and forth a giving and receiving.
Paul said that he had NOT YET attained to knowing Christ as he ought, but he pressed on toward that goal. Phil, 3:8 I want to know Christ and I want to be sensitive to His voice. Imagine a world where we listened more and talked less. What are some ways you make time for the Father to speak to your heart? #hisstillsmallvoice #leanin #soulfuel #hopeforthefuture...
We serve a God who will not let us go missing. He leaves the 99 to go after the one lost sheep. Sometimes beloved we are lost because we wander. And sometimes we are lost because the weeds grow high, we get distracted and darkness falls all around us. Take heart. Lift up your eyes. And let the stars remind you that he knows your name and he will not let you go missing.
“Lift up your eyes on high, And see who created these stars, The one who leads forth their host by number, He calls them all by name. Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, not one of them is missing.” #liftupyoureyes #countthestars #thosewhowander #lightoftheworld Is 40:26...
I sat in a room this week where we talked about obedience coming from a place of love. And I remembered a simple prayer I have prayed for years, “Increase my love for you, Father.” It is a prayer I have prayed on repeat. Then today God took me back to a little swing I sat on beside a lake in Minnesota. I was a young college student with a freshly broken heart and God’s presence with me on the swing that day was tangible. He was tending my heart while also inviting me deeper. All these years later I am so grateful for his invitation to go deeper, and to remember we don’t have to do any of this alone. I am human and I forget. Sometimes my heart defaults to fear or anxiety. I forget the invitation. But I believe that simple prayer to increase my love for Him has been guarding my heart all along. When I forget I’m not alone He reminds me. When life feels unbearably hard, He lifts my chin and says, “ Lift up your eyes beloved.” When I am walking in times of answered prayers, surrounded by love He calls me to notice it. Love for Him increases in my heart and I am compelled by His love to continue this obedience journey. I am compelled to follow Him. “I love those who love me and those who diligently seek me will find me.” Prov. 8:17 How have you seen God pursue your heart? #drawmedeeperlord #liftupyoureyes #seekandsavorpodcast #renewyourmind...
For me, finding the path to being able to rejoice began with “lifting up my eyes.” I was only months out from two very big griefs that had struck our family, and I was struggling to just breathe. I was wondering if life would ever hold joy again and if I still had purpose on this earth. Exiting the park after a long walk, I started climbing the sidewalk that would lead me home and I heard in my Spirit, “ lift up your eyes.” This has become a life journey! One I wished I had begun long ago. If you find yourself fighting to keep your circumstances from dragging you down don’t miss this week’s brand new episode of the Seek and Savor podcast. I believe you will take something valuable with you. ❤️ Link in my bio....
Sometimes, we just need to step away and remind ourselves that our God knows all that is troubling our souls and He has not given us over beloved.
For me that often looks like walking. After I walked this beautiful farm I sat on top of a hill and witnessed the ever changing sky. Minute by minute the colors changed, chasing each other until even the lavender faded to black.
It reminded me that everyday he goes to great lengths to show us He is present. We can either stop and notice or continue on, overwhelmed by what our feelings are speaking to us.
He is for you beloved! How do you press pause and remind your soul this is true?...
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...
