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
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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...
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...
God always goes before us in the sweetest of ways. Yesterday, I got an unexpected delivery from someone dear. I also fell and injured my leg pretty badly. Today my kids gathered (minus Jake and family) to remember that it was 10 years ago today that Alan moved to Heaven. Life if full of unexpected things. It presses me to fix my gaze on Jesus and ask Him to show us what He wants us to learn. Form us into your image oh God. Fill our lips with your praise and may no weapon formed against us proper. Here is some good news friends,though the weapons may form and satan intends them for evil. God intends them for our good! He is for us! Going before us in power and love and following us with His mercy and grace. ❤️ Where do you see Him showing up for you? #seekandsavorpodcast #liftupyoureyes #rejoicealways #lifeafterloss...
Have you ever wondered what it means to LIVE by the words that come from God’s mouth? Matthew 4:4 tells us that “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Just like our bodies need bread to continue living, our spirits need the word’s breathed by God to sustain our souls. Breathed by God beloved. Of course it would be these words alone that have the power to actually Revive us.
Revive us according to your word God.
This is how His yoke becomes easy and His burdens become light.
It happens when we fill our hearts with so much of Him, He spills out in the pressing. I want to drip Jesus. Don’t you?...
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....
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...
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...
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
2016 was the year we said good-bye to Alan. We will see him again, it isn’t forever though it feels like it. It was the year we followed God’s voice to leave everything we knew and go to the place He was calling us. Little did we know it would be our last year to all live together for many years. It was a year of resting and grieving. Grief is exhausting. It was a year of quieting the noise and only listening to His still small voice. It was a year of making big decisions like buying a house and starting my public writing journey. (Art by @breezybrookshire.) This morning I sat in my chair and watched a red cardinal outside my window and I longed for one more day with Alan. I can’t say 2016 was my favorite year. But it was a year of turning the page in our lives and finding God was still with us on the next one. And for that reason alone it was a good one. #rejoicealways #liftupyoureyes #lifeisbeautiful #seekandsavorpodcast...
Happy Birthday to my Alan! 10 birthdays in Heaven, and it makes me wonder. Is he celebrating being home from his mission on this earth? What is He doing while we remember the gift He was to us, and still is? Ever since he left I have been sharing words with you. Because I feel called by God to share in some small way the “JOY, that is set before us.” Sometimes it’s a joy that wells up and overflows for the taking and other times it must be fought for.
I can make a list a mile long of all the good God has brought about since he left. Because that is our God, good and faithful, chasing us down with His mercy and grace. I can also count the tears that have been shed, how many times we have longed for Alan’s actual presence and the memories we wanted to make with him. The in between, is the place I have learned to live. Holding both joy and sorrow, trusting that when I am weak Christ’s power is being made perfect in me and finding true joy in walking every day with my Savior. When we had to choose the words to mark where Alan’s physical body was laid, I waited a year. I wrestled, I cried but, then I knew…”Alive in Christ.” It was the single most important thing to say and it’s true. This is why we lift up our eyes beloved. It’s why we are not overcome by it all. If life is in between for you beloved, you aren’t alone. ❤️ May I pray for you? #seekandsavorpodcast #lifeafterloss #hopeforthefuture #rejoicealways #griefshare...
