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.
I don’t know about you but I often feel like I am going to war every day now. Why you ask? Because time is short and the battle is fierce. Just look around you. I feel a sense of urgency to keep in step with the Spirit. I pray often for Him to tune my ears to hear his voice. God said that He prepared good works in advance for us to do. So how are we to walk in those if we don’t keep in step with His Spirit? Are we doing those things? Or are we allowing the cares of this world, (even valid ones) to distract us from them? What are those good works He has prepared for us to do?
Dear friends, until Jesus calls us home we get the honor of co-laboring with Him this side of Heaven.
There is work to be done. There are people to intercede for. There are human beings to love and stand in the gap for and it shouldn’t require us to strive. It becomes the overflow of our hearts the more time we spend in His presence.
‘But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds.” –Psalm 73:28
For more encouragement listen to Seek and Savor Podcast. Season 7 episode 1- The Sheep Hear His Voice....
There is no better place to dwell, to take up residence and abide,than in Him. When the things of this world feel like they are shaking me I check my heart and ask myself “Where are you abiding?” When I look back at the faithfulness of my God not just to me but to the generations that have come before me my heart is lifted up. He is worthy, beloved! He is worthy of our praise, our trust and of our teaching the next generation. “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High, will hide in the shadow of the Almighty.” Ps 91:1 He is a safe place to hide our heart. ❤️ #asafeplace #renewyourmind #hopeforthefuture#athousandgenerations#seekandsavorpodcast...
Sometimes God does His deep work when we feel hidden away. Maybe you feel hidden because of grief and loss. Maybe you feel hidden because of a change in your circumstances. Maybe you can’t even articulate why you feel hidden. Though that place may feel hard beloved, and your desire is for rescue…. He is there. He has good for you right there in that desert place. Lift up your eyes, turn them back to Him and find the hope that is waiting for you “in His presence.” More to come on this topic. Make sure you are subscribed to my free newsletter so you don’t miss the upcoming podcasts and newsletters. ❤️ Comment: HOPE if you wish to subscribe....
It’s funny but I wrote these words 8 years ago and they were exactly what I needed to remember today. Because God has my heart in a place of surrender again. #Surrender.
It’s the word God laid on my heart today.
Yesterday it was fight. Fight the good fight. No weapon formed against us will prosper.
Both of these are very good things.
We DO as the Spirit directs us.
We always take up the shield of faith and the helmet of salvation to fight against our enemy. The one who longs to steal every good thing we have in Christ.
But also at the end of the day we KNOW that it is not by might or by our power that we win. It is by His Spirit, and so we surrender to His will.
I don’t know if the Lord is telling you to fight today or surrender but they can both be done from a position of being hidden in Christ dear ones.
And that is a good place to be.
*This Picture is just a sweet reminder because Alan was a man that knew how to fight for my heart and how to also trust Jesus and surrender. ❤️
Drop the word “fight” or “surrender” in the comments if you want prayer for God to help you do that in His Strength.
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...
I did something recently that I didn’t want to do. I prayed, I made space to listen to God’s voice and while it wasn’t clear right away, eventually God removed all the obstacles that stood in my way of saying, “yes” to the thing I didn’t want to do. All the obstacles that is except my flesh.. My flesh still said, “ Please no.”
When I knew God was moving me forward towards obedience I still didn’t know the “why” behind what he was requiring me to do. But, I was willing. My heart was surrendered. My yes, led to more nudges from God to more things I didn’t want to do. But I had already positioned my heart in a place of surrender so the fight wasn’t as hard this time. It was more of a “Really Lord? Alright. Yes, Lord.” And with each yes my eyes became focused… NOT on how my yes was received by others but by the peace that was left in its wake. My heart was quieted and lighter with each step of obedience. Joy started seeping in and God was also bringing revelation. This week on the podcast we asked the question, “What are you hungering for?” Don’t miss it beloved. Because hungering leads to eating and what we put in our hearts changes who we become. ❤️ Does this resonate with you? Drop a ❤️ if so....
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...
“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...
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...
It’s ok to take a step back and focus on what is in front of you. Because the truth of it is we only have today once. Tomorrow it will be yesterday. I don’t want to look back and see that I allowed my feelings about what might be happening in “today” to rob me of the GIFT of it. The sheer miraculous gift of what our eyes are seeing and the sounds all around us is evidence that God is here in our midst.
He is with us in the joyful and the mundane. His right hand holds us steady in the hard and His Spirit counsels and keeps our hearts. Quiet your heart beloved. Listen to His still small voice and proceed with courage. ❤️
* More on listening to His voice coming soon to the Seek and Savor podcast.
More time at home can mean more time to look inside ourselves.
This makes us uncomfortable so we often fill our time with Netflix, music, or anything to distract ourselves.
I love a good movie as much as the next person. But I’m determined to walk out of this season with MORE.
When the Spirit led me to pray this prayer, it took me by surprise! “God please use the dead things to nourish the soil of my heart.” What did that even mean?
We’ve all got them beloved, things that aren’t bearing fruit. But here is the good news! He will use even those things.
Invite Him to turn the soil of your heart. Give it a good weeding. He works all things together for our good
We can trust Him.
Even as we see things slipping through our fingers that we wanted to hold onto.
God is already in the act of bringing life from that.
Can you trust him beloved? What is he asking you to let go? #lifeafterdeath #goodsoil #trustgodsplan...
Many of us have been asleep. We literally are moving from one day to the next, our schedules filled from morning til night with things for us to do.
We try to make our lives here as comfortable as they can be.
But God’s word says, to be on your guard, instead of asleep to stay alert and clearheaded. He calls us to prepare our minds for action and exercise self-control.
The enemy of our souls would have us remain asleep. He would have us believe that the action we might take surely can’t make a difference, so why try.
We have a choice whose voice we heed beloved.
Join us for today’s episode of the Seek and Savor podcast, “It’s time to wake up.”
This is one you might want to save/share. Find it at the link in my bio. You are here… today…. for such a time as this. ❤️ #wakeupnow #liftupyoureyes #seekandsavorpodcast #christianpodcast...
