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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I sat down in my reading chair one morning, exhausted. That can’t be Lord, the day has just begun. I sorted through all the things that could be making me feel this way. The hard work, the unfinished lists, trying to stay on top of all the things and more… Oh yes, I remember, it’s December. We are fast approaching New Year’s Eve, when everything fell apart for our family, followed by February, Alan’s birthday and home going month. So I just sat. I didn’t open my Bible. I just laid my head back, closed my eyes and began talking to Jesus. As I did I felt the tightness around my chest start to unwind. Being weary can be a good thing friend. It means we have come to the end of ourselves. We’ve come to that place where even striving is too much. Maybe that means we’re ready to surrender. We’re ready to trust God ways and timing over our own. We are ready for His power to be made perfect in us. Surrendering is rarely once and done. I may have to release that tightness again and again. You may have to release that “thing” again and again. But it begins with surrender. We lay it down and breathe. We exhale the stuff, the feelings, the overwhelm, and we inhale Jesus. Whose ready to breathe deep and slow down and rest in his presence?
But You, O Lord, are a shield about me, My glory, and the One who lifts my head. Psalm 3:3
To find more ways to “rejoice always,” check out my Amazon E-book. (Let All The Weary World Rejoice.) #liftupyoureyes #rejoicealways #christmasmemories...
I can tell you when I’m NOT the happiest, when my thoughts are all about me.
I am the most happy when I forget about myself. That is when I can let go of disappointments, anxiety, or even pride.
When I “Lift Up my eyes” from myself to others and then to God, hope comes, love pours out and I am filled with joy.
This week God gave me a beautiful picture of what happens when we do that! He gave me a choice to give in to the frustration of the moment and how I was inconvenienced or lift up my eyes and give. ❤️ I’ll be hopping on stories this weekend to share what happened so make sure you are following along. ❤️ We always have a choice.
New Year’s Eve is the anniversary of the day our world began unraveling…. But God was with us, carrying us, making a way. As I read and remember some words God gave me when we were in the thick of it, these are some that stood out as worth sharing. They are my gift to you as we enter a New Year. May they lead you deeper into Him.
“It was not enough anymore for me to just read His word in the morning. For, by the afternoon the pain of watching the changes in my Alan from the brain cancer would overwhelm my heart if I did not gird it up with MORE of God’s truth! I see now how beautiful the scripture is that says,
“You shall teach them to your sons, talking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up.” ( Deut. 6:8) The Lord knew we would need daily, reminders of His Word. His Truth becomes the solid ground that we can build our lives on! The word is Living and Active and more powerful than a double edged sword. It is the ONE thing that is strong enough to carry us through hard times, to strengthen us when we are weary and renew our hearts when they fail us. Carve out time in your day to sit down with this GIFT. Ask the Spirit of the living God to open your heart and mind as you read it so that you might be transformed by the renewing of your mind ( Rom. 12:2). It is the Greatest Treasure and too often it just sits on a shelf. Let it be your daily bread for the new year.❤️#new #lifeafterloss #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...
If you have felt overwhelmed or disappointed in ANY way beloved, you may be experiencing this....
The enemy tries to tell us we are alone and forgotten. Just like he came to Eve in the garden, whispering lies to her soul. Trying to lead her astray from the one great lover of her soul. He does this with us. He uses whatever he can to divide our hearts. We start to pull back and keep a piece of ourselves for ourselves, as if our God is not to be trusted with ALL of us. Stop. This is not a new tactic. He tried this with Jesus and what did He do? He spoke truth to the enemy and over Himself. “It is written.”
It is written dear one that - God is with us. - He has good plans for us. - Darkness has not overcome. - He is our good shepherd. - He restores our souls.
What truth from God’s word do you need to speak over your heart today? #seekandsavorpodcast #speaktruth #renewyourmind #guardyourheart #rejoicealways...
I woke up one morning, with this one burning thought and prayer.
It is when we are fixing our gaze so intently on Jesus that we can lead others to do the same.
You know those times you catch someone staring at something and you look to see what it is that has caught their attention? Yeah, that dear ones.
I will forever keep mining the truth from that statement, “ Lift Up Your Eyes,” because there are riches there we have yet to touch.
Like Psalm 123:1-2 because who doesn’t need His mercy in their life?
“I lift up my eyes to you, to you who sit enthroned in heaven. As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a female slave look to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, till he shows us his mercy.”
Maybe you are desperate for His mercy to show up today. Or maybe it’s been a week and you need his tender mercies just to get through each moment of the day.
Take heart beloved and fix your gaze.
He will hold you fast.
Who needs to be reminded of His mercy? Feel free to save for later or share to stories to encourage a friend. #liftupyoureyes #seekandsavorpodcast #hopeforthefuture #hewillholdmefast...
I like to think of joy as that feeling of bubbling mirth that just wells up inside us and spills out of our mouths in trickles of laughter. And it can be. I have memories of time spent with family sharing stories, reliving the past punctuated by outbursts of laughter. What has joy looked like for you?Do you have memories reuniting with loved ones you haven’t seen in a while? Your heart feels like it may burst when you open the door and they walk into your arms. You are overwhelmed with joy. This may surprise you but I have also found joy when life has so wearied me with its storms I find myself stumbling to the Word. Out of sheer desperation I gather it up close. Glancing down at the page the words seem to leap off of it and down into the soil of my heart and I feel seen. The God of the universe sees us friends. He knows us. Those words written so long ago were written for us, for such a time as this. Our hearts begin to fill with deep joy, as we remember He is with us. It’s as if our very soul splits wide open with a grin and His Joy becomes our strength! What brings you joy friend? #joyoflife #givethankstothelord #rejoicealways #wordofgodspeak...
Don’t miss this episode of the podcast, “Earnestly I seek you.” Let God meet you and bring you from a place of dry to refreshed. Find the Seek and Savor link in my bio. Share with your friends. ❤️#liftupyoureyes #seekandsavorpodcast #rejoicealways #seekyefirst #hopefortheweary...
What encourages you to keep going friend? Is it setting goals? Is it words of affirmation? I was thinking about how hard it can be to persevere when life feels hard. When all we want to do is REST… And I had a memory come back to me. I was in high school in the middle of a track meet. I wasn’t fast. A sprinter I was not. No, the mile was my race. I never considered myself a runner, just someone who could endure. But as I remembered circling the track I was taken back to the stretch of turf that ran in front of the home crowd. You know, the one right before the finish line. And, I remembered instead of slowing down because I was tired and it was near the end of the race, I actually ran faster. I had a bit of a kick at the end. You see, it didn’t matter that my body was tired. I had witnesses. All my friends and family were cheering me on! I wanted to give it everything I had to finish well. Guess what! We have that still.
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.(Hebrews 12:1)
So friends, let us lay aside or throw off every weight be it sin, or sorrow or heaviness or fear and let us RUN. * Save for the days you feel weary.❤️ #seekandsavorpodcast #rejoice #finishtherace #hopeforthefuture...
I read this verse and it was one of those that made me STOP and read it again, and again.
We have a God that is working deeds of deliverance in our midst beloved. Maybe, you can’t see it yet. Maybe, the fruit of that deliverance is still a seed under the dark soil. But you can rest assured that He is at work! He is always working! And something about that phrase, “ My King from of old,” brings me great comfort.
It reminds me that in a world that is always looking for the next best thing my God is timeless. His faithfulness knows no end.
Resolve. This word has been stirring around in my brain for awhile now. It excites something deep in my soul. It speaks to me of determination, and is born of something already firmly decided. I remember when Jake came home from Marine bootcamp and told the stories of adversity, that you don’t share with just everyone. As I listened to him remember the way he defended his faith or withstood difficulty, the thought came to me. He is resolved. He has already decided that He will stand firm because he has built his life on the firmest foundation. I used to wonder. Have I done it right? Have I taught all the things? Have I disciplined when I should and shown mercy when I should? Have I given my children all the instructions? I’m sure there is something they will encounter that I have not prepared them for. There is much, beloved that they will encounter that we may not have even known to cover. But He knows. The lover of their souls knows what storms will cross their paths.
We must teach them that when their hearts are dashed upon the rocks by the waves of life, there is one safe haven, one place of refuge and His name is Jesus.
We must teach them that even we do not have all the answers BUT His Word is the only lamp they will need for this journey.
What do you need to release into his care as you enter a new year?
