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 live in a fallen world, people sin, and hurt abounds. But God…. It is the place I am learning to live in. Yes, these things are true. My leg still hurts from an injury back in February and my car broke down on the way to church. But also, a friend painted my kitchen cabinets cream and my son repaired my deck. I find myself savoring more of God’s word, I read books to my grands in silly voices and I get to have conversations about Jesus everyday.
I am standing in faith waiting on God for many things… You are too right? But God. He Still lives and His promises are true. He is not man that He should lie. ❤️ Dear friends, if your heart tends to linger over what has not yet been made whole maybe like me you need the reminder of who God is and what he has done so that gratitude can revive your heart. Don’t miss today’s new episode of the Seek and Savor podcast on this topic. (Link in bio.) Many things may be true, the hard and the beautiful but gratitude can revive your heart. ❤️ #givethanksforlife #thehardandbeautifuljourney #graceupongrace #alwaysrejoice...
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.
I do that sometimes and on this particular night it was medicine for my soul. After I walked this historic horse 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. I felt the tension leave my body.
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 exhale all the things and remind your soul this is true? Tell me all the ways! 👇🏼 #exhalefear #inhale #joyforthejourney #rejoice #seekandsavorpodcast...
*Life is always changing. Even this snow covered path I walked a couple of years ago is covered in ice today. Trees are uprooted and branches scattered all around.
Lift up your eyes friends and look back to see where you’ve come from and how far God has brought you.
Then ask him what’s next. Not in a 10 year plan kind of way. But just a “today” kind of way.
And maybe it starts with “Thank you!”
Thank you for bringing me this far.
I would love to pray for your next steps. Drop a comment if you want that.❤️
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...
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...
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...
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 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...
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! 💕...
Many of us will describe peace as , something we experience in a particular place or when something hard is absent. And while these might bring about a feeling of peace there are also things we do to gain a sense of peace that are really just distractions. Remove those thinigs and our peace is gone once again. The newest episode of the Seek and Savor podcast will help you find true peace to anchor your heart in. ❤️ Link in my bio.i...
“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...
