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.
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....
For anyone struggling to trust God. Trust His timing, His provision, His promises…. The creator knows exactly what His creation needs and when they need it.
We can surrender, because Jehovah is Here. He is with us now. Right when we need Him. He is Immanuel, our ever-present God. He will take what feels like might break us and instead make us strong and beautiful.
“But as for me, I trust in You, O Lord, I say,”You are my God. My times are in your hands.” Ps.31:14 #rejoicealways seekandsavorpodcast #hopeingod...
God will always shine his light in the dark places for our benefit. He wants to tend our hearts. Are we looking for His light?
Removing things, that are dead or just taking up space will actually make room for LIFE friends!
And something wonderful happens each time we surrender to God. Whether that be the first time we surrender our lives to him or when we surrender on a normal day in an ordinary moment.
Hop over to the Seek and Savor podcast as we learn to disciple our hearts. ❤️ Link to listen in my bio. #seekandsavorpodcast #newheart #lightoftheworld...
I’ve been asking the Lord for more. I’m realizing I need Him more than I’ve reached for Him in the past. What I mean by that is, of course we need Him to save us, friends. But, He didn’t just sacrifice His life for ours and stop there.
Psalm 139 says He is intimately acquainted with all our ways.
When my husband went to heaven and the fog of constant grief started lifting, I began to see how very much alone I was..
Who would help me make all the decisions I was used to making with a partner? The ones, we take for granted like; What’s for dinner? What color should we paint the house? Is it time to replace the water heater or should we wait? And the bigger ones like how should I handle a conflict with my child or is it time to sell the house? It only took a few weeks before I had decision fatigue.😰 Then one day out of frustration, I said, Lord, since he’s not here, I need you to do all these things….And you know what? He did. As I waited on Him, he answered. I began asking him to be everything: my counselor, my friend, my physician, everything. So, it was no surprise to me after one particularly stressful week, I came across this verse in my reading.
“The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statues of the Lord are trustworthy making wise the simple.” Ps. 19: 7(NKJV)
There He was again, giving me the perfect prescription for a dry, weary soul crying out for direction.
What do you need the Lord to do for you beloved?
Ask and he will answer. Seek and you will find.
Tag a friend who needs to remember that He wants to be our Everything! #liftupyoureyes #seekandsavorpodcast #heiswithus...
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! 💕...
I love the reminder from Exodus 13 where God goes before His people as they flee Egypt.
His presence went before them in a cloud by day and fire by night.
It made me think of how often we stumble forward in hope that God is leading us out of captivity, out of bondage, setting us free and leading us toward His promises and good plans for us.
But sometimes all we see is the clouds around us or even fires of adversity.
What a comfort to rest assured that what we see with our physical eyes is not all that is there.
No, His presence goes with us. He leads us forward to better days. And no day is good without His presence.
At the beginning of a new week, beloved may we fix our gaze, not on what is seen but on what is unseen. Let us hold fast to our Savior and rest in His presence.
He never leaves us and always goes before us is such good news! Who else needs to hear this?
I am loving the Bible Recap with Tara Leigh Cobble as part of my daily reading this year. She dropped this truth bomb the other day and I had to push rewind and write it down. Truth from God’s word is worth savoring friends. The reality that God is Always working on our behalf and no man can thwart His purposes is an anchor for your heart on the days your circumstances feel like mountains no man can climb. We can trust in our faithful God beloved.
“In your strength I can crush an army; with my God I can scale any wall.” Psalm 18:29
Redirecting my eyes towards the truth of God’s word always redirects my heart. ❤️#seekandsavorpodcast #hopeinhim #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...
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...
Did you see the freshly bloomed blossoms on the same branch as a dead leaf barely hanging on? (Last image) We serve a God who brings life from death. We can trust His timing and His ways. I believe Autumn invites us to surrender all the things to Him. And in the surrender we find Comfort and Joy, the very thing so many are looking for in the (Christmas) season to come. Look what happens when we Lift Up Our Eyes beloved. #liftupyoureyes #seekandsavorpodcast #hopefortheweary #rejoicealways...