Armor Up!

If I could say one thing to you today, it would be that...

 God's love is unconditional. 

And the worst things that happen in our lives are not a punishment from God. 

Ok...so that is actually two things, but who is really counting?

I am learning this over and over and over again...and Satan keeps trying to convince me of the opposite.

On the days when I struggle the most to understand this place of life I am in, I have to remind myself that my struggles are not from God.  He doesn't want me to be miserable and lonely.  He doesn't want me to feel completely purposeless.  He doesn't want me to go over every aspect of my life with a fine- toothed comb wondering what I did to cause the hardships and the heartaches.  But there is someone who does. 

There is someone who wants me to doubt God's plan for my life.  There is someone who wants me to hide away in a corner, thinking that I have nothing good to offer anyone.  And more than anything, he wants me to believe that God's love for me is contingent upon what I do in this life.  The Father of Lies is out to steal, kill, and destroy. 

Satan is real.  He is always there, trying to whisper lies into our ears.  He knows our weaknesses and he uses it to his advantage. 

Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.... Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,  and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.  Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

Ephesians 6:11 &14-18

These verses show us why it is crucial to seek after God everyday.  To talk to Him.  To recite His promises over and over again.  To know what His word says, and to combat Satan's lies with it.  We are fighting a spiritual battle every day!  He will give us everything we need to fight the evil one.  We serve a God who trumps Satan every. single. time. 

Don't give Satan an invitation to your life...

Fight him with God's armor, and he won't stand a chance!

Love and Blessings,

A Single Moment...

There are those moments in life. You know...those moments you can look back on and remember every feeling and emotion that ran through you. You can remember the way your heart beat so fast that you had no choice but to move. To respond. Those moments where everything around you was just a blur.

We have all had them. I can look back and remember specific times where the Lord moved in my life. Just like that, everything changed. Those single moments in time made all of the difference in the world. It only takes a moment.

There was the moment I gave my heart to Jesus. I was only a few days shy of seven years old. But I remember it like it was yesterday.

 

There was the moment I was prayed over by a youth minister who knew as much as I did that I was called to do something bigger than myself. A moment where I did not know the logistics of what God had for me but that my life was meant for ministering to others.  That my sensitive heart was made for loving.

 

There was the moment I stood in front of friends and family, vowing before God to love my husband, to follow him, and to stick by his side through the hardest and best of times.  In that moment, I understood God's intense love for me.

 

There was that moment that confusion set in, and as I cried, God simply held me.  I felt His presence, and without me uttering a single word, He knew my heart.

 

And then there was the moment where I ran to His alter, and I wept.  Uncontrollably.  And although the mascara ran down my face, it was beautiful.  The Spirit of God washed over me like I have never in my life experienced, and I knew in that moment that things were changing.  That the chains were breaking, and that it was time to lay it down.  To lay down the hurt, to lay down the expectations, to lay down the guilt, and to let myself fall into His arms. 

 

 

It's those moments that shape us, and change us.  And as we reflect on them, we are reminded of how powerful and majestic and beautiful the love of our Savior is. When you are feeling like God isn't there or things are just too hard, just remember that it only takes a single moment for God to step in, and completely rock your world.

 

 

Love and Blessings,

God Loves You...

Maybe today you just need to be reminded that God loves you.

He loves every inch of you (even the extra inches you wish you could get rid of)...

 

He loves you in the quietest of moments...and in the chaotic ones.

 

He loves your heart.  He created it.

 

He loves your weakness, because His power is made perfect in it.

 

He loves you even in your failures, your mistakes, and your messes.

 

He loves when you pour out your heart to Him.

 

He loves to listen to you.

 

He loves your efforts to love Him more. 

 

He loves when you cling to Him in the storms.

 

He loves being the one who leads you through the tough times.

 

He loves you even when you don't love yourself very much.

 

He loves you when you show others who He is.

He loves you so much that He sent His son to die for you--He wants to spend eternity with you!

And what is truly amazing is that no matter what you or I do, He loves us.  If we never uttered another prayer, sang another praise song, or read another word of Scripture...God would still love us.

"And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that suprasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."

Ephesians 3:17b-19

 

 

Love and Blessings!

A New Season...

Chaos.  The only word to describe the last month of my life.  Normally, chaos in my life would wake me up in the middle of the night or would not let my mind rest--but not this time.  This kind of chaos has been the best.

David and I have entered into a new season of life.  An exciting, well-worth-the-wait kind of season.  We had been living in this place of unwanted stress, unanswered questions, "rainy days"  and tears (well, at least for me, I am the crybaby!).  I have prayed and prayed and prayed some more.  And there were days that I had to ask God for grace over and over because of my relentless sense of doubt.

But here we are.  Flooded with blessings.  Overwhelmed by God's goodness.  And so incredibly thankful that He doesn't give up on us.

It really still amazes me everytime I see a prayer answered.  To pour your heart out to your Heavenely Father--to share you deepest desires and concerns--and to see Him act in a way that is greater than you could have asked for. 

So, in the last two weeks, we closed on our first home (yay!!!!), had a huge prayer answered and a heavy burden lifted, and my beautiful sister got engaged to an amazing guy.  Our hearts are being filled with hope, and most of all gratefulness.

We are all moved in to our new home, and I may or may not be in love with it.  When we first moved in, the whole house was the color of lemon sorbet, maybe the worst color ever, so we painted.  And painted some more.  And after a long few days, paint splattered clothes, and aching muscles, the lemon walls had been replaced by a beautiful shade of taupe. 

We had the help of our family--thank God--and it made the moving process go a lot quicker, and was a lot more enjoyable as well.  I am slowly putting things into place and making this house our home.  I already feel such a sense of peace being in our home.  I will try to post some pictures soon :) 

God is doing a new thing in this heart of mine...and I am reminded over and over again that even in the hardest of times, God already has this path of mine planned out--and He is walking with me hand-in-hand.

"He has made everything beautiful in its time.  He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end."

Ecclesiastes 3:11

 

 

Love and Blessings!

Jenn



 



Gratefulness...

Sometimes my heart is so full of thankfulness that I feel like it could just explode at any second.  The last few weeks have been chocked full of blessings...

26.  We finally own a home--after a long process--it is finally ours! (And I am in love with it!)

27.  Family who helps paint your whole house, move boxes and furniture, and organize!

28.  Huge answered prayers that make you tear up with joy.

29.  Feeling peace for the first time in a long time.

30.  Learning discipline.

31.  God-given desires and dreams.

32.  Seeing pride in your husband's eyes as he unpacks his "one" room in the house :)

33.  Marriage--the ups and the downs.

34.  Hearing my sister's happiness as she calls to tell me she is engaged!

35.  Disconnecting just a bit to focus on my God and my heart.

More to come...

Love hard and be blessed!
Jenn