Walking with a purpose

I'm the girl that starts off with high hopes for the new year. I make plans to lose weight, Tackle being more organized, and being closer to God. Somehow, I still manage to fall short. I let anxiety and fear take over and somehow rule and reign over my life. I fight the silent nudges to step out on faith and allow God to rule and reign over my life.  Life gets difficult. You will be tried. Fear will have its moments where it wants to hold you hostage. I find myself wanting to open my eyes, and the hurdle not be there in front of me. Begging to live life out of the valley.  Sometimes, I wish that God would make my mountain easier to climb. I wish that He would give me the strength I see in others. Before I can let that thought fully live in my mind, I remind myself that God won't just give me the power that someone else possesses because I may not be able to handle the weakness that comes along with it. This year the Lord placed me in moments where I had to step o...

Dear Young Girl,  I know you want to be "good enough" but honestly what does that look like at 18? Must perfection be your only concern? You see the enemy knows the most powerful thing a person can possess is freedom, and he is seeking to keep that from you. He will do everything in his power to keep you in bondage, focused on the wrong things, and stagnant in your faith. The enemy doesn't want you to be free which is why you must become free. You are beautiful. Worthy. You are seen. Take those headphones out and pick up your head. It's going to be impossible for people to interact with you if you are constantly standing by in the shadows. People need to know the story behind those beautiful brown eyes. The life behind that incredible smile you have.  Step out. Dare to live and love again. I know your heart is hurting, and I know you are insecure in so many ways but believe that greater is coming your way. Freedom from insecurity is possible you just hav...

Dear Young Girl, It's me future you. I know you are wondering what's on the other end of your hurt. You are 13, going through the motions of life, and trying to figure out how your image fits into what's going on around you. You love Jesus, golfing (sometimes), and reading books. You are quiet, rarely talk to people unless they approach you. However, some crazy kid (that you will forgive later) is going to say something so hurtful that's going to question your ability to be great. It will rock your world. You are going to scrub your skin to be lighter. You are going to find other outlets that aren't the right outlets to release pain. I spent the weekend traveling back to the place where our transformation first took place. Seven years ago I dared to be different and I stepped on to the campus of a school in Montgomery Alabama. Afraid of all the things that could have gone wrong, God showed favor on my life from beginning to end. This weekend I sat amongst our f...

"All of His goodness, and all of His promises....He's holding my world in his hands" It just hit me. I am 26. I am usually the person that makes a huge deal about her birthday. Celebrating for a whole entire month, dropping hints to my family and friends about what I want, and asking people to clear their schedules for my big day. In my opinion I feel like people should be off work and rest in honor of September 19th. Laughable I know. Never the less this month has brought so many reflections about what year 25 meant to me. How God provided, how I struggled, and how I grew up.  God provides in the most unexpected ways.  Reading my journal from this past year  I was reminded of how important the journey is. Why God requires us to wait on certain things, and why you should not just take things in your own hands.  One major thing I had to let go of to cling to the promises God has for me was fear. I turned away from those things that held me down a...

No one really wants love to be an emotional response to life's temporary satisfactions. If we were all to be honest with ourselves we are searching for things that will last, desiring deep in our soul to be pursued by love. It's love that is unconditional. Love that wipes away our tears and cures those feelings of loneliness that we never truly want to be open about. Love that smiles back at you and me when we don't deserve grace. We want people to love us. We want people to shatter the emotional baggage that we carry from our past. We fall in love with the idea of love. In the silence we long for love and companionship. We say the words "I Love You" so casually not truly thinking a second thought about it. Love is someone waiting at the well for you. Love is someone seeing you drawing water in your jar. Love is someone seeing you and knowing you. Love is someone telling you of the Good News of what is to come. Love is someone watching you run away to tell ...

Jesus>Fear Amazed and afraid. That basically sums up this current season that I am in. Fear and anxiety have completely taken an unusual root in my life. I was afraid that I wouldn't be any good at this. I hate feeling like I’m losing control of what happens from here. I have a feeling that if I could get past this fear I could be incredible. I would be everything He created me to be. Even though I am in awe of where I am I still find myself fearful of entering into something new. Can I just say this.... Fear irritates me.Like not a little but a lot. It completely can rob you of everything if you allow it to. I allowed fear to dictate where I was going and what I desire to be. I heard it whisper "you don't deserve this" and "why did you decide to do that" so much that it crippled me. I could not breathe. I felt ugly. I had no idea what I was doing or where I was going next. I became so afraid of failing again I found myself never wanting to...

Standing in the mirror not seeing all that you say you see. Insecure is now my new reality. It's the inner me that's trying to fight all the negative inside of me. I just wanted to see myself the way that He sees me. Fear soon began to creep in, and I became afraid to show the real pieces of myself.  The secret to muting the fear-filled silence when walking in His purpose for your life, is trusting that God is stronger than your doubt. He may not have created you to be like the rest of the world, but it’s only because He expected that you would be strong enough to find peace, not fear, in the silence. I’m tired of living up to the expectations of what people say. I want to remove the roadblocks that are keeping me from finding the beauty in my purpose. I’m tired of talking myself out of better. I woke up one day and decided that I was capable of accepting the beauty and image I was made in.  I had a friend recently tell me, "Cre you know you are so beauti...