The gospel is the good news that you are worse than you ever imagined yet God is more loving, gracious, and powerful than you could ever hope.
Tag Archives: hope
God Loves You
You don’t have to be good at being good for God to love you. It’s not about trying, but trusting. It’s not about your success in doing, but your faith in what has been done.
The Music Business
It’s the music business. You pour your heart out to people and then wait for their response. Sometimes they eat you alive…so if you can’t take the heat, then get out of the kitchen. But sometimes, they love every bit of you. And during those times, all of the hard work and heartbreak is worth it because there’s no better feeling than to be loved and appreciated for the realest, purest form of you- your heart.
Curing vs. Healing
We thought we could cure everything, but it turns out that we can cure only a small amount of human suffering. The rest of it needs to be healed and that’s different.
– Rachel Naomi Remen
10 Lies We Need to Stop Telling Ourselves
Jesus Chose You First
It’s amazing to think about it. Jesus chose you first. He chooses you and then, you choose Him. God puts the Holy Spirit inside of you and then, in a moment of miraculous grace, He gives you the faith to call out to Him. And thus, begins your life long (and life altering) relationship with God.
Let’s not forget how it is in this way that we came to be in relationship with God. When you acknowledge this, you begin to grasp the depth of His love for you. You are chosen by God! Unconditionally loved by Him. You are special. Dwell in that. Let God be your valentine.
Is Freedom Really What We Want? (A Personal Reflection)
When my boyfriend died, the life I knew died along with him. Shortly thereafter, I packed up all of my belongings, everything I had acquired in California, and drove across the country to be back home again in North Carolina. Because, of course, when the world fails you, the only place you have to go is home.
Within one year, I had a monumental career change, my parents divorced, my childhood home was sold, and I was living on my own in an apartment for the first time in my life. All this change in only one year! Even writing about it now, it seems surreal. How has my life become so crazy, so chaotic? How have I been able to push through, to survive?
Well, God is good. And that is where I am now. Completely lost, approaching the second birthday that I will spend without my boyfriend and the only thing that I know for certain is God’s goodness and grace. Other than that, I feel adrift. Floating in a world that I have no control over, a world that is constantly shifting, one without ground.
I guess on the bright side, I have nothing holding me back. I have no attachments that hold me down, hold me steady. I’m free to fly like a bird, as I have always yearned to do.
This also means I have little security, no sense of stability, a feeling of total loss of control. Does a baby bird feel this way before it leaves its nest for the first time? I wonder. And how many nests will I have to leave? Is flying free really all it’s cracked up to be?
Being Who You Are Is Not a Disorder
Being who you are is not a disorder.
Being unloved is not a psychiatric disorder.
I can’t find being born in the diagnostic manual.
I can’t find being born to a mother incapable of touching you.
I can’t find being born on the shock treatment table.
Being offered affection unqualified safety and respect when and only when you score pot for your father is not a diagnosis.
Putting your head down and crying your way through elementary school is not a mental illness…
– Franz Wright
A Poem on Loss
A poem on loss. For all those who have lost someone you love and wondered if you will ever get to see them again.
“I Simply Can’t Be Convinced”
I can’t be convinced I won’t see him again.
I simply can’t be convinced.
I feel him all around me
His very breath awakens my sixth sense.
I wonder when you’re so entwined
And someone you love passes through
If a part of them stays left behind
Running like veins inside of you
Not only is he all around me,
Stitching my wounds with his personal thread
He’s watching me as I sleep soundly,
Filling my dreams and emptying my head.
I know that I can’t see him
I understand that he’s no longer here
But by God did I believe him
When he said, “I’ll see you soon, my dear.”
The last words that we spoke in person
But our souls whisper every day
I just close my eyes
See his face
Hear his voice
And
Pray.
Conversations with God – Zephaniah 3:17
February 18, 2013
It is written, “The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exalt over you with loud singing.” Zephaniah 3:17. My sweet precious one, I am so glad you have once again sat before me, quiet in my presence. I’ve been yearning to speak with you. First, I am proud of you. I am SO proud of you and I LOVE you! I AM IN LOVE WITH YOU! Don’t let your heart grow faint. I am with you. I have always been and will always be. Do I not know the desires of your heart? Have I not seen your hard work and years of toil? Will I not reward you for this more than you can even imagine? Remember my lamb, your reward is heaven. That is the greatest reward of all and it is already yours. Fix your eyes on heaven and your heavenly reward. It is already here, already yours. While on Earth, continue to work for me, as you are called to do. Do not get sidetracked with what if’s and questions of your earthly rewards or gains. I handle all what ifs and earthly rewards are a mere mille-fraction of what awaits you in heaven. So, my precious one, be at rest. Relax in knowing that I care for you. Cast your burden onto me. You don’t know nor understand how you are already working for me in your daily life. But I do. Love yourself for what you’ve done so far. You are strong and I am proud. Stay where you are, you are just where I want you to be. Here, with me. Seeking me. Looking for me. Speaking with me. I long for this even more so than you do. Take things one day at a time. Aware of me and my presence and my working within you. I am always working within you. The things I have planned for you are great. Good things, which will make your heart glad. I am preparing you how to receive these things just as everything in you life up to this point has prepared you. You are well equipped, my soldier. You are ready. Don’t forget me as you discuss your future. Remember, it is my future, after all. I don’t make mistakes. Trust in me, little one. I placed dreams deep into your heart for a reason. And I didn’t give you these dreams without any intent on fulfilling them. Keep your faith, my child. Stay close to me. Rest in my presence. We have some exciting dream fulfilling adventures just around the corner and you’re more ready and able than you have ever been before. I love you. Let’s do this more often.