h e a l i n g . . .

We are all broken.

Last year, my Nannie fell while she was out in the horse pastures. She landed on her right hand and broke two major bones in her wrist. One titanium plate and eight screws later, she spent many weeks recovering from her surgery, and going to physical therapy. After the first pain meds wore off, the healing process was extremely excruciating. And it was a long drawn-out recovery. Her broken bones did not heal overnight. It took months of carful dedication and focus to regain the movements of her right hand. She is right handed and during that healing time, my Nannie had to learn to use her left hand instead. 

We are all broken people. Both physically and mentally. We’re bruised and tattered, torn and shattered. We are sinners. The advisory laughs when we fall for the sin he has laid as traps for us. But God, He cares for us so much that He has made a way for us to conquer. God has already overcome satan. And with His help, so can we.

I think that sometimes we forget how Jesus is such a powerful Healer. Sometimes we assume that He only performed miracles and healings when He was physically on earth. 

God still heals and performed miracles today. There is power through prayer!

When you feel broken and defeated, let God heal you. It might not be instant healing like we read in the Bible stories. It might take weeks spent recovering. Maybe even continual support from family or friends. Healing our brokenness is going to be painful. It could take months or years to heal completely. It WILL take carful dedication and refocusing on God. 

God uses our healing time to teach us. Just like Nannie had to learn to do things with her non dominant hand, we will have to learn some new things too. Through that learning process, we will become stronger and more capable for future times when we need healing. Sometimes God uses past pain to shape us into the people we are today. We don’t know what is up ahead, maybe God is teaching you something now so that you can be better equipped for the future. 

Learning to be left handed through her recovery time was not easy for my grandma (Nannie). Simple tasks such as opening lids on jars or fixing her hair were 10x harder to do and took 10x longer to complete. I will guarantee that healing will be difficult and painful. But when we start to heal from either physical pain or from a storm in our life, it’s so important to know that God is right along side us doing the healing. 

And more than just wanting to be healed, we should be looking to the Healer. 

~Sure, these obstacles that we face feel like high Mountains, but our faith in God can move mountains. (Matthew 17:20)

~And our trials are as gigantic giants blocking our joy, still God defeats the giants. (1 Samual 17)

~Ok, so the storm is boisterous, but our God speaks and the waves obey His voice. God calms our storms. (Psalm 107:29)

God is greater than anything you might be facing today. Trust in Him, and let Him have control. Open your heart to healing. Ask God to heal you. Instead of turning to worldly things, turn to God for His love and support. Let the grace and forgiveness of God wash over you, and let it be the screws that hold your brokenness together! 

Psalm 107:29

“He calms the storm, So that it’s waves are still.”

How is God healing you? Is there anything you would like me to pray for you about? Have you ever heard the song I included in today's post? What has God been teaching you lately?

Icy Branches

One month ago, we were driving into town the morning after a night of sleeting rain. Everything was coated in ice. Like, everything was completely incased in ice! Grass, trees, cars, houses, anything that was out in the elements all night was icy and slick.

As we were driving, we saw at least five or six trees that had actually lost their branches because they had been so weighed down with ice wrapped around them. When I looked outside the window of our car, I noticed that every tree had branches that were drooped and hanging lower than normal. The trees that still clung to their fall leaves had been even more weighted, and those trees were the ones to loose their branches.

Do you think that we are similar to these icy branches? When we are faced with trials and tribulations in our lives, we feel a heavy weight bearing down on us. The trials that we face are just like the ice on the branches, it is cold and restricting, making us feel heavy and tired.

God sometimes asks us to let go of certain things that we wish to cling to because He knows what is going to be ahead. The pretty fall leaves had to die and fall from the branches. They had to let go of their leaves just as we, as humans, have to let go of our selfish wants, letting God look out for our needs. Now, let me clarify here, I’m not saying that we should let go of our dreams and desires, I’m saying that not all of our dreams fall in line with God’s plans. Sometimes we have to let go of our plans in order to see more clearly His plans.

If the autumn leaves had not fallen yet, the winter ice would have more to cling too, creating so much weight that the whole branch would have to give under the pressure and break off. When we don’t listen to God’s design for us, and we cling tightly to our “leaves” then when those trials come, and we have so much weight on our shoulders, we will break under the pressure.

God has designed the leaves on trees to fall off and die to prepare itself for winter. Even though the crunchy leaves seem hopeless, they are not. When they have fallen, they decompose and provide nutrients to the very tree they had fallen from. Leaves have a important purpose. Just like we ARE mean’t to go through certain seasons in life as the leaves do. The leaves bloom, bud, grow, change, and eventually fall away. But each of those seasons weren't lived for no reason. The “leaves” in our life that had once fallen away, those past experiences will help us in the future seasons in our lives. 

So, you ask, what about the trees that have kept their leaves attached and the ice has made their branches break, where is the metaphor in that? Is there hope for those trees? 

God is a God of second chances. Even third, forth, fifth chances! His everlasting love has made it possible for us to be forgiven. There is hope. We all have broken “branches” but guess what, as long as we believe that God is the Healer of those branches, then we will be healed. That very same part of us where the branch had fallen will grow a new branch. One that will be nourished and grow stronger than the branch before it. 

Notice that the ice weighed down ALL of the trees, not just the ones that still clung to their leaves. Trials come to ALL people, whether they are ready or not, but it is up to us how we will choose to deal with those trials. Will we bend under their weight? Most likely. Will we break? Well, that is up to us.

Remember that all of the trees bent under the pressure, but only those who kept their leaves broke. It was the trees who had prepared themselves by letting go of their leaves that were able to pop back up when the Son melted it.

Next time you are weighed down by a trial in your life, let the love of God melt away the ice that is keeping you from flourishing. Know that “This too shall pass.” And have faith in the future God has planned for you! 

Have you ever felt the weight of a icy branch in you life? Do you see the comparisons from these branches to our lives? How can we learn from our past mistakes? Do you believe that God has the power to forgive us when we break under pressure? Lets talk in the comments below! 
❄❄❄
Also, quick announcement, today marks my third year baptism anniversary! Three years ago, I remember sitting on the tractor with my mom and thinking about getting baptized. I asked myself, "What is holding me back?" and then I realized that nothing was. On December 12, 2015 I made the very important decision to get baptized. That day was and always will be so special to me.

God's Way, Not Ours

A few months ago, late at night, my Dad decided to put together a bike he had bought for me that day. I had needed a new bike because my old one was to small and we were getting ready for our triathlon. Go HERE to read about the triathlon! 

Anyways, I like putting things together, so I decided to help him. The bike came in a big box and was already halfway assembled. Unwrapping the protective bubblewrap, styrofoam, cardboard, plastic and zip ties that covered the actual bike took quite awhile.

Once it was all laid out, the handle bars, seat, and the front tire were the parts that needed to be attached to the main frame. This bike came with instructions on how to put it together and a few tools. Laying on the floor, the bike didn't look much like a bike to me. It’s pieces were scattered about in various piles and looked more like a mess than a bike. 

The directions went something like this. It showed a diagram of the bike. Named bike parts using the alphabet, Part A and Part B etc. Then over the next few pages, it gave us the steps and order to accomplish these said steps. It even had pictures. Going to be easy, right?

This was our first time to assemble a bike, in the past, we had always just bought the bike already put together. Since this was a first time thing, we had to keep close attention to the instructions. It told us to attach the handle bars first, so we took the bolt cap off and slid the handle bars down into the frame. There was a line on the handle bars that said how far to push it down. That went fairly well, moving us along the list of steps in the instruction booklet. 

Next up was the front tire. This proved to be more difficult. All we had to do was put the frame over the tire and where the spokes met, tighten and secure it to the bike. The problem was our bike frame was too wide to correctly fit over the wheel. I wondered if we had the wrong part, maybe the manufacturers gave us the wrong size tire or frame? 

My Dad tried to force the frame together to make it smaller, but it still was too loose fitting over the tire. We tried different methods of securing it, but nothing was working. Stumped, I went back to the instructions. I carefully reread over the steps and realized that we had overlooked one small, teeny tiny step. Our problem was we needed to put this certain part on the tire BEFORE putting the frame over it to attach it. We were trying to put it on AFTER. Once we realized how to put it together the right way and in the right order, we finally finished the bike!  

Then, after we put on the seat, it was time to test out our bike assembly skills. I looked over the bike and knew all the bolts were tight, I knew everything was locked into place, I knew it was ready to be tested out, but something gave me hesitation. What if we put it together wrong? What if when I sit down, it all crumbles back into a bunch of pieces again? The visual of me lying in a mess of broken bike parts did not sound appealing! Pushing my doubt aside, I climbed up on the bike anyway. I was choosing to trust that it would hold.

 And it did! I now had a brand new bike! 

So you might ask, what is the reason for this post? How can I apply how you put a bike together to my life?

Well... 

Have you ever felt like you live under a protective layer of bubblewrap, styrofoam, cardboard, plastic and zip ties? Ok, not literally. You know what I mean. 

Have you ever felt like you hide your mess of disassembled pieces under that layer? 

Have you ever felt like you just want to lay the real you out all across the floor and see the scattered piles and pieces? Your worries, your fears, your wants, your hopes, your thoughts, all the jumbled mess. Even if it doesn’t look much like how it is supposed to look. 

Where is our life going? 

Do we get a book of instructions to know what happens next?

Have you ever felt like you overlooked or skipped a seemingly small step, but it turns out a 

important one? 

Have you ever tried to put the blame on someone other than yourself?

Have you ever felt like you tried to force it to work?

Have you ever went back to the instructions and realized your mistake?

And then, have you ever felt like you now know, the right way and in the right order?

Have you ever had to push aside doubt? 

Have you ever had to choose to trust?

These are questions that we all have to ponder ourselves. But I will say, we couldn't have put the bike together without taking all the bubblewrap off. Only after we saw everything laid out and unwrapped, could we move forward and build the bike. We can't move on and live the life that we were meant to live without letting go of our outer mask. Our so called protective layer of bubblewrap.

God sees through the bubblewrap. God know’s everything from our smallest worry to our biggest fear. He know’s the dreams that we have and the plans that we make. He sees all of this! He sees the good and the bad and loves us just the same. He loves us because we are His children. We are His chosen people (1 Peter 2:9)  And He has a plan for each of us. A unique and beautiful plan. One that turns our messy and scattered piles into someone that we were meant to become. God can make us whole. 

We need to realize that not all of our plans are His plans. His way is the right way. We might think we have it figured out. We might think we can just skim read through the instructions and be good. But we will miss the important steps to building our characters and the life that we long to live. We need to read and follow our instructions very closely. 

~The Bible is our Instructions and our Directions. It tells us steps and shows us how to live. 

John 14:21 

“He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”

~The Bible is our Guideline. It give us a perfect example. 

John 13:15 

“For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.”

1 Peter 2:21 

“For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us and example, that you should follow His steps:”

~The Bible is our Map. It tells us where we are going if we follow in Jesus footsteps.

John 14:1-3 

“Let not you heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.

In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

And if I go and prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”

~The Bible is our Recipe. It gives us the ingredients for how to live.

John 15:12 

“This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”

Lastly, we have to choose to trust. God’s got us. Don’t let our doubts creep in and tell us otherwise. God has a plan and is in control. Take each day one step at a time. Lets strive to read through our instructions God has given us. Lets open up and let Him come in and create in us a new heart. Lets ask him to give us peace and help us trust in Him. God is not finished with us. Lets choose God’s way, not ours!

Proverbs 3:5,6 

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct they paths.”

➳✩➳✩➳This was really deep, wasn’t it? Have you ever put together a bike before? 

What are your thoughts on God’s Way, Not Ours? Can you relate to anything I said? Have you ever felt like you don't know how to trust? 

Have you ever felt like you don't know how to find the peace that surpasses?
 If you have read through this whole post, 
I want to say thank you and your amazing! This was a very long post and if you have persevered, then I give you a two thumbs up! 
Lets talk in the comments! And, ya'll, this is my 20th post!!! ➳✩➳✩➳

Be a Artist

“A artist is someone who sees a potential masterpiece in their mistakes.” 

One day I came up with this saying/quote, and I believe there is more to it than just one meaning. You don't have to be a literal artist to be a artist at heart. You don’t have to be skilled with a paint brush, pen, or pencil. You don’t have to paint a masterpiece on canvas, or sculpt a detailed sculpture. You don’t have to be born with the gift of being creative and artsy. To me, being a artist starts in the mind, how you think and how you react. It is our perspective and how we look at things. 

Everyone can be a artist.

A artist of paint and ink, when they make mistakes (because we know they do), do they throw their hands in the air and give up? No. They either try again, or change their train of thought and turn their mistake in to something entirely different, and most of the time it turns out way grander than the original plan. 

Is it tempting to throw your hands up in the air and quit when your art isn’t turning out right, or when you can’t erase your mistake?  I know it is, because I’ve been there. I make mistakes all the time in my hand lettering and doodles. Sometimes I will give up, thinking that I am not good enough of a artist, or that it didn’t turn out like the picture I was going off of. Then other times, I will persevere through my mistake and sure, it might not turn out like I had wanted it to, but now I have created something that is one of a kind. Something different and unique. 

A real artist doesn’t give up on their creative gift, they try and try if they can’t get it the first time around. But what if this artist is working on a project and gets frustrated, who do they turn to for help? They ask someone who knows how to do what they are working on. They find a teacher who can show them how. Someone who has already done what they are trying to doing. 

I remember when I was really little, I liked to color, but I had the hardest time staying in the lines! I would scribble and scribble until the page was filled with crayon marks, then I would get frustrated when my picture did not look like the outlined horse (most of the time I colored horses) in the background. So you know what I did? I took my coloring page, full of mistakes, to my big sister.  I really don’t know what she did, but she would fix it! She turned my mistakes into a masterpiece. Big sister to the rescue!

What about someone who has no artsy skills at all, how can I say that everyone can be a artist? 

Because you can be a artist at heart, and in your mind. Being a artist at heart is a choice. You have to choose to think of things a certain way. Not everyone has the gift of creating art, but everyone does have a choice to make in how they handle their mistakes. A artist at heart would say, “Yes, I made a mistake, BUT I see a potential masterpiece in my mistake.” We are all sinners and are prone to mistakes, but how we deal with them is what really matters. 

Is it tempting to throw your hands up in the air and quit when you make a mistake and things are not going as planned? Yes, oh YES it is! And sometimes we will fall into that trap and give up, thinking that we are not good enough, or that it was not supposed to turn out like it did. But what if “it didn’t turn out like the picture” on purpose? What if there is a reason your mistake happened the way it did? Only God knows, because His’s plan is to turn your mistakes into a masterpiece.

A real artist at heart doesn't give up when they make a mistake, they try and try again to make it right. Even if it takes 70x7 times of forgiving, of asking forgiveness. It will take perseverance, never giving up. It takes time, don’t expect your mistakes to vanish into thin air. It takes having a new perspective. We might not be able to erase our mistakes, but we can choose to see the potential masterpiece in them.

We can’t do this on our own, we need help. Lets ask Someone who knows how to forgive. Our Teacher is Jesus Christ, because He has been through what we are going through. He knows. Jesus came to this earth to die for our sins. He is spotless, clean from sin, but He burdened our sin and died for us so that we can have life. So that we can choose this avenue He has opened up for us. What amazing love! We are not worthy, but we are chosen. 

So, lets strive to learn from our mistakes, and take them to the Teacher who can show us how to see a potential masterpiece in them. Lets turn to God and ask Him to help us forgive and repent. Whether a artist of paint and ink or a artist at heart, a artist is someone who sees a potential masterpiece in their mistakes. 

Matthew 18:21,22

“Then Peter came to Him and said, ‘Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?’

Jesus said to him, ‘I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.’ ”

Ephesians 4:32

“And be kind to one another tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.”

Ephesians 1:7

“In Him we have redemption though His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.”

Romans 3:23

“For we all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

1 Peter 2:9

“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;”

God will turn our mistakes into masterpieces if we let Him. Has God ever changed one of your mistakes into something way grander than the original plan? What kinds of masterpieces is God painting in your life? Lets talk in the comments!

Leaping for Joy

Lame by birth. His name, unknown. He was helpless.

Everyday, this man was carried to the temple called, Beautiful, to ask for alms. He took donations and charity from the people who came to the temple. One day, as he was laying there, Peter and John came along and saw him. 

Peter says, “Look at us.” 

The man, thinking that they were like everyone else who gave him silver and gold, looks up at them. In Acts 3:6-9, the man receives so much more than he expected.

“Then Peter said, ‘Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up

 and walk.’      

And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.

so he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them- walking and leaping, and praising God.”

And all the people saw him walking and praising God.”

God healed this man! It was a miracle that everyone marveled at! If you read more in this chapter, you will see that this healing opened the door for Peter and John to minister and preach to all who saw that man walk again.

The Bible does not give us much detail about this man, or the situation he was in, but we do know that The Great Physician healed him. As soon as he was healed, he went walking, leaping, and praising God!

God gave this man a gift, the gift of healing. The lame man was so happy to receive this gift, that he was, in fact, leaping for joy! Because of the joy in his heart, and the way he was praising God, he was a witness to all those people. This was quite a testimony!

So, how can we relate to the lame man?

We are sinners, and because of sin, we are lame and broken. But love would not let this be where it all ends. God sent His only begotten son, Jesus Christ to take away the sins of the world. God gives us sinners a avenue. We are given the gift of love, and the choice to let Jesus bear our sins. When we accept this gift of love and forgiveness, we are healed. 

When we realize what great love this is, our hearts will be bursting with the joy of the lame man. Leaping joy! It is my hope that our joy will seep through to those around us, so we can share this gift that is open to the hearts and minds of everyone!

What does the gift of love mean? It means…

1 Corinthians 13:4-8

“Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;

does not behave rudely, does not seek it’s own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 

does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in truth;

bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 

Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are 

tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.” 

No matter how many times I read these words, I am blown away!  This is God’s definition for love! God’s gift is the love in 1 Corinthians, a love that never fails. Once we wrap our minds around such an amazing gift, we will want to leap for joy! 

Romans 8:38,39

“For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,

nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our 

 Lord.”

Sea Glass Treasures

We have all broken glass before. When something as breakable and fragile as glass falls onto a hard surface, the outcome is it shaders. Haven't you ever cringed at the ear splitting sound of glass breaking? Or slowly opened your eyes to find a pile of sharp glass pieces? I think we all have. As they say, “Accidents happen.” 

Once upon a time, I was vacationing to Outer Banks, NC. The gritty sand, unique shells, gentle breeze, and the salty waves were everything a beach should be. We even got to see wild horses on the beach! One of the things I noticed was that everyone seemed to collect sea glass just as much as the pretty shells. Why would you want to keep discarded glass pieces found on the shore?

 Because they saw beauty in the smooth broken glass.

Here’s how it works. Just like shells, once the broken, sharp glass is in the ocean, it’s controlled by the water. When the water is calm and peaceful, the glass rests on the ocean floor while the water gently rolls over it. This also means that when the wind stirs the water into angry waves, the glass is swept up right in the middle of things.

It is tossed and turned, this way and that, all the while being washed to shore. Somehow, as the glass travels from deep water to the shallow beach, it is changed. What once was a rigid, sharp glass edge, has now become smooth and polished. What once was a discarded, broken piece of trash, has now become a treasure.

We are very much like sea glass. We are sinners, sharp and broken sinners. We live in a world of waves. Sometimes when things are calm and peaceful, we sink to the ocean floor and rest comfortably. Nothing messes with us down there, we think we are safe and like the way things are. We are in our comfort zone. We don’t want to change. 

But other times, when trials come our way, we are swept up in those waves. Tossed and turned. We try fighting it, but the current is to strong. It is uncomfortable and we feel like we are at the end of our rope. We think we can’t go on any longer, that there is no hope.

Rejoice! Count it all joy. Because there is hope! Hope in the Lord. God is the One who is in control. Be patient and trust the One who knows the biggest picture. Talk to God, tell Him you fiercest wave. Give it to God. Let go! If we trust in Him, it doesn’t matter the size of the wave, let them crash around you. We have peace knowing that God is bigger. 

Romans 12:12 

“rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer;”

Rejoice! Be Patient! Pray! Trust! Let Go! Have Peace!

Just like the sea glass, as the waves toss and turn getting closer to the shore, we are getting closer and closer to our shore- heaven. Once we reach that shore we will be smooth, polished, whole, and clean from sin. We have to go through all these trials in order to be smooth. We have to be tossed and turned until we realize that God is the only One who can help us. After we give our burdens to Him, after we trust in him, only then can we be changed. Only then can our brokenness become beautiful. Only then will we be found a true treasure!

We have a choice to make everyday in how we deal with our waves. Will we freak out and try to use our own strength? Or will we turn to God, trusting Him and giving Him our worries? 

Psalms 46:1-3

"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, Even though the earth be removed, And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though its waters roar and be troubled, Though the mountains shake with its swelling."

James 1:2-6 

"My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and with our reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind."