Category: Christain

The Dash

This post I have struggled with writing but, I’m going to do my best to put the words that are in my heart here in this space. I want to talk with you about the dash. We are all giving a dash and it begins with the day and year of our birth. This dash is so precious because it is how you live from your birth till your death. What are you doing with the dash you have been giving. Are you living in such a way that will impact the lives of others? Are you doing the things that God created you to do? See the thing is, God gave you this dash of time for a specific reason. When we find out the reason for our birth, the dash of time were given is lived well. At the same time, when we never find out our purpose but we just do a bunch of miscellaneous stuff with our life never really embracing our purpose we waste the dash of time we’ve been given. I pose the thought to you again,”How are you using the dash you’ve been given?”.
I want you to know that people will definitely remember how your dash impact the dash they were given. More than anything we all will stand before Jesus and give an account for what we did with the dash he has given to us. Please don’t use any portion of your dash living in regret. Regrets will cause us to become stagnant. We cannot use our dash focusing on what we did. Our dash is best lived when we focus on what were yet to do. Just a friendly reminder that none of us are perfect. You will not live a perfect dash. There will be things in your dash that you will regret but, please don’t live from that place of regret. Forgive yourself, process it and take the lesson you learned in it and then let it go. Do not take it forward with you. Only use it as a tool to help others when necessary. I want to encourage you to live your dash to the fullest. I often say that I long to die empty. I want to finish as much of what I was purposed to do as I can. What will you do with the dash you have been given beautiful one?

“The dash is not just how you live, but it’s who you were too”.

Lora Terry

Who are you? A big factor in living our dash well is being who we are. When we live our authentic self, we use our dash well. God has a plan for who you really are but not for who you pretend to be. We don’t truly know how long our dash will be so each and every day, we should live our dash well. Those things in your heart that you want to do or experience, go after it. Maybe there are words you need to tell those you love, tell them. Maybe there is a phone call you need to make or someone you need to forgive, do it. Don’t waste your dash holding forgiveness in your heart that you need to give to someone. Trust me withholding forgiveness to someone who hurt you doesn’t hurt that person but, it does hurt you. Your dash is not worth it. You need all the time you have been giving to live and not be stagnant holding forgiveness that you know you need to give to someone. Let your dash be all God intended it to be.

Celebrate the dash you have been given.

At the end of your life be sure that you have lived in such a way that your life will be celebrated. You know how you do that? Celebrate your life while you live, it helps others to celebrate it when you are gone. Leave your mark in the earth for good. Leave a legacy that your loved ones will be honored to be a part of. My mom left a legacy of serving Jesus. I’ve lived every day loving and serving my Jesus. Now my children are living a life of serving and loving Jesus. Don’t be afraid to celebrate your life, even if you have to do it for yourself. I hope that you celebrate your accomplishments and find a way to not live in your failures. Did you know that the way you fail at something is a key factor in how you will be successful at it next time. Failure is not the end, oftentimes it is a beautiful new beginning. Live well, live forward, live all in and most of all live the heart of Jesus creation of you.

I will leave you with this to ponder. You have been given this dash, only you can decide how you will live it. What will you do with this beautiful dash you have been given?

God I thank you for every person that will stumble upon this post. I pray that they will know how important the dash they have been given truly is. God help them to seek you about the dash you have given them. You have a complete plan for the dash you gave to us. Help us to surrender our dash to your plans for us. Thank you Jesus for your everlasting love. Amen.

Worthiness is not Earned

      I think at times in our lives, we all struggle with feeling unworthy of good things. I want to pose a question for you to think about,”What is that thing that happened to cause you to feel as if you have to earn your worth?”. You have spent your life trying to earn something that you never had to earn. I know that things can happen to us or we can do things and because of that we believe the lie that were no longer worthy of the good plans God has for us. Let me whisper in your ear, “You were born worthy”. Guess what, not only were you born worthy, nothing you do makes you unworthy. When we struggle with believing that our worthiness is earned, we thrive in the praises from others. We desperately feel like their words validate us. You might not know this but only God created us and I truly believe the one that created us is the one who validates us.

      I found myself living in the praises of others. I wanted to feel like I was worthy, and I believed the lie that their words and acceptance of me made me worthy.  We don’t have to live up to the standards of others to be worthy. You don’t have to fit into a certain crowd to be worthy. Just maybe the crowd you’re trying to fit yourself in is honestly not worthy of you. Their rejection of you might be the greatest blessing of your life.

      Oh, the tears I’ve cried feeling like I didn’t belong in a certain group. I am slowly but surely learning that I will not fit into every space, and that is ok. Every circle is not a circle I have to belong.  I want you to know that any group, circle or community you have to change to fit in, YOU do not belong in it. Performing does not make you worthy. The uniqueness that you were created in is what makes you worthy. I believe the courage to walk into spaces and be you makes you worthy. Who you really are is worthy of love, respect, and connection. You deserve all the good things God has for you and you are worthy of each and every one of them.

      When I lived with the lie that I had to earn my worthiness, I found myself pretending to be who I thought I needed to be in order to fit in different spaces. What I realized was that I was really miserable when I left those spaces. My anxiety was through the roof and I felt empty. I felt empty because who I really was I was spending unnecessary energy burying as I pretended to be someone I really wasn’t. I could  never earn worthiness because what I didn’t know was that worthiness did not need to be earned. No matter how much I tried to be different, that was not making me feel worthy. I believe where I picked up that feeling that I wasn’t worthy was in my childhood. As a little girl, I walked through a lot of trauma and some of the things I endured made me feel unworthy. I didn’t feel worthy of love. I struggled with feeling like I could ever be enough. I had low self-esteem and very little courage. Those childhood experience felt as if they wrote the message of unworthiness on my heart. As an adult I continued to struggle with feeling worthy. I’ve gotten better, but every now and then those feelings of unworthiness try to creep in. I have to immediately remind myself that I was born worthy of every good thing God has for me.  I notice that when I forget who I am in Christ, I start feeling unworthy. When we embrace who God made us to be, we embrace the truth that we were born worthy.

13 For you formed my inward parts;
    you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
    my soul knows it very well.  Psalms 139:13-14 English Standard version (ESV)

      Above is one of my favorite passage of scripture. It reminds me that God formed every part of me, even my inward parts. God knitted me and you together in our mothers womb. This helps me rest in the truth that I am worthy. God created and formed every part of me and I am priceless. God formed every part of you and YOU are priceless.  Nobody can diminish your worth in Jesus, not any words spoken to you or over you can change the truth that you my friend are worthy.   10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.  Ephesians 2:10 (ESV) you were born according to scripture for good works. To be honest though, those good works did not make you worthy, Christ made you worthy.

      This post was to remind you that your worthiness is not earned, but you were worthy from the beginning. You can stop striving for worthiness and start resting in the truth, that you are worthy. I pray that you will embrace this truth and live from the place of worthiness which is where you always belong. Thank you for taking time to read my words. I’m honored and grateful for each of you.

     

Come Out of The Shadows

I know it feels safe. I know you believe that it’s not costing you anything to hide out in the shadows. I know it feels like you can protect yourself from hurt if you just stay in the shadows. Let everybody else get the applause for your hard work. Nobody sees you, so the expectations for you to do or be anything are very small if any. Psssst….the sacrifice of the blessing God created you to be will never be worth it, never. Now, I am not saying that God can never use you in the shadows, for a period of time yes he might use you. It’s like a place of preparation. I truly believe there are some people out front that never walked in the shadows and it shows👀. It is definitely not a place to remain. I truly believe that while working in the background it can build great character in you that sustains you when God places you out front.

There is a humbling that happens within us when we have a shadows experience. I just think that we can become comfortable and complacent when we stay there too long. I think we then become afraid to step out of the shadows into the forefront even when we know Christ is calling us into the front lines of ministry. Nobody knows better than Jesus, you and honestly the devil of what your truly capable of doing with the gift of God in you. I think we forget that satan knows what’s inside of us too and he fights us to keep us surrendered to our own plans rather than walking in Jesus plans that he has for us even before the foundations of this earth. You were not created to stay in the shadows. You were not created to hide out behind the scenes. Come out of the shadows, you have stayed there long enough.

I have come to the place where I have made a life for myself in the shadows that honestly feels right. It feels safe. I have zero pressure to do anything or be anything. I’ve felt as if I’ve somehow buried the call of God in the shadows where I hide. To be honest stepping into the front lines of ministry again feels overwhelming even though I know it’s Jesus calling me, Jesus nudging me, Jesus pulling me away from the shadows and back into the place he intended for me to be. I know coming out of the shadows means that I have to walk away from some places that make me feel safe in the shadows. I know I will have to walk away from some relationships that allow me to feel comfortable hiding. Writing this post is me taking my first few baby steps out of the shadows. I can tell you this from experience,”Playing small only keeps you trapped in a lie”. A lie that is definitely keeping you stagnant. Don’t shrink back when you are among great people with titles and college degrees. Trust me, your in that room because you deserve to be. The things you have to say will really add value to the conversation. You were invited in that room because someone in that space needs what is in you. You would be amazed at the many times my experience with certain things helped a person with a degree and no experience. Please don’t show up pretending to be less than the amazing person you truly are. Trust me, I’m taking my own advice in too.

I felt in my heart that at the beginning of this new year would be the perfect time to encourage you to stop playing small. I want to encourage you to stop pretending to be less when deep inside you know you have more inside you. You bring so much to the table when you bring all of who you are with you. Your in that room because you need to be. You have operated in the background long enough. There are countless well known individuals in this world who started with nothing but realized who they really were and cultivated that gift to allow it to to take them forward. Let this year of 2023 be the year you come out of the shadows. Let this year be the year you be who you truly are. Let it be the year you stop playing small. I believe in you. Go be great💚.

To the one hurting during the Holidays

To the one hurting this holiday, I want you to know, I’m thinking of you. I want you to know, I can relate to you. You can have the good things, a beautiful tree, it can be filled with gifts but still feel empty and sad inside. Right now, you might be sitting around family that you love so deeply and still feel all alone. Maybe you are grieving the loss of a loved one and tonight you are longing for what never can be again. I understand the longing to hear their voice one more time, to receive a hug or even just to sit in their presence. I have no magical words but I want you to know, I’m thinking of you. I feel you tonight, the one hurting during the holidays. Your pain is just as real as the next person’s. Even though everything is completely amazing in your life right now but your still hurting, I get it. Honestly mental health struggles don’t take a back seat to the holidays. I want you to know that you are not alone in your pain. Physically it might feel like it, mentally it might seem like it but I’m praying that your soul knows that you are never alone.

This is what I’m believing for you and I. Joy is not based upon circumstances to me, joy just bubbles on the inside. Smiling faces are not necessary an indication of joy. I’ve looked in the faces of many people smiling but later found out they were broken and hurting inside. Notice I didn’t choose a picture of a smiling face as a representation of joy but I choose the word. Joy shows up in many different ways. It is an emotion that almost to me feels like peace and love all intertwined together bubbling from our souls. You can have joy even in sad situations. You can have joy even when happiness runs out. Happiness is based upon circumstances or good things happening to us, for us or around us.
So tonight my sweet friends imagine someone reaching out to you, pulling you into peace. Let that peace fill your soul. Let that peace wash over you. Not just peace but love, let love fill your heart and wash over you. Fill it flooding your soul and overwhelming your heart. Now dear heart let joy bubble up within you. Will it change your circumstances for the holidays, probably not but it will certainly give you new perspective. I see you and I’m thinking and praying over you tonight. Merry Christmas dear hearts. May the joy of this season flood you💚❤️💚❤️💚❤️

Lord I thank you for the person reading this right now. God I thank you for comforting their heart right in this moment. Let your unconditional love surround them right now. May they know that you are with them and they are never alone. Thank you God……Amen

A Gift

Gifts are so special. When carefully thought through and chosen for a specific person for a specific reason, gifts have a way of bringing joy and love to the person receiving the gift and the person giving it as well. Jesus was given as a gift to this world but not only is Jesus a gift, you my friend are a gift as well. I wanted to remind you that there is a gift inside of you, but I also wanted you to know that you are a gift. You bring such joy and love to the lives of those who embrace you as the gift you truly are. In preparation of the holiday season, I wanted to write to you about, “The Gift”. The gift that God created you to be to the world. Just like these beautifully wrapped gifts so are you. Your outside beauty is the wrapping paper but inside is the gift that was strategically placed inside of you to be used to bless the lives your life was created to bless. Jesus didn’t just throw your life together, but he carefully placed every detail of your life in its place. There was no mistake in him creating you. You were not a afterthought, you were his first thought. Jesus’ planned and orchestrated your life so that the gift in you and the gift of you could serve this earth well. Jesus did not think twice about creating you, you were always on his mind to create, and give a gift that would impact the world.
I often wonder why we hide our gifts and live in fear of using them. Honestly, even if we don’t admit that the thing, we do so well is actually a gift does not mean that it isn’t. I know I’ve tried to hide what I’m gifted to do sometimes because I don’t want the pressure to do it. I felt like once people knew I was gifted to do a particular thing they would put unnecessary pressure on me to use it. Even though God placed the gift in me, I still struggle with him using that gift. Most of the time it’s the gift within us that makes us THE gift. I truly believe that God carefully chooses the gifts he gives to us and the way he uses them, and I would even say, he chooses even those he will use to bless by our gifts. So, as we are quickly facing the Holidays, I thought it would be good to remind you of the gift that you are. I wanted to remind you just how much you are needed in this world. We can so quickly get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the Holidays especially the unspoken pressure we typically feel to buy those we love that perfect gift. I want to offer to you a suggestion; take a moment between now and Christmas day and make a list of your loved ones and write beside each of their names the gift they are to you. Maybe even take inventory over the things in your life that you do that you believe that God placed in you as a gift to bless others. Maybe consider ways that you have allowed God to use you and that gift to impact the world. I want to challenge you to seek God for more opportunities in the year to use that gift to be an even greater blessing to him and others.

We also can find ourselves struggling with the Holidays. We face our own mental health struggles with emotions that run high and at times find ourselves feeling out of control when those emotions feel really big and overwhelming. I want you to know that you are not alone in those feelings. There are so many people in this world that struggle with believing that anything about themselves could ever be considered a gift. It is difficult for them to see beyond the words that people have spoken to them or over them causing them to see themselves as nothing and nobody important. If you are feeling that way, I want you to know that you are an important gift and you have been given an important gift. You are needed and wanted. Embrace the truth tonight, that you are a gift.
I want you to take a moment, close your eyes and think about the best gift that you have ever received in your life. I want you to think about the way it made you feel. I want you to think about how you felt about the person who gave it to you. I’m wondering was it wrapped in beautiful wrapping paper or put in a beautiful gift bag with all the pretty tissue paper. Did you feel like the person took precious time to pick this beautiful, special gift just for you. Now, I want to offer you a gift more precious than any gift you have ever received. In this gift is everything you need for your life. In this gift, you will be lavished with unconditional love. This gift is full of peace. Guess what though? It’s not just any old peace, it is a peace that will surpass all of your human understanding. In this gift, is life everlasting. This gift will be right with you in every single season of your life. The gift I want to offer you this Christmas, is the gift of Jesus Christ. I know for a fact, that your life will never be the same.
So in closing this post, will you receive this free gift of unconditional love, peace , joy and beauty that is Jesus. He is the greatest gift you will ever received. We celebrate him this time of year being born on earth. I would love to celebrate him also being born in your heart. My prayer is that you will know the most precious gift that is our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. I know that he desires to rescue you from every sin that you might be struggling with. If you choose to do so, say this prayer out loud and believe in your heart and receive your greatest gift ever.

Lord Jesus, I so desperately need you in my life. I need your peace and unconditional love. Lord please forgive me of all my sins and come into my heart. Lord I invite you to walk with me, talk with me, lead and guide me. You are the greatest gift and thank you for coming into my heart. Im so excited to begin my life brand new with you. Amen