Simple Sentiments

Y'all this past year God has used this woman, Jennie Allen, to wreck me... in a good way. In a great way. 

Anyone from my small group can tell you, her studies, well, there are no words. 

If you do one, be ready, God will show up, He will unearth, He will move, He will bless....the list goes on..

Because it's true, we are all broken, we are all a mess... it is the common denominator of humanity.

But God... those two precious words, But God, He made a plan. A plan that is bigger..

and for that I am eternally grateful and I revel in the fact that I get to be part of that plan.

Guess what? You do too.

You do too!

That situation you are walking through that seems broken beyond repair, that heart that has been shattered to pieces to many times to count, He is bigger than all of that. His plan for you and His purposes are designed uniquely for you. There is no one else who has the same plan. So celebrate with me, we are never left broken. The great physician has a plan! 

Happy Sunday Friends! 

friday faves ~ summer reading

Hello friends ~ 

Around these parts the school year is coming to a close 

and for me that means sweet summer days are looming.

Summer days around our home are often full of lots of of books.

Weekly trips to the library, rainy afternoons curled up with a book.

All year i do my fair share of reading but it's the summer where i get to catch up 

on my stock pile of titles I've collected all year.

Here are a few on my bedside table waiting for the lazy days of summer

This is my favorite author, favorite, hands down love all her books.

Can't wait for it to his shelves June 2013. 

Have you read her stories? They are fabulous, set in the low country with colorful characters....

Such a treat when she releases a new book.

Haven't read this author before but since it is set in the Low Country of Sullivan's Island I am sold. 

Recommended by Oprah's book club and set in the 1920's this is right up my alley. 

Fiction that centers around a main character who is female and overcomes challenges typically 

peaks my interest... this looks awesome

Our small bible study community group has done 1 jennie allen study and this summer 

we are embarking on her second study. 

This book, written by jennie allen has been on my "to read" list for quite some time...

She is such a powerful author, really proving opportunities for deep thought and growth.

Can't recommend her work highly enough!

Have you seen this yet? Have you read this book yet? 

It is a pretty new release. 

I have read about this title around the blog world and so far the reviews are fabulous.

Can't wait to read this...

What are you reading this summer? 

Any good suggestions? 

jennie allen study continued - sad

source unknown (if you know do share so I can give credit) 

this week we have been studying chapter 6 in jennie allen's study, stuck.

our chapter was titled sad. 

after 2 tragic deaths in our circle of friends this past week, honestly it wasn't a chapter i was eager to jump into. we've had our share of "sad" and reality in these parts.

the past day or so i was really in quite the rut and emotionally just kinda wiped. 

the holidays and then the cold hard reality that we are never promised one more day was making me a little weary and cranky. have you been there? please say yes?

tonight with an ache in my spirit i sat down with my study materials, a candle and my tea and set out to conquer what jennie had to share... and my Heavenly Father had for me in his word. 

my heart still aches for the pains of this world but there is a new peace. 

we start with this promise from our Father

"I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the Glory that will be revealed in us"

romans 8:18

how's that for a promise? 

how's that for, "hey I got this, love God"

i read this over and over and over letting it be written across my heart and soul. 

i want to shout this promise, revel in it's goodness.

these sufferings, this "stuff", all this world has to throw at me and at you, 

it is not even worth comparing with the Glory that will be revealed in us!

that is such exciting news.

this is so exciting to me because my God, my Heavenly Father, when He creates He creates big and bold and beautiful ~ for goodness sakes we are told that when breathes stars were spoke

psalm 33:6 says "the Lord merely spoke and the heavens were created. 

He breathed the word and all the stars were born". 

that there my friends, that is my God. 

so if when he merely breathes a word our vast heavens with the sparkling stars in all their glory were created... can you even imagine, can you even consider, because I can't fathom it, what the Glory will be revealed in us when He intentionally creates that Glory? 

be still my heart.

in awe.

we are sad because we live in a fallen world. 

there is sin, and yuck and sadness.

when we focus on the things of this world, we come up sad and depressed every time. 

but what would happen if we focused on the things that were unseen? 

in 2 corinthians 4:18 we are charged "dont look at the troubles we can see now, 

rather we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. 

For the things we see now will soon be gone but the things we cannot see will last forever."

what if we did just that? 

what if you and i took our focus off what is seen and switched our view to the things we can't?

what would happen?

you know perspective is a powerful tool...

when i think about how awesome my God is, it is so often coupled with what a sinner i am and how awesome is He that he would even find favor me? how magnificent is it that He would call me His child?

my perspective is affected as i know i don't deserve the greatness and goodness that is all He is. 

my heart is overwhelmed time and time again that the God of the universe would call me unto Himself. 

what if i changed my perspective as i viewed the lens of my life?

would there still be sadness? yes i know there will be...

but what if i lived my life with the knowledge that no weapon formed against me will remain.

God is my victory, He is here and He is doing a great work in me.

this pursuit of happiness we're all on, i don't think it's bad.

it's wonderful!

our God made this planet with some of the most extraordinary creations my feeble mind can barely fathom.

we should experience all those things, we are created to feel love, enjoy relationships with others and community within our families and friends. those are some of lifes greatest blessings.

but what if in the midst of all of that we also focused on the things that were unseen? 

what would happen?

a few years ago i was faced with some tough mountains.

God got my attention in some pretty real ways.

what i learned is that happiness, true happiness, isn't in anything i can see.

what i learned is that what i desire is joy.

happiness we all experience, a baby playing peek a boo, a surprise party with friends.

those are happy times.

but joy, true joy, is choosing to be joyful even when the world around me may be falling down.

every day, every day i have found something to be grateful for.

there have been days, hours honestly when being grateful was reduced down to a single breath my son took.

each time his chest rose and fell in an hour, no matter what else was happening inside him made me grateful because it was one more hour i could behold his sweet little face, touch his tissue paper thin skin....

the best definition i have ever read is credited to the "gitzen girl" who sadly passed away in Sept of 2011.

but sara, the girl behind the blog was such an inspiration... and in her blog she defines what she believes is joy... and i have to share:

Joy: the unwavering trust that God knows what He’s doing and has blessed me with the opportunity to be a part of it… not despite what’s happening in my life but because of it. When everything earthly feels heavy He gives me an internal lightness that can’t be touched.

if you have never been to her site, please take some time, get to know her, and i promise in getting to know her, you will see Him. 

How do you define joy? 

fear

as we continue through our study of “stuck” by jennie allen

we are talking about being scared this week.

There are so many things we can be scared of and for all of us, it is something different.

I’d venture to say the things I struggle with you may not even bat an eye lash at… and then flip it around and the reverse may be true. However, at the core of who we are, we worry, we struggle. Fear and anxiety are so real, crippling real for some. To be honest, for me it is something I struggle with in one area of my life right now and it is so real to me I could touch it. It has all but stopped something God has put on my heart. To write that I am saddened I have let that happen. A wise woman once told me that sometimes, we have to say yes in fear and press on. Believe me, I hear her in my head. : ) I also hear the Father saying, keeping going…. But that is where I am at right now and I want to keep things real.

In studying this topic I have found several things….

The most important one being, it is a universal problem.

The good news, there is a universal solution.

Reading Matthew 6:25-34 we’re reminded that we matter to God, He sees us, just like he takes care of the birds of the air and the flowers in the field He will care for us too. He reminds us that we are far more precious and who are we to think He won’t provide those needs?

It’s one of those simple concepts that as I write it it’s like, “well duh”. But how often, how often do I get caught up in my own little situation, my own little world and I can’t see beyond myself to even be reminded of this promise? Too often. Way too often, sad to say.

In preparation for my study Wednesday night I have pulled out some notes… and in the bible the phrase “fear not” is mentioned 446 times, the statement “do not fear” is mentioned 246 times. What does this mean for us? Yes, clearly God is addressing fear a lot. But why? Why did He say almost 700 times, 700 times girls, that we are not be afraid? Because He knows this is such a real problem. He knows we are going to struggle with fear, and worry and anxiety. He knows these emotions are going to consume many days and likely even more nights. He knows these emotions will be used as a tool to take our focus off Him, off what He has for our lives, what He has to say. 

Let me speak this into your life, into my own life, we can’t let this happen.

We can't let this be used as a tool to take our eyes off of Him. What He has for us is far too precious to miss it! It is far too valuable to not be able to savor the goodness He has for our lives if we just let Him guide us and focus on His message for our lives.

Jennie relates this fear and anxiety in a way I had never heard before but when I read it I could see myself. She says it is like a sit and spin…  oh my gosh, I can see it. How many times have I sat and spun. Round and round and round over and over until I am flat worn out. My hair looks like I took ride on a tilt a whirl and I am beat. There is nothing left and have gotten nowhere. I’ve expelled a great amount of energy and nothing happened.

Please tell me I’m not the only one who could relate to this?

So what do we do? Where do we go from here?

We have a problem and we know it’s real and it’s powerful?

We pray, we spend time in His word, we present our requests to God, we find peace in meditating on His promises. We seek whatever is pure, noble, trustworthy, just, honorable, lovely and commendable. We spend our energy and our time to the practice of those things. We let ourselves get worn out seeking His will and guidance for our lives instead of sitting on that emotional sit and spin. We seek community and fellowship with other Christians who can lift us up and encourage us along the way. We let ourselves be consumed by His greatness. It is a challenge and one I want to accept. You see, I have tried the other way. I have spent far too many sickening hours on that sit and spin and come up empty. I’ve also known what it is to trust Him and every time I’ve done that He has blessed me. Things don’t always turn out the way I hope, or the way I think they should… and sometimes years later I have been able to see why and His fingerprints are all over…. And what I come to see is that at the time I couldn’t see what He was doing but the hindsight gave light into His favor and protection, His ultimate care for His child. He cares for you in the same way. 

Will you take the challenge with me?

freedom found ~ jennie allen stuck

the last few weeks my small group has been going through the jennie allen study, Stuck.

so far it has been good and made us all take a close look at ourselves.... 

however, in preparing for this weeks study i came across these bullet points 

and they really spoke to me:

freedom is found in

* allowing God to defend me, even if it means I don't see it until heaven

*accepting that life is not right and fair now, but it will be

*loving instead of defending, fearing or fighting

*giving freely and not having a sense of entitlement

*embracing my faults rather than proving my point

*releasing others perceptions and understandings of me, 

and holding on to God's, since He knows my heart

*embracing the death of my rights and desires 

and instead receiving His will for me

they are such radical statements, such a contrast from how the world views life.

can you imagine with me, for just a second, what would happen

if more Christians took this stance? 

 wow, what if that happened?

what would our world look like?

it might look pretty different.

i know if i held onto those concepts a little more closely,

applied them in my daily life a little more regularly, 

my world would look different.

there would be more of Him and less of me.

one thing i am realizing as a momma is this,

they watch me, they model me. 

what they see me do, how they see me react is how they in turn react.

knowing this fact there is nothing more on this earth i want to do 

than help them grow into a relationship with their Heavenly Father.

i not only want to be His hands and feet to the world but 

most importantly to me, i want to His hands and feet to them.

in my actions, living out my faith.

it isn't enough to take them to church on sunday and say prayers before bed.

talking my faith and never really living it.

living it, tested over time, that is where they will learn.

they will learn about His love by how i act and react.

what better way to do that than demonstrating to them what true freedom looks like?

broken ~ a universal issue

source unknown

you know, the source of the picture / quote above is unknown to me.

but the sentiment, the problem, it's not. 

i could have written it, heck maybe you could too.

if we got real honest, we all could.

we are all broken. 

some of us are just better at hiding it.

for many. many years. i was real good.

hiding our sin. 

hiding our hurts. 

and why is that? 

i am broken.

i am broken in a million ways.

ways a person shouldn't be broken. 

hurts from a parent, guilt and regrets, too many to count.

about a week and a half ago my small group started, stuck by jennie allen.

it's rocking my world. 

in a good way.

it's a nose dive into those places we are all trying to avoid.

past hurts, regrets, relationships, sin.

those yucky pieces of our life we'd all rather ignore and pretend aren't there.

for so many women we are so concerned about our image, how we "look" 

to those around us. and i don't just mean in the clothes we wear or the tablescape

on our dining room table for the holidays.

we are concerned how we "look" to our friends, our family,

never wanting to appear like we have done anything bad or that

our hurts actually hurt us. women are strong. 

aren't we told we should be strong? 

and if we are told we should be strong in adversity then wouldn't we 

"look" bad if we shared the broken pieces of our lives.

what would our friends think? our neighbors? or goodness gracious those  

ladies down at the church? surely we can't share that with them! 

so we package them up, tie on a bow, and set them in a dark corner of our heart.

only taking a peek at them when we can't sleep.

oh friends how i have been there.

there was a time where i surrounded myself with some friends, 

people i truly thought were my friends.

however, time told the truth as she always does... 

and they weren't.

years earlier i should have known this.

there was one huge clue.

the pieces of my heart that were broken,

the parts of my life where i needed the most help

i could have never, ever shared with them.

image was at the forefront and i felt that my "stuff" 

would have been looked down upon.

and you know what? it likely would have.

their lives appearing much more picture perfect than my background.

maturity and years of reflection have brought me to a place that 

made me realize, if i couldn't have shared those pieces freely 

then they weren't really my friends after all.

it also let me see they too had their own "stuff" but they were really great at hiding it.

i was too. years, never sharing more than the surface. 

sweeping it under the rug.

but oh! the things we young women do.

the broken places came to surface as they were never truly healed.

pieces of my story, the mess of my heart.

it has been a lifetime of hurt. 

to say this is a place where i was stuck.

a place in my heart that affects me to the core, well that's an understatement.

so when i heard about this study, i knew it was meant for people like me.

but you know what? 

this small group of girls i am meeting with... it's for them too.

you see, their story isn't the same as mine.

our broken pieces may have similarities, but they are different.

but it all boils down to a universal problem.

we are stuck. 

sins of our past. hurts from others.

we are stuck. 

what i am learning in this study, and being reminded of daily.

is that yes, we are stuck.

we are broken.

i am a hot mess! 

but there is a beautiful answer. 

we are loved by a perfect God.

we are made whole and our pieces are mended in His lavish grace.

as i fall on my face for what feels like the millionth time,

offering these broken pieces of my heart,

He draws near, calls me unto Himself,

and i hear Him say:

you are dearly loved.

and in those moments my spirits breaks free.

free from the hurt, free from the pain

and it is just me and my creator

i need Him at the core of my existence.

i need God. 

bare soul to the world, i need God.

paul tells us in 2 corinthians 12:9-10 

"my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.

 therefore,i will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, 

so that Christ's power may rest on me. that is why, for Christ's sake, 

i delight in my weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.

 For when i am weak, then i am strong"

we all have them. broken pieces, places in our lives we rather brush over.

maybe we're embarrassed, maybe we're too ashamed to even go there,

maybe we just feel like it's only a small sin, it's not like we did anything

"that" terrible.

it is still sin. it is still, there. 

once we come face to face with our "stuff" and bare ourselves to the One who made us.

arms wide open, realizing we are just a mess, without Him.

once we come to that place, there is such freedom.

such grace, such love.

friends, go there, go there for one minute.

what would it be like to set it free?

to pull that place out of your heart, that broken place you have been hiding,

and give it away. 

what would happen?

early in my marriage i learned a valuable "new to me" aspect of god.

i learned that not only is He my Savior, but He is my Heavenly Father.

in my weakness, in my pain, through my tear streaked face

i saw God. i saw that even though my earthly father may disappoint and hurt me.

even though he may not keep his word and his sins have damaged my heart.

there is something so much better. 

there is a Heavenly Father who loves me.

a Heavenly Father who keeps His promises.

a Heavenly Father who lavishes grace, and love and mercy on His daughter.

a Heavenly Father who forgives, lifts up and bears my shame.

a Heavenly Father who is so much more than i can even fathom in my human mind.

for that i am forever grateful.

for that i will boast about my pain, my past hurts and sins.

for without those pieces of my story there would be no ending like the one 

i get to experience. 

my past could have brought me down.

it could have been my demise.

but God, but God used it for so much more.

when we give our broken pieces to our Heavenly Father,

His arms open wide and those pieces becomes something utterly amazing.

stuck - by jennie allen

this week my small group is starting this study.

couldn't be more thrilled to walk through this with some pretty amazing women.

some of us have similar pieces in our life stories, some very different.

and then there are some pieces we don't know about each other. 

pieces that hurt, pieces that are at the root of where we are stuck.

but there is something we all share. 

we know our God is bigger, He is greater than anything that has us stuck.

we know the truth He brings and of life eternal.

we've committed a few months together. 

to say i am excited, that's an understatement.

in all honesty, i am mess.

i am a big, hot mess.

i mess up daily,

i fall short hourly.

but you know what?

He is bigger. 

He forgives me. 

He gives me grace by the truckloads.

and luckily, so does my family. 

in this study we are promised that it won't be all "jesus loves you" and have a great week.

jennie promises that we will dig down deep into our hearts.

we will be carving out hidden sin. 

sin we think we have tucked away. 

sin that we know God sees. 

it isn't truly hidden. 

but she also promises that we will see God get bigger and bigger.

and as that happens we can see life in a whole new way. 

good stuff and i can't wait.

i'm not afraid to admit i am mess. 

i need Him. daily, hourly.

we're going to go to some places where broken hearts reside.

so grateful for the girls who are coming alongside me for this study.

praying for them daily as we gear up to grow together.

today i spent some time studying the lesson for our first session. 

a few things stuck out to me that i really held on to

and 

as we go through the study i will be sure to share how things are going.

have you ever done this study? if so what was your experience? 

also, one last thing, 

will you pray for us?