Every single one of us has reached some point in our lives when we were fearful. Whether it was something new or old, we have all been there. Living in a fallen world, none of us are able to escape the reality of fear alone. But let me tell you a truth...

God does not expect any of us to live in fear! In fact, He commands us not to live in fear at all!
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Joshua 1:9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.

John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.

So if God commands us to live without fear then there must be a way to do that...

After all God is not waiting for us to fail, He is waiting for us to succeed. So how do we do that?

Well in my experience, the devil attacks areas of strength in our lives.

And the best way to mask something is by hiding it with the complete opposite. The exact counter-part. Camouflaging our strengths as weakness.

I think about the movies where the mom has a bag of deliciousness hidden inside an empty bag of broccoli. Broccoli is also known as the opposite of deliciousness! LOL!

How many times has the enemy used that bag of broccoli (fear) to hide our deliciousness (that power, love and self-discipline)?

God tells us, “Do not be afraid,” over and over again. He doesn’t tell us that we are supposed to just deal with it. No, on the contrary, He says that He has given us power and love and self-control and peace, His gift of peace. The kind of peace that doesn’t make sense. The devil has just stuck all of those gifts from God in a broccoli bag!

So I hope we can agree at this point that the spirit of fear is not of God... but like we said earlier that is still something that every one of us deals with. So if God tells us not to fear and that God is a loving God who is not waiting for us to fail, but rather He is waiting for us to succeed, then how? What are some practical steps to get rid of fear?

How do we get to that strong and courageous part…when our spirits are at peace and we trust Him better, more fully?

1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, (Throw/cast out with force)

I think so many times we are so worried about getting rid of the bad we forget to fill ourselves up with the good first! We throw the nasty broccoli out without recognizing the deliciousness we have access too!

I don’t think we need to get rid of fear for us to live fearless lives. I believe that we need to fill ourselves with love and let love do the work of throwing fear out of our lives with force.

When we quit focusing on the fear and bring our focus on the perfect Love of God, the courage, strength, peace, and power that we already have becomes fruitful in our lives. In Romans 8:38-39 God’s love, perfect love, is the biggest baddest weapon we have at our disposal, let’s use it!

So when we go through those tough moments when we feel fear creeping in, it is then we need to remind ourselves to draw near, call on and stand in the Perfect Love of a Perfect Father.

Mothers

Lois & Eunice. Their one and only mention in the Bible is in 2 Timothy and it is a side note to impact the world for generations. 


Paul to Timothy;
I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.
2 Timothy 1:5


One sentence. One reference. One statement and inside it reveals so much. As I sit here meditating on this scripture, I can’t help but wonder at it’s significance. You see Timothy was not simply another Christian. He was not simply a fan of Jesus, he was a follower of Jesus. Timothy was active in His surrender to God’s will and plan. He pursued God’s kingdom and loved those around him well. 


In that one statement Paul reveals to us that the belief, the trust, the passion that Timothy had was passed on and fanned to brighter by Timothy's grandmother and mother. They were the ones to reflect God’s love to Timothy. To reveal the nature of God and nurture the understanding of who God is, not just in words, but in actions. Lois and Eunice regularly reflected the character and nature of a loving God. A God who loves us unconditionally. A God who surrounds us when we are weak and gives us strength. A God who walks with us and guides us.


As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. 
Joshua 24:15


We see that statement of scripture everywhere. It’s on decorative pictures, coffee mugs, and t-shirts. I am not saying that there is anything wrong with any of those things. By all means have them, wear them, and, most importantly, I pray that we live them. In one sentence we are told that Lois and Eunice brought this scripture to life in their family. Lois and Eunice lived this scripture out in their own homes. This single reference of Lois and Eunice should be an encouragement to do just that in our own families, in our own households.


Ladies, it does not matter if you are a mother in the natural or not. Please do not get hung up on that. I do not believe that there is a stipulation to that role in this single sentence. I believe that we, as women, are called to this role. We are called to nurture and reflect the character of a loving God. One who picks us up when we fall (Hosea 11:3-4). One who knows the most intimate parts of us (Psalm 139:13-16). We were never meant to do this walk alone. We have always been intended to use each other to be with each other. We are not all a foot, we are not all the fingers, we are the BODY of Christ. We were made to surround, nurture, and reflect God’s perfect unconditional love to those we surround ourselves with and those we encounter. We were made to, with the guidance of Holy Spirit, help shape and support each other in our faith walk. 


I did not come from a family that has lived generation after generation believing Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.  Actually, I can remember when those in my family got saved when I was young. I can remember our lives before Christ. I can remember a switch in the lives of my family once we accepted Jesus. And, more than anything, I can remember the love that drew us to God shown from those around us. They did not hit us over the head with scripture or try to scare us into believing God. They simply reflected God’s love for us. They lived it out. They walked the talk. It is not enough for us to talk and speak of God’s unconditional love, we must live it out. That is what draws those around us deeper into Christ. 


As for me and my house,  we will serve the Lord.

Father, I ask that You reveal to every woman that reads this today who You have placed in our lives for us to surround with Your unconditional love, to build up, to uplift, and to support. Father, give us wisdom and love to release to those that we encounter both in our own house and outside of our roof. Help us to reflect Your grace and lead them into a deeper more personal understanding of Your character. Help us to draw nearer and nearer to You Lord, that we may pass Your love on from generation to generation just as Lois and Eunice did. Start with us Lord. We thank You for all this and more. In Jesus name.

Sometimes I wonder if I could count the times that I have given control of situations, circumstances, family, and friends over to God only to, later, take it right back.  Then I think twice about it and say, "Better I don’t know." I don’t know about you but it seems like too often that’s exactly what I do. I declare and decree, I submit and agree to, only in a year, month or sometimes even the very same hour, take back my false sense of control and micromanage God. Or, rather, I try to. 

In Genesis 15 we read about a conversation that Abram and God have. God tells Abram that even though he and his wife have had no children in all their years, He, God, told Abram that he will have as many descendants as the stars. “And Abram believed the LORD, and the LORD counted him as righteous because of his faith.” Genesis 15:6

In that moment Abram gave control over to God. He sacrificed and he trusted. 

But our story is not about Abram. 

In chapter 16 it starts out with Abram and his wife Sarai trying to take back that very same control they just trusted over to the LORD in chapter 15 and they hatch a plan. Sarai tells Abram the Lord has kept her from having children, to go sleep with her Egyptian slave (Hagar); perhaps she can build a family through Hagar. 

So he did. And the plan seemed to be working to because Hagar did, in fact, get pregnant. The Bible tells us that, once Hagar knew she was pregnant, she began to despise Sarai and, because of this, Sarai mistreats Hagar. Hagar is mistreated so much that she decides to flee from her mistress Sarai. 

I can only imagine the pain and chaos that had to be surrounding Hagar, as she was pregnant and alone. Hagar was a slave. She did as she was told. She had little to no control in the matter. I imagine her being hurt, maybe a little angry. I imagine her having sorrow and worry surrounding her. I imagine her not knowing where to go or what to do from there. 

I have never been in Hagar’s shoes. I have never been a pregnant slave running from my master. And, still, there have been times in my life that I have been left feeling broken and in pain. There have been times of extreme chaos, sorrow, confusion and heartbreak, not knowing what way is up or if there would ever be way out of it. And it was in those times, like Hagar, God met me.

In verse 7 the Bible says The Angel of the Lord found Hagar and asked her where she’d come from and where she was going. Hagar tells Him that she is running away from her mistress, and The Angel speaks with her. He tells her to go back, submit to her mistress and gives her a promise.  A promise that her descendants will be too numerous to count. After The Angel speaks to her…

She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” Genesis 16:13

“Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." Psalms 139:16.

Sis, God is not surprised by our circumstances, whether they were of our own making or not. He knew exactly what we would go through long before we were ever even born. God sees our every struggle and He sees our every triumph. He is the God who sees you. Right where you are. And He is the God who chose you.  Let Him love you right where you are today. Let Him be the “God who sees you” today. Meet with Him.


Receive His Love,

Have you ever wanted something so bad that everyone around you knew you wanted it. Longed for it. Cried for it. And even still it was out of reach.


I love the story of Hannah in 1 Samuel 1 & 2. Hannah’s is a story of hope, a story of the trustworthiness of God. A story of endurance. A story of sacrifice and a story of renewal. 


Let’s get a little backstory…


Hannah was one of two of Elkanah’s wives. She had no children, while Peninnah (wife #2) had children. Back in that day, having children brought a sense of pride. It was what you did. It was who you were and for some, like Hannah, who you weren’t.


Throughout the chapter we hear about how much Hannah struggled. How much Hannah was belittled and the hurt that she felt for wanting something so badly and it being so far out of reach. So much so that it kept her up up night. It affected her sleep and eating habits. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that this struggle permeated every aspect of her life.


Have you ever heard the saying that “Prayer is the least that I can do”? Can I be honest? I hate that saying… Prayer is not the least we can do. It is the most we can do. Don’t get me wrong, there are usually action steps that we can and have to take. But why do we, why do I, too often exhaust all of our physical and natural options before simply taking it to God first?


In verse 9 of that same chapter Hannah stands up one night after dinner and prayed, wept, cried out to the Lord asking for a son and promising to submit him to a life dedicated to the service of Lord.


In this moment of desperation, Hannah went to God right where she was at. Not put together with pretty words and a calm demeanor. As a matter fact she was in such a state that Eli actually reprimanded her for being drunk. 


 “…I was pouring out my soul to the Lord…”


That’s what Hannah told Eli. She told him that she was not drunk, she was pouring out her soul to the Lord.


When Hannah told Eli what she was doing Eli then told her to “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of Him.” The Bible says that Hannah went away, ate something and her face was no longer downcast. 


I have to believe that Hannah went away believing that God saw her right where she was at. God heard her and she had hope.


At that point in time, Hannah’s situation hadn’t changed. There has only been one miraculous conception and her name didn’t start with Hannah. Even still, she went back home surrendering her heart to God and trusting that, at some point, God was going to fulfill her desire. The thing was, she had to be willing to give it to our Father even when it hurt, even when she didn’t understand. She needed to be willing to let Him show her His faithfulness.


If you read on you will find that Hannah went on to have a boy and she dedicated him to the Lord’s service. She gave up the very thing she desired most to give God the glory.


Lord, burn away the parts of me that don’t look like You, that my character can stand.


Hannah got her promise just like the prophet said she would. And just like she said she would she dedicated Samuel to the service of the Lord and the Lord blessed her. 


When Hannah went in to pour out her soul to the Lord she was not concerned with what people would say or what they would think. She surrendered all. She gave all. We can only do that once we have received an understanding of the character and nature of our loving Father.


I pray that today, wherever we are, whether we are on the mountain top or in the valley, we take time to pour out our soul to the Lord. I pray that we submit to God anytime we don’t understand. I pray that we build our endurance. I pray that we continuously choose to go to God when we are burdened and when we are blessed. I pray that we surrender to God’s promises easily and trustingly knowing that He’s working all things for the good of those who love Him. I pray that we better understand the character and nature of God and who we are to Him. 


Love you Sis,

Since we belong to the day, we must be clearheaded by placing the breast plate of faith and love over our hearts, and a helmet of the hope of salvation over our thoughts. 
1 Thessalonians 5:8


In the Aramaic it can be translated “be clearheaded in our vision as we are deployed on the battlefield for faithfulness and love, and set apart with the shield of the hope of everlasting life.”


The Lord has had me in 1 Thessalonians 5 for a good part of the new year as I pray and ask for my word for the year. And even though I do not have it yet I can not shake this nudge. I don’t quite understand the nudge fully the closest thing I can get to words are “remember/rejoice” and even those don’t fully resonate. 


"For God has not destined us for wrath but to possess salvation through our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One." 
1 Thessalonians 5:9



Do you realize that God chose you? You are not second best. You are not the last one to be picked at recess. YOU are the one He wants. And He is not waiting for you and I to fail. No, God is waiting for us to succeed. To fully step into all that He has blessed us with. To fully receive the fact that once we receive Jesus we are then adopted into His family as children, His children.


As I pray and meditate on what I am believing, striving, reaching for this coming year, I cannot help but look back at this past year. I had my fair share of trials and struggles and “seriously” moments through out the year. But the reality is those were not the highlights, the things I remembered first or even right away. 
Without being too “churchy” the main topic throughout the past year was “Wow, God”. 


If hindsight is 20/20 then I want to look back and remember. I want to be able to look back and see how my God made a way where there was no way. How God choose someone like me to show His incredible, overwhelming love. How God chose to restore relationships, mend heartache, heal sick, forgive, and mold, grow, and develop me and my family along the way through the good and the bad.


God is always good. He is never not good. And if we let Him, God will never waste a situation. He works ALL things for the good of those who love Him.


"…because of this, encourage the hearts of your fellow believers and support one another, just as you have already been doing."
1 Thessalonians 5:11



Our testimony, our life is supposed to be an encouragement to us and to those around us. Our lives are supposed to be a reflection of the Light, His Light. So we remember. We lean in and we share with others what He has done. And it bring encouragement to both us and them. It leads us into excited anticipation and expectation. 


God is NOT done with YOU yet! He wants more. He want to share with you more. In Ephesians it says that every spiritual blessings has already been lavished upon us as a love gift from the Father. There is so much more our Father has to offer. There is so much more He wants to do in and through you, His child.


"Let joy be your continual feast. Make your life a prayer. And in the midst of everything be always giving thanks, for this is God’s perfect plan for you in Christ Jesus."
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18



I want to look back and see that hindsight and rejoice seeing how God used every part. Even the really uncomfortable parts. Even the growing parts. I want to look back and see that...

"The One who calls you(me) by name is trustworthy and will thoroughly complete His work in you(me)."
1 Thessalonians 5:22
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I want to remember what He has done for me and rejoice for what He is and will do. And I want to invite Him to do just that. I want Him to help me look more like Jesus so that by the end of 2022 more people will see Him through me.


It’s not about me. It’s ALL about Him. 


Love Ya!
Alexandria

Awake my soul and sing
Sing His praise aloud
​Sing His praise aloud

As I sit here thinking about what to write that song Awake My Soul by Hillsong is playing in my head like a tune that won’t leave. So not knowing what else to do, I decided to do something a little different and set my words down and just worship to that song.

I love the words in it. “Where we hear praises He hears faith.” It’s the sound of our prayers and our praises that moves Him. It stirs the heart of our Father and “where stood a wall now stands away”.
When we are tired and exhausted physically, emotionally, mentally or spiritually we can turn and remember that our God still moves mountains. Our voice, our heart, our actions moves the heart of our God.

The same God who created the universe is moved by the sound of our voice.

Can we just let that sink in for a moment.

We all have amazingly crazy busy lives. Last week Lyndsay spoke about doing everything unto the Lord. Big or small focusing our efforts as a ministry to God. She spoke about how shifting her perspective and attitude towards God in all things and how it changed not only her, but the atmosphere in her home. WOW!

I have to admit that that is something I always strive for. A home where people can let their guards down. Where they can plop down on a seat and be overwhelmed with peace and comfort. Where the weight of their day just melts under the Presence of the Father and His grace. That is the kind of atmosphere I want to have in my home.

That kind of atmosphere doesn’t happen by accident. It is definitely not something that just happens. LOL If only. It takes us choosing to praise when we don’t feel like it. It takes us choosing faith over fear.

I strive for it, I don’t always have it. Sometimes I do get wrapped up in my to-do, family time, kids school and sports, and work. Sometimes I forget where my focus is supposed to be. Sometimes I can get so wrapped up in the daily life tasks that I exhaust myself to get them done. And let me tell you, when that happens there is not much peace in my home.

When that happens I find it very hard to “realign” myself with the right who and why. I’m tired and exhausted and I just don’t have anything left to give. But then, when I finally decide that I’ve had enough and I can’t do it anymore and there is nothing left to lose I praise.

Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me. Psalms 54:4

If you are feeling tired and weak, reach out to God. He is waiting to hear your voice. He is ready to move at the sound of your faith. Will you let Him?
*Awake My Soul Hillsong Worship CCLI 7134998

Today my husband and I celebrate 13 years of marriage. Wow. 13 years. I simply can not believe I am old enough to say that despite my oldest’s constant reminders of my “maturity” LOL. 

13 years of laughs, tears, struggles, victory, patience and perseverance. 13 years of career changes, ministry, moves, and family life. I look back on our life together and I smile. Don’t get me wrong, our life was and is not always rainbows and cinnamon rolls. We have had times where we felt like giving up. Where we felt like giving in. Yet we chose to stay. There are things that we have gone through that we would not wish on anyone, and even still we would not change a thing. 

Every step God has used. Every step God has redeemed. 

I’m a doer. It is very easy and sometimes even typical for me to fill up my (our) day with stuff to accomplish or do. Sometimes it’s as simple as getting chores done or our Goer (RV) ready, or taking the kids to a local fun center or jump place, going over to a friend or family members house.  My love language is acts of service so for me doing the “to-do list” is a way that I receive love, especially if we are doing it together.

But…

My husband and my children’s love languages are so far from accomplishing a “task” together that for them it leaves them exhausted, overworked and maybe even a little unloved at times. I cannot effectively show them love unless I begin speaking and acting in their love languages. 

Back a few years ago, my husband and I were in marriage counseling, (yes, that’s right, it is not a dirty word) and I have never forgotten the words our counselor told us. He asked each of us ‘How much do you love your spouse?’ Of course our automatic reply was ‘With all that I have, my whole heart.’ You know what he told us?!? “No, actually you don’t. You simply love them the most you know how.” 

(Insert mind-blown emoji) That simple statement brought with it so much hope and peace and assurance. I could love more and feel more loved? That was a thing? We had room to not only heal, but to grow even closer still? To know each other more intimately?

Can I let you in on a little secret? Spoiler alert: We could not have done it on our own. We had to make a conscious effort to each seek God in our individual lives and you know what happened? In seeking God we drew closer to each other. All these years later we have found that sometimes we need to slow down. Sometimes we need to stop doing the daily tasks and choose to see each other. More than just unload how our day was after dinner.

We have to ask the hard questions and seek the uncomfortable answers and allow each other the time to do just that.

Please don’t hear what I am not saying, I do not believe that all the familiar is a bad thing. Familiar can be amazing. My husband is my person and as such he knows me like nobody else. He sees my crazy. He sees my sorrow. He sees my joy. And I let him see it because I feel safe with him. And still there is always so much more for us. There is always a deeper level of intimacy to be had, whether with your spouse, your children, or your Heavenly Father. We just have to look for it and then be willing to receive it.

God built us for godly-relationships. We were made to be known, truly known. We were made in the image of a triune God. The same God who knew everyday of our lives before we were ever born. We were never meant to be alone. We don’t have to look very far in the Bible to find that out.

Regardless of where you are at in your walk in life today, whether you are a wife, a mother, a daughter and friend I pray that you take the time to invest. Invest in your relationship with God. Invest in your relationships with the people that God has placed in your life. 


Love you Sis! 

Alexandria


P.S.
Y’all pray for my husband, because under my nice put together face is probably the most obnoxious person you have ever met. 13 YEARS!!!

There were two runners in a race. Each runner was given the instructions of where to finish farther down the beach. The runners were informed that they would not be judged on how quickly they got to the finish line, but rather they would be judged on who’s line of footprints were the straightest from starting point to finish line. 


If you grew up in the mid-nineties to early 2000’s you are sure to have seen or heard this very illustration at some point and know how it ends. 


The starting gun shot goes off, runner one carefully takes a gentle step on to the sand with her left foot followed by a precise step of her right foot placed toe to heel making sure to be in alignment with her left foot. Then again, another step being careful to stay as straight as possible and continued down the beach to the finish line in the same fashion. Cautiously, placing one foot in front of the other painfully aware of how straight her footprints were going to be all the while determining her next step by the alignment of the previous steps, looking up occasionally and aiming for the finish line accordingly.


Runner number two, hears the starting gun shot and without hesitation looks up, locks eyes with her target, the finish line, and runs… 


At the end of the story we come to find out that the runner who carefully and precisely measured her steps ended up swerving and weaving all over the beach before she made it to the finish line. Her line looked more like a traveling snake than a line at all. She was so focused on the tiny steps she lost track of the big picture. She would lose sight of her final destination and instead measured her success from each individual step. 


But runner 2…
She was so focused on her destination, her finish line that her path was completely straight… 


Have you ever heard the phrase “If you aim for nowhere, nowhere is where you will go.”?


I love that illustration of the runners above. I believe that it brings so much clarity and hope to my soul when I remember it. I don’t know about you, but there are definitely times throughout my life I can look back (sometimes I don’t have to look very far, ha) where I may have been a little to focused on the “things” around me and not had my eyes so perfectly locked with Jesus. I allowed the busyness, chaos or just plain life around me distract me from the very things I knew God was wanting me to focus on. Those things were not inherently bad, sometimes those “things” were my family, my business, my volunteer hours or time spent at church, cleaning, cooking, kids activities, you name it. The problem wasn’t so much what I was doing, it was that I had allowed myself to drift my focus from where it should have been, over to the checklist of my to-dos.  I was too focused on those single steps in my life when I should have just lifted my eyes and stayed focused on my target, my Jesus. 


Have you ever known those people that even with all chaos, crazy schedules or even the unknown surrounding them, they are still at total peace? You know the ones I mean, they are genuinely at peace, not shaken or stirred easily. Maybe there has even been a time in your life where that was you. If that was ever you, I would like to invite you to look back and ask yourself, ‘Where was my focus?’ 


How many times do we get so wrapped up in making sure that those individual tasks are accomplished, correct and completed that we miss our mark and have to  back track and redirect ourselves?
​
How many times do we seek and ask God what He would like us to be doing, He gives us a direction and then off we go. Often times we get so focused on being a human doing instead of being a human being? Um, guilty…


You know the really amazing things about those two runners? They both still made it to the finish line. They both ended up where they were supposed to be. There was no shame in the first runner having to realign to make it to the end. They did it. 


That is the amazing thing about God our Father is He is always ready to help us realign when we look up. In fact, I believe He is calling out, trying to get us to look up to help us to know to realign ourselves. There is no shame. No guilt. Just love.


Is there something you need to look up from today? Do you feel the Father trying to get you attention today? Look up sis. Keep going. You can trust Him. Look up.


Love you!


Alexandria

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You know how sometimes you just can’t. We just can’t do anything right. We miss appointments. We miss communication. We forget to do something. Maybe it is because recent our life has been upside down and turned around. Maybe we have over committed. Maybe things have changed completely and totally out of our control. Either way at some point, I think most of us can relate to this on some level. 


If and/or when it happens in my life, I find it is really easy for me as woman to slip into the mindset of disappointment. It can make us feel like we are not enough, like we will never be enough. Like we have somehow failed and all of a sudden all of our accomplishments, all of our truth, all of how God sees us goes right out the window.


Why do we do that to ourselves? Why do we so easily let the enemy come in with lies and make room for them while we lock our God given truths of who we are away? And we begin to allow our losses, our pain, our struggles to dictate where we are, how we act, and what we do. It seems that God is far and out of reach. 


1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says,
"Rejoice Always
Pray Continually
Give Thanks In All Circumstances"


At our church for the last year or so we have been very intentional about one thing.
Everything is done in proximity. Abiding. Presence. Abiding in and with the Father, Jesus and Holy Spirit.


You see everything good in the Kingdom comes from proximity. It comes from being close to the Father. Not from good works, not even god-works (Matthew 7:21-23). It comes from nearness to the God who adopted us when we received Him. The more we are with the Father, the more fully we know we are the daughter, His daughter. We are not slaves; we are children. Let that sink in…


We are His daughters. He is our Father. We have been completely and totally adopted into His family when we accept Jesus.


But those who embrace Him and took hold of His name He gave authority to become the children of God!- John 1:12(TPT)




I love the phrasing here. Can we sit on that for a moment…


…those who embrace Him…took hold of His name…




Embrace can only happen within proximity. We can only embrace someone if we are close to them. Close enough to hold. How often am I that close to God?


So close that I can hear His heart beat. So close that I begin to look like Him.


(Have you ever seen those photos when people look like their pets?LOL) 


I want to look more and more like my Daddy. The one who breathed out the stars. The one who created me in wonder. Who knows every strand on my head. So I have to get close. I have to lean in. I have be so full of God, so close that it leaves no room for the lies of the enemy. 


I am blessed and surrounded by amazing women in my church and my tribe. Women who speak their relationship with the Father not with their words, but by their actions. I am surrounded by women that I get to witness come closer and closer to the Father with every passing day. 


I have a tribe of women around me that regardless of what is going on in their lives they are actively pursuing the Father. They have tasted what it is to be a daughter of the King and they are shaking off the lies and titles that they have had placed on their lives by themselves and others around them. 


These amazing women are not afraid to shed the I am “highly blessed and favored” in the public and just be real. Just be open and honest about where they are in that moment. 


These woman have had hurts, been hurt, done the hurting, and with everyday they release more of that hurt and loss and receive more of the Father’s truth about who they are. These women are real with where they are at. They do not fear it. They do not dwell in it. Instead they walk it to the cross and lay it down. 


We will never be able to receive what God has for us if we are not first willing to lay down our hurts, our losses, our struggles, and open our arms to our Good Good Father. 


Embrace Him. He WILL embrace you! And I will promise you that it will be better than you could ever imagine. 


In Matthew 7:11 it says, 
"If you, imperfect as you are, know how to lovingly take care of your children and give them what’s best, how much more ready is your heavenly Father to give wonderful gifts to those who ask him?”


I was amazingly blessed growing up with a step-father who loved me as his own. He was and is an incredible role-model who gave and showed me love and still does to this day everyday. He raised me in such a way that Matthew 7:11 is not hard for me to believe, but instead quite easy. I can trust that Jesus meant what He said. That Father God is a Good loving Father.


I understand that not everyone has had that same childhood… but sis… please take that chance… 


Give Father a chance to right the wrongs and breathe life and love into your world. To restore what the enemy has taken. 


Embrace Him and let Him embrace you. 


Who told you ‘you were not enough’? 
The Father says “YOU, you daughter have always been enough for Me.”


He just wants us. He just wants you.


Beautiful daughter, give Him a chance. It may not be what you think it should or look how you think it would, but give it to Him and He WILL make something good for you. Come close. Draw near. Abide. Embrace.


Love you!


Alexandria
​

Have you ever felt stuck? Not really sure where you are going or what you are supposed to be doing? Maybe, you have a vision of the end point or have a particular goal in mind. I did. I had been given the vision. This incredibly, scary, intimidating, only God-capable, impossible on my own vision. 


I see this incredible end point that is so strong and real it is almost tangible. At any given moment I could reach out and grab it. It is both exciting and terrifying at the same time. Anytime I think about it, there is an energy and excitement deep in my spirit like I have never felt before. When I think about it, everything in me says YES! This is it! This is what I was made for! 


And at the same time with every passing month, year, season it is almost as if my shoulders slouch farther and farther toward the ground as if carrying a heavy weight. The weight of this dream seeming harder and harder and further and further to reach. Instead of me coming closer to the goal, the goal is moving father and farther away from where I am. “I cannot do this, what am I thinking.” “There is no way.” “Some dreams aren’t meant to come true.” “Who do you think you are?”


And it was with that last lie of the enemy that I snap out of all of it. 


I know who I am. I am who I AM says that I am. 
I am treasured. 
I am His vessel. 


I am His child.


I had a pretty spectacular role model when it comes to displaying the love of the Father. I always knew in my knower that I was loved unconditionally by my father. I think that is one of the reasons why I am able to believe scripture so easily when it says,


If you, imperfect as you are, know how to lovingly take care of your children and give them what’s best, how much more ready is your heavenly Father to give wonderful gifts to those who ask Him?”
                                    Matthew 7:11[TPT]


I know my Father’s heart. I know He is waiting for me to succeed not to fail. I know that if the vision, dream, goal, achievement that I am seeing or looking for was given by Him, He will make a way, and I absolutely have a part to play in making that a reality. 


Ok. Now we have come full circle. Let’s catch up. I (we) have a goal, dream, vision (fill in your blank here). We doubt and listen to the enemies lies. We snap back out of it, realizing that NOTHING is impossible for God and when we ask in His will He does not hold back.


But How?


I think that we as women are really good at talking our way around things sometimes. “I can’t do that now because I have to much to do already.” “I will work on this when things slow down.” “I will start when I find THE one.” “I will get active about this when the kids are in school.” “No, when they're out of school and living on their own.”…


Have you ever been guilty of procrastination? I have. 


I have these really wonderful ladies in my life, let’s call them God-Mother, they mentor me and speak to any and every part of my life in a very real way. Recently I was asked about my dream, my plans for the future and what it looked like, sounded like and felt like.
After digging for a very short while we came to realize that even though this plan was believed to be so tangible, I really had no idea what it was… or even how to figure it out.


And then…


The flood-gates opened. 


Ever hear that saying “If your aiming for nowhere, nowhere is where you will end up.”?

Well I’m not going nowhere any more.


Want to know how I got unstuck? Want to know if it will help you? (Yes, it can and will)


I asked questions. First, I asked those kind-hearted, truth spewing God-Mothers of mine. 
I am both embarrassed and thankful for my first question, you ready for it?


“What are the questions I should be asking?”


I think I shocked one of my Mothers when I asked that question. It was honest though. I didn’t even have a starting point. I felt overwhelmed and somehow just expected that one day God would drop this crazy dream into a reality and it would simply be placed in my lap, no work necessary on my part to receive it. Ok. Ok. I knew that that was not a reality, and still that is how I treated this incredible dream.


As humans we have been trained for so long to show, or speak what we know out of pride that I believe some of us (many of us) have lost the art of the question. We get so caught up in making sure that people know that we are smart and sensitive and kind and strong that it becomes so easy for us to lose sight of what really matters. I have some loving ladies in my tribe though and we have begun helping each other to re-train our minds to dig deeper with questions.


So that’s where I started… 


We came up with a list of questions that I would later go home with and sit down with Holy Spirit and do some frame work and vision casting.


I sat down, ready with paper and pen and prayed and read and asked God to open my eyes and ears and heart to what He was trying to speak to me. As I imagined I wrote everything down. And IT WAS AMAZING! He actually showed up!


My paper started like this…


Write down what you see?




Who’s the audience?




What would a typical day look like?




What would the audience output be?




What is one active step I can take right now?


My paper ended covered in notes. All because of those starter questions. Some of those questions are a little more pointed toward my dream, but they helped me to find a new starting point. Before I was stuck. Paralyzed by what I expected to happen. I keep hearing in my head the phrase from Big Hero 6, “Look for a new angle.” In the movie the young heroes are literally stuck, about to lose and someone yells out “Look for a new angle!” and their mindsets change. They are able to pause for a moment, ask a question of themselves, and shift their thinking and get out of their trouble and later defeat the villain. 


Sometimes all we need is a new perspective. If you're stuck this morning, in any area of your life, I would just like to invite you to sit with your Father God, who always wants to give you good gifts and ask Him questions. AND, expect answers. Did you know that He actually wants to talk to you? That’s why He sent His Son after all. 


Maybe you have a dream that is not quite reachable on your own. Or maybe you have no idea and you are stuck thinking this is as good as it gets. 


Sit down. Ask Father God “What do You see for me?”


It doesn’t matter what you ask. There are no wrong questions when you talk with the one who loves you most. He is not looking for you to have all the answers. He is just looking for you to come. He is looking for you to just ask. He wants to talk with you today.


Love you sis,


Alexandria