I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33

Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD.
Psalm 31:24

Be strong and take heart, and have no fear of them: for it is the Lord your God who is going with you; he will not take away his help from you.
Deuteronomy 31:6

Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.
Psalm 27:14

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.
2 Corinthians 4:16


Take Heart.

It's one of my favorite phrases in the Bible, but sometimes I have struggled to understand it. What does it really mean? How can I lay hold of something that feels far away at times? What does taking heart practically look like? And still, I have been desperate to take heart in times of trouble, pain, or confusion.

​The Lord has been bringing my attention to this phrase again and again over the past week or so. I've had conversations with friends who are grasping for answers or searching for hope and while we are talking, I hear the voice of the Lord whisper to my own heart, "Take heart." I feel courage well up in me as Lucy did when Aslan whispered to her, "Courage, dear heart," in Voyage of the Dawn Treader (The Chronicles of Narnia). Their ship is heading into the dark, deep, misty clouds and the whole crew is filled with fear. That is when Lucy smells the fragrance of Aslan's breath and hears him whisper, "Courage, dear heart." She can't see him, but she knows his scent and his voice. She knows he is near. 

In order to smell the sweetness of someone's breath, we have to be incredibly close. To hear a whisper, we have to almost feel the whisperer's lips brush against our own ear. As I write this, I keep thinking, "Am I that close to the Lord? In my own times of trouble and fear, am I close enough to be aware of the presence of the Lord? To hear his quiet whisper? To feel his breath on my skin? To smell the fragrance of God?" 

Keep that in mind as we dive into "take heart" throughout the Bible.

What does it take to "take heart"? How do we quit waiting for courage to come upon us and instead reach out and take hold of courage? Take hold of heart?

In order to take heart, to not lose heart, we have to stay soft towards the Lord. We have to keep fighting. We have to be interested, enthusiastic, and concerned about the things of God and the Lord himself. 

When we let heartache, pain, anger, frustration, discouragement, or even busyness surround us and begin to drown out the voice of God,   dampen our zeal for him or even crush us under its weight, we can become apathetic. It’s easier to numb ourselves, isn't it? It is so much easier to quit hoping, then we won’t be so disappointed when it doesn’t work out. It's easier to become disinterested because then we can’t be discouraged. It's easier to lose our enthusiasm so we don’t look foolish when things fall apart. It's easier to lose our concern, to quit caring so much, to stop paying attention to what God is saying or calling us to so it doesn’t hurt when it’s so hard. Maybe we even quit caring for His bride, the Church, or the people of God so they can’t harm us.


But sweet friends, notice in these passages, along with “take heart” He says that trouble will come, but in HIM we have peace. It doesn't say in the world we have peace. It's not in things going our way, nor in everything working out the way we plan or hope. We can have peace when our marriage is falling apart, when we are experiencing financial ruin, when our health is failing, and when our children lose their way. We have peace when we find ourselves IN the Lord Jesus. He is the Prince of Peace. We don’t need our life’s circumstances to be peaceful in order to experience the peace that surpasses all understanding. His peace will guard our hearts and minds. His peace will make us whole. His peace will protect us. 


It also says to wait for the Lord. The waiting is the hardest part for me. It has been hard my whole life; waiting for my first kiss, waiting for my college acceptance letter, waiting for a proposal, waiting to get pregnant, waiting for opportunities to come knocking, waiting for God to move me to the next thing, waiting for stability, waiting for new friendships to be forged, waiting for healing, waiting, waiting, waiting. And I haven’t always waited with patience. I often remind my children that patience is “waiting without whining.” That is something I have to remind myself too. The Lord wants to develop patience in me through my long-suffering. He doesn't want me to just learn to suffer for extended periods of time, but He wants me to learn to wait for the Lord to do what he has promised to do - without complaining or whining because he isn’t moving at my preferred speed or in my preferred fashion.

Part of taking heart is waiting for the Lord - expecting him to come through - and when I have that sincere expectation and the real, true belief down in my bones that he will come through in his perfect timing, I can wait without whining. 


The last thing I want to touch on is the phrase “all you who hope in the LORD” in Psalm 31. It can be so easy to lose hope - a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen. I had a friend say something to me the other day that hit home for me, “I’m afraid to hope.” Have you ever felt afraid to hope for something? Afraid to hope that a problem would meet the solution. Afraid to hope that things would work out for the best? Afraid to hope that someone in your life would come to their senses?

Afraid to hope for a miracle? 

Hoping for those things is scary - and rightly so. Those things will always fail us. People fail us. Problems may go away for a time, but new ones crop up. Things don’t always work out the way we want them to. Some people never come to their senses. Sometimes God says no to the miracle we are praying for. Does that mean we should shy away from hope? 

It means we need to stop putting our hope in what God can do and start putting our hope solely in God. We don’t need answers. We don’t need solutions. We don’t need miracles. We need the presence of God. Oftentimes those answers, solutions, and miracles come along with His presence, but even if He doesn’t bring those with Him, His very nearness is enough, sweet friend. His very nearness is enough.

Being near to God, we can have peace when everything fails. We can have comfort when our life is so disturbed. We can rest in Him when we are surrounded by chaos. His presence is all we truly need.

HE is our light in the dark. HE is our comfort in pain. HE is our peace in the storm. HE is our friend when we are alone. HE is trustworthy when we are betrayed. HE is near when others are far. HE is everything when we have nothing. HE is our fill when we are so empty. HE is our life when we are close to death. HE is our hope when we are facing  despair.


We put our hope in the Lord.
    He is our help and our shield.
In him our hearts rejoice,
    for we trust in his holy name.
Let your unfailing love surround us, Lord,
    for our hope is in you alone.
Psalm 33: 20 - 22


He is enough. 


So courage, dear heart. Don’t lose heart, sweet friend. Grab it with both arms around the waist and hang on for dear life. Don’t let hope slip away. Take heart! He has overcome what you are facing. And there is grace enough for you and what you are facing today. You can be filled with HOPE that his very presence is enough to see you through. 


Remind yourself: When I am facing fear and trouble, pull in close enough to the Lord to hear his whisper, feel his lips brush against my ear, and smell the fragrance of his breath. 

Take heart, dear heart.


I wrote a song years ago that has been ringing in my mind and heart for a few days now. I wrote this song when I was going through a bipolar episode and was struggling to hang on. I was struggling to trust God to see me through. I was struggling with a will to keep living. It was a terrible time in my life and I really don’t like to go back there in my mind, but I think the Lord is bringing me back there - not to revisit past pain and sin - but to offer hope and maybe even an anthem to those suffering right now… If his presence is enough for me, it is enough for you.



    This valley that’s in front of me
    Feels so dark and lonely
    Open up my eyes to see
    Just where you’re leading

    And Even if you don’t
    Even if your answer is no
    In your grace I’ll boast
    And I will ever trust you

    When I’m looking for answer
    And when I’m grasping in the dark
    When the truth is all I’m after
    Please speak to my heart 

    And Even if you don’t
    Even if your answer is no
    In your grace I’ll boast
    And I will ever trust you

    ‘Cause in the darkest night you’re bursting forth with light
    Your hand of rescue comes we will ever trust you
    Your voice breaks through the cloud
    Your love comes crashing down
    Our hearts are bursting now we will ever trust you


I'm praying for you today, sweet sister, that whatever you're facing, you would be so buried in the Lord that you hear his whisper, feel his lips brush against your ears, and smell the fragrance of his breath surrounding you. That you could face your fear and trouble filled with hope in the Lord alone and peace that only comes when we are IN Christ Jesus. It would be such an honor to pray for you specifically. Feel free to email me @ prettyandwiseco@gmail.com or send a message to us on our Instagram or FB page.

I'm 're-entering' my home life after a beautiful, intense and time-warp of a trip. I just spent four days in the mountains attending the Deepening Weekend (Zoweh - the Deepening Weekend) and it somehow feels like so much more time has passed by. My friends and I joked with one another that it was like entering into Narnia. Like we all just slipped into Narnia together and went on an epic, magnificent, life-altering adventure with Aslan and with all of his kingdom's hosts. And it's like we just encountered Aslan and he touched parts in us we didn't know were there and he gave us names we didn't know we bear. It's like we grew old, crowned with new names and new hearts, riding through the woods with winds whipping through our hair and laughter ringing out and... oh, what is this? 

We felt our way back into the wardrobe and tumbled onto the floor in an empty room from whence we came. A lifetime had passed but back home it had been but a few moments. Had it really happened?

It's disorienting but, truly, we are oriented. We are back in this old life, in our old homes, but with the knowledge of more. No, with a sweet taste of what is and what is to come. The larger story. 

This weekend, God came for the hearts of His daughters. And I wonder: how is your heart?

Maybe your heart is overwhelmed. Tired. Burdened. Aching. Broken. 

Maybe your heart has endured so much that it is almost unfeeling. Numb. Apathetic. 

My heart condition was like plexi-glass. You know, those barriers in stores between shoppers and cashiers? Yeah. That was the state of my heart, the image I saw in my prayer time. It stung, but I knew it was true. 

I've been praying. Crying out to the Lord. Because in the last year and especially in recent months, this barrier has been something that became undeniable. I wanted to bring people in but it felt impossible. I froze. Shut down. Pushed away. You can see me. I'll let you see me. But I am in control and you may only see me to the level I allow before you hit my wall. I am guarded. This is for my protection and, unfortunately, often detrimental for others. 

This condition of my heart has had consequences. Out of the overflow of the heart, right? There have been so many things I have been repenting of, surrendering, desperately crying out for. I often would ask God, "Why? Why can't I ______? What is wrong with me?" 

Daughter, let Me show you how you have been wronged. How your young heart has been assaulted and misused and how you have learned to cope and defend. 

Heart work is hard work. 

There are parts of us we would rather keep packed away. There are wounds we carry that we fear will break us if we dare touch them. 

Maybe it's time to break. Break open like a dam. 

I know, beloved. I know the risk. I know the excruciating pain of entering into brokenness. It goes against every instinct. Willingly walk into my deepest, darkest hurts? I literally live my life in a way that is crafted to avoid that very thing. 

That's withholding. That right there is a big ol' plexiglass barrier to abundance. Intimacy. That, friend, is not living. That's a dead (wo)man walking. That right there is a prisoner. 

Our hearts need a Surgeon. 

Who better to give our bleeding hearts to than a Perfect and Loving Father? 

What I am always surprised to find (and WHY?) is that my Abba actually knows me better than I know myself. It's like He was there in all of the trauma I experienced. Those memories I repressed? That abuse I stuff back down whenever it threatens to rise up? He knows it. He knows it is like poison within me. It becomes poison to the people around me. The people I love and whom I'm trying to love well. My love is hindered; both ability to give and to receive. 

How can we love the Lord with all our HEARTS, souls, strength and minds, and then love our neighbors as ourselves, if we are withholding our whole hearts from the God of love? From the One who IS Love and the One who loves us with an everlasting love and the One who renders us able to love because He first loved us?

Invite Him in to perform heart surgery, dear one. It is guaranteed to hurt. I wish I didn't have to tell you this. It will require a risk and a courage that goes against every fiber of your being. Your flesh may scream at you, your heart may very well feel as if it will shatter. And it may, in some way or another. But the other guarantee is that your surgery will save your life. It will recover and revive your heart. 

It will be worth it. Making room for more of God in our hearts always is. 

I did this. Again. The hurt that God entered into this weekend blindsided me. It was another layer of healing that I didn't realize I needed. My Father knew and still, there was a very real part of me that wanted to run. No, no. Not this. Not more pain. My heart cannot take it. Please don't make me. 

Beloved, of course you don't have to. But you have a choice to make. And He is always gentle and always kind and always inviting. I say I was blindsided but I realized even that was not true. My Father has been preparing my heart for this for months. And He is trustworthy (trusted and worthy) to enter into the very heart He created. 

So I entered into the heart work, the holy work, and found there were big, heavy, nails, large enough to fasten not only my sin, but the sin of others towards me, on the cross. 

Wow, Jesus. What a Savior. What a great, unfathomable, impossibly good Love. 

There is a part of me that is sitting in a great room where the wardrobe, the portal to Narnia, stands. And if I'm being honest, there is a part of me that wonders if anything in my heart has truly changed. Was it worth the suffering? The vulnerability? The exposure? 

Is my heart truly transformed? Did this really happen? 

Outside my window is a clue, pointing to truth. In a few short days (back home where everything appears to have remained the same, remember?), spring has sprung. New life has actually BURST forth. When I left, the trees were still bare, the flower buds shut tight. And I wondered if spring would ever come. 

This morning, I woke up to find... an exuberance. A flourishing. New life. 

And I know that this has really happened. It is true. Because in the Kingdom, even the dead things give way to Life. ​

I am very excited to share with you the heart of a woman I have known for several years. Her name is Julie. Not only is she a sweet friend and Christian sister, but she is a small business owner and an amazing artist! Here at Pretty & Wise, one of the many things we want to do is champion women in what God has put on their heart. Each one of us has a mission or calling that we can use to glorify Him. I interviewed Julie so we could share with you Julie’s story and her Godly heart behind her business. 

For those who might not know, what does LittleJul offer? 
​
Little Jul began as a handmade leather handbag business.  I approach almost all my work as an artist doing one-of-a-kind pieces.  And I’m so excited to be introducing a new collection of handbag products to my customers!  I will share more about that below! 

If you visit www.littlejul.com you will find some finished leather products for sale including handbags, jewelry and some hair accessories. I really enjoy doing vendor events as well and offering products of greater variety in person.  Another portion of my business is various custom orders.  Sometimes I remake a bag someone has really loved and worn out or make something in a favorite color such as a custom tote or  clutch.  It's also a lot of fun just to make specialized gifts and even repair sentimental pieces.

What is the inspiration behind LittleJul? 
          
Little Jul is a product of all of my artistic and creative experience.  I learned to sew and did a lot of arts and crafts from a young age with my mom. I studied art in college which is when the business name was born and when I first tried to sell a couple little sewn handbags in a store on consignment.  Working with leather came more recently after my babies got a little bigger and a little more independent.  When I found some time to get lost in the creative process in my home, between household chores and keeping children alive I felt so engaged and enlivened by the work.  I just wanted to sell pieces so I could keep making and learning.  The name is a simple nod to making a little something of value with my hands.  I want there to be true little jewels among my works – pieces that bring light and joy and value to others. 

How has your vision for LittleJul changed recently?
     
Little Jul began with just enjoyment of learning how to make leather handbags.  I loved creating designs and the puzzle of construction and would really become engrossed in it.  But during that learning time I also was dissatisfied and without vision wondering how this work of my hands could be of use to God. 

Two years in (little profit- no paycheck) I realized I had to make something more of this or be satisfied with a hobby business.  I had zero contentment about the latter option.  So I started pressing into prayer about Little Jul.  

Sure enough, God gave me some simple and clear inspiration and direction in my Bible reading time.  Just as God told Moses, His words would be enough, I felt God’s calling to share His Words because they are always enough.  No sermon, no explanation needed.  Just share His Word right there on handbags.  I realized I could stop doubting myself as an artist if I just focused on Him and not me.  Because God’s word is more than enough. 

God gave me a measure of talent and a desire to create.  And I have a unique ability to bring God’s word to a niche of women who love His word too and want to share it in a simple way.  Many of us don’t know where to start or how to share our faith in our everyday life.  I believe the pieces in my new collection will start some conversations with other women - women standing at a store register with you or at a soccer game – women either like minded, needing encouragement or seeking.  And who knows how God will work from those little moments and little seeds of truth.

How do you see your business growing your heart for God? 
     
My work is now becoming my offering and I’m excited to see how God will multiply it!  I feel so excited about my work this year and I’m motivated to share it with the world in a way I didn’t feel before.  Fear has kept me small for a long time.  As an artist, I’ve always felt incapable and inferior.  But now whenever I feel insecurity knocking, I can remember that when I am following God – walking with God, I have no reason to give those fears power over me.  With Him, there is no failure.  Struggle- yes.  Learning and pruning – yes.  But failure- no.  I'm learning to have and chase dreams with Him.  And I'm learning to step forward in faith and belief in God's promises. 

How can your business help others grow toward God?
 
My first collection focuses on God’s promises and releases April 2nd.  Just as God kept promises to Moses and many others in scripture, God keeps His promises today.  And there are so many rich promises in the Bible! I poured over choosing verses that show hope and encouragement and speak of God’s promises to us. Some of my very favorite verses are in this collection!  And I hope someday to hear about how these verses on purses made a difference in someone’s life!
 
 
What do you see next for LittleJul?

I am just open to God’s plans and timing for Little Jul whatever that may look like.  But I am very curious to see what God wants to do with this collection launch.  I would love for this idea of custom painted handbags with scripture to be a large part of my business going forward because I feel like I am pursuing the Great Commission.  I don’t want to live small and quiet.  I don’t want to hide the light Jesus gave me under a basket.  I want to share Him unapologetically.  


I hope that you enjoyed reading about the heart behind LittleJul. As Christian women there are always going to be moments when we feel resistance about moving forward with what God has placed before us. We hit struggles we didn’t see coming, moments of apathy, heartache, and sometimes more serious things like illness. Julie is a great example of overcoming those things and trusting in God’s promises. 

Julie’s new collection launched on April 2nd and is full of beautiful hand made items. Please take a moment to go over and admire (and purchase!) some of her work at www.littlejul.com . In support of the launch of this new line LittleJul has partnered with us for a giveaway as well! We will be giving away this hand painted, handmade beauty:

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