Simply Redeemed

1Thes 2:8 We loved you so much we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our own lives as well, because you had become so dear to us. I believe the Lord has done remarkable things in my life in order that I may share it with others for His glory...so here we go. The Lord's providence has been all over my whole life. And I mean my WHOLE life...but I'll start at age 8. When I was 8, my aunt and uncle so lovingly blessed me by sending me to Kanakuk a Christian athletic camp. That was the summer I first heard the Gospel. This was the same summer my two year old brother passed away. Divine providence one, I heard the Gospel, the promise that this life is not the end just a week or so before my precious brother went to be with the Lord. Thank the  Lord I had those promises to hold tight to in that dark time. The summer between 6th and 7th grade, my aunt and uncle again, obedient to the Lord's calling to love and pursue me offered to send me to a pri...

Something that is obvious to those who know me well...and let's be real, to those who don't...I am an emotional roller-coaster. I am EXTREMELY sensitive,moody and get irritated far too easily, as in I cry AT LEAST once a week, whether it be cause I am too happy, sad or stressed. If I'm not between like a 4 and 8 on the emotional scale, I'll probably cry at some point that day. The Lord has been revealing to me more and more this semester how I SO EASILY let my emotions and heart issues get the best of me, leading me to be dramatic and irrational. But once again I have to say "THANK YOU DADDY FOR YOUR GRACE!!!" In my quiet time I read through some of the Pslams and read about how John Calvin (who a lot of my friends speak of a lot yet I know little about) calls the Pslams the anatomy of the soul. They show the highs and lows - the entire human experience of joy, pain, victory and suffering and throughout it all, how God is sovereign over and loving to both...

GRACE <3 God's grace amazes me. I know this is a statement used all the time but FOR REAL ! Everyday He extends His grace to us.  Everyday although we chose to use our bodies for instruments of sin, our bodies are the very place where He allows and WANTS His spirit to reside. You know what else makes me stand in awe? The fact that because His spirit is living and active in those who have trusted in Him, we can extend grace to others and receive grace from others. I have experienced this semester more than ever the coming together in community with other believers and extending and receiving grace. You would think coming to someone and sharing the most shameful things about tour life would be awful and discouraging and leave you feeling embarrassed. But because of grace, it has the opposite effect. It feels like their is a weight lifted off your heart and you can feel Jesus literally sitting there with you and the brothers and sisters in Christ you have come to. It ...

So.... HUGE STRUGGLE. Jealousy. It's not a pretty thing. It consumes your thoughts, heart, emotions, self-esteem and worst of all puts hatred in your hear for others...especially the ones you are closest to. Now my first encounter with this disgusting sin that I can remember and took its toll on all the above was in high-school within my youth group. It involved a girl who I considered a dear friend. She IS pretty, talented, loving and many people look up to her and want to be around her. Instead of seeing all the Lord gifted me with, I was too busy looking and wanting to be her. Needless to say the relationship was broken by ugliness and hate and years of friendship were lost. The struggle did not end with the friendship. The jealousy continued and so did the hatred in my heart. For years, there was no forgiveness, just bitterness. Here years after, I am much more confident in who I am. But that silly little sin still has a grip on me. I look around at my dearest friends a...

I have always struggled when it comes to guys. I sadly am one of those girls who has always felt like she needed to have a guy telling her her worth to really feel that she is anything.  Thinking back, I cannot remember a time I did not have some form of guy there for me, if I was technically single, I still had a few guys on the side I strung along to make myself feel good...and sadly I hurt a lot of them. For this I am still ashamed and hope they have forgiven me. Anyways, that's the back story in a nutshell to what the Lord is revealing to me now. The serious relationship I was in before the one I'm in now (the one I can actually count as a legit relationship) was NOT glorifying to the Lord. I'm going to be super honest and real in the next few sentences...although he and I never slept together, there were many things in our relationship that were meant to only be experienced within the marriage relationship. We were FAR to emotionally involved and in many ways ac...

My heart has been breaking recently. No matter how optimistic I try to remain there is no escaping the fact that the enemy will be daily attacking us. Because of this fact I know we must constantly be on guard of his schemes and be prepared to defend and ready for war. I have been becoming more and more aware of how real spiritual warfare is. My heart breaks and I cry out to the Lord to fight for my friends and family who have fallen into the hands of then enemy, for the precious souls of the children at my church’s youth night who have all odds against them. So many times I wish and even try to fight the battle for them and then realize I’m struggling enough to fight my own battles the enemy has snuck into my life. Maybe we allow defeat to overtake us too soon. Many times I feel knocked down, off track and confused by the things life throws my way, but I wouldn't call it defeated. I think defeat is when you choose to stay in that position of confusion and hurt. If you fall and st...

Written December 4, 2011 My heart literally hurts tonight. It is shattered. Broken for my loved ones.I see many people I care for so deeply hurting and lost, and I can literally feel the pain inside my heart. One part of me wants to yell at them telling them how selfish and stupid they are...but that is only because I know that hurt they are feeling or are going to feel because of their actions all too well and I would NEVER want them to have to feel that pain.I have felt the pain of death. I have felt distance and numbness from God. I have felt shame for my sins. I am FAR from perfect. I have and still do struggle with pride, selfishness, lust, jealousy, hypocrisy, fear...and probably many other things...I have been blinded from truth and have believed the lies of the enemy, but The loving Father has divinely saved me out of my death and failure, and blessed me with friends who hold me accountable. I have now seen that all these things lead to death and destructio...