What Guides You?

What guides me through life?

That's a question that could be answered a million different ways.  I have certainly used experience to help me determine a course of action.  I regularly seek the advice of family and friends.  I have even allowed social media (or the media in general) to influence my feelings.

While some of these options are certainly better than the latter, my best and most reliable option for guidance is the Word of God.  

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

               Psalms 119:105

The world can be a dark and dangerous place, but the word of God is our light.  The Bible is our compass, meant to guide our steps and teach us how to walk as Christians. 

2 Timothy 3:16-17 says,

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Let's be guided by the light. 

Crafty details:

I started this page by blending some Distress Oxide inks on the page, being sure to leave a light area where my lantern was going to hang.  I stamped the beautiful lantern from the new Shine Your Light set and painted it with Tarnished Brass Distress paint.  I painted the tree using Distress paint and stamp the leaves with several shades of brown oxide inks.  The leaves, flowers and grasses are all from the Nature Silhouettes set.   I stamped my title with words from the Shine Your Light and Way Maker sets.  I added some paint splatters to finish off the page.

Until next time, catch up with me on Instagram and Facebook @simplyjillsjourney.

Jill

 

 

 

Put on the Full Armor

No matter where you stand on the events of our world right now, one thing is certain: there is so much more going on in the spiritual realm than we could even begin to imagine. The battles that we face day in and day out on this earth are all part of a bigger, spiritual battle that we can’t see. Now, more than ever, Christians need to be on guard, dressed and ready to fight. Ephesians 6:12-13 reminds us, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.

Today I want to take a look at the armor of God and what that means for us today. All of this is taken from Priscilla Shirer’s study, The Armor of God if you want to go check it out (note: this study was so rich. She spent an entire week on each of the pieces of armor. Below is only a teensy snippet of what you will find in her study.)

The Belt of Truth

“Truth—which we could basically define as God’s opinion on any matter is our standard. Truth is who God is and what He says it is, which is best summed up for us within the person of Jesus Christ. God’s truth. Biblical truth. Without concrete allegiance to and affirmation with this truth –with real truth—you’re left weak and susceptible to things that may look right yet aren’t right. But with the standard of truth in place, you can adjust everything else in your life—your ambitions, choices, and feelings; you mind, will, and emotions—until all of it is “tuned” correctly. When you have a strong, stable, well-supported core, you can’t easily be led astray by the enemy’s clever lies. Gird yourself with truth and you’re on guard from the word go.”

The Breastplate of Righteousness

“Righteousness literally means justice—the quality of being upright, fulfilling the expectations set in a relationship. In our case as believers, this relationship is with God Himself. Righteousness, then, is upright living that aligns with God’s expectations….Wearing the belt of truth, putting on the shoes and the helmet, using the shield or sword- they’ll do you no good if you leave your heart open to a full frontal attack by the devil. You must intentionally protect the organ that pumps vibrancy into your spiritual life. So pray fervently. Seek God fully. Ask Him to reveal anything “spoiled” in your life that’s attracting the pesky fruit flies of demonic activity. Then confess it and repent of it, defusing the accusations of the enemy.”

The Shoes of Peace

“Of all the things the enemy seeks to steal, kill and destroy in your life, peace is almost always near the top of his list. He intentionally stirs up discord, division, disruption, and disturbance, both within you and around you. He is the lord of chaos and confusion, using every opportunity to upset your sense of wellbeing and stability. He wants you uneasy, unbalanced, filled with anxiety, worry and turmoil. Lacking peace….any time you feel worry or anxiety creeping into your heart, take it as your cue to turn your attention to God. Pray. Trust Him. Be grateful. And watch His peace—a peace you cannot even begin to explain—swell in your experience…When God sees this type of prayerful, grateful faith, when our mind is squared on Him, the peace of God expands within us. It stabilizes our runaway emotions, centers our minds, guides our footsteps and even overflows into our experience with others…”

The Shield of Faith

“Simply put, faith is acting like God is telling the truth…It is the process of adapting your behavior, your decisions, and ultimately your whole lifestyle so that it accords with what God has asked you to do—without needing to see the evidence that it will all work out in the end…Faith is acting like it is so, even when it is not so, so that it might be so, simply because God said so…. With the belt, breastplate and shoes, he conveys them as a spiritual uniform that should be worn by believers at all times. Minute by minute. Day by day. But he approaches this piece of equipment differently. With the shield, he commands for it to be “taken up.” Look at it this way. A nurse might wear scrubs to work every day because it’s her uniform. But when the need arises, she will pick up a stethoscope, blood pressure machine, thermometer, or any number of tolls to use on her patient. Likewise, we must always wear our daily, divinely given uniform, but also be prepared to “take up” the others when required.” The first of these pieces of armor is the shield of faith. The moment when we first sense a flaming plumbata infiltrating our life in some way, we activate faith as a shield of protection over our lives. So don’t miss the irony here. The enemy sends flaming arrows into your life specifically when you are being called to walk in faith. Those arrows are deliberately intended to disable you from doing the only thing that has the power to extinguish them: walking in faith!...He knows that if you’ll ever push past the insecurity or doubt or fear that’s burning in your soul, choosing instead to believe the truth of God and walk in accordance with it, you’ll erect a shield of protection that will smother his plans.”

The Helmet of Salvation

“…part of what it means to wear the helmet of salvation is to live every day in light of eternity and the promised future that we have. Doing so will, without a doubt, change the way we live in the present… Receiving salvation is not the same as applying salvation. The first redeems us; the second restores, protects and shields us daily from the attacks of the enemy…Understand that living in light of this salvation inheritance enables you to not only stop living below your spiritual station in life, but it also protects your mind against the enemy’s attempts to cripple your thinking, to convince you that you are worth less than you really are. The ripple effect of this protection will be a change in your mind set, lifestyle and the choices you make. All of that will now be based on your wealthy spiritual income status…. This helmet of salvation, positioned to a snug fit, is representative of the high value items that are ours “in Him”—our inheritance in Christ. Choosing not to wear it means leaving our mind exposed, unprotected, like people who don’t even own a helmet…what the brain is to the body, your mind is to your soul. It is the spiritual expression of your brain. The control center. If your mind doesn’t send out healthy impulses, your soul will not respond in healthy ways. This is why the enemy works so diligently to cripple you through negative thoughts and unhealthy patterns of imagination.”

The Sword of the Spirit

This was the only piece of armor that Shirer did not spend a week on in the study. But it is interesting to note that this is the only piece of armor mentioned that is actually used for fighting. And what is it that we fight with? The word of God. Take a look at these verses:

“and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God” (Ephesians 6:17)

“For the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword…” (Hebrews 4:12)

Knowing, believing and living the Word in our lives is what will keep us alive. It is our only defense against the schemes of the devil. It contains the truth we need to know to build our lives on and will provide us victory for whatever battles that we may face.

Whatever battle you are facing today, suit up---with the FULL armor. Victory is promised to those who believe (Ephesians 6:13; 1 John 5:4). Have a great weekend!

Jennifer

IG: @lifeintherace

Crafty Details

For this page, I started by stamping all the images from Armor of God onto cardstock and coloring them with my Prismacolor pencils. I cut them out and laid them aside and then stamped the words for all the armor pieces (belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, etc) with Tattered Rose distress oxide.  I then stamped “Put on the Full Armor” with both Armor of God and County Fair Alpha. I added some texture with Texture Tiles 1 and then glued down my armor pieces around the page.

Shine Bright

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

Matthew 5:14-16

From the time I was young, I have always loved a good book. You can ask my mom – I’ve been an avid reader ever since my first grade teacher read The Boxcar Children aloud to us in class. Even now, one of my favorite things to do at the end of the day is to curl up with a good book and get lost in someone else’s story. A series that I am currently (re)reading is The O’Malley Chronicles by Dee Henderson. The series is about a family in which all the siblings have high-profile jobs: US Marshall, Hostage Negotiator, Forensic Pathologist, etc. and the story line follows their lives and experiences. One night, while I was reading, I came across this passage:

“He’d been a Christian a long time, but some of his friends were not Christians. It was a dichotomy he had accepted over the years as the place God had put him. He couldn’t be a light among a sea of candles. It wasn’t a comfortable place to rest, constantly having to tug a dark world toward God while not getting sidetracked by it….Life was about choices, the toughest ones involving where he would put his time.” (The Truth Seeker)

For several weeks I couldn’t get that passage out of my mind. Over and over I kept hearing, “you can’t be a light among a sea of candles.” You know, God calls us to be the light of the world, to shine bright in the darkness. And the more I pondered the passage from that book, the more I asking myself, where am I trying to shine? Am I trying to shine among a sea of candles? Am I trying to shine brightest among other believers? Am I trying to present the gospel to people who already know and believe it or am I trying to penetrate the darkness with the light of Christ?

Don’t get me wrong. We need other candles around us. We need to surround ourselves by those who are strong, bold lights so that we can learn from them, encourage them and get strength from them when we are weak. We need those other candles to help us make the light be a little bit bigger. But we have to be very careful that we are not focusing our energy on trying to shine brightest among other candles. Light is not brighter than light. Light is brighter than dark. At the end of the day, when we return to our candle stand, we need to have the confidence that we worked our hardest trying to penetrate the dark. We need know without a doubt that we did everything in our power to show them the love that Christ showed us. We need to know that we extended His mercy and grace towards others. We need to read our Bibles and live out what we post on social media. We need to be the “real deal” – not a fake image of a perfectly put together Christian who never struggles or gets things wrong. We need to show the world that despite our failure, there is still hope and there is still a never-ending love that we can rest in. We need to step out of our little “Christian bubble” and go to the uncomfortable places and face the hard things so that we can make a difference. 

So I will ask you: where are you shining? What are you doing today that will make a difference for Christ? Are you comfortable staying in your jar shining brightly? Or are you leaving that zone of comfort and providing light for a dark world? We can’t be a light among a sea of candles…. but we can be a light to a dark world. Let’s take it there. Together we can make a difference!

Crafty Details

I started this page by stamping the candle image from Birthday Borders at the bottom of the page and coloring them in with my Prismacolor colored pencils. I then stamped the words with a combination of BittyMinnie Alpha and Bold & OutlineAlpha. I finished with some neocolor ii splatters of yellow, carmine, greenish blue and cobalt blue and a messy border drawn with my Micron pen.

New Morning Mercy

I am not a morning person. In fact, 5am comes awfully early for me every day. And while I live in a dichotomy of enjoying the peace and quiet before my children rise and hating the early morning hours I have come to realize one thing: the course of my day is determined by my attitude in those first few waking moments. The first thoughts that I have at 5am often take the steering wheel for the rest of my day.   

A few weeks ago I came across an Instagram story that really hit home with me. It said that instead of dreading the day ahead or feeling overwhelmed by its pressure, we should view it as a new day to show God’s love to the world around us. In fact, the person that posted that said she even “named” her alarm in the morning to “a new day to show God’s love” so that as soon as her eyes opened, she was reminded of that truth. Wow! (and, yes, I totally copied her!)

Lamentations 3:22-23 says that, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness.”

Every morning we are given a new chance from the Lord. No matter what happened yesterday, his overwhelming, steadfast love for us never ends and every morning He gives us new mercy. 

Did you have a bad attitude yesterday? 
Today has new mercy. 
Did you neglect to read your Bible or spend time talking to Jesus?
Today has new mercy.
Did you struggle with your thoughts or words yesterday?
Today has new mercy. 

My son is so sweet. Sometimes at the end of a bad day, he will write a note to me saying something along the lines of, “Mom, I’m sorry for (insert situation here). I promise tomorrow will be a better day. I love you.” About two weeks ago, I wrote him back and said, “We all have bad days. But the greatest thing is, today is a new day. Today is a new chance to make it better. And, I think you’re a pretty great kid!” 

God gives us new mercy every day. Despite our failures, his love never changes. We all have bad days. But even in the midst of those, He thinks we’re pretty great kids. 

If others reject you today?
Show mercy.
If your children drive you to insanity?
Show grace.
If someone hurts you to the point of being unwilling to forgive them?
Love them and forgive them anyway.
When the world argues and fights about the truth of the Word?
Stand up for what you believe and extend the mercy, grace and love you were shown. 

The change in our world happens when the truth of the gospel is LIVED OUT among believers. From the time your eyes open in the morning decide that despite yesterday’s failures, you will accept His new mercy and show it to the world. Every day is a new day.

Crafty Details
I started this page by printing the Happy Flowers digital stamp on clear sticker paper and placing it behind the page that I wanted to paint so I could see the outline. I messily watercolored where the flowers and leaves would be and once dry, placed the sticker on top of the colors. I stamped the first few words of the phrase with Teeny Alpha and then the words “Mercy, Grace” and “Love” with Bold and Outline Alpha. I finished the page with some brackets around the scripture and washi strips on the top and bottom.

Declare the Goodness of God!

SNEAK PEEK at a part of May's release!  Cannot wait for tomorrow!

Hello again, ladies.
Last Friday, I had the opportunity to deliver a small message with some of the ladies in my local church.  We had a virtual "tea" and may I just tell you, what a thrill to see and hear these special ladies!!  It was only a 45 minute Zoom chat, but there was plenty of smiles to last me...at least until the Saturday. ;)
When God lays it on your heart to share something, you should.  That's why I want to share with you what He gave me to share on Friday.

This past year God has shown me over and over again that I need the Gospel. I've been a Christian for over 20 years and I still need the Gospel every day. I need Jesus to be a better mom, to be a better friend, to be a better wife, to be a better me.

The first thing God has been teaching me is this: The Gospel is for all people, whether you are a disciple of Jesus or one who has walked away or one who doesn't know who Jesus is, you need the Gospel.

The second thing God has been teaching me is this: The Gospel is for all people, whether you're interacting with a disciple of Jesus or one who has walked away or one who doesn't know who Jesus is, they need the Gospel.

Let's look a bit at something that I believe the Lord wants to say to all of us about that.  1 Peter 2:1ff says,

So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. 2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

4 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it stands in Scripture:

“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone,
    a cornerstone chosen and precious,
and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

7 So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe,

“The stone that the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone,”

8 and

“A stone of stumbling,
    and a rock of offense.”

They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy."

 WOW!  Did you see it?

If you have not rejected the Living Stone (that's talking about Jesus Christ) but instead, believe God is building you as a spiritual house to be "a holy and royal priesthood" you have power for impact to those around you.

But what does it mean to for us to be priests? Cuz, that's kinda different.
Back when Peter wrote this, when someone thought of a "priest" they would have thought of a Jew from the tribe of Levi, publicly ordained and anointed with oil, to be a minister and mediator between man and God by way of offerings and sacrifices.  I got to thinking and studying about this, and would submit that it's not so much the title of "priest" that Peter is emphasizing, but rather the lifestyle of a priest.  As Peter speaks, he doesn't say a word about being a Jew, or a Levite, dripping oil, handling the blood of sacrifice, or any such specific access to the Holy of Holies…

So, if that's not what he's referring to, what does he mean? Listen again to what Peter says of us…

1. a holy nation - Set apart, anointed not by oil, but the fire of the Holy Spirit.
2. a people for God’s own possession - in His service, working as a purposed part of His body of believers to keep the body functioning with Christ as head.
3. to proclaim

announce officially or publicly,

declare something you consider important with due emphasis

   4.     the virtues:  that's a strange word, so here's what virtues means:

behavior showing high moral standards

In face some of your translations of the Bible may say, "goodness," "excellencies," and "praises"

of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light."

At first, I couldn't see anything here that Peter is saying as having much relation to a priest's responsibility in the Old Covenant.  At least, I couldn't before I had this book, "Christ-centered Exposition in Leviticus."
Peter is telling us the purpose of our life in Christ.

How are we like the Levitical priests?

We are set apart and distinct representatives of God, that's true. What else?

He says, Proclaim…

Declare…

Make public the goodness and praises of God?  Did priests used to do that?

Priests, even in the strange garb and attire, turbans and all, announced God's virtues. Even as the ordained minister of sacrifices, handling the offering of an animal, blood, guts, and all, his proclamation would be, "the goodness of God."

Upon fulfillment of the sacrifice by the priest, someone - the one who brought the sacrifice and offering for sin, for guilt, for restitution, would be declared forgiven; covered; made right with and reconciled to God.  You can see that all over in the sacrificial system as written in Leviticus.

Their job pointed to the Messiah.  Jesus is the fulfillment of the law (Matt. 5:17)
We know that He was a Jew, from the Kingly line of Judah (Heb. 7, Rev. 5);  He was anointed by God the Father Himself (Matt. 3:17)
to be the High Priest and Mediator between God and man
(Heb. 7), offering Himself as a sacrifice for the sins of all people (John 3:16).  And, as Hebrews again puts it appears "for us in God's presence." (9:24)

The priest's were pointing to the Gospel! And what is the Gospel?  The spotless Lamb, Jesus Christ, was sacrificed for our sins, our guilt, to restore and reconcile us to God, that we would be declared forgiven! Covered! Made right in our relationship to God Almighty.  This is wonderful news!  This was wonderful news for the Hebrew children in the time of the Levitical system, and it's wonderful news for us, right now, in the 21st century!

Peter says,

"Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy."

We are priests, not of the Levitical priesthood; but of a royal priesthood.
We are priests, not serving an earthly high priest, but under the rule of a perfect heavenly high priest.
We are priests, not by name, but by lifestyle.

We are priests, partakers in a holy calling, having tasted and seen that the Lord is INDEED GOOD, commissioned to declare the goodness of God - the praises of God - the mercies of God - the grace of God - the love of God.  Peter writes that
We have been chosen.

We have been forgiven.

We have been set apart.

We have become priests, in God's service, to proclaim and declare God's goodness - the Gospel.  And,  as we have encountered it in our lives, and as we know it to be completely needed in our world around us.  Like we agreed on before, we need this good news and we all know people who also need this good news!
News is for sharing.  News is for proclaiming.  This news of God's goodness is our declaration today! The Gospel is for us to give to others that they too may

1. Taste and see that the Lord is good
2. Come out of darkness into light
3. Become a people of God
4. Obtain the mercy of God
5. Become a priest under Christ
6. And declare the goodness of God to more!

I pray this was good for your heart and soul.  God's word is living and active, and I'm so excited that we have this good news to share with all people!

Much love,

Deeds

Stamps Used:
Begin Again (Sneak peak!)
Rebecca Script

Selah

God is our refuge and strength,

    a very present help in trouble.

2 

Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,

    though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,

3 

though its waters roar and foam,

    though the mountains tremble at its swelling.
Selah    (Psalm 46:1-3)

I always wanted to know what this word meant... Selah. 
I've heard it said that it's some type of pause; some form of meditative hesitation.  When someone says the word, I often wonder why they didn't translate this seemingly mystical word into one for our English language as a help for those of us who want to better understand this beautifully-written interjection.

I still have yet to figure that out.  All I know, is that it was placed as another piece of praise/prayer to the Lord which prompted the singers/hearers to take a breather...and just listen.  To what?  Instrumental music, mostly.  They were to take a break and just enjoy the sounds of plunking, clashing, banging, and whatever other interesting musicality they had in their day.  

There are times during a worship service where our music leader will guide the band in playing 3 to 4 wordless measures between verses of a song in order that the congregation can hold still, think on what we just sang, and prepare to pick up the next verse and choruses with stronger engagement.  Songs that have a soul-deafening sadness to them are meant to cause us to lament our sin, repent of unjust deeds, turn to the Lord, and appeal to His mercy.  Other songs are gauged to stir you to dancing, rejoicing, and praising the God above for what He has done and continues to do.  Lyrics are powerful; pauses in the middle of corporate worship are amazing and can have heart-filling effects. 

My goal is not necessarily to talk about music though.  Oh, I love music; one of my favorite things, and part of my God-given ministry at our local church house is singing.  But I'm also curious as to what may happen should we use this term, "Selah," - a pause or a break - in our every day studying. 
What if we took time to read God's Word, pausing to meditate on a particular section of scripture, thinking on His character, thinking on His heart, treasuring those things in our hearts, preparing ourselves to read a bit more, repeating said steps above?
What if, in the middle of our seeking truth and knowledge of the Bible, we intermittently took a step back to listen to the "interlude" of the Holy Spirit, allowing Him space in our time to etch the Word a bit deeper? 
Maybe we read a passage one more time.
Maybe we read a passage many times.
Maybe we slow down; stop rushing; start feasting.

There are many ways to glorify our God, but more than anything He wants us to be completely aware of Him, enjoying Him, and finding our daily satisfaction in Him.  But like anything else, a hurried job is a sloppy job.  By taking, making room for, implementing "Selah" in study, our daily Bible reading could take on a whole new form; it could become more worshipful, more meaningful, more fruitful, more beautiful! Our spiritual eyes may behold something more amazing, breath-taking, awe-inspiring.
It's just a thought.  Whenever I see "Selah" in the Psalms, though it was originally given for pause in prayer and worship, I wonder what it is that I just read that needs to be taken a bit more into consideration. 
In the verses above, for example, reading how God is our refuge, our strength, our help, our present protection is awesome!  Reading about His power, might, sovereignty and kingship is inspiring... Selah. 
Sit still.
Wait.
Think about it.
Lean in to it.
Pause.
Pray.
Praise!

Giving the Holy Spirit a bit of additional time to impress our souls with this description of God, may just make a world of difference as we navigate our day.  It may just bring a closer assurance and a more solidified worship of an Almighty Fortress!  The Rock of all ages, and the King above all kings!
It may.  It's just a thought. 
So, I'm going to try it.  I'm going to make a conscious effort to "Selah" or have "Selah" or practice "Selah" when in my devotions.  During a reading, I've challenged myself to hang out, read again, study deeper, and listen more closely to God's whispers to my heart.  My goal: to be more satisfied in the Lord via the help of a "Selah." 
Let me know if you try it; I'd love to know what your thoughts are, and you're welcome to comment here if you'd like! 
Much love, friends!


Deeds

Got Lemons???

John 16:33

"I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world." 

Hey all of you lovely readers! I'm finally back! :)

I took a little break from the blog after having our third precious baby girl. She's almost 2 months old now so things are still pretty crazy, but I missed journaling in my bible and spending time in the word and with this wonderful community. So, I'm easing my way back in slowly :)

Have you ever had a bible verse that just seems to pop up repeatedly during certain times in your life? Well I occasionally do, and John 16:33 has been one of those verses lately. It's almost like God keeps throwing it out there as a reminder for me...."Hey Stephanie, don't forget!" As some of you know, I unexpectedly lost my father back in January. Unexpectedly is an understatement. Receiving that news completely knocked the air out of my chest and the feet out from under me, literally. I couldn't believe it, and honestly, I'm still struggling to believe it almost 5 months later. 

I have never lost someone that close to me before, so learning to cope and heal has been difficult. So needless to say, that was a HUGE lemon I was handed this year, along with a few others. You know know that old saying, "When life hands you lemons, make lemonade!", well, I'm not really a huge fan of lemonade, so I prefer to add them to my sweet tea! I do live in the Carolinas after all! If you don't love tea, you aren't from around here. :) After my dad passed, I had a few people tell me that something good will come out of this. That's a really hard pill to swallow when you are overwhelmed with grief and honestly, I'm still having trouble seeing what good could possibly come from it. But, I haven't given up.

John 16:33 says:

"I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world." 

Right here, Jesus tells it like it is. No sugar coating it. We will have troubles, disappointment, heartbreak and struggles, He promises that. But he encourages us and tells us not to worry, because He has conquered the entire world, and we can be strong and conquer anything the world has to throw at us, through Him and Him alone. Jesus is our rock, and he wants us to lean on him when we are struggling and feel weak. He can restore our strength and build us up stronger than before. Now, I'm FAR from perfect, so I haven't mastered this concept in the slightest. But it does bring me comfort when I'm upset. 

Life has handed me some lemons this year, 

but I'm brewing some sweet tea and I'm throwing those lemons in there

 and trying to make the best of it!!

xoxo,

Stephanie Gammon

IG: faith.and.creativity

Check out the fun stamp sets I used to create this page!

All In All

Life and Lemons

Whimsy Bouquet