Grace therapy

There's a friend in my life who just gives me a lot of grief with the comparisons she always gives. 

I try my best but still she points out that something is wrong. Her words echo… "Not good enough."

I could dress my best and she will whisper, "Nice, but not as nice as hers."

I mess up and let my clumsy words tumble out and she says, “well, that hurt, I could have said it better!”

The list of unwholesome negatives goes on and on.

Who is this girl?  If you and I were friends with her, wouldn't we want to put a stop to that relationship?  Let's be honest about her...some days she lives a little on the snarky side.

And when I part company with her, I am the one who comes away feeling like I will never measure up.  Day after day of spending time with that "friend", well it can wear a friendship out.  

Want in a little secret? ...yeah…you guessed it….. that "friend" is me, my negative self-talker friend.

Am I the only one who is at the back of this line for a little grace?

Ashamedly I have had these conversations with myself all too often. 

Those around me say, "Give yourself a little grace." Yep, sounds good, but it’s hard to do. I think what they really mean is that "please just give yourself some slack and don’t be so hard on yourself". And that maybe true, but I don’t really think that is God’s answer. Only God is the Grace giver.  And only His truth can combat this daily battle.

Is it about giving ourselves grace or is it really about receiving grace from God?

Grace says, "Yes, you messed up. But I forgive you.”

Grace says, “Yes, you have lost weight, but I loved you 50 lbs ago. I am still bringing you into my perfect beauty.”

Grace says, “When you bow to others to approve you then you don’t make room in your heart to live from MY approval.”

Grace says, “Even though I know you are kind of a mess sometimes, I give you my Fullness generously.”

God’s.Grace.Matters. God’s grace changes us.

So where in the Bible does it tell me to give myself a little slack?

Ephesians 4:29  "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen."

God's words to me:  "My child, every time you compare yourself to the next whatever and you come away putting yourself down, that is unwholesome.  I know each time that slips out of your mouth, I know each time you allow that to slip into your heart, and each time it bounces around in your mind.  And when you do that you are telling Me that I am not enough.  Let me remind you....I AM."

You see Grace is just that, a gift that we need daily.  God's grace therapy is needed like a bottle of spilled pills to medicate our lives, each time we are tempted to put ourselves down or when we whisper criticism in our heads.  When snarky falls on our hearts we need to know that we have to get back up to receive God’s grace therapy.  When this broken record keeps playing in our minds, we need to apply wholesome truth to ourselves.  

I am still loved, chosen, cherished by the King. I'm going to get back up and stand firm for Him again by guarding wholesomeness in my mind, body, and soul.  

Only God's grace can change. 

Only grace can quiet the voice within us that pushes us toward wipe-out.

Only grace can reclaim us so that it sustains us. 

Only God's can gracefully return us to where we belong again.  

Only Grace brings us wholeness in Him.

Only God's wholesome grace can benefit.

Only God’s grace therapy tells me the truth about who I am.

It's time to still our hearts, to quiet ourselves and instead listen to grace.  Wholesome Grace Therapy.

Shhhhh….Listen...Do you hear it?

You Are Pretty Much My Favorite

I have been camping out in Psalm 139 lately


and today...


I am able to write the difference.  


I can finally say with confidence that God's truth can change your forever.  

You are loved.  I am loved.  

I am okay knowing that each one of these posts will not be perfect.  I am not perfect, and can't think or write perfectly.  That doesn't mean I am not striving for God's best here, but I am fine with not being perfect in front of you. 

I understand that I can't be, and I am okay with that too.

I am great with uncovering and discovering who I am in Christ.  He has grown that desire in me.  As my faith grows, I can accept my imperfections, but also I am assured that I am "perfect" and beautiful in God's eyes.  


Psalm 139 reminds me that I am loved completely.  Not just loved because that I am made in God's image, but I was loved before I was even a tiny thought on God's mind.  I like to think that God dreamed a little when He thought about making me.  I like to imagine that God says...

 "You're pretty much my favorite of all time in the history of ever."  

Here's the life changing truth...He loves you like that too. 

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful.  I know that full well."  Ps. 139:13-14


I am great with the idea of God dreaming of how He wanted to create.  When I was a younger "beauty"....I didn't know how God felt about me.  I certainly didn't think I was beautiful.  I didn't do own my truth research and took on the opinion of others as my own.  I fell into the comparison trap with my nameless imaginary childhood arch nemesis who was always skinnier, smarter and faster at making her bed than I was.  I set myself up for failure because I couldn't be the perceived perfection I just knew God had expected of me.  I had always felt like I couldn't or wouldn't measure up.


So today I am now able to write the difference.  I am okay with the way that God, in His infinite wisdom, made me who I am because I am loved beyond measure and because God doesn't compare His children.  

My loving Heavenly Father has reminded me of who I am.  

I wear His name, I wear His beauty.  

I am great with being an imperfect, forgiven daughter of the King.  That still gives God many chances to perfect His work in me, but also it gives more opportunities to be romanced by the work of His Holy Spirit.  

I am really okay with all of this lovely plan.  

I know that I am His.  I know...He's told me..often in Psalm 139.  

When it comes to believing truth and as I open the pages of God's heart, I believe what He says in His love letter to me in Psalm 139.

Have you read Psalm 139 lately??  Stop reading this and read that.

Are you speechless yet?

Today I am able to write the difference and guess what...I am great with that.

Bless Your Heart!

Ever notice how often we, as Christians, use the word "blessed" in normal everyday conversations?  One lady just told me an amazing story of an answer to prayer.  Wow...is my response...because sometimes God moves Heaven and earth to work out circumstances to make things happen in His grand scheme of our lives.

I just read a post about a miracle that happened in the life of a believer. Ending words were "I am blessed."  I am blessed to have a circle of friends that agree with me in beliefs and in my pursuits.  Yes …. “I am blessed.” 

We are a blessed people.  If you don’t believe me, take a trip to a developing country and see what one day looks like in the life a child who doesn't know where their next meal is going to come from.  That glimpse alone will change you. 

I find that when having faith conversations with others, we tend to connect being “blessed” with only good things that happen in our lives, or the things that go our way.  What about the not-so-good things that happen in our lives?  What about the trials that are sent our way to build our faith?

Those are blessings too.  In your journey and as you faithfully dig your heels in, if you are one who continues to seek God in obedience, in my opinion you are “blessed”.  

We are blessed because we are loved, forgiven, and saved from certain death.

We are blessed because we are God's.
We are blessed because he loved us first.

I am even blessed when I compare my journeys with those who seem to have it all together.  Let me tell you....there is no one who has it all together. 

In my constant need to self-evaluate,

I have found that I breed dissatisfaction.

I tend to focus on those too-good-to-be-true moments in life as the only blessings from God.  I ponder a lot of deep spiritual stuff….and sometimes I ask myself some hard questions.  Questions I don't know the answers to.  When I come up with my blank answer sheet I feel inadequate.

As I uncover the full impact of God’s endless love, I have discovered that being blessed means being close to God.  No matter what current life circumstance is hovering right now, whether it is a one disappointment after another, or one continuous happy occasion.  I am blessed because I am His.  I am blessed in my weaknesses, failures and insecurities.  I have the freedom to run to God without having to clean up before.  I find strength for the desert moments, mercy translates my clumsy words, and I am blessed with joy as my cup of life is filled with change. 

In my journey to God’s wisdom, I realize that all of life is one heaping serving of blessings after another.  Each life portion is a blessed generous helping.   Each problem pile is blessed-filled for my good.  Each lovely and measured circumstance are for His blessed purpose.  I am blessed indeed. 

Psalms 1:1-3 Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.  But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.  He is like a tree planted by streams of water which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither.  Whatever he does prospers.

That's a blessed life…that’s beautiful...

Music Monday [Remind Me Who I Am]

Who Am I?

Jason Gray is a talented songwriter who has overcome a lot of hurdles in his life.  Did you know that he struggles with stuttering?  That is a little known fact that he shared one time when we had him in the studio.  These lyrics hit a nerve with me too.

When I lose My way,

And I forget my name,
Remind me who I am.
In the mirror all I see,
Is who I don't wanna be,
Remind me who I am.
In the loneliest places,
When I can't remember what grace is.

Chorus:
Tell me once again who I am to you.
Who I am to you.
Tell me lest I forget who I am to you.
That I belong to you.
To you.

When my heart is like a stone,
And I'm running far from home,
Remind me who I am.
When I can't receive your love,
Afraid I'll never be enough,

Remind me who I am.
If I'm your beloved,
Can you help me believe it.

Bridge:
I'm the one you love,
I'm the one you love,
That will be enough,
I'm the one you love.


Tell me once again who I am to you.
Who I am to you.
Tell me lest I forget who I am to you.
That I belong to you, Woh.
To you.

Sometimes in life we need a reminder of our identity in Christ.  I'll be honest with you, I need this more than I would like to admit.  I often joke with myself that I suffer from an identity crisis.  Maybe you do too.  There is an allure of the world that coerces us into thinking that we can't be accepted the way God created us.  We spend a lot of time trying to cover up or pretending that we are someone who we are not.  

Lately I have been trying to focus on being still and listening to God more.  In the stillness, my thoughts creep in... shouting.  There are a lot of good adjectives that come to mind like loved, forgiven, trusted, faithful, daughter, and maybe-someday-at-the-end-of-a-rainbow-writer. Those qualities are easy to write, but it's another to live up to each one.  There are a lot of not-so-good adjectives that come to mind also.  As I go deeper with Christ into his Word, I am recovering exactly who I am.... 

...not what the mirror reflects

...not what the scale measures

...not what Satan whispers   

...there is one thing that I hear loud and clear.....I am His.  

Dear God, who am I again?  Yours.  

P.S.  Here's a video of Jason singing this song.