Category: Throwback Thursday

Morning, friends!! What. A. Week. I didn’t expect to go almost all week without blogging, but goodness it’s been crazy.

Every year, the last month of school feels like I’m just trying to survive. But I’ll get back to consistently blogging, I promise!!

Today’s throwback is actually one that I went back to read today. It’s called “One Bite at a Time.” A much needed reminder about not getting so overwhelmed.

Have a great Thursday, Friends! I hope this encourages you today.

💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙

I’ve got to admit that when the alarm went off at 4:10 this morning, I wished that Mondays really were optional ha! But I sucked it up and got up and got going.

After a lot of conviction and nudging from God, I set out last week to be more productive with my days. I am all about a “lazy” day, but I had let myself get to a place where I was having more lazy days than non lazy days. I am, by nature, a very disciplined person but I am also a huge procrastinator.

I found my days sitting around, looking at my phone and then looking at the clock and an hour had gone by. I began to feel God telling me that I was not being a good steward of my time. I put things on the back burner because in my mind I didn’t have the time, but in reality, I wasn’t making the time. 

I always know when God is speaking to me when everything points to the same thing. In my devotional and book I am reading, it talked about habits and doing the hard things. In the message yesterday our pastor reminded us that we make time for things that are important to us. It was definitely a “ok God, I get it already,” moment.

So last week I set out to be productive and I wanted to share with you what I did in hopes that maybe it will help and encourage you.

The first thing I did was wake up and get up when the alarm went off. I forced myself to not hit the snooze button. Some days were definitely easier than others. I decided that I would wake up at 4:10 so that I could do my “blaire strength” workout and then make sure that I could have my quiet time before waking Mackenzie up to start her day. I reminded myself that I would be so happy that I got it in early and didn’t have to find the time later in the day.

I had my quiet time everyday. This is a non-negotiable for me. It is a must. My time with God is something that I desperately need everyday. I love devotionals that I can do each day, but they are so hard to find. The one I am currently doing is called, Take Back Your Life by Levi Lusko. Y’all, it has been such a game changer for me. It goes right along with what God has been showing me lately and I look forward to it each day. If you are looking for a devotional, I definitely recommend this one. I am also reading his wife’s book, The Fight to Flourish. I try to read a couple of chapters a day, but some days I only have time for a couple of pages. I feel that they compliment each other very well.

The other thing that I set out to do each day was to go back to making lists. I love lists because they keep me on task. And I love marking things off when I complete them. Every night I would pull out my calendar and see what I had going the next day. I would write my to-do list, schedule for the day and lists of items I needed to pick up that day. I found myself forgetting things all the time… making these lists helped so much. I also took the list with me so that I could stay on task when out and about. So often I will get somewhere and completely forget an item. It also helped me drive my day verses the day driving me. I stayed in control and I was productive.

I made my bed every day! A bed made makes for a better day ha! At least in my book. My mom is huge about this and I am too. Something about a bed made just makes me feel more put together and like I accomplished something.

I did 1-2 loads of laundry daily and folded and put away each one right then. I hate laundry. Not so much doing laundry… I hate putting it away so it piles up. We will have loads of clean laundry that are folded in a laundry basket in my room and I was just so over it. So I forced myself each day to put it away. Y’all, it was crazy how everything in me wanted to leave it there because I swore I would do it later. It’s the procrastinator trying to take over ha! But I fought it and forced myself to do it. It was so nice to start the week caught up on laundry!

Last but not least and so important was that I gave myself lots of GRACE. I am an all or nothing gal so often times I just don’t do something because I can’t do it all at once and I find myself overwhelmed. It’s easier to not do it than to do it if that makes sense. I took the eating the elephant approach. You’ve probably heard this analogy. You eat the elephant one bite at a time. Many times we don’t do the hard stuff because we are so overwhelmed that we don’t know where to start. Just start! One step at a time. I was so behind on laundry when I started the week and normally I would get overwhelmed, but instead I just started it and gave myself small goals. I did the same with other tasks. I reminded myself that small steps towards a big goal are better than no steps at all. And on the night when I was so exhausted and went to bed instead of putting away the dishes from dinner that night, I gave myself lots of grace the next morning and thanked God for extra sleep the night before. A grateful heart always keeps me in a positive mindset.

I know all of these are practical things, but they are what helped me get myself back on the productive wagon. I have seasons where I completely fall off and that was the season I was in. These small little habits helped get me back on track. Will I fall off again? Absolutely! I am human, we all are. Nobody is perfect and life happens! But when I fall off, I will get back on again and I will be ok. Grace, grace!

You may find yourself in a funk. Looking at your day at night wondering what you got done or wondering where all your time went. You may also be like me and spend way too much time on your phone when you could be doing something else like laundry ha! That was me! This week I tried to set a timer when I would start to scroll social media and it worked! It kept me on track and once the timer went off, I would grab my book and read instead.

A verse that I’ve had on my mind has been, Colossians 3:23-24 that says, 

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”

I’ve reminded myself as I do the laundry and my daily chores that feel so mundane that I am doing them with all my heart working for the Lord. It has helped change my perspective and my heart when I pick up someone’s shoes for the hundredth time! As a mom we can look at our tasks as mundane and not important, but they absolutely are. We serve God as we serve our family and doing the laundry and cooking dinner is serving our family. This crazy season isn’t going to last forever and one day the laundry won’t be as bad because it’ll only be you and your husband. One day the dinner table will be just you and your husband because the kiddos are grown and in their own homes. So embrace this moment and do all things as you would do them for the Lord!

I hope this encourages someone today. Remember to not be so hard on yourself. Take small steps towards your big goals instead of no steps at all and do all things as you are doing them for God.

Morning, friends! I hope y’all have had a great week so far. We are almost to the finish line.

Today’s Throwback Thursday is probably one that I’ve shared before. If you find yourself in a waiting season, this post is for you!

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

Wait

I think it’s safe to say that we have all found ourselves in a frustrating state of mind at one point or another.  Maybe you are in a season of waiting, a season of heartbreak, a season of dealing with a three-year old toddler or a rebellious teenager.  In every season, there are ups and there are downs.

During this particular season of my life, I found myself frustrated and running out of patience with my situation.  I began praying for something months before and tried my best to keep a positive outlook, but everything seemed to be against me.  There was no light at the end of the tunnel, there was no glimmer of hope and this situation seemed to get worse and worse by the day.

I was tired, frustrated and ready to give up, but I wasn’t going to do that without a fight.  Let’s just say my Latina, as my husband calls it, was about to come out.  I was about to take matters into my own hands and handle the situation my way.  The enemy was trying hard to convince me that my situation wasn’t at the top of God’s list and I was entitled to take matters into my own hands.  I needed a quick fix and God wasn’t giving me the quick fix I needed.

I was bombarded by my thoughts, insecurities, feelings and frustrations.  As I sat there about to lose it, I looked over at my devotional book and picked it up.  I turned to the reading for the day and read the following:

“Dear Lord, Don’t let me give into my fears.  Instead, stand in front of me and let me see the peace I crave.  Amen.”

I put my book down and went on with my day.  Later in the afternoon, something happened that allowed me to experience a glimmer of hope and see a little light at the end of the tunnel.  God didn’t answer my prayer that day, but He did give me hope through the means of a conversation.  This conversation allowed me to see that I was about to make a huge mistake.  And God knew this.  He knew that I was about to possibly make my situation much worse than it was and He stood in front of me and reminded me that I needed to trust in Him.

When we grow weary we begin to take our focus off God.  As for me, I realized that I was letting fear rule my heart and my life.  I feared what could be.  Feared that the end result would not be what I wanted.  I was fixated on my situation and I imagined all of the worst case scenarios.

God made me see that day that He is still at work around me.  He is working all things for good no matter how hopeless a situation may feel.  I took this as His response to continue to wait and so that day, I backed off.  I thanked God for standing in front of me and letting me see the peace I needed.

Dear friend, I don’t know what your situation is.  I don’t know what season you find yourself in.  But I get it.  I may not be going through what you are going through, but I’ve experienced my share of pain, regret, loss, financial hardship, rejection and so much more.  I know how it feels to beg and plead God to answer, only to feel like He isn’t listening.

I think of the story of Hannah.  As she poured out her heart to God, Eli watched her and thought she was drunk.  In 1 Samuel 1:15-16 she replies,

“I haven’t been drinking wine or anything stronger. But I am very discouraged, and I was pouring out my heart to the Lord.  Don’t think I am a wicked woman! For I have been praying out of great anguish and sorrow.” 

I’m not sure the exact number of years that Hannah prayed for a son, but God did grant her request.  He answered at the right time.  And He will do the same for you and for me.  I know we are human and if you are like me, I can be very impatient.  But instead of taking matters into our own hands we need to stop and ask ourselves, “what is my focus on?”  Turn on the worship music, read the Bible, pray and give Him thanks!  Surround yourself with Jesus and ask Him to bring you the peace you crave.  Don’t look at your situation as the end.  Look at it as the means that God is using to make you an incredible woman.

As my devotional said, “

I think it’s safe to say that we have all found ourselves in a frustrating state of mind at one point or another.  Maybe you are in a season of waiting, a season of heartbreak, a season of dealing with a three-year old toddler or a rebellious teenager.  In every season, there are ups and there are downs.

During this particular season of my life, I found myself frustrated and running out of patience with my situation.  I began praying for something months before and tried my best to keep a positive outlook, but everything seemed to be against me.  There was no light at the end of the tunnel, there was no glimmer of hope and this situation seemed to get worse and worse by the day.

I was tired, frustrated and ready to give up, but I wasn’t going to do that without a fight.  Let’s just say my Latina, as my husband calls it, was about to come out.  I was about to take matters into my own hands and handle the situation my way.  The enemy was trying hard to convince me that my situation wasn’t at the top of God’s list and I was entitled to take matters into my own hands.  I needed a quick fix and God wasn’t giving me the quick fix I needed.

I was bombarded by my thoughts, insecurities, feelings and frustrations.  As I sat there about to lose it, I looked over at my devotional book and picked it up.  I turned to the reading for the day and read the following:

“Dear Lord, Don’t let me give into my fears.  Instead, stand in front of me and let me see the peace I crave.  Amen.”

I put my book down and went on with my day.  Later in the afternoon, something happened that allowed me to experience a glimmer of hope and see a little light at the end of the tunnel.  God didn’t answer my prayer that day, but He did give me hope through the means of a conversation.  This conversation allowed me to see that I was about to make a huge mistake.  And God knew this.  He knew that I was about to possibly make my situation much worse than it was and He stood in front of me and reminded me that I needed to trust in Him.

When we grow weary we begin to take our focus off God.  As for me, I realized that I was letting fear rule my heart and my life.  I feared what could be.  Feared that the end result would not be what I wanted.  I was fixated on my situation and I imagined all of the worst case scenarios.

God made me see that day that He is still at work around me.  He is working all things for good no matter how hopeless a situation may feel.  I took this as His response to continue to wait and so that day, I backed off.  I thanked God for standing in front of me and letting me see the peace I needed.

Dear friend, I don’t know what your situation is.  I don’t know what season you find yourself in.  But I get it.  I may not be going through what you are going through, but I’ve experienced my share of pain, regret, loss, financial hardship, rejection and so much more.  I know how it feels to beg and plead God to answer, only to feel like He isn’t listening.

I think of the story of Hannah.  As she poured out her heart to God, Eli watched her and thought she was drunk.  In 1 Samuel 1:15-16 she replies,

“I haven’t been drinking wine or anything stronger. But I am very discouraged, and I was pouring out my heart to the Lord.  Don’t think I am a wicked woman! For I have been praying out of great anguish and sorrow.” 

I’m not sure the exact number of years that Hannah prayed for a son, but God did grant her request. He answered at the right time. And He will do the same for you and for me. I know we are human and if you are like me, I can be very impatient. But instead of taking matters into our own hands we need to stop and ask ourselves, “what is my focus on?” Turn on the worship music, read the Bible, pray and give Him thanks! Surround yourself with Jesus and ask Him to bring you the peace you crave. Don’t look at your situation as the end. Look at it as the means that God is using to make you an incredible woman.

As my devotional said, “choosing to trust God changes my perspective and gives me the strength to persevere.” Choose to trust Him, friend. Even when the odds are stacked against you, even in the pit you find yourself in, even in the regret, heartbreak and loss, choose Him. He is there for you. He will turn your mourning into dancing and lift you up again.

Dear Lord.  Thank you for standing in front of us and keeping us from making some of the greatest mistakes.  But also, thank you for loving us when we end up making the wrong decision and find ourselves living out the consequences.  You are so good to us.  You are faithful in your promises and gracious to forgive us time and time again.  I pray for my sisters who find themselves in situations that may seem hopeless.  I pray that you will stand in front of them and go before them.  I pray that they will turn their eyes back to you and ignore all of the whispers from the enemy.  Help their unbelief and allow them to see you in every situation.  In Jesus name, Amen.

“When I am afraid, I will put my trust in you.” Psalm 56:3

to trust God changes my perspective and gives me the strength to persevere.” Choose to trust Him, friend. Even when the odds are stacked against you, even in the pit you find yourself in, even in the regret, heartbreak and loss, choose Him. He is there for you. He will turn your mourning into dancing and lift you up again.

Dear Lord.  Thank you for standing in front of us and keeping us from making some of the greatest mistakes.  But also, thank you for loving us when we end up making the wrong decision and find ourselves living out the consequences.  You are so good to us.  You are faithful in your promises and gracious to forgive us time and time again.  I pray for my sisters who find themselves in situations that may seem hopeless.  I pray that you will stand in front of them and go before them.  I pray that they will turn their eyes back to you and ignore all of the whispers from the enemy.  Help their unbelief and allow them to see you in every situation.  In Jesus name, Amen.

“When I am afraid, I will put my trust in you.” Psalm 56:3

XO

Morning! It’s Friday Eve and the weekend is almost here. I hope y’all have had a great week.

Today’s Throwback Thursday is a special encouragement for my momma friends. I can’t believe it’s been over three years since I wrote this. Time sure flies.

No matter what season of raising your kids you are in, embrace it! The days are long, but the years are short. I’m realizing this more and more every single day.

I love y’all! I hope this post encourages you, today.

🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹

Embracing Every Season

We finally spent some time at the beach yesterday. The wind was bearable and it was a beautiful day. We loaded our wagon with a couple of beach chairs and our cooler with a couple of drinks and snacks. I brought my big beach bag with some towels, sunscreen and a book.

We walked down to the beach, set up our chairs and the kids took off into the ocean.

I couldn’t help but sit and reminisce about our past years at HHI.  The first time we came, Mackenzie was only five months old.  Oh my goodness at the stuff we needed to pack before heading to the beach.  From diapers to bottles and formula, snacks, a change of clothes for the baby.  The jogging stroller you have to push through the sand, a tent, chairs, sand toys and a cooler….you get my drift.  So.  Much.  Stuff.  I was exhausted before we even made it out the door.

I sat there holding my book and watched my kiddos play in the ocean and build sand castles.  It made me think of the saying, “the days are long but the years are short.”

When we are deep into the baby years of motherhood this saying doesn’t seem true.  All we focus on are the long days and oh how long those days are.  Diaper changes, feedings, teething babies, the terrible threes, potty training.  We are always trying to remember when the last time we showered was and if we even brushed our teeth that day.

We are exhausted both physically and mentally.  Not to mention the mamas working outside the home.  Praise you mamas.  When we are at home still in our pajamas you are working it in the career world.  All us moms, we work so hard.  We are stay at home moms, work from home moms, work outside of the home moms.  It doesn’t matter what we do I think we can all agree that being a mom is exhausting.

But with the hard days come the good days.  The moment our little one holds their head up on their own, takes their first steps, says mommy or daddy.  So many wonderful milestones that make those long days worth every minute.  A sweet embrace, kiss on the check and a “I love you mommy” is enough to forget how rough the day was.

As I sat there and watched my kids play, I began thinking towards the future.  Life will be so different then.  As we approach the teenage years (help us Lord), I know life will once again change.

So many seasons of life, each different, but perfect.  Each season is meant to mold us and make us into the moms we are today.  And today’s season will do the same for the future seasons.

With every season there are new hardships, challenges, frustrations.  But there are also those beautiful moments filled with love and memories.

I began to thank God for his sweet grace as I sat there on the beach.  So many times I’ve messed up, wondered if I was doing this mom thing right, yelled at my kids for no reason or had a nasty attitude.  But today was a sweet reminder that I am doing my best and my best is enough.

A friend of mind recently shared that she had a hard mom day and it reminded me of God’s word that I would repeat almost daily through those hard momma years,

“Because of the Lord’s faithful love we do not perish, for His mercies never end.  They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness!” Lamentations 3:22-23

Oh sweet friend.  Momma out there having a hard day.  Give yourself some grace.  Take a deep breath in and release.  Look at those sweet babies the Lord has given you and take a moment to thank God that His mercies are new every morning.  He loves you and He is right there with you.  Through every diaper blowout, temper tantrum, talk backing, whining and rude attitudes.  He is there.  Giving us grace.

Rest in Him.  Take all thoughts captive to Him.  Don’t live life full of regrets and wish I would’ve moments.  Embrace every moment, every season.  Because no matter what season you find yourself in, His mercies are new every morning.

You are doing a wonderful job.

XO

Good morning, friends! I overslept!! Not sure what happened… I guess my body needed the sleep. Thankfully, me oversleeping is waking up at 6 am so we are still on schedule to get the kiddos to school on time.

Today’s Throwback Thursday is from 2017. It’s a post I wrote during my grieving journey after losing dad. Grief is hard. It’s messy and honestly I still feel like I’m grieving some days.

If you’re knee deep in grief, stay close to Jesus. I hope this post

Choosing to Trust in God’s Love for Me

Y’all.  Time for some hard truth.  Since dad passed, I have not been consistent with my quiet time.  I took dad’s death hard.  Harder than I expected.  And the frustrating part is that even two years later I am still struggling.  There are days when I think I’m finally coming out of this hole and then there are days where I feel so deep in the pit that I can’t see the light.

After dad died, I quit church.  I quit reading the bible.  I quit listening to worship music.  I quit all things God.  I cringe as I write this.  I mean isn’t a follower of Christ supposed to cling to Christ during the hard times?  Shouldn’t we read the bible more, seek him more and rely on Him?  That wasn’t the case for me.  I put up a wall and turned my back.  I was mad.  Upset at God because I felt that He didn’t answer my prayer.

It was hard to finally admit that I was mad at Him. But after I did I began to feel like a cloud was lifting. A friend invited me to join a bible study group in her home. I almost passed on the opportunity, but I felt that something was telling me it was the right time. God used this bible study to remind me of His truths and most importantly His love for me. I quit Him, but He NEVER quit me. I was angry at Him, but His love never wavered for me. He gave me time, He let me grieve, but I knew in my heart He was calling me back. Back to Him. Back to His Word.

Joseph and I decided it was time to get back in church.  Not only for us, but for our children.  It was also time for us as a family to put Christ first in our lives and to seek Him each day.

She Reads Truth was introduced to me by that same friend who invited me to the bible study.  I love it because I can go to the website and read the devotion of the day.  It’s been a great transition to get back in the Word.  They also have He Reads Truth for the guys.

Am I consistent?  I’m trying to be.  I fail just like you.  But the desire is there and after over a year of not having the desire-I am thankful for it.

On Sunday at church I was reminded of God’s love and how His love for me and for you is never-ending.  We don’t have to do anything to earn His love.  He loves us just as we are and nothing we do can separate us from His love.  Y’all.  Nothing we do.  Nothing.  Let that sink in.  Can you even begin to comprehend how great His love is for us?  I know I can’t!

Is my heart still broken?  Yes.  Am I still angry?  No.  I am choosing to trust in God’s love for me.  I’m choosing to trust just like my dad did until he took his last breath.  And I’m choosing to embrace God’s grace and His love for me.

I hope you can do the same today because God loves you too my sweet friend.

Thank You Lord for Grace!

-Maggie

Morning, friends!! Joseph and I are headed down with our partners to our house in HHI. It is basically all finished, just waiting on glass for windows we are replacing and the glass doors for the showers. They should be finishing the back deck in the next couple of days.

We can see the light at the end of the tunnel and I can’t wait to see it all finished.

Today’s Throwback Thursday is from October 2019. If you are in a waiting season in your life, this is for you.

I hope y’all have a great Thursday and I’ll see you back here for Friday Favorites!

Alright, here we go…

Wait.

Something I am not good at.  But today, God has made it clear that I am to wait.

The last couple of months have been life-changing for me. If you read my previous post written in March, you read I was in a frustrating season. I was praying and asking God to fix something and trusting that He was going to do it. But let me let you in on something. God did not fix it. God did not do what I asked Him to do and what I completely trusted that He was going to do. And as the months went on, it became more and more apparent that my greatest fear was going to become my reality. I tried my hardest to fix it myself and probably made things a lot worse than they were. I may have and probably did behave in ways that were not honorable to God. No, I did not do anything crazy, but I definitely did not honor God with my words, actions, attitudes and thoughts.

Towards the end of the summer, I was tired.  I was exhausted and had nothing left.  This inner battle that has tormented me for over a year had taken away my peace, my joy, my life.  It caused disagreements in my marriage and led me to begin pulling away from everything.  That is my defense mechanism…to tuck and run.  And normally I try not to run, but this time I felt like God clearly said “I want you to run.  But I want you to run towards me.”

So I did.  I took some time to block out the noise and I consumed my mind, heart and soul with Jesus.  For weeks I felt He was calling me to be deliberate about spending time with Him so I set out time after dropping off the kids to do my quiet time.  I began to notice that this time would get interrupted with the daily tasks in my life so I began to feel God pressing me to wake up before everyone and spend time with Him.  5am was the time that He set in my heart.  It took about two weeks to fully adjust.  I would stay in bed too long and then some days I would not get out of bed until 5:30am.  But I kept at it and decided to make this time a priority.  Before too long, I began to crave this time and ever since then, it has become my favorite time of the day.

In August I began to sense God placing different areas of my life in front of me to be evaluated if you want to call it that.  First, it was my prayer life.  Then I began to feel like He was wanting me to look at my relationship with my kids and the way that I spoke to them.  We began positive affirmations and prayer at night.  Oh the stories I could tell you about how this has changed our lives!  After this, I felt God telling me there were areas in my marriage that I needed to look at closer. So He placed a book in my life that challenged me to see the way that I love and respect Joseph.

Every couple of weeks, He placed something new in my heart and revealed an area in my life that I needed to test and examine. Last month, I began listening to a podcast by Jennie Allen called Made For This and the entire season was on building deep relationships.  It was powerful!  It made me see so much through God’s eyes and made me desire deep, real and raw relationships.

During this time, I began to read a book also by Jennie Allen called Anything.  I’ve had this book for almost eight years.  When I first bought the book, I could not bring myself to read it.  I read the first couple of chapters and I became afraid.  I really thought God was going to tell me to go be a missionary somewhere.  I wasn’t willing to give up my life.  You see, this book is about choosing to pray the anything prayer.  Which means, God whatever you want for my life, that is what I want.  I will give up and do anything if it will make you known to the world and glorify your name.  So eight years ago, I tucked this book in my bookshelf and left it there.  During the course of listening to the podcast, this book kept popping up in conversation until I finally felt God telling me I needed to get it out and read it.  And I am so glad that I did.  Because my heart was ready.  My soul was ready.  I was ready to pray the anything prayer.  Reading this book was part of the process and journey that the Lord has me on.

So why am I sharing all of this with you.  Honestly, when I first set out to start typing I had no idea what I was going to share.  Lately I have felt that my words have left me.  I have struggled to pray and write.  My prayer is that God release my words, so here I am typing.  And I am praying that what I am about to share will be God-inspired and will encourage and bless someone today.

After reading the book, Anything and firmly believing that I was ready to do anything for Jesus, I asked God to show me my next step.  I was excited and I could feel it.  He was going to do something soon!  For the last couple of weeks I have begged God to give me a sign and to show me how I am going to fulfill this purpose that He’s placed in my heart.  I am not going to lie, I have began to get a little discouraged.  I started to battle some feelings of insecurity and wondering if any of this is real.  Even Though I wanted to doubt God, He used my time in His word to remind me to keep pressing on.  To keep believing and trusting Him.  So I did.  I refused to let the negative thoughts take hold of my mind and continued to press on.

This morning I read about the story of Joseph.  God gave Joseph a dream.  He shared that dream with his older brothers and they didn’t like it too much.  I mean if your younger brother came to you saying that you were going to bow down to him how would that make you feel?  So they sold him and told their father that he was dead.  I’ve heard this story referenced twice during the last two months and this time, I got it.  You see, Joseph had this huge dream but instead of trusting God’s timing, He decided to go spill the beans to his brothers.  I wonder now what would have happened if he would’ve waited on God to make the dream come true instead of prematurely sharing it.

It took twenty years of waiting on this vision.  And those years were not peachy.  You can find the story in Genesis 37-50.  During those years, Joseph had to choose to trust God.  He had to….wait.

So as I sat there this morning I realized that God’s message for me today was that I am to wait.  And as if I didn’t hear Him clearly the first time, I was listening to a new song a friend recommended and when that song was over, guess what the name of the next song was…. Wait for you.  And!  Do you want to know what the name of the next song was?  Wait Upon the Lord!!  I literally said, I get it now.  I gotcha God.  I will wait.

I will wait and trust that this dream that I have will come to fruition.  I will wait and trust that even when I don’t see Him or feel Him He is certainly working.  I will wait and trust that everything that I have gone through has been for a purpose and that there will be good that comes from it.

My frustrating season didn’t end the way I wanted it to end.  But I can tell you today that it ended the way it was supposed to.  It began a refining process in me and ultimately brought me to a place in my life where I could pray… anything.  I could confidently tell the Lord that I was willing to do anything for Him.  This refining season was a little overwhelming.  Well who am I kidding, it was very overwhelming.  Every couple weeks, feeling like something else came up began to make me feel a little bit like I was trying to overachieve at the “christian life.”  So I asked God to check my spirit and asked God to show me if I was doing this for the wrong reasons.  In a podcast that day, they were talking about this very thing.  We wonder when we will feel like there’s nothing in our lives that needs work, but the truth is we won’t experience that on this side of heaven.  This is called sanctification.  Becoming more like Jesus.  And then I knew right then that I was on the right track.

Friend, I don’t know what you are facing today.  I am not sure what your past, present or future hold, but I can tell you that if you run to Jesus with your whole heart He will embrace you in His arms.  The process will not be easy.  It will hurt some days and other days it will break you down to tears.  But if you are willing to go there.  If you are willing to tell Jesus that you are willing to do anything….He will bless your socks off.  And I am not talking about material blessings either.  I am talking about a life so in love with Him that your heart just aches to spend every minute with Him.  Whatever your burden, let it go and let God take it from you.  You may not see it today, but good will come from your hurt.  Joseph’s dream was fulfilled.  God did it.  But he had to wait.  And in that wait, God changed Him and molded Him into who He wanted Joseph to be.  And He is doing the same with you and with me.  He is preparing us.

We go through struggles and have a hard time trusting that God has a plan and that all things will work out for the good of those who love Him.  But I believe that with the innermost parts of my soul.  When I lost my dad, it hurt to say that something good would come from it.  But oh how much good has come.  It has shown me the importance of leaving a legacy for my children.  It has taught me the importance of praying.  And it has ignited a fire in my soul to fulfill the purpose that my dad saw in me.  This purpose that God has placed in my heart.  But I didn’t see that good until I surrendered and trusted Him fully.

You may be in a waiting season, too.  I know the waiting can get exhausting and lead us to possibly questioning if this is all worth it.  But I want to encourage you to press on.  Keep trusting God during this season.  There is something He wants to show you.  He wants to teach you something.  In my season of waiting, He has opened my eyes to areas in my life that I had not surrendered to Him. He has began to free me of many things that were holding me captive and keeping me from living free.  Even in the waiting, we are fulfilling our purpose and that is to love God with all of our heart, soul and mind.

So let go today.  Surrender to Him and choose to trust and wait.

“But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Is. 40:31

Dear Lord, thank you for your word today. Even though at first, it wasn’t a word that I really liked. You have shown me that even in my waiting you are working. I pray for anyone today that is struggling with their current season of life. Life is hard and everyone is going through their own battles. I pray that you will draw them close to you and comfort them with your overwhelming peace. May they feel your love today Lord. May you use this season to refine them and make them more like you. Thank you for loving us so much that you are willing to let us find our way back to you. And when we do, you accept us with open arms. May we run to you, Lord. May we surrender and depend on you to renew our strength. Thank you Jesus! And it’s in your name I pray, Amen

Hi, babes!! I hope y’all are having a great week so far. I have a good Throwback Thursday for you. It’s from September 2020.

But first, I want to encourage you to follow me on Instagram if you don’t already. There’s something fun coming at 1:00 PM EST and you don’t want to miss it!

Alright, Throwback Thursday…here we go!

Embracing Every Season

Every morning this week I’ve been sharing a picture of my coffee mug with a quote from something I read during my quiet time. I started the week determined to get my morning routine back and be more productive with my days. I’ve been so convicted about my habits and how I spend a lot of time on my phone. I am a very disciplined person, but I am also a huge procrastinator. When you mix that with my all or nothing attitude, it can be a recipe for disaster. I really have felt God teaching me during this season that I need to be more productive with my time.

The last couple of weeks, I’ve been working with my trainer on not being so hard on myself when I am not at a 100%. Life happens and we can’t always have those perfect days. I’ve had a lot going on since I started working with her and at times I’ve almost told her we will try again at a later time when life isn’t crazy. But seriously….when isn’t life going to be crazy?! She reminded me that being consistently good enough is better than doing absolutely nothing. I’ve really taken that to heart and have practiced giving myself lots and lots of grace.

As I started the week, I decided to go back to list making. This keeps me on track and helps me be more productive. Not to mention the success I feel to mark things of my list feels so good ha! It’s helped so much and I have found myself getting things done this week. But let me tell you, I’ve been so tired by the end of the day. I even told Joseph yesterday how being productive is great, but gosh it’s exhausting.

This morning I didn’t have to do a my “Blaire Strength” as I call my workouts from my trainer lol! So I knew that I could sleep in a little longer. Of course, I slept in a lot longer than I hoped and found myself rushing to get downstairs to get in a little bit of my quiet time before having to wake Mackenzie up. As I went to take the picture of my mug, I noticed the background full of the dishes I couldn’t bring myself to put away last night and the dishes from this morning in the sink. I almost moved my mug to a more “picture perfect” location, but then I thought about my reading for the day and chose to post the real instead of the staged.

In The Fight to Flourish by Jennie Lusko she wrote about being present in the moment and immersing ourselves in the season that we’re in right now. You know, it got me thinking about how exhausted I’ve been at the end of each day and how hard it can be to adult some times. Life is crazy at our house right now with three kids in three different sports going three different directions. Some days I wonder if this season will ever end, but this morning I realized I needed to embrace this season. I can’t be perfect, the dishes will still be there some days and that’s ok. Grace, grace right?!

I love how Jennie puts it in her book,

“If you’re in a season that feels insignificant or especially long, look up. Set your gaze on who Jesus is. Ask God to help you see this season differently. Remember, you’re already living from the finish line, but you’re still in the middle of the process right now. This time in your life is part of the soil that is enriching your life and your future. Be here now.

When we engage in the daily fight and embrace the present moment, we will flourish. It’s the little wins that change the course of our lives. We can live and love in the small moments of our everyday lives, knowing that there’s an eternal significance to whatever God has called us to. So, when you’re feeding your baby in the middle of the night and feeling run down by sleep deprivation. Take a mental Instagram photo of that moment. Your baby is not going to eat like that at night forever. Or, if you’re tired of being single and want to find your soulmate, remember you won’t always have the kind of time you do currently. Savor where you are right now.”

Yes, some days are long but it’s true that the days are short. This season isn’t going to last forever and I find myself thinking about that a lot lately. Having two in middle school with one going to high school next year has really made me realize how fast time flies. So I will embrace this season and the exhaustion that it brings. I will celebrate those little wins and live and love in the small moments of my everyday life because there is an eternal significance to what I’m doing. And the same goes for you! You may not be 100% everyday, but that doesn’t mean you get to give up! Look up, look to Jesus! Find your strength in Him and ask Him to help you see your current season in a different way. It’s not going to last forever and it’s preparing you for the next season of life!

So here’s a picture of my coffee mug with my mess in the background to prove to you that I don’t always have it all together, but I am going to choose to embrace it and enjoy it!

I hope you have a terrific Thursday!

-Maggie

XO