God’s Promise- Something New

Isaiah 43 But now, this is what the Lord says—
    he who created you, Jacob,
    he who formed you, Israel:
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
    I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
2 When you pass through the waters,
    I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
    they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
    you will not be burned;
    the flames will not set you ablaze.

18 “Forget the former things;
    do not dwell on the past.
19 See, I am doing a new thing!
    Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
    and streams in the wasteland.

I have probably read Isaiah 43 at least fifty times in the last five years, and somehow I never caught what hit me today: the undeniable fact that God’s children went through it—and still, God promised restoration. Not only did God’s children have to live through the chaos of their circumstances, but God was with them in every moment of it. Maybe silently. Maybe unseen. But present.

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you.”
“When you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.”
“When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned.”

God never said his Children wouldn’t face waters or fires. He said those waters wouldn’t drown them and those flames wouldn’t consume them.

I sit here and I think about all the seasons of my own life that felt like rough waters—moments that could have pulled me under. Times when the currents were so strong I lost sight of the direction I wanted to go. I’ve had fire seasons too—moments where it felt like everything around me was reduced to ash. Dreams burned up. Relationships scorched. Foundations I trusted turned to dust. And yet… somehow I was still standing. Still breathing. Not untouched, but not destroyed.

And then I read this text, and it feels like God is saying:
“I know you’ve been through it. I was there. I didn’t let it take you out. But now—listen—there is more.”

You see the wilderness? The wasteland left behind by the floods and fires?
Yes, it’s barren. Yes, it’s broken. But watch what I can do with it.

Let Me restore you.
Let Me rebuild what died while you were still standing.
Let Me do something new…right here, in the middle of the mess.

This post is for the one who is tired—tired of fixing things, controlling things, manipulating life just to make sense of it all. I want to encourage you today to sit with the Holy Spirit and write out a timeline of the “water rushing” and “fire burning” moments in your life—those seasons that felt like they were meant to destroy you.

Bring them to the Father. First and foremost give him thanks for letting you survive them! Ask Him to help you imagine the new that is going to spring up from your wastelands. Because the key to moving forward from this passage is simple and direct:
We must forget the former things and not dwell on them.

Make peace with the fact that you can’t go back and redo the past.
Make peace with the regrets—the “I should have…” and the “If only…” moments.
Make peace with the ways you tried to change it, control it, or make it better.

Forgive the people who participated in those fires.
Do not dwell on it.
Don’t let it linger, or fester, or suffocate the “now.”

Let it go.

PRESS ON!

My Journey: From Logic’s Grip to Faith’s Freedom

For the past year and a half, I’ve been on a profound spiritual journey with the Lord. I’ve granted myself grace to let it unfold naturally—a process that involved plenty of trial and error. Flipping through my journal now, I see the raw struggles: the internal wrestling between logic and faith that kept me up at night. Logic craves explanations, demands answers to every “why.” Faith, though? It trusts. It hopes and believes, even without seeing the evidence.

This clash traces back to childhood. To cope with daily trauma behind our home’s closed doors, I leaned hard on the logical side of my brain. Secrets no child should endure forced me to mask my emotions, burying them so deep I couldn’t even access them for guidance later in life. Making sense of the chaos meant analyzing it logically: understand the “whys,” hide the pain, and pretend it away. I’m sharing this to explain why a logical lens has dominated my mindset—and maybe yours too. Perhaps you’ve never realized how this analytical filter shapes (or limits) how you see the world.

The dam broke on a sweltering Texas summer day. I was driving home, trailing my husband on his newly tuned Harley, the air thick with heat. Leading up to it, I’d been devouring faith-based podcasts, grappling with my identity, coping mechanisms, and survival strategies—all built on logic. I’d just ended a call with an Alongside Nurse prepping me for my first dose of DMT (a treatment I’d sworn off but finally accepted to fight the autoimmune disease diagnosed three years earlier). My husband’s gentle words still echo: “I think you should try the meds. Your body could use the extra help right now.”

In that moment, I realized I couldn’t do it all alone—no matter how stubborn I was. It’s okay to ask for help when you need it (and honesty check: we always do at some point). But back to the call—I was wrecked. Disappointed in “bowing down” to medication after vowing natural healing only. Why now? Why this chronic illness? God! Hot tears streamed as frustration boiled over. Finally, I confessed what I’d buried: “I don’t trust you, God!”

There it was—raw honesty. Now He could work. The Holy Spirit began uprooting that deep lie of distrust. My wrestling softened from a grip to horseplay. “But I want to trust You,” I whispered. And so it began: little by little, I let go of logic as my idol, my false truth, my substitute god. “Okay, I’m ready. Let’s do this.”

I’d love to say transformation hit by fall—haha, nope. Emotional turmoil lingered, but I pressed on. I surrendered running life on my terms, ditching logic’s dictation for grace-fueled living. One day, one moment at a time. I dropped what I’d clung to: setting tough boundaries with loved ones, even stepping away from two ministries I’d poured myself into. In hindsight, I was shedding hides and retreating to a cave for healing. Weeks blurred into months—a full season. Just over a year since that confession, I’m still releasing logic for faith: trusting He holds the answers, freeing me from masking my true self.

In this season, it means slowing down, hushing external noise. Chasing logical “evidence” exhausts you—bombarding your mind with facts, or burying issues in busyness to avoid facing them. I promised myself grace to just be. No fixing flaws I hated, no overanalyzing. Live present: this moment, then the next. Until distractions crept in—meh, work in progress, right?

This summer brought the freedom I’d craved. I stopped self-demands, ditched expectations, quit performing for validation. My husband’s extended leave (a blessing from his company’s foster care support) catalyzed it all. We manage our foster child together, and his 12 weeks off felt like a gift.

Imagine life on a rigid routine, where alone time was your only relief to logically dissect shortcomings. Imagine believing unmet goals meant total failure—a downward spiral. Interruptions used to crush me: restart, do better, be better. Yada yada.

But after his first four weeks off—leaving me 5 pounds heavier, out of shape, house chaotic—I shifted. The next chunk? Pure enjoyment. I told the devil to shut up, kicked back, and savored lunches out, DQ Blizzards (worth every calorie!). No fear of his return or mental chaos.

Slowing down with him was a soul vacation. How to carry it forward? By releasing body image obsessions and cardio guilt, I stopped fixating. Truth hit: All we have is now. Yesterday’s gone; tomorrow’s not promised. Why obsess over future shame or past regrets? What’s the point?

Slowing down isn’t stagnation—it’s beholding the moment, making it count. We’re passengers in these earthly bodies. Why rush monumental tasks? Logic bosses us, craving control. Faith invites imagination, carefree presence.

Choosing Faith Today: Your Turn

I’ve decided: Let logic go. Manage time and energy by faith—it creates space to slow down.

How about you? Live the rest of today trusting God’s goodness and love. He values you without checklists or performance. He’s after the love He’s placed in you—steward that well.

What’s one way you can release control today? Share in the comments—I’d love to hear your story.

Much love,

Leigh Leigh

Let the Good times Roll

Enjoy being you

Top down, hair pulled back, music blaring. A moderate 80 degrees outside. I took a right at the stop sign, and made a B line down the road. Breathing in the Fresh air from outside, and just like that a smile creeped up on my face leaving my lips grinning from ear to ear.

J O Y

I think sometimes we get so into pleasing God that we become these little carbon copies of what we think he wants (religious mindset of I can only ever listen to christian radio), and I know- I know we are supposed to be more like him from glory to glory as we live here on our way to see him one day, but what about how he took them time to hand make us so unique? I grew up with a young mom who loved 80’s classic rock. When I am just shooting the breeze my go-to tunes that are not worship songs, are sung by The Cars, The Outfield, Queen, Steve Miller Band, the list goes on. These songs take me back to my childhood. Those moments when it was just me and my CD Stereo, no responsibilities, no cares about adulting and stresses of adult life.

This summer has been super heavy. Ash (that is me) is learning about vulnerability and how I have missed out on a lot of LIFE suppressing, stuffing, numbing, pretending, seeking perfection to fill the lack there of. With some help I have been able to make some mind – heart connections to some things I have done wrong. Guilty of even making my way to control the outcome of any given thing my own idol. I am not God nor do I have his sovereign power to work anything out for good on my own, so why manipulate situations to get a good outcome. Every good thing comes from him, and him alone.

So this rare moment of actually enjoying one moment of this summer season, I could fill the happiness and joy returning to my heart. I didn’t want it to end. I was feeling like me. The girl God created. Spunky, quirky, silly me, and I had missed that girl.

She actually started to vanish the day I received the news that I have an autoimmune disease that is attacking my brain and spine. There is a whole span of pictures for over a whole 12 months where I stopped smiling. I lost the me to replace the new broken me. I had let my sorrows and worry dictate my personality as a whole. I let the darkness in and it was trying to cast over the light. I can see it all so clearly now. I can see how the enemy comes in to steal, kill, destroy using any thing possible to cast shade on the light inside of us. The good thing about light is that it Exposes the darkness, and although darkness crept in, I went to the Light Source and asked him for help.

If you feel heavy, live a little. Relax…and find something that makes you feel like your happy, joyful self!

How to Engage with the Lord- Longing for MORE

Do you have a deep desire to go deeper with the Lord? Are you WANTING MORE but unsure how to go about it? If that is the case I want to encourage you and give you some tips that helped me grow deeper with the Lord in the past 16 years of chasing him.

  • Get into the Word

First things first. Pull out your bible and start reading it. If you do not know where to start I suggest the book of John. It is one of my favorites. Engage in the story and place yourself in the context. God’s word is ALIVE and ACTIVE. HE IS SPEAKING DIRECTLY TO YOUR SPIRIT! It is POWER and it has the ability to transform your mind. As you begin to meditate on the Scriptures, pray and ask the Holy Spirit to do a new thing inside of your heart and renew your mind to agree with God’s ways. I know what stops a lot of people is the fear of not being able to comprehend it. The greatest teacher is the Holy Spirit. Paul instructs us to ask for wisdom. Ask God for wisdom and revelation of his word as you read it. Start small. This is not something you’re doing to earn a sticker or a check mark from the Father. He sees you seeking him and he is smiling! This will not even make him love you more. This is you being hungry and thirsty for his Truth. He will fill you, and quench the depths of your soul.

Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the heart.

  • Journal

As you begin to read his Word, The Holy Bible, start to journal what you read over and write down what is speaking to you. You can also letter, doodle, paint, or sketch this entry. Write down your short comings, areas of weaknesses, prayers, requests, things you are thankful for and ways he is showing up in your life. I like to document in my journal prophetic words I hear or read that speak directly into my life. I actually have one journal dedicated for prophetic words spoken directly over me and my life, and words I have heard specially from the Holy Spirit time stamped and dated! He promises his promises will come to pass and that his word does not return void, so I cling on to these promises he gives me and I believe I will see them manifest in my life! We just gotta have faith.

Psalm 145:18 The Lord is near to all who call upon Him. To all who call upon Him in Truth.

  • Connect with Prophetic Encouraging people online

I follow a few people on YouTube and enjoy listening to what the Lord is releasing over individuals and the Body of Christ. As you listen to testimony of God speaking and bringing forth his word over others this will increase your faith to believe he is speaking directly to you as well. There are also people who are on Instagram and Facebook as well. Don’t always assume the ones with the BIG NAMES are the only ones to listen to. God is speaking all the time to ALL of his Children. Just be on the look out for false prophets and false doctrine. A Key way to discern this is to know that if the person does not mention the name of Jesus Christ, that is usually a red flag, or if they do not mention Jesus died for our salvation, etc. God’s word is clear that the only way to the Father is through his Son Jesus.

John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

  • Worship

As we are growing closer to the Lord Worship brings all of our attention and adoration straight onto the Father. Strongholds are broken, miracles happen, and our strength is made stronger.

Psalm 29:2 Give unto the LORD the glory due to His name; Worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.

  • Church and Small Groups

If you feel stagnant and lost, like you haven’t found your tribe this could be an indication that you are in a place that is not growing. It is okay to leave your church home. It is okay to find another group that is like minded who are on fire for God. This may look like a church hub, Worship Nights in your community, or gathering around the kitchen table with your husband and children to study God’s word together. There are also several churches that stream online as well. However, if you are looking for community I suggest to search until you find one that is a good fit. We all need to be plugged into a community of believers!

Acts 2:46-47 So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they are their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people.

  • Pray

This should have been the first tip posted, but PRAY! Talk to God and get personal. Tell him what is going on inside that mind of yours. Ask him to reveal himself more to you. Surrender your will and your ways to him and ask him to come in and Baptize you with his Holy Spirit and Fire. Ask him to send the ones who will chase after him with just as much intensity and more together. If you are a believer that has received baptism of the Holy Spirit then ask him to give you give your your prayer language. Praying in the spirit builds us up and it edifies us.

Jude 1:20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,

  • Subscribe to Encouraging Spirit Filled Blogs/ Buy a devotional

Modern technology makes gaining info a breeze. Subscribe to blogs that you can relate with and feel the Lord speaking to you through their words. Glance at daily devotionals online and start reading one a day. Trust me there are tons of people out there with the desire to share the goodness of God with you. They are asking God to send the ones who need encouragement and life transformation! God speaks through us, his children, who will surrender to his will and have the boldness to Let it be known!

Hebrews 10:24-25 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

I hope these tips encourage you and give you hope that what you’re wanting is up for grabs. FREE for the taking! He is waiting so patiently, knocking on the door of your heart. Will you let him into the deep parts of your soul? He longs to be in relationship with you, speak to you, lavish his love upon you, flood you with his goodness and mercy which are new each day, and grow your child like faith in him, as he makes you more and more like him, little by little, from glory to glory.

Prayer: Father I think you for the one who is reading this post. I pray Lord that you would breath your life over this heart, and release your glory over their minds Lord. Yes you are what we want! You are what our hearts desire! Grow us in the holiest of Faith and teach us your ways. Expand our minds to absorb every once of wisdom and revelation your are getting ready to give freely to the one who will receive it. I pray that You would confirm this word to them, and that they would receive your full to the overflow! Give them creative ideas, and ways to connect their hearts to your as they make it a priority to seek you first above all us. Help them identify the idols in their lives that needs to be torn down, and as you examine my heart please do this for me as well. Forgive us for our laziness and passiveness to let the days pass by with out acknowledging you. You are are what are running to this New Year and we thank you right now for all the joy that is coming on our new journey with you. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen.

Wisdom equals Light

🌟 📖“And he said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall be purified, made white, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand.”
‭‭Daniel‬ ‭12:9-10‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

I love how the illustration is that the wise will shine bright. It’s like having a lightbulb moment! 💡 ahh haa.. I got it! The Light just came on, and now I can see! 👀

The Bible is clear that man is to be not wise in his own eyes, but by aligning his actions and thoughts and beliefs with the word of God’s truth. This is why daily scripture reading is so vital! It keeps our light bulbs burning bright. 💡

This wisdom can then be passed on to everyone around us.

Trust me, you are being watched, your being examined…not only by the Lord but by everyone that meets you on your path! So shine bright! 💡 Be full of Kingdom Wisdom, and let that love overflow 🚿 on to others! ❤️💎💡

Have you made time in your day to read the word?

Beautiful in his Sight

📖1 Samuel 16:7

But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his
appearance or on the height of his stature,
because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees
not as man sees: man looks on the outward
appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.

The World (Kingdom of Darkness) has its own standards to which man and women operate.

What would it be like to wake up one day and see commercials with these amazing people who have hearts of Gold trying to sell us their products? Or since we are so self crazed your influencer numbers would be sky high based on the appearance of your heart and not the appearance of your body or your face?

God wants us Healthy! Heart- Mind- Soul- Spirit- Body.

He doesn’t care to much about outward beauty because that isn’t what he looks at to measure if we are usable for his Kingdom!

To be useable to the World’s system you may have to have perfect teeth, skin color, texture, height, shape, etc.. but who wants to rule in a kingdom that is going to end? God’s Kingdom is eternal!

God’s only standard is to repent of our selfish nature- accept his son Jesus who washes away our sins and makes us new. We are now acceptable, called, and equipped for his Kingdom!

No ascetics, runways, no masks, no countless perfect selfies that are filtered and airbrushed to be accepted for the job! Phew what a relief! We just say yes to Jesus and invite the Holy Spirit to start transforming us from the inside out. Heart- character- whole wellness, because after all he calls our bodies temples of the Holy Spirit! So, we shouldn’t neglect them and we should not put toxic things inside them because toxic has a shelf life and we do live in a plant – seed- harvest eco system, or what you would call cause and effect!

That is why each choice we make is costly and valuable.

So let today be a new day!
Let today be a day to renew our minds! Let us cast off every evil lie that has exalted itself above the Word of Truth! Let us make peace with striving for Worldly acceptance and be brave enough to cast our cares on the Lord and seek this Kingdom lifestyle that will not lead to slavery, destruction and decay, but FREEdom, light, love, life abundantly!

Initial Steps to Healing

Sometimes in order to heal
we need to understand that true love is not
controlling. Love abounds in an atmosphere of
Truth, Love, and Liberty. Fear is what tries to
enslave our minds, thoughts, emotions.

As we actively seek a healing journey we must
recognize what forces are trying to manipulate/control us in our circumstances with (fear). Then disengage with them; and let go.

We then actively choose to seek the Lord of mercy and healing power in action and prayer.

We have a part to play under this Liberty blanket of God’s design.

1Co 13:4 Love is the principle upon which life
and health are built to operate, and when active
in intelligent beings, love is patient and kind. Love
gives in order to bless others and does not envy,
boast, or promote self.
1Co 13:5 Love is not intrusive, rude, selfish,
irritable, or hot-tempered. And love doesn’t hold
grudges or keep a record of wrongs.
1Co 13:6 Love takes no pleasure in evil but
rejoices with the truth.
1Co 13:7 Love always protects, always heals,
always restores, builds up, trusts, hopes, and
perseveres.
(The Remedy Translation)

Faith requires something only you can give!

I asked Jesus in my ❤️ when I was 10 years old. I rededicated my life to him when I was 24. I’m 37 now and the Holy Spirit is really trying to get me to understand how faith works.
Yes I know with out faith it is impossible to please God, but to truly understand that Faith is a supernatural power that effects both spiritual and physical aspects of my life is a revelation I am seeking.
The Kingdom of God operates opposite to this world we live in. So it doesn’t make sense to tell someone rest in Jesus when we are in so much suffering, pain, and fear of the unknown.
This is where faith must be stronger then reasoning.
My efforts get me no where when I try and control the whys to the trials.
Faith even though it’s so much harder to grasp in logical understanding is actually super easy to live by if we can just grasp it’s power.
Faith actually takes away our striving to control. Because we Trust that God is going to work it out for our good no matter what! This MS diagnosis has made me physically weaker in a lot of aspects but actually spirituality supernatural stronger.
Maybe what you need to do is just let go of what’s holding you down. For me it’s always logic/ reasoning. I’m always in my own head trying to figure it all out.
For once freedom has slipped into a crack of my weakness and I am beginning to see how this Faith thing was designed for my good. ❤️🙌🏻🌈🕊💃🏼🥊🦁

“ʏᴏᴜ ᴄᴀɴ’ᴛ ᴋᴇᴇᴘ ᴍʏ ᴄʜᴏꜱᴇɴ ᴏɴᴇꜱ ᴅᴏᴡɴ.”

I heard it so authoritative, so out of the blue. Huh? But what does that even mean Lord I feel injured/down/depressed. 🤕

Last night at a Worship gathering the Holy Spirit brought the rest of the message. “You can’t keep my chosen ones down because greater is He who is in them, then he who is of this world.” In that moment I connected the dots, and hope hit my spirit. In him – I’m in Christ. He is in Me. He is greater then the liar who comes to suffocate our minds/emotions in Despair.

I might fall down, it might look ugly, It may take me some time to realize I been hit, but because I trust in the one who is faithful it’s his love that allows me to dust off the dirt pick me back up and carry on. He is always faithful to do this and it always amazes me every single time. Like, he doesn’t even get tired of my doubt, or my weaknesses, he just comes crashing over me with his love and I’m wrecked. He always mends the scars.

“For the lovers of God may suffer adversity and stumble seven times, but they will continue to rise over and over again. But the unrighteous are brought down by just one calamity and will never be able to rise again.”
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭24:16‬ ‭TPT‬‬

“Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”
‭‭1 John‬ ‭4:4‬ ‭ESV‬‬

A few words can change the atmosphere

Emptiness, anger

No words spoken for weeks.

Blank stares.

No hellos, no cya laters.

Unforgiveness, bitterness, offenses

take control.

Darkness, hurt, pain.

Fear accompanies my heart and my mind. It latches on like a thick mucky paste and it suffocates my peace and my joy.

Thoughts that keep us separated with no hope of Reconciliation.

Then out of weeks of continued hinderance

One word spoken out of love.

It starts a spark that will turn into a flame

That will light up and expose all the darkness.

Truth will be revealed. Truth is love.

The love that has been hidden under the hurts.

Love that has been hidden and hijacked by fear.

And through the pressed lips I see a slight smile. Even if it wasn’t suppose to slip out. Because

Love does this. It overcomes our deepest insecurities and exposes the desires of our hearts.

And the broken pieces start to weld back together, made out of love and grace.

One word that’s all it takes.

Because one word turns into two or three and are aligned in a strand of a conversation.

Reconciliation.

❤️-Ash’Leigh Harris

Revelation of God’s Strength

Until you receive a
revelation of God’s love for you, you will
never reason with trusting him for
ANYTHING.

I’m just being honest.

In all life circumstances that are created to bring you fear and weakness, you can alter the
outcome by your choices on how you react
to them. We have an internal source, a flame
that can not be diminished. People with
strong faith may seem foolish to those who
don’t believe. It’s because they lack the
revelation of the power of God’s love for his
beloved people.

Saying my strength comes from the Lord isn’t a hypothetical or just a cool saying. It has become a reality of my every day life because I made the choice to trust him and invite him into each problem I have encountered in this life.

It’s his faithfulness to show up for me and
rescue me E V E R Y TI M E that has allowed
me to continue to draw his strength even
when I think I have hit the bottom.

He has no
bottom! The only bottom WE can reach is
the lack of faith WE have in him.

Gossiping With Our Daughters Does More Harm then Good

We have the influence to teach our daughters how to stop the enemy in his tracks!

With their mouths the godless destroy their neighbors, but through knowledge the righteous escape. Proverbs 11:9

Hey Momma! I wanted to shine some light on an area I believe as Mom’s we tend to over look because we think we are woman and by nature we like to gossip or defend with gossip especially pertaining to our daughters.

It is something we learned a long time ago in our childhood. We got upset. Some girl hurt our feelings so who do we trust? Who do we go and run to in a state of crisis (especially the younger aged girls trying to figure out life in 4th grade on up) Our Momma!! By God’s design as a woman and mother we are the spiritual guiders and the protectors of our children. After all, they are the fruit of our wombs, our treasures, our babies, and NO ONE better inflict pain or grief on what is ours! When we are not spiritually discerning and concentrating on TRUTH, we can over look our position as the soft landing, the hug, the reassurance, the security that they are so desperately needing in that moment of such horrific attack. So what we do is at an early age we create a very bad habit of teaching them to cope with their feelings by slinging mud back. We teach them that it is okay to lower someone else’s character/personality/actions by counter attacking with harsh and mean words to make us feel better in that moment.

It commonly can look like this…

“Mom! I am so upset! Kaitlyn today started to make fun of my jeans at lunch. She was telling everyone that I can’t be friends with her or whoever likes her because I am a mean person. Ugh she makes me so mad, she is the one that is stupid and says mean things to those girls she thinks are her friends behind their back. It really hurt my feelings when she started making fun of my jeans. I know I have different style but in front of every one in the cafeteria. Everyone was staring at me and laughing and I just wanted to hide under the table.”

Angry Momma Bear response;

“Kaitlyn huh? You mean Kaitlyn the girl who always has a dirty sweater on and her hair is never brushed? I can’t believe that girl had the nerve after all the things she wears. I mean I can’t even believe her mom lets her leave this house like that? Do they even own a washing machine? Don’t worry about her honey, you are way prettier, way smarter, why stylish then her. She is just jealous. Next time talk about her dirty hair at the lunch table. That should make her stop.”

And wow it just gets really ugly and out of control fast.

The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit. Proverbs 18:21

When we gossip we are two people speaking words of power (blessings and curses) and coming into agreement with them together. The mud we are slinging back onto the girls are not from heaven. They are from the pits of hell. We know Satan is the Accuser of the brethren. Can you see all the curses that are flying when we team up with our daughter and fight back with unkindness?

 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. James 3:9-10

Instead what we can do is lure the enemy into our camp, and then STRIKE HIM DOWN.

So what he meant for evil and such attack on dear daughter’s identity now becomes an opportunity for you to tare down his strongholds over her mind, and release freedom over her to stop believing the lies he wanted her to identify as truth in the first place, using the attacker friend as a messenger to manifest untruth in her current reality about herself.

Let me explain. You can not protect baby girl from all the evil and mean girls in the world! You will never be able to no matter what her age is, but if you are a wise momma you can give her tools to rise above the gossip and the mean word curses by giving her a super natural weapons called discernment, truth, and love.

One day the Holy Spirit gave me discernment on just how to have this moment with my daughter. I spoke the words out of my mouth he was giving me, and even though she did not enjoy it, she was finally able to calm down and understand that out of love I was trying to guide her into walking in truth and love and not hate. (It was also a wonderful illustration that she would be able to remember and hold on to.) I am thankful that the father aided me in this situation. The Bible says all we have to do is ask for wisdom and he will give it to us. It is so important as a Mom to reach out to PaPa God and seek his guidance in all areas of raising babies in our motherhood! So just a side note-ask him for help when you don’t know what to say!

I quickly explained to her that we live in a Seed–Plant–Harvest Ecosystem.

I then further explained that because of this Ecosystem we reap what we sow.

Set a guard over my mouth, LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips. Psalms 141:3

I told her to imagine that she has this Fruit Garden that she toils. For each kind word she speaks over her friends at school, or enemies..she plants a seed that will grow the most beautiful apple trees. I explained that these were not just any kind of apples, but the Best tasting juiciest apples she has ever flopped her lips to. I then told her to imagine what a mean and ugly word would produce? Every thing spoken out of your mouth is ready to be set into motion, wether good or bad, for us or against us. Our words have POWER. God’s words have so much power he Spoke everything into being! Can you imagine what kind of fruit is going to grow from a ugly tree? She sat there and you could tell it was trying to sync in. But this stuff is hard to let become truth because the FLESH feeds off offense, jealousy and anger! It gets a power surge when it feels like after it has been offended it let out the harder blow. Placing it on top, feeling like a winner. How foolish though because in reality the only thing that we feed to make feel good was the flesh, and now that tree we just planted has some stinky nasty fruit about to grow. When you get a nasty stinky garden, people around you can see and smell the rotten fruit, and guess what? You are not appealing to someone they want to be a friend to!

I then told her to remember the girl that flung the mood is planting as well at the same moment. She has a garden too. If her actions and words are ugly and harsh to those around her, she will eventually start losing friends because of the not so attractive garden she is cultivating. She did strike first. She did initiate the war so to speak on words, but you don’t have to fall for the enemies trick to cause you to spoilup your beautiful garden. That ugly is all on them. Let her keep it, not share it and cause your Garden to be contaminated.

I know this is hard. We are not so great a mastering our tongues, but there is Grace for the times we mess up. Grace to realize our feelings got us out of control, repent- forgive and try again to make a better choice in the future. You have to be very disciplined to keep a watch over your mouth.We can also along with our daughters stretch and grow in this mouth area! I know it is hard but I do believe that if we teach them this at a super EARLY age, and we continue to model to them what is the best use of our words and time as we communicate with others, and them about their problems, we are building their endurance up to exercise those spiritual truths and spiritual disciplines.

Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good….Titus 2:3

Ways to Grow Together not Gossip Together

  • Watch your own actions and words. She is watching you interact with your friends wether you notice her doing this or not. She is listening to how you react to harsh words spoken to you and what your responses are.
  • Be attentive and intentional– Listen to her side of the story. Let her know you care about her feelings being upset.
  • Be truth and Wisdom-Discern how the enemy has used this to attack her using her friend as the messenger. Then reveal truth in that discernment. Teaching our girls to look at the situation from a fresh perspective will help them to realize our emotions have a huge impact on what is actually fact or fiction.
  • Be the light in the Darkness– Pull out the GOLD and strengths inside of your daughter; pin point the insecurity and then build her up! Take the focus off the attacker and onto the deep seated root of her pain. Remind her that we have one enemy and he uses people to attack us.
  • Pray– Break that word curse off of her, ask the Holy Spirit to give her a chance to bless this person, and then pray for freedom to walk away. Teach her how to pray for those who hurt her. Ask that the father would open their eyes and remove the veil of darkness that is keeping them from seeing truth themselves. Also, pray for strength to remove herself from the situation and bite her tongue. Pray for discernment for your daughter so that when these word attacks come, she can see the enemy and his schemes or plan of attack. Pray spiritual armor over your daughter each day together. Teach her how to do this for herself as well.
  • Affirm to her the love you have for her, how special she is, and how much God loves her and desires her to walk each day out no matter what her age may be in freedom in him, and LOVE!

Father help us to steward motherhood rooted in your love and truth. I ask that you would give us spiritual discerning eyes to see the enemy and his attacks towards our children and their God given identity. Let us speak the words of love and truth over them and to them, and God please give them a heart to receive truth. Give our daughter spiritual antennas to realize that they wrestle not with girls at school, but with spiritual powers and principalities and darkness of this world, but greater is HE who lives in her than he who is ruler of this world. Give us strength to learn the lessons again that we have missed from our childhood. Let us be women who speak truth over our friends and enemies when people are looking and listening and not looking or listening. Help us to understand that our words have power to bless and to curse and help us to be disciplined in this area to have soft words like honey to put out the fires of the darts flown into our own camps! Thank you for your wisdom and revelation on this topic. I pray that the woman reading this would be blessed, strengthened, and encouraged in her role as Momma! In Jesus Name! Amen

Ash’Leigh Harris