Tag Archives: christian mom

Jesus’s Luxurious Love

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The older I get the more I understand and can appreciate the word Luxurious.

When we are younger we don’t pay much attention to the details. Whatever makes us happy or feels good, out of ignorance and youth we indulge, and we are just fine. As we age we gladly exchange comfort for the extra cash. Honestly 20 year old me would have been ecstatic to book a hotel that had a swimming pool. Mid 30’s me is all about that Jucuzzi bath tub and KING SIZE bed. Oh, and you better believe I am reading the reviews to see if this place is COMFORTABLE and CLEAN!

Luxurious to us is heated and cooled seats, extra fur in those house slippers, a silk robe, a big comfy couch we can melt into, or maybe even upgrading to the next package weather it be a spa day, bedroom suit, car, etc. In a nut shell when I hear luxurious I know it is the top of the line, maxed out, all bells and whistles, and I will benefit the comfort and enjoyment it brings to me.

I was reading Psalms 23 today out of the Passion Translation and what really caught my eye was the word luxurious attached to the Lord’s love. The scripture actually reads:

2 He offers a resting place for me in his luxurious love. His tracks take me to an oasis of peace, the quit brook of bliss. 3 That’s where he restores and revives my life.

I stopped and closed my eyes for a moment. I imagined being in a true place of rest. A true surrender to my savior who offers me and welcomes me in to his luxurious love. I imagined the whole room was softly light, the smells were only the finest aromas of luscious flowers, the room had a huge couch that was covered in red silk. Honestly my mind can’t really perceive just how amazing this place was. Classy, fine, sophisticated, and a safe place created just for me. A room with all the upgrades; the bells, the whistle, and Jesus himself giving me his full attention as I just rested beside him.

That is our Jesus. He is so loving, so kind, and so luxurious. I imagine he has BIG swagger, and all the mansions he is building for us up in heaven makes the worlds most expensive luxurious mansion look like a Polly pocket home in comparison. I imagine there are technologies, fabrics, and “comforts” we have never seen, heard, or felt.

His love is so rich the closest word we can get to in our human dictionary is luxurious. His love is so soft, so enjoyable, so comfortable, so peaceful, so valuable, so powerful.

So, the next time your sister or your friend says you need to go rest, remember what opportunity is being presented to yourself. Really rest in his goodness. Rest in his love for you!

He is waiting to restore your soul in his luxurious love!

What are you waiting for?

It’s Your Choice, Life or Death

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It amazes me that no matter what our circumstances are in our lives we actually get to choose how we are going to navigate through them. Like seriously, that seems almost imposible to comprehend to me. With so many decisions that have to be made on the daily, we are in control of our actions. Notice I said our actions!

Depression is a black misty fog monster. It swallows you up in the depths of it’s belly and it wants to keep you there hidden from the outside world. Depression doesn’t care if it’s your loved one’s Birthday, or vacation time. He usually comes with out warning, and over stays the uninvited welcome.

I know Depression, and because of my autoimmune disease and childhood trauma, I am extra sensitive to being snatched up by it.

If you are not familiar with it yourself, it can make you feel lifeless like a zombie, uninterested with life, emotionless, sad, afraid, hopeless, empty, angry, the list goes one, and it can manifest itself differently each time.

For me I have noticed a Cycle. It will start with extreme anxiety and panic attacks which make me feel helpless and out of control and them BAM…the Black Mist, and my emotions are high jacked, I can’t process words to describe what is going on in the inside, and then….. hope defered.

Last night I had hit that bottom of the rope. I was getting aggravated with myself. “Ash, you have already been healed of so much trauma in your life, why are you taking us into the deep end? We wont be able to keep our chins above water, and I don’t see any life savors floating out here.” I kept trying to remember how did I get to be mentally sound minded like I was just 12 months ago before this ms diagnosis?

And wouldn’t you know it, it all started with a surrender heart and a yielded spirit to the Lord. Joyce Meyer’s Battle Field of the Mind was the second book I read, Beauty from Ashes was the first.

Then it hit me. If I want to get well, if I want to be healed, if I want to be back to joyful me I WOULD HAVE TO MAKE A CHOICE.

Dueteronomy 30:19

19 This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against youthat I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live 20 and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Seeking the Lord for his grace and strength is part of choosing LIFE. Jesus is LIFE. His Word is Life. His Spirit is Life. Apart from him we are spiritually dead. Did you know you have a Spirit, Soul, and a Body? Did you know you are to align your Spirit to lead your Soul (mind, will, emotions)?

When we make the choice to be lead by our emotions, we are actually out of alignment and we are being lead by the flesh; our souls.

Depression is a Lying Spirit. Depression thrives on our emotions, our will. That is why it feels so real, because it was a weapon designed to smite us at our weakest part -the soul.

When you are saved, you get a new heart and your spirit is reborn with Christ. But, unfortunately you don’t get a new soul. However God didn’t leave us without help, and he tells us to renew the spirit of our minds. This is where discipline and self control come into play. Also where receiving salvation in Christ through grace and working it out through fear and trembling becomes priority. The Bible tells us that we are being transformed from Glory to Glory in Christ. So being human, and having this human experience has it’s cost. Sure we can bow down to the flesh and give it what it wants, but its a choice, and apart from God it is clear it leads to death.

What I realized was this was my formula I used in the past. 👇🏻

My surrendered heart, my faith and trust in God + God’s love and mercy over me, God’s sufficient Strength = Freedom to Heal

You make a choice then you let go of the fear and trust God to walk with you every day with this choice you have made. This choice means every day you get to walk with a Savior who is relational- a person- not just a statue on a shelf. Every day you get to walk in the Spirit, be lead by the Holy Spirit, and fellowship with the Holy Spirit through prayer and worship.

To not choose to Trust God to be your Sufficient Grace for the Hard things in life means you are Choosing yourself, trusting yourself, and your own strengths. I don’t know about you but I am glad I am not a God because I would be letting myself down all the time. Don’t even get me started on trusting my own flesh to make the right choices for all of us! No way Jose!

What negative circumstances have you been dealing with in your current season of life?

Father I pray that the person reading this would have faith the size of a mustard seed because that is all you require to trust you with their life and release their burdens to you. Renew their minds and strengthen them. Release them from the temptations to navigate life on their own! In Jesus name I pray, amen.

2019 The Year of Endless Possibilities

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7:03am January 3, 2019

I am laying wide eyed awake in bed this morning listening to nothing else but the sounds of my stomach gargle and the ceiling fan whirl. The sun has not made its grand appearance for today, and for whatever reason my subconscious knew my husband had to go back to work after a weeks vacation, and the sounds of his rumbling exhaust woke me.

It’s okay I am not bothered by this. I know we have a connection that desires to be in each other’s presence so I know deep down I was just reacting to his disappearance for today.

I wanted to take a few minutes to blog about what 2019 means to me. I went in prayer and asked the Lord to give me a hopeful word or words for his heart for me in 2019, and he whispered, ” Endless Possibilities!”

Although this phrase wanted to make me feel like I was about to become abundantly rich, as if I would win the largest lottery jackpot this year, deep down inside I believe it’s actually going to be far greater anything money can buy! I believe he is going to create endless possibilities to be a facet of his love to others. Maybe even endless possibilities to pray for others? Endless possibilities to be creative? Endless possibilities to serve?

The list goes on because after all He did say endless!

I want to allow my mind and heart to be consciously aware and remember these words each day this year. Especially when trials and tests come and I start to let my feelings dictate a hopelessness or defeat. (Note to self- work on feelings this year and STOP LETTING THEN RULE YOU!!)

The truth is we serve an endless infinite God who tells us in his word he is able to do exceedingly abundantly beyond anything we can dare think, ask, or want.

“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭3:20-21‬ ‭ESV‬‬

I believe he gave me this phrase just to specifically remind me that my hope is in an endless God. I can put my trust in Him.

Have you ever thought to ask God for a word to speak over you for 2019?

If you haven’t I want to encourage you to ask him! We know we can ask him for anything if we are willing to believe he will answer when we ask and receive by faith.

Maybe you won’t hear a word but he will bring attention to a word or a phrase through a devotion, a song, or a book.

I don’t actually hear his voice audibly, I hear my thoughts that I know I didn’t just think on my own. Some people call it intuition or coincidence, but it is actually the Holy Spirit communicating with our Spirit through our thoughts! 💭

How cool is that!!??

Well I am going to end this now, but I want you to know if you are reading this I am praying for you! I am praying that your heart would be receiving of just how awesome and powerful our God is and I pray he blesses you with endlesspossibilities for 2019! In Jesus name I pray! Amen!

💕-Ash’Leigh

I Almost Died But I Just Did It

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Y’all two weeks out of the gym is like a year in my world. My plan was to start back Monday but with my husband being home for two extra days more then planned I just couldn’t make myself wake up at 5:30am and disturb his morning sleeping-in time.

Well he went back to work today so as I heard the alarm blaring at 5:30am this morning and the sound of him turning on his night stand lamp as I grumbled and threw the fluffy heavy covers over my head to shield my eyes from what seemed like the bright lights from a choo- choo train 🚂 blinding my pupils through my closed eye lids, I thought Just Do It. It’s not going to be fun, but come lunch time you are going to regret not just starting back today.

I literally told myself, “FINE!” In about a 4 year olds tune!

So I did it…….. and I almost died! 😝

Just kidding not really anywhere near close to actual death, but my legs felt like I could barely keep them under my body in a forward walking position out the gym door, my face hurt from all the blood rush, and my gym clothes and hair were a hot sweaty mess! I guess that’s what you call a killer good work out.

Discipline, it’s never fun in the beginning but the fruit that comes from your hard labor is very juicy sweet and rewarding! 🍉

I have been off a diet for about two months and surprisingly didn’t gain any pounds on the scale. After a hardcore 16 weeks of BBGs and a high protein, high fat, low carb diet, I have to be honest I’m so completely over even thinking about jumping on a diet band wagon.

I decided at 11pm last night I was going to stop chasing vanity over my body, stop making it an idol and just work out because it’s healthy for my body, work out because it reduces stress, and work out because well I just feel better on the inside. I won’t hop on a diet, I will however try and train my mind and appetite to crave God made foods!

I use the word “training” because it allows myself self grace for the days when I don’t practice self control and consume processed foods.

I was going to start back Monday, but meh, it’s so hard to buy into putting it off a few days when I can just start today!

So here is to day one of almost dying and being conscious of the foods going in to energize me!

Do you like it diet? Have you come to a place in your life where your just so over doing the same thing and going around the same mountain time and again?

💪🏻👊🏻🤟🏻

Blessings!

Leigh Leigh

Living on not Borrowed Time

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There are 24 hours in a day.

168 hours in a week.

8,736 hours in a year.

Job 14:5 “You have decided the length of our lives.
You know how many months we will live, and we are not given a minute longer.”

Your life is no accident! The days you get to live here are not to be waisted away.

Each second is gifted to us by our creator to live a life worthy of our calling. A calling that is given to us to love God with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind, and to love our neighbor as we love ourself. A calling that we are tasked and equipped for to share the gospel, the Good news, about Jesus Christ.  

I feel encouraged, convicted, and inspired to make the most out of each day that is given to me. These moments in time are no accident. These days of life are not just for selfish pleasures, or to be taken for granted. We have a broken world filled with broken people who need to hear that there is going to be a day when all this brokenness is washed away. 

People need hope! They need healing! They need a Savior who will forgive them no strings attached. They need grace and forgiveness to be shown to them, and mercy for when they screw it all up big! 

We need to Love with no stings attached.

We need to help with no strings attached. 

How will you live out these next 24 hours of your life? Will you move when you fill lead to move, speak when the Holy Spirit prompts you to speak about Jesus, or will you continue to stay quite by fear or feelings of inadequacy?

I’m praying for you and for me this morning that God’s love may abide in us and overflow into others we come in contact with these next 24 hours. I’m praying for a revelation to hit our hearts that this is not just our life to live, but a life lived to bring Glory to our Heavenly Father.  

❤️ Leigh Leigh

I’m on Instagram now so find me and show me some love by liking my page and say hi!! Absorbing_Grace

A dose of Monday Motivation- Your OWN WORST BATTLE

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Can I get an AMEN from the crowd!? This very statement resonates deep into my heart with great conviction.

For a woman who struggles with actions sprinting after her feelings, this quote speaks so much truth to me this morning. It is such a great reminder to keep on keeping on doing what is right!

We all struggle with something raging inside of our souls. The battle within our selves are REAL. This War inside of us is called good and evil, right and wrong.

This quote reminds me of the importance of TRUTH and how it will help me win ANY BATTLE I may have within my soul!

My battles could be anything from fighting negative body image, getting along with others, laziness, discontentment, the list goes on…

There will always be what feels right and what actually is right.

There will always be what feels wrong that may actually be right. (Don’t think this is possible? Then go bless some one who despises you!)

When your battle is based on what you know and what you feel, you should always trust what you know to be TRUE! Always follow TRUTH!

Feelings are fickle, they lie, they can be a false sense of security, they can play on your emotions, they can be lifted up by others, or shut down and become numb. They put too much dependence on other people’s actions or words, and your own circumstances. Never trust your feelings, always trust the TRUTH!

What is TRUTH?

JESUS answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6

And you will know the Truth, and it will set you free. John 8:32

What happens when you practice Truth?

But he who practices truth (Who does what is right) comes out into the Light; so that his works may be plainly shown to be what they are-wrought with God (Divinely prompted, done with God’s help, in dependence upon Him). John 3:21

And let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint. Galatians 6:9

Peace and Mercy be upon all who walk by this rule….Galatians 6:16

So no matter WHAT may come today, or this week, remember the battle will be between what you know is right and what feels right. How will you react to life in the present? Will you pursue/chase after peace and mercy by following truth, or will you trip yourself up on your feelings and land into a pit of self pity?

It all lies in your hands my friend!

Choose TRUTH!

*photo found on pinterest

xoxo

Leigh Leigh

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Secret way to Release Unforgiveness

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“Unforgiveness is like drinking poison and hoping the other person dies.” Margaret Stunt

If you are breathing, there is someone you have encountered in your life that has offended you. Forgiveness is one of most powerful weapons I believe Jesus gave us. Ephesians 4:32 tells us to be kind to each other, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven us. Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:14 “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you.”

If you are breathing, there is someone you have encountered in your life that you have offended. We need people to forgive us just as much as we need to forgive them.

Unforgivness harbors ANGER, BITTERNESS, HATE,  and RESENTMENT. These are very dangerous to our hearts as they produce unrighteousness. James 1:20 tells us that Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires. It will fester in your heart. It will become this ugly monster and the more you replay the offense over and over in your mind, the bigger the monster grows. It continues to grow until it consumes you! It consumes your thoughts, your actions, your conversations, and it steals you happiness and joy! Unforgivness really is poison!

God promises that if we will just trust him, he will avenge his children. Romans 12:19 “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath; for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.” I know this is easier to be said then done. I know we want instant gratification to our flesh. We want them to feel as horrible as we do in the instance the offense is made against us.

Unforgivness is a THIEF! IT steals from you!

So today I would like to share with you a little secret of mine! It’s my secret way I release unforgivness to offenses made against me. I am a tangible type of girl. I like to touch and feel things. When you think about anger you may think violence. I like to release my emotions in motion for the most part. ( Best stress release is running and working out!) That is just what “feels” good to me. So when I discovered I could make my offenses tangible and them tear them apart to shreds, it turned my intangible hurts into tangible things! Stay with me now, as I try to explain this.

It is not all about just tearing paper apart it is about seeking the Lord in prayer first!

It is about freeing myself from anger and putting into action my faith that Jesus will take care of me. With every tear, I am experessing my trust and obedience to him. He is a healer. He knows us better than we even know our ownself and he hurts when we are hurting. If you have a hard time believing this and you are a parent, then just think about how you feel when someone messes with your child? Does the word Anger strike a chord? We are God’s children, he cares about what people do to us. He promises to take care of them one way or the other in his time. He knowing all, knows the best way to handle them as well! When we act out in anger we end up just getting into trouble. We pay evil for evil and nothing good ever comes out of the situation.

HOW TO RELEASE UNFORGIVENESS (pursuing peace)

#1 Go to the Lord in Prayer. Be honest with him. Let him know you are very hurt but you don’t want to stay that way. Ask him to heal your brokenness. Ask him to have the ability to forgive like he forgives and love like he loves. If you are a child of God, you have this ability in you, through the Holy Spirit that is living inside of you.

#2 Write the offense (offenses) down on paper.

outofheart

#3 Say out loud (The offender’s name) I forgive you for (what you wrote down on the paper).

#4 TEAR up the paper and let the anger, resentment, and hurt go……yup….drop it, and release its poison from your heart.

tearit up

#5 Throw your pieces in the trash, and forget about it.

#6 If you really, really, really want to make the DEVIL mad for trying to trip you up on that unforgivness poison, then go out and bless that offender some how! (mind blown)

OVER COME EVIL WITH GOOD! Romans 12:21

When the devil tries to bring back up the offense, and it tries to sneak back into your heart, make sure that you remind yourself that you have already burned that bridge, and pray for strength to not fall back into temptation of unforgiveness.

To be honest there may be times where you are having to do this regularly with a particular individual in your life. Just know that your diligence to keep strife out of your life and peace in your heart will not go unrewarded. Pray for this person. Pray for peace in that relationship. Sometimes we just have to move on and not allow ourselves to continue to be in their line of fire of offenses. If it becomes habitual you may just have to tell yourself that the problem is deep-rooted in them, so stop taking it personal! When we give our hurts over to God and let him heal us and take care of the offender for us, we can have peace and it keeps us from getting ourselves in trouble, which breads self-guilt and self-condemnation.

Maybe today you just need to forgive yourself? You hold the power to what takes roots in your own heart. Guilt and condemnation only make us weak and bring us into more sin. 

Remember 1 Peter 3:11 STOP THE CYCLE TODAY of STRIFE and PURSUE PEACE!

Love yourself enough to stop taking the toxic unforgiveness poison!

A great book to read on forgiveness is Joyce Meyer’s book Do Yourself a Favor …. Forgive! It’s on Ibooks and Amazon. My computer is not allowing me to copy and paste the link. I will try and plus this up later.

XOXO

Leigh Leigh

Don’t forget to FOLLOW MY BLOG! Leigh Leigh Speaks is on FACEBOOK and TWITTER!

 

 

God knows all the Answers to Our Questions

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Day 1

Immediately after I opened my eyes this morning at a chilly 6:00am, (Texas time) my alarm clock begging me for the third time now to start my day, I reached over for my iPhone and opened the BIBLE app.

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I decided in that moment I would go ahead and dive into the whole chapter. Upon completion of reading the whole chapter I decided I would commit my next 40 days with my Blog to speak truth, God’s truth with you, my awesome readers! I am still working out, and will eventually figure out how to share that side of me in future blog posts, but this 40 Days of Scripture will be categorized under A New Life in the Scriptures on my Blog.

I want to start with Proverbs 16. I urge you to read the whole chapter for yourself and encourage you to do a little studying on your own.

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It can be used and applied to your every day life no mater where you are on your journey.

“We can make our own plans, but the LORD gives the right answer.” Proverbs 16 Verse 1

We can make our own plans, but the LORD gives the right answer. (Hmmm I don’t remember asking for his answer, it’s my life, my plans.) I have to admit when I read scriptures some days I feel like I am just staring at the words. I know they are suppose to make sense in some form or fashion, but I am blank.  I began to mediate on it and let my mind imagine, I use context clues to gather more information from surrounding verses and then I pray that the Holy spirit would give me revelation, and knowledge. We can ask for that you know! 😉

If you switch over to the Message interpretation of this Proverb it’s titled is Everything with a Place and a Purpose.

So when I read we can make our own plans, I am assuming God is including EVERY HUMAN.

Deuteronomy-30.19-640x480

In Deuteronomy 30:15-19 God lets us Humans in on a little secret. We are FREE to make our own choice! What!!? That is awesome! We have  a loving God who would never want to FORCE himself on us or our lives, but He ultimately knows that through salvation through his son Jesus, He is the ultimate way to a real true honest life of Freedom.

God specifically specifies our choices… LIFE….or DEATH!

Life- Eternity with God.

Death- Eternal Separation from God.

“…but the LORD gives the right answers.” Proverbs 16:1

I love that this verse is the first scripture in this chapter because automatically I can see how it can be valid as a Compass for our whole lives from start to finish, but it can also be used as a compass for a particular present season in our every day life.

He is ultimately advising us to SEEK HIM FIRST. Like a compassionate Father He is inviting us to run to him with our questions so that He can answer them.

We can make our own plans yes.. we can choose LIFE or we can choose DEATH, but he is reminding us to have confidence in Him to trust that ultimately He has the right answers.

To choose LIFE would be to seek salvation through his son Jesus Christ.

To choose DEATH would be to live a prideful life believing there is no God, no Jesus, no faith, no hope, no salvation through Jesus, or maybe even turning your back on God.

Now lets bounce back to the present. Maybe you really despise your job and you really want to quit, you know deep down inside you should stay, you have a feeling that you need to stick it out. You always have the choice to quit, or you could go to the Lord in prayer and ask him which way you should turn. Should you stay, should you go? Maybe he has you there to learn a lesson, or maybe he has you there to be a blessing. Either way when He is involved and you are choosing to follow him He will work it all out for your greater good.

“We can make our own plans, but the LORD gives the right answer.” Proverbs 16 Verse 1

 

Where are you at on your journey of faith? Have you decided to make your own plans without first seeking his knowledge, his will for your life right now? Do you know Christ? Do you know your freedoms of being a Child of God?

READ HERE if you are still on the fence about this whole Jesus, God, Faith thing people talk about.

Day 2 HERE

xoxo

Leigh Leigh

Learn more about Leigh Leigh HERE. Please follow my blog and join in on the fun at FACEBOOK HERE, or follow Leigh Leigh Speaks on Twitter HERE!

We are guilty of trying to become someone we are not

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For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:10

 I have been so thrilled and eager to sit down to write this blog post.  The joy and the excitement has been jumping around in my heart like a million Mexican Jumping Beans!

Here recently I keep getting this magnificiant push, this hard drive to write about how SPECIAL YOU ARE!

I love to work out, I love to encourage other women on their weight loss journeys, however I don’t frown upon those who are just not interested in the same things I enjoy. Maybe you love the fashion world, you eat, breath, and sleep the latest fashions. Maybe you are into Make up and Hair, body building, dancing, cycling, swimming, reading, writing, hiking, sewing, crafting, budget shopping? The list goes on as to what really captivates us!

Maybe you truly are happy with who you are inside and out, or maybe you are in a season of your life where you are struggling to find out who you are. You question things, you question your own heart, motives, drives, etc..

I know I went through a season in my early 20s after I had my two children. I had completely lost my identity some where in between all the mom titles I was carrying. I lost my confidence in who I was and I was just clueless on who God had called me to be. That place is a dark and scary place to be. If you my friend are in this season I want you to know that there is a brilliant bright light at the end of the tunnel for you! Embrace the unknown to educate yourself on who God has called you to be and then dig down deep inside to rediscover who you are, who you want to be, and then my friend grow your faith and let yourself be you!

Don’t ever get carried away with trying to “fit in” that you forget that you were made to “Stand Out!”

It is so easy these days with all the Woman/Mom/Wife comparisons in the World. We are judged from our choice of clothes to the brand of water we choose to drink. It’s absolutely ridicules and actually brilliantly calculated by the Devil to cause divisions amongst us women to separate us from each other on stupid things that are not eternal or relevant to who we are on the inside.

I am pretty sure God doesn’t care if you want to use a cloth diaper on your baby or a disposable one. However, I know he cares about your heart and your intentions. If this choice brings God glory by recycling and keeping the earth clean, and this is why you chose to do it because in your heart you are convicted too and not because you don’t want others to judge you, or your afraid of their opinions, their acceptance to fit into their particular group, I say cloth on my dear!

Confession alert!! I will just tattle on myself now so you know I am not pointing fingers or picking on cloth diaper moms! The cloth diaper is just an easy example that popped into my mind first. I used to be a preschool teacher and I would look and check out what type of lunches other moms were packing for their child. I had come to the conclusion that I didn’t measure up to other moms because my child’s lunch didn’t look like their child’s. I would go out of my way to make sure that my kids lunch reflected their child’s lunch. Was it because I wanted my child to be “super healthy” like theirs? No, it was because somewhere deep inside I had a mom insecurity and I had made other moms my standard to compare myself to be like.

(Read why I gave up trying to be the PERFECT MOM here.)

We do this all the time with EVERYTHING…don’t we? Okay maybe you have never done this, I am probably just throwing my own self under the bus right now by sharing some of the dumb embarrassing things I have done in my life! 😉

It is just Satan getting into our heads tying to make us insecure on who we are as WOMEN, as Mother’s, as Wifes, as Friends, and especially Daughters of Christ!

Insecure so that we do stupid things, like try to become someone we are not to feel accepted.

The good news is WE ARE ALREADY ACCEPTED! Even in our Sin we have a God who loves us and is waiting for us to acknowledge him and to believe in him. He loved us before we loved him. He created us unique for His Glory and His own Purpose. Ephesian’s 2:10 says that we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.  GOOD WORKS, ETERNAL Works, that we should walk in them. I am not reading the part where we should compare and then become someone we are not, or that we should walk in someone else’s footsteps that He created for them. Oh, because it is not there!!

These silly standards that we measure ourselves up to turn into nothing eternal but only temporary. Your child is going to grow up into an adult, God willing! When he is an adult, no one will care what kind of diaper you put on his bum. Your body, your face, your hair, it will all age. We are all left with the same destiny and that is getting old and passing on.

I don’t want to waste one more second trying to become someone I am not created to be. What a waste that would be for my life God created just for me to live out!

Look at your finger prints. If God, the creator, went out of his way to give each one of us our very own set of finger prints, doesn’t this mean some thing to you about your value, your worth, your acceptance, your importance to HIM?

We are all special and unique, but as Sisters in Christ we are all connected.

Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. 1 Peter 3:8

Notice how there is no pressure to be the same on the outside, or the way we prepare lunches/dinners for our children, or to become a stereo type soccer mom, or an organics only mom, or the 6 pack abs mom, or the Trophy Wife, and become everybody’s BEST friend!

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I  posted this photo on my Facebook page. (Check out my Facebook page HERE!) It convicted me as to where my perspective has been lately. Let us live to be women who leave eternal gifts to our children, our husbands, our friends, and everyone else we meet along the way.

Love last forever! Acts of kindness remain within the recipient’s heart!

If you are currently chasing after something that you know in your heart just isn’t you, but because of fear of rejection you are allowing yourself to be involved or apart of it, I urge you to stop it today! Be brave enough to just be you. Be brave enough to love and accept yourself just the way you are. Also be brave enough to change the parts of you that you know you need to change for the better. You are worth becoming the best that God created you for!

Where is your heart today? Are you guilty of trying to be someone you are not? Do you know who you are?

Struggling with Identity? Check out my Confessions of a Tattoo Sleeved Mom HERE!

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XOXO

Leigh Leigh

Please follow my blog! I am on Twitter and Facebook as well!

 

 

Jump back on

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Monday equals fresh start to the week! If you jumped off the band wagon over the weekend why not start back today?

I have learned that when I stop doing what I am suppose to be doing to keep my body in check doubt creeps in my mind! When I am busy keeping up with my running and my work outs, there is no room for doubt!

The more you do something, the easier it gets. The less you do something, the harder it gets!

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Let’s do this!
Leigh Leigh