The Why!
I was tired of not being obedient, of not finishing what I started, of hurting others including myself, and the list goes on. Most of all, I was fed up with not evolving to my ultimate potential through His grace. This was my motivation as I started this journey of finding the secret, the easy button, the best way to choose Jesus overall things!
What I found is that there isn’t a special formula, it’s a choice and it truly does mean dying to myself everyday. We are all different. He created us with set design based on the plans He spoke over us in Heaven. As He says in Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” My understanding and motivation could be much different than yours. None the less, we are all after one thing. We want to win the prize that is found in our heavenly call in Jesus Christ. There is a longing within the deepest parts of our soul that yearns to be found made complete when we reach Him at Heaven’s gate.
My hope through this devotional and YouTube channel is this, that you may find the simplicity in developing a relationship with Jesus Christ. I pray that you use my failures, challenges, and successes to motivate you in becoming everything He spoke over you. And with all my heart, I fervently pray for our heavenly Father to lead me in this Journey for His Glory. He knows how imperfect I am yet He led me to bring you His words, share my life, and my imperfect humanity as a light that leads you into His perfect love and holiness.
Words of Inspiration
“DO NOT turn something that is holy into something ordinary!”
Pastor Adam Hardegree
Journey Church
Jacksonville, FL
The Beginning…
Since I was a teenager, I have enjoyed journaling to document my journey, feelings, and use my imagination to create stories. When I divorced my children’s Dad as a non-believer, it was natural for me to go back to childhood habits to cope with the pain. Through it, I was able to rationalize things but was not able to control the emotions, the shame, the anger, and frustration that consumed me.
Like quicksand, my emotions were drowning me although all seemed put together on the outside. Behind closed doors, I was a mess and took most of that frustration out on my kids. Out of desperation, I sought this God my friend spoke to me about all the time. This God that my Grandma would teach me about during her Summer visits. This God that was foreign to me and had placed in a box far away from me.
My arrogance was so great that I told my friend that I would visit other churches before visiting hers. None were good enough and each confirmed why I kept the God box far away. She asked one more time, “come with me to church?” I can’t remember why I said yes but knew that if I didn’t this life would swallow me alive.
I entered the church and haven’t left ever since. Hallelujah!
My first visit was the Fall of 2015 and was baptized the Summer of 2016. Once I felt His presence, I was all in and ready for the best roller coaster ride of my life. I knew nothing about God not even a word. With no knowledge, I jumped in to serve, joined groups, and allowed others to pour into me. It was through small groups that God healed me and removed every curse word out of my mouth. The hand of God saved me from the quicksand that was consuming me. There was no going back, just forward, digging deeper into His word, leading, and writing a ton.
I had accepted that life was AWESOME with just God and my two kids. Right when I thought I couldn’t get better, God showed me those were not His plans for me. He led me to my husband whose name is “Jesus”. I have to laugh at God’s sense of humor. To me, it means that I will always remember who I ultimately belong to and who orders my life. We got married during COVID with our family and church by our side. Our life motto is “enjoy the little things” and that we do alongside our children everday.