A couple weeks ago, I read a blog from Natalie Grant (recording artist). She presented people with a challenge, a challenge to step out of their comfort zone and dare to be more of something they tend to struggle with. I wanted to share her blog on here as well, so we all can dare to be the kind of girl that God has called us to be. Through our faith, we can do anything through Christ.
(from nataliegrant.com)
"If you’re anything like me, you have a catalog in your mind of some pivotal moments in your life when different people may have said “you can’t…”
Some of those defining moments have stayed with me, influenced me, kept me from believing that I am who God says that I am.
But the more I have discovered about Jesus and the more I learn of His thoughts towards me, what once were deafening and defeating statements, are replaced by the Truth of God.
I’m calling on all my girlfriends to rise up and be a part of a revolution. That together, with one voice, the earth would hear us, as the sisterhood of God say, “yes, we can.”
My challenge to not worry, be afraid or scared but to
rely on God to get me through and renew my strength!
Dare To Be is a call for women to stand and say “I am who God says that I am. I can be what God says I can be. I can do what God has asked me to do.” If we could begin to see what God sees when He looks at us, how would that change our lives, marriages, families, communities and the world?
When Jesus asked Peter to walk on the water, I’m betting there were many “I can’t” thoughts that initially crossed his mind. But because Peter dared to believe and trust, Jesus accomplished the impossible through his life. He wants to do the same through us. Jesus didn’t say, “I’m sorry, Peter, but water-walking is for Messiahs only.” No, he said one simple word: Come. God is daring us to do impossible things by faith.
This is what I am asking of you. Throughout the week, I want you, daughter of the King, to dare to believe & live 1 thing God has called you to be. So, what will you DARE TO BE? Love, kindness, hope, courage, joy, peace, justice, freedom, empowered, uncompromising, forgiving, whole....Natalie Grant
“I can do all things through CHRIST…”(Phil 4:13) – and so can YOU!
We can all think of times in our lives where we have not done something because we were either told we couldn't do it or we were afraid that we couldn't do it. When we dare to step our of our comfort zone, to step out with our faith and to be the girl that we are called to be by our God, we can accomplish anything we set our hearts to. As we put aside the "I cant's and You can'ts" and change our words to the "I cans," bigger things can happen. We can change our world, if only we change our words, not in only how we talk but how we think; because, as most of us know we 'think' more than we 'talk.' So what are you 'daughter of the King of Kings' daring to be each week? Step what to the person that God has called you to be....and just remember you are fearfully and wonderfully made and a child of the King! YOU ARE LOVED!
**Video attachment of Natalie Grant's song, "Daring to be"
1 Peter 5:6-10 --> upon reading this section verse 10, this does stand out as the key verse here. No matter what we may go through, God is here for us and he will provide us with strength to be restored. In the hands of God our brokenness is powerful. More powerful than we could even imagine!
We can see the face of God in the brokenness, in the storms of life, in our trials and in our tribulations. The difference in 'being broken' and 'being broken open' is when we find that we can let God in to help us heal. God gives us those little signs of comfort that everything is going to be okay.
Listening to Sheila Walsh this weekend, made me think about a few years, remembering hearing from Tammy Trent. These two ladies have amazing stories to tell. In Sheila's book, Honesty and In Tammy's book, "Learning to breathe again,' tells the stories of how they've felt broken and how they've been restored.
His angels are all around us, whether they come in Hilton Housekeeping uniforms, a voice or hug of a stranger or even someone we know well. We are constantly entertaining angels all around us.
So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your Christian brothers and sistersall over the world are going through the same kind of suffering you are.
In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation.
God has His Purpose for all of us! I love when I heard someone say this, 'God just teach me to sing and worship you in the middle of the storm.' Because when we are in the middle of a storm that's really when we want to be focused on God. Which really reminded me how much I really love the song from Casting Crowns, Praise you in this storm. God will get us through the storms in our lives. I can see the pictures -- standing on the sandy beach in the middle of a rainstorm just praising God in the midst of it. How amazing does that sound?
Romans 8:28 -- And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.
I am a Child of God and Daughter of the King of Kings!
I took a couple notes from one of Sheila's messages she shared and I wanted to share some of them here....
God let me reflect who YOU ARE!
A couple of points I've listed from the conference that I was at to help us reflect....
It's okay to talk to yourself. :-) Really it is! :-) You can ask yourself, who does Jesus love? For me, THIS GIRL! :-)
Build an arsenal of the Word of God
Dig for themselves/ourselves
The Word of God is a letter written to YOU by GOD to help you.
Create a stack of cards with verses that you can turn to
Fear --> Psalm 27:1
The LORD is my light and my salvation—so why should I be afraid? The LORD is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble?
Anxiety --> 1 Peter 5:7
Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.
Overwhelmed -->
My Grace is sufficient for you
My Grace is enough for you
Psalm 143:8......................Treasure deep in your heart Psalm 4:8
The Bible is full of helpful verses for us to live by (God's love letter to us!)
Surround yourself with good people. You will be like the five people you are around the most!
find yourself a mentor -- someone older who can give you guidance, answer your questions and help guide you and just be able to be there for you.
God knows the weight of what we have cried, he holds our tears and he knows when we cry. He is there for us! He will wipe away every tear that falls from our face.
Revelation 21:4 --> He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.
Love this song from Sheila Walsh. She sang it toward the end of the Women of Faith conference, so I though I would share it on here as well.
"...My chains are gone I've been set free My God, my Savior has ransomed me And like a flood His mercy rains Unending love, Amazing grace..."
During one of Sheila Walsh’s messages she spoke about how sometimes, like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, you can be singing, ‘Somewhere over the rainbow Way up high, There's a land that I heard of Once in a lullaby. Somewhere over the rainbow skies are blue, And the dreams that you dare to dream Really do come true.’ And then, before you know it, you have no idea that a tornado is on it’s way, in the midst of our dreams. But when we can't seem to go on anymore and we come to understand and realize that we can't do it alone...we see that God has been with us the whole time. We just need to reach out our hand and God will pull us through.
Sheila’s book, Honestly, takes a look into Sheila’ childhood, through her 30’s and so on through her life. She talks about how her life changed in an instant and how she just tried to cover up the fact that she was hurting inside by looking okay on the outside. Which so many of us try to do, don't we? We work so hard to make everything look so good on the outside so nobody can see what is really happening on the inside of our lives. I would definitely recommend this book to read! We all have dreams for our life and sometimes it just takes a little longer to get there. We will never get something completely right....but God still loves us anyway! He is there to pick us up when we fall...as we reach out our hand and grab a hold of HIS! "...nothing in my hands I bring, simply to the cross I cling..."
Sheila told the story of the shepherd and his sheep and how the shepherd will go and look for that ONE lost lamb. Then if something is wrong or that lamb is hurt the only hope is for the shepherd to come and lift the lamb up. Sheep are the most defenseless of animals. It’s known that an Ewe will reject one of her lambs after she gives birth, and that lamb will die of a broken heart/spirit unless the shepherd intervenes. These lambs are also known as, bummer lambs. The bummer lambs run to the shepherd because they get and they get it because they believe it! They embrace the relationship with the shepherd, because they know that they are loved! They know where they can find help and a relationship. They know that even though they wondered away, that they can come home again and be loved! We are completely loved by God. If I could tell you just one thing...it would be that, You are loved more than you can ever imagine. Each one of us can have brand new life and have a relationship with a God and Father that knows our hearts and our future. The Shepherd is looking for you...where are you? Will you embrace the relationship? Because you are loved by the fiery LOVE of God!
Matthew 18:12-14 If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others on the hills and go out to search for the one that is lost?And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he will rejoice over it more than over the ninety-nine that didn't wander away!In the same way, it is not my heavenly Father’s will that even one of these little ones should perish.
When we come to realize that, I am not the good news…GOD IS!!! God is the good news that we need to share with the world!
Having a true and real 'best friend' relationship with Jesus and wanting to know that when I wake up in the morning, HE is the first thing on my mind, because HE is the one that woke me up that morning, and HE is the last thing I want to think about before I go to sleep, because HE will give me a great nights rest!
The decisions that you make today will affect your future.
Amazing Grace...My Chains are Gone
Amazing grace How sweet the sound That saved a wretch like me I once was lost, but now I'm found Was blind, but now I see 'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear And grace my fears relieved How precious did that grace appear The hour I first believed My chains are gone I've been set free My God, my Savior has ransomed me And like a flood His mercy rains Unending love, Amazing grace The Lord has promised good to me His word my hope secures He will my shield and portion be As long as life endures
My chains are gone I've been set free My God, my Savior has ransomed me And like a flood His mercy rains Unending love, Amazing grace The earth shall soon dissolve like snow The sun forbear to shine But God, Who called me here below Will be forever mine Will be forever mine You are forever mine
I just love being able to cook, being able to find and try a bunch of different recipes. I found this recipe in one of my cookbooks and I have been wanting to try it for a long time! So today was the day...and it's amazing! Definitely a keeper :-) The recipe is for a large 9x13 pan but for this morning I cut it in half and made a square pan. :-)
Here it is:
Sausage and Crisp Rice Casserole
4 cups of crisp rice cereal
2lbs. sausage meat (browned and drained)
1 medium onion (chopped and browned)
1 stick Cracker Barrel sharp cheddar cheese (grated)--I just used whatever cheese I had in the fridge :)
1 1/2 cups cooked rice (great way to use that leftover rice as well)
4 eggs
2 cans cream of celery soup
1. Preheat oven to 325.
2. In a 9x13 casserole dish, layer cereal, sausage, onion, rice and cheese.
3. Pour mixture of beaten eggs and celery soup over the rest of the ingredients.
4. Sprinkle cereal over the top.
5. Bake for 45 minutes.
You can have this with fresh fruit or some sweet rolls.
Serves 10-12
