Life Update

Hello Everyone!

Wow it seems like forever since I last write a post for this blog. I may have forgotten how to do this. So much has happened since my last post titled Seasons of Change. As you probably noticed the header changed. I felt it was time to give the blog a new look that really represented me and what I stand for. So I hope you like what I came up with.

You are probably wondering if I'm going to start blogging regularly again and as much as I would like to that just isn't in the cards right now. However I do plan to start up again this fall. I have some really exciting changes for this blog and where God is taking it. So please be sure to check back.

Just a little update. While I have been gone I am still writing. I've been writing once a month for Daughters of the Deep and occassionly for my church blog. Outside of writing I have been very involved with my church volunteering at Anthem which is our new young adult college age ministry. I'm so excited to see what God has in store for my generation.

The big news is that I am writing a book. Yes you read that right. I AM WRITING A BOOK!!! God has been calling me to do this for a while now and I finally took the plunge. As of right now I don't have a date for when you will be able to read it but hopefully within the next year. I will say that this book is a very personal story of how I dealt with grief. I don't want to say too much just yet. So stay tuned for more updates on that.

As I am planning to return to full time blogging here again this fall I would like to know what you my readers would want to see more of. Do you want short devotions? Worship Wednesdays? Bible studies you can join in? Scripture writing challenges? Ways to pray God's Word? I want to hear from you.

Throughout the summer I am hoping to be more active on instagram and facebook. I will be joining in on Entrusted Bible study by Beth Moore with a very sweet friend of mine this summer and will be sharing what I learn from it on my social media throughout the summer.

Well I must end this post before it turns into a book. I pray for each and every one of you. Please let me know your thoughts and I look forward to returning this fall.

Blessings and Shalom,
Grace Mae <3 <3 <3

He is Risen Just Like He Said

Happy Easter! He is Risen! He is Alive!

 

I pray you all had a wonderful day yesterday and were blessed beyond measure.

As I have been reflecting in my quiet time during Holy Week I am reminded of the ultimate sacrifice that Jesus made for me. He didn't have to die yet He did because He loved me so much. I'm so thankful that He wants to know me. I choose to follow Him. I choose to love Him. I asked Him to come into my heart, forgive me of my sins so I can have eternal life. Because of what He did and has done and continues to do in my life I want to be one voice telling others about Him. 

If you don't know Him. Ask me I'd be glad to tell you all about Him. I promise you that it will be the best decision you will ever make. Following Him has changed my life and I'd be lost without Him. He is my Lord and Savior and lives in my heart. 

Easter is all about Jesus. My Savior is alive. He is risen just like He said. 

I'd like to leave you with this song as we continue to celebrate His Resurrection! 

Blessings and Shalom, 

Grace Mae <3 <3 <3 

Seasons of Change & Update

Change is a part of life and sometimes we don't understand it or like it but can't do anything to stop it. Seasons come and go. Things change as we get older. We go through hard times but even when we loose our way God is always there helping us get through. 

When I started this blog back in 2013 I had no idea what I was doing or where it would take me. I wouldn't trade the days, months, or years I spent on this for anything. God has blessed me so much over the last four years of blogging. 

What I am about to say isn't easy. Please know I have prayed hard and long over this. 

In the fall of 2015 I have felt God nudging me to pursue writing more in depth. I honestly laughed at the idea. Writing has never been something I enjoyed or that I was very good at but I said okay. I am willing to pursue this. Over the last year and a half I have gone through some of my worst times but God has always been faithful. He has opened many doors for me and has blessed me with two opportunities to write for Daughters of the Deep and my church CLA Blog. This has kept me busy and I have been finding myself stressing out over everything. Also God has been laying on my heart to write on a couple special projects of things He is teaching me. 

However, I haven't been able to work on them because blogging has taken most of my time. Please don't get me wrong. I love what I do. My passion in life is to encourage and help others grow in their faith and walk with Jesus. I just feel like I am overwhelmed and spending so much time making sure the blog and the other two blogs I write for has top quality stuff. 

So I wanted to let you all know I am taking a rest from blogging full time. I'm not sure how long I will be gone but I do know that it's not over. I enjoy this so much but need to take time to focus on God and my own needs. By quitting blogging full time I will be able to spend more time in the Word, in prayer and writing about what God is teaching me. 

Please know this isn't goodbye forever. I will occasionally write a post and update you all on what is going on hopefully once a month. Also my plan is to keep the social media updated more regularly as time allows. So please be sure you follow the blog facebook page and instagram account. 

Thank you again to all my readers and encouragers. I appreciate your faithfulness and support. Please keep in touch with me. I care about you all. This is just a change in the season and like in nature it's only temporary. Right now I am needing to go with what my heart is telling me and what God is telling me. I love each and every one of you. I want to leave you with this song. This song has blessed me and I just wanted to encourage you today. I look forward to coming back and sharing with you what God has been doing in my life while I'm gone. The love I have for this blog and part of my life will last longer than a lifetime. 

Blessings and Shalom,

Grace Mae <3 <3 <3 

Influence Knows No Season

Do you just have one of those phrases people use that just strikes you the wrong way? 

Recently someone told me that we weren't as close as we once were because we were in different seasons in our lives.  At the time, I agreed and we caught up on some superficial chit chat and went our separate ways.  The more I replayed the conversation over in my mind, the more I thought about being in "different seasons" and tried to figure out what season I was in and why that meant we weren't continuing to invest in each other. 

This encounter lead me to a couple realizations that pointed me to God's Word. 

First, we are always influencing the people around us whether we are aware of it or not.  I have only to look at the words and actions of my five year old son to see that he is influenced by me on a daily basis.  This influence know no season. 

Second, we get to choose how we want to use that influence.  Hebrews 10:24 says, "And let us be concerned about one another in order to promote love and good works."  As followers of Jesus Christ we are to point others to Him  We do this by truly caring about people and where they will spend eternity.  We show we care about our fellow sisters in Christ by pushing them to pursue holiness by bring obedient to the Word of God.

Third, our time of influence is limited to the days we have on earth.  Rather than excusing ourselves due to our current "season" of life, I believe we should be intentional with our impact by living out Ephesians 5: 15-16, "Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk- not as unwise people but as wise- making the most of the time, because the days are evil."  We must seek to invest ourselves in the lives of other, this requires effort and it is urgent for we do not know how many days we have left. 

So, I have determined that no matter what different seasons me and my dear sister may be in, it is not an excuse to neglect the powerful influence we can have on each another.  It just may mean that we have to work a little harder at it right now.  Now, I encourage each of  you to consider the people God has placed in your path and evaluate what kind of influence you are having in their lives.  Are you pointing them to Christ by how you live your life and what you say or are you neglecting the gift of influence you have been given?

Go forward and use to gift of influence you have been given sweet friends!
 
-Kristi

Worship Wednesdays - Find You Here

When I first heard this song I cried so hard. This song really touched my life. My life right now has been a mess but I am relying on God to be with me. 

I really love the bridge that says.

Here in the middle of the lonely night

Here in the middle of the losing fight, You're

Here in the middle of the deep regret

Here when the healing hasn't happened yet

Here in the middle of the desert place

Here in the middle when I cannot see Your face

Here in the middle with Your outstretched arms

You can see my pain and it breaks Your heart

I pray this song touches you as it did me. My prayer for you today is that God will find you wherever you are and whatever you are going through. 

Meditation Mondays - Compassion that Broke Barriers

Hey Everyone! 

Today's post will be directed over to the blog our church started. I am so excited to be part of it and pray that it will encourage someone today. Let me know what you think. One of my passions has been writing and sharing what God is teaching me and doing for me in my life with others. In my article I talk about compassion and how Jesus showed compassion. 

Have a blessed day!!!!

Compassion that Broke Barriers

Blessings and Shalom, 

Grace Mae <3 <3 <3 

Meditation Mondays - Writing Letters to your Future Husband

Today's post as we wrap up our mini series I'd like to talk about writing letters to your future husband. 

As I talked about last week praying for your future husband is important writing letters to him is something special. I have found that writing these letters is way to help me know that someday He will read these. I write about how I am thinking of him and praying for him or when something special happens in my life. 

You can write these on notebook paper, in a journal, or even on your laptop. It's another way to share your heart for your future together with him. The letters don't have to be long. I've thought about buying a special journal to use for my letters and prayers. Right now I am just using notebook paper which works just fine. It doens't have to be fancy, it can be plain and simple. 

Here is a letter that I wrote to my future husband that I wanted to share with you. 

Dear Future Husband, 

I haven't met you yet or maybe I have. Only God knows you are the right person for me. As I have been praying God laid this on my heart. Sometimes it feels like an eternity waiting for you to come into my life. It's hard seeing others around me finding love and moving on with life. It makes me want you more. I want you to know that I am waiting for you. I am not giving into temptation. I pray for you every single day and hope you are praying and waiting for me too. What a day it's going to be when we finally meet? I can't wait to see what God has in store for our future together. Just know that I love you. 

Much love,

Your Future Wife 

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 

Do you write letters and notes to your future husband? Do you find it helpful? Let me know in the comments. 

Blessings and Shalom,

Grace Mae <3 <3 <3 

Worship Wednesdays - My Paper Heart

My Paper Heart is one of my all time favorite songs ever. It talks about how God has our heart. Remember that even if you don't have that special guy in your life God loves you and wants your heart. Enjoy this song today! Thought it would be a great way to end our month of Love. 

Meditation Mondays - Praying for Your Future Husband

Welcome back to the third week in our mini series of preparing ourselves for our future husband. Today I want to talk about one very important thing. Prayer! This is a key element to preparing ourselves for marriage. We need to already be praying for our future husband. I am going to share with you 10 ways you can pray for your future husband. I use these every day.

1. Pray for his relationship with God. 

2. Pray that God will bless him. 

3. Pray that he will be a spiritual leader for your family. 

4. Pray that he will love you deeply.

5. Pray that he will have a heart for your children together. 

6. Pray that he will make wise choices. 

7. Pray for his emotional, mental, and physical health.  

8. Pray that he will prosper at work. 

9. Pray for his power to resist sexual temptation and stay pure.

10. Pray that you will show him respect, grace and kindness. 

These are just a few of the many ways you could pray for him. I'd just like to take a minute right now and pray for you ladies that are reading this.

Father, I pray right now for each one of the sweet ladies reading this. I pray that as they are waiting for you to bring that special guy into their life that you would help them resist temptation. I pray that they will continue to grow in your knowledge and wisdom. Let their hearts remain pure and as they prepare for marriage someday that they will be praying for their future husband whether they have met him or not. In Jesus Name, Amen!

Be sure to check back next week as we wrap up this mini series ;)

Blessings and Shalom,
Grace Mae <3 <3 <3

Selfish Valentine

He walked through the door empty-handed. To say I was a little more than disappointed is an understatement. Didn't he know it was Valentine's Day? I thought that he would have at least given me a bouquet of flowers or a card.

The entire day I wasn't very pleasant. I went to work and purposefully asked people what they received, tempted to seek pity for anyone who asked me what my husband had given me. 

But I sensed God whispering to me: Did you give him anything? 

That made me even more irritated. Um, of course not, he was supposed to get me something. 

The more that I dwelt upon the question, though, the more I realized how selfish I have been to my husband. I expect and expect and expect without giving. And really, that's what we are meant to do--give. This doesn't apply to just marriage or romantic relationships. It applies to friendships and family relationships. If we all--especially Christians--stopped always expecting people to give to us and instead focused on giving to others, then we would be a much more effective witness to Christ and probably happier too! 

So instead of expecting that perfect gift, give. Give your time to someone, help pay for a stranger's groceries. Demonstrate the selfless love that God has shown us. 

In His love,

Kayla

A Story of Faith, Hope and LOVE

February is that month when love is undeniably in the air and for us singles it is that one month of the year in which our singleness stands out the most. This week I have not only faced another year of being single on Valentine’s Day, but I will have also celebrated my birthday the very next day. Yep, a double dose of joy, Valentine’s Day and my 37^th birthday back to back. I’m not only reminded that I am single on Valentine’s Day, but I’m also that I am still single and now thirty-seven. Ouch. 

Naturally this would lead anyone to a little time of reflection. It is a time to look back and reflect on my experiences, some of my mistakes, but ultimately land on my hopes and dreams for the future. It is in these disappointments, heartbreaks, hopes and dreams that I find my story of faith, hope and yes, even love.

Faith

I have always believed, but had never committed my life to my faith until I was in my early thirties. I didn't commit until God made it painfully evident that something was missing in my life. I was running on empty and seeking desperately to be filled. I spent much of my adult life searching for my worth in things, relationships, experiences or anything that would fill the void I was feeling, all the time not realizing the void I was feeling was one that only He could fill. This was the point in my life that He pursued me the most. It was in the moment that I felt like everything in my life was falling apart that everything was truly beginning to fall into place. 

God was pursuing me in probably one of the most difficult times in my life and during this time I was praying some pretty big prayers. I honestly believed that He would step in and repair all the damage that was done, fix everything and life would go on as it always had. But God, had something else in mind. Those prayers went unanswered, so I thought. God did not answer in the way that I had hoped for in that moment, but He had moved enough in my heart and in my life at this point for me to remain steadfast and faithful. I held on to my faith down to the final moment. Even in the disappointment, even in the heartbreak and the confusion I could feel His Presence in my life. I didn’t understand His plan, but I held onto my faith in the promise that He had one. I placed my faith in Him and where He was leading me. See He always answers and this time His answer just happened to be “no” and that disappointment turned out to be the best thing that could have ever happened to me.

Hope

I can look back on so many prayers through out my life and thank God for the “no” that I was blessed with and this occasion was no different. I may not have gotten the answer I prayed for, but I can now see where His answer has brought me and how much that “no” has grown my faith and deepened my relationship with Him. I can also say that if I had gotten the answer I was looking for I don’t know that I would be where I am today on my faith journey.

He is my Heavenly Father, He is my Creator and He always knows what is best for me. He may not always change my circumstances in the way that I expect, but I can trust that He is continually changing me. See the freedom I have found in Christ is just that. My situations may not always change or go as I have planned, but I can find hope in a bigger plan, in His plan. I can know without a doubt that He has not and never will leave my side. He will sometimes deliver me from the storm and He will sometimes carry me through it, but He will never leave me in it.

Love

He is and has been with me in every moment. His plans for me have always been better than anything I could imagine, so as I reflect on this season of being single and I prepare myself for this week I can remember once again that He knows what is best for me and trust Him in the wait. I can trust that even though He has not changed my circumstance yet, He is still continually changing me.  He is not only changing me but, preparing me, preparing my heart for the plans He has for me. He is preparing a heart that at one time was not ready to give nor receive the kind of love He created me for. The best part of this time of reflection has been recalling all the twists and turns in my life and seeing how far His love has brought me and to know He’s not finished with me yet.

While I pray the plan He has for me includes marriage, I can trust whatever He has in store for this heart of mine. I can trust it, because I am already in the midst of the greatest love story of all. I have a Savior that bore the weight of my sin on the cross to bring hope into my life. He offers me love, grace and mercy each and every day. I find a comfort and peace in Him that is like no other. In Him I find my confidence, in Him I have found my purpose, in Him I find fulfillment and most of all, in Him I find love, a love that endures forever. Out of His love the desires of my heart were born and I can trust that He will never let them go unfulfilled. He may not answer the way I expect, but I can trust that He will lead me to my greatest desire of all, a life grounded in faith, hope and yes, even love.  

“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

1 Corinthians 13:13 (NIV)

Worship Wednesdays - Someday Soon

This is another one of my favorite songs. It talks about someday falling in love. Hope you enjoy! 

Meditation Mondays - 3 Things I Look for in a Date

Welcome back! Today we will continue in our series of what purity means and how to prepare yourself for your future husband. Let's talk about what I look for in a guy and how some of my standards you can apply to your standards as well. We all look for different things but I hope this will help you out. 

Does this guys share the same relationship and love for God that I do? 

This one is so important. The Bible talks about how we need to be equally yoked. I do not even consider a guy that doesn't love God and have a relationship with Christ. This is one thing I will never back down on and never compromise. I always say that until you find Christ and know Him like I do, don't come looking to win my heart. God has to be the center of his life before I will even consider dating him. 

Does he respect me and my views?

This is another important thing for me. He needs to respect me. I have certain standards and promises that I made to myself and God. Things like waiting to have sex until marriage or saving my first kiss for my wedding day. I will not date a guy that doesn't respect me for this and try to force me into changing my mind. If the guy really wants to date me and get to know me than he will help me keep my promises. 

Is He someone I can pray with?

Prayer is important to me. I want to find a guy that loves to pray just as much as I do. There's a saying, "couples that pray together, stay together." I believe that. One thing that will help me decide if I can date this guy is if He will pray with me whether it be on the phone, in person, or even in a text. I want to feel like I can come to him with a prayer request and that he can come to me. I want us to grow closer in my relationship with God through prayer together. 

These are just three of the things I look for and I hope they were helpful to you. Let me know in the comments below what you look for in guy. 

Blessings and Shalom,

Grace Mae <3 <3 <3 

Take Heed Lest You Fall - Part 2

With every page I read I wanted to read more. And no, it wasn’t the Bible. For some twisted reason, Fifty Shades of Gray was my new bedside reading.

My heart was lonely, and as much as my soul craved time spent with God, my flesh craved lust more.

I touched a little on this last week that when we aren’t satisfied with God, we will try to find something else to satisfy us, and that’s where I want the focus of this article to be: how can we say no to the things of this world so we can say yes to the things of God?

1. Start with your mind.

Almost all sin starts with our mind. It begins with one thought. So in order to become fully satisfied with Christ, our minds need to get rid of all the filth it gets bombarded with daily. Fill your mind with good things, pure things, joyful things (Phil. 4:8).

2. Memorize Scripture.

Part of filling our minds with good things is memorizing Scripture. Truth. See, the devil has a way of convincing us that lies are truth and that real truth is outdated. In order to fight the battle on lust, gluttony, gossip, lying, or (enter your sin of choice here), Scripture is our primary weapon.

3. Pray.

One of the biggest reasons I kept falling victim to sexual sin is because I wasn’t in constant communion with God. I treated Him as a genie almost, asking Him what I wanted and then leaving Him alone until I was in desperate need. But prayer is something that we should hold in high importance. Prayer is instant access to the One who holds our hearts in His hands. Why wouldn’t we pray to Him!

If you are struggling with dissatisfaction, take heart: God is more than enough to satisfy you, and He wants to prove that to you. He loves you with an everlasting love, and no man or book or thing can ever compare.

In His love, 

Kayla 

 

LOVE is the key to success

Have you ever thought about why we are called to love? 

Why does our Heavenly Father demand us to love people we do not even know? 

These questions have come to pass in my mind plenty of times. There are many options that we have in this world about love and what it should look like.

LOVE is the key to success

My name is Crystal Lee and I have been writing for small groups at my local church, new letters for various local women’s groups and teaching devotional at a local women’s rehabilitation facility. I decided to step out on faith and become a guest writer for One Girl One Life One God; it has been an honor to have met Grace Mae. I am grateful for the opportunity to share a little bit of my experiences with the world. It is definitely not a coincidence that we have crossed path on the subject of Love. As a single mother of two children one being a teenager and freshman in High School, and my younger one who is in Elementary and may be ready for College next week, love has been long lasting subject in my household.

Why do I have to love the ugliness in others, you may ask yourself?

            When my children decide to act of character and bicker over petty stuff. I have to redirect them to the understanding neither how annoying nor how ugly they may be to each other; they will need to love each other. The relevance to regrouping and bringing my children back to the word is because we should take the time out to lay the foundation of God’s word back into our children’s lives.

“Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old,

He will not depart from it.” ~ Proverbs 22:6 (KJV)

Love has many meanings in the word of God. We need to take hold of the Agape type love which doesn’t come easy for some of us. For me it is a daily battle to choose the spirit woman to raise up verse the fleshly woman. In this life we have many distractions that draw us away from the light of the Savior. The modern, fast pace world where we want immediate answers to all of our situations and questions tends to draws us away at times from crying out to the Lord for answers. Our children disobey, our Husbands are disconnected, the work place environment is dull and overwhelming all at once, the bills are due, the family is hungry, you are a soccer mom, you volunteer at the local church, you have laundry piling up, etc. ; all sound familiar to some of us? What does this have to do with love? We engage in all these activities for the sake of a loved one.

Agape (Ancient Greek ἀγάπη, agápē) is "love:

The highest form of love, charity; the love of God for man and of man for God.

"Not to be confused with philia – brotherly love –agape embraces a universal, unconditional love that transcends, that serves regardless of circumstances.

I tried something different, starting my day with quite time in the word of God.  Asking Him daily to allow me to see people in the light of His love and how I could show love to those around me.  My challenge to you today is to step in faith and show some love. Love to me looks like feeding the homeless, going over to the that one sister in church who is totally your opposite and telling her how beautiful she is (we all have one of those), praying for those who spitefully use you, pray for your husband instead of complaining, pay it forward, find a women’s group in your area and pour your love into someone who is hurting, volunteer at a group home and pour love into some children, pray for that one person who gets under your skin (don’t tell me you never had that someone), etc.

Be blessed and thank you Grace Mae for the opportunity to be part of the ministry.  

I love you all.

~ CrysLee

Worship Wednesdays - Waiting for You

This song I have listened to for several years. I thought it would be appropriate for this weeks Worship Wednesday as it went along with my post on Monday. I hope you will take a few minutes and listen. Rebecca St. James wrote this song on waiting for the day when God will give her the right guy to be her husband. I pray everyday that God will send me the right guy but until He does I will be waiting and saving myself for him. 

Meditation Mondays - 5 Reasons Why I Wear a Purity Ring

You know just because you are single doesn't mean you can't be thinking about your future husband and life. Every girl myself included dreams about getting married and probably have your pinterest boards filled with ideas. I know for a fact that I have struggled with being single especially the last couple years. Most of my friends are either in a relationship, engaged or married and I'm over here just trying to figure out what I am going to do this week. I wouldn't say that I am fake but as I see my friends finding love and happiness I tend to put up a front on how content and happy I am being single while congratulating all my friends. Don't get me wrong. I really am happy for them. It's just I'm a little bit jealous that it isn't me. For the longest time I would worry and question why it isn't me. Then it hit me right smack in the face. Even though that special guy hasn't come into my life I should be preparing myself for him. Over the next few weeks in February I will be talking about what it means to stay pure and how to prepare yourself for your future husband. 

Today I would just like to talk about my standards of what staying pure means to me. If you know me personally you would probably notice a ring on my left hand. It stands for purity but to me it's much more than just a purity ring. It represents my promise not only to God but to my future husband. It was my choice and decision to wear it. I wanted to show other young girls that it's okay and nothing to be ashamed of to wear a purity ring if you truly believe in it. 

Here are a few reasons why I choose to wear a purity ring. 

1. It's a reminder of my promise to God, myself, and my future husband. Commitments are very hard to keep in the eye of temptation because we are only human and have wants and desires. My ring helps remind me everyday of my promise and why I choose to save myself for my future husband. My body is a temple of Christ and with Christ at the center of my life, His strength I can come against temptations. I want to be modest and save m y body for my future husband. It reminds me that my life is not my own but of God and I am here on earth to serve Him and make His name known. 

2. I serve a big God and this is a symbol of my faith. God is big and powerful. My ring is a symbol of the BIG God I serve. My faith is probably the most important thing in my life. The ring help signifies what I believe and a constant action of my faith. Without God I wouldn't be who I am today. God sent His son to die for my sins and raised to life on the third day so that I may have eternal life with Him forever if I ask Him to be the center of my life. 

3. It represents my respect for my future husband. Guys need to hear that they are respected and when I meet my future husband I want to tell him that I respect him. I want him to know that I kept myself pure for him. I want my future husband to know that I didn't give my body away before I met him. I want him to know that I overcame temptation. This ring is a reminder that I chose to love and honor him. I want him to know that I thought of him, our future, and life together when I made my decision when faced with temptations. 

4. My purity ring will attract the right kind of guys. Most guy that see my ring think I'm married or engaged but the right kind of guys will know that many young Christian women wear a purity ring. I want the kind of guy that will look beyond the initial attraction to get to know me as a person and my heart. My prayer is that the right kind of guy will respect my decision to remain pure until marriage. I want to get to know my future husband as a friend not just as an attraction. I want the guy to see my heart and soul. I want him to get to know me for me not just because of how I look. 

5. It's a conversation starter. Many people think it's a promise ring or that I am engaged or married. I get to tell them about why I believe what I believe and shows people that I'm not afraid to be scoffed at. Some people when I tell them my story applauds me for my choice while other think it's too extreme or that I'm crazy. Some disagree with me saying people don't do that anymore or that it doesn't matter. I have had people tell me just wait until you fall in love. All your standards and values will go out the window. You'll change your mind. Well you know what? Truth is it's my commitment, my life, my choice and that's really all that matters. 

So I challenge you today if you are single to examine your heart and think about what I just wrote about. If you wear a purity ring and would like to share your story I'd love to hear from you. You can either message me, email me, or just leave a comment on this post. 

Blessings and Shalom, 

Grace Mae <3 <3 <3 

Take Heed Lest You Fall

I love fairy tales. Just those two words send my mind into a world of awe and wonder. The way Beast looks at Belle, the way Eric swoons over Ariel. As little girls—and even as grown women—these stories awaken the God-given desire in us to be loved and pursued and wanted. Unfortunately, those same desires can be turned against us and cause us to become prime targets for Satan’s most effective tactic: dissatisfaction. Let’s face it: when we are satisfied in our relationship with God, we don’t go looking anywhere else. It is when we are in want that things get messy and ugly and can turn sinful.  

Fast forward two years ago, when I became a married woman. When my marriage wasn’t turning out to become the “fairy tale” I had imagined, and my husband wasn’t being the “prince” I wanted, I turned to something else to try to fulfill my unmet expectations and desires. I turned to Fifty Shades of Grey. 

One of the biggest reasons I believe I fell victim is because I told myself I was okay. I told myself that I would never struggle with any type of sexual sin whether it was premarital sex, masturbation, unfaithfulness, lust. Clearly the verse “Take heed lest ye fall” never seemed to apply to me. And that’s one of the biggest lies Satan tells us: I’ll be okay.” Over the next few weeks I’m going to specifically talk about Fifty Shades and its damaging effects, especially as Christians, but I’m also going to address sexual sin as a whole and why this is such a struggle for so many people. 

But today, I want to talk about why. Why did I become so engrossed in this particular novel? Why this book? I wholeheartedly believe one of the biggest reasons I turned to Fifty Shades is because I always thought that I wouldn’t struggle with it. And that is the point I want to drive home. 

The moment you let you guard down, that is when you are most susceptible. When Jesus went to prayed in the garden and came back to find the disciples asleep, he said, “What, could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, that you enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:40-41). Don’t ever for a second think that you are somehow invincible from a particular sin. That, my friend, is when you will stumble and fall. 

So watch and pray. Pray that God would show you any unconfessed sin, and ask Him to show you any areas of your life that you aren’t guarding. He is faithful. And He is good. 

In His love, 

Kayla 

 

Things We Lost in the Fire

(Our view from the cabin)

Do you ever wonder why God brings people into our lives, or why things happen to us, or feel so defeated? My boyfriend and I have been together for almost 4 years. We had a very tumultuous 7 months that I thought we could never possibly bounce back from. I was broken, he was depleted from all of the nonsensical arguing, and thing just seemed to be getting worse and worse. I prayed for some relief, except all I got in return was more heart break. I would lay in bed at night and cry and plead with God to make it all go away, to make things go back to the way they were. After awhile, it worked; except things didn't go back to he way they were…our relationship got better. New, per-say.  

Let’s skip all the heart wrenching crap that I once felt would be my demise, and fast forward to this beautiful little gift that God has taught me…forgiveness. 

So once things were slowly getting better, we decided we needed some alone time away from out friends, our town, and from work (and an over load of school work for me). We decided on this little cabin in the middle of no where in the Poconos. This tiny little one bedroom cabin that we have been renting every winter since 2014 is like a second home to us. We felt safe there.  It was just him and I and our little wiener dog. We did absolutely nothing but watch TV, eat a bunch of delicious crappy food, and just lounge around.  

One night, we were playing Uno by the fire, and asks me, “How do we get rid of all of these bad feelings and thoughts we have be carrying for so long?”. I looked up at him, and looked over at the fire crackling and said, “We burn them.” He laughed as asked me what I meant. I explained to him that we would write down all of the bad feelings and thoughts we had been carrying for so long and throw them into the fire; they would be scorched and gone forever. I ripped two pieces of paper out of my journal (I take that thing EVERYWHERE), and we began to write. Of course I came up with 10, and he only came up with 4.  I still don't know if its because I'm sappy, or if its just because men totally stink at stating their feelings. Probably the latter.  

We tore each individual feeling or thought off into its own strip, and crumbled it up. One by one we threw them in the fire and watched them disappear. I’m super nosey, so I asked him what was on his list.  

Here’s what he wrote… 
1.Regrets  
2.Childish Games  
3.2016  
4.Pride.  
I was honestly impressed, since he has never been the type to talk about things of this nature, so I was happy for him that he was letting these things go. 

Me on the other hand, my list was a tad bit more….eye opening. My list consisted of… 
1.Shame  
2.Anger 
3.Spitefulness  
4.Physical Pain  
5.Fear  
6.Anger  
7.Nasty Attitude  
8.Lies  
9.Life Stressors  
10.2016. 

A few weeks later we were at dinner and I randomly asked him if he felt better about things. And he told me that the felt as if we had started a brand new relationship and that he couldn't be happier. I told him I felt the same. We just needed to remember that we loved each other, and that all of the nonsense needed to be put aside so we could work on our differences. Whats the point of loving someone so whole heartedly, if you cant take the time to listen, and care for, and be there for them? 

Be kind. Love yourself, love others. It will be your lamp and light; you will find your way.

Worship Wednesdays - Here in Your Presence

Hope you enjoy this song today. This song encouraged me so much because I want to be in the presence of God. I want to draw nearer to Him. Just listen to the music and words and focus on Jesus. 

Meditation Mondays - Accountability Partners

Whenever I start a new devotional or Bible study I have found recently that having an accountability partner has blessed me a lot. Some people don't know exactly what that is so I thought that I would explain it here and give you a few helpful tips on finding one or how to be one. It is so easy for us to get caught up with the busyness of life. We all have good intentions of starting a devotional or Bible study but sometimes we don't follow through. Things distract us and we mean well but sometimes we just get off track. Accountability partner is someone who helps to keep you focus and on track. They check on you to see how your quiet time is going but most of all they pray for you. 

Here are a few questions that will help you when deciding who would be a good choice as an accountability partner. 

1. Does this person share the same faith as you?

If the person doesn't share the same faith as you then probably they aren't the right choice to help you keep accountable. You need someone that shares the same values as you and your love for God. Just like the Bible talks about not being unequally yoked in a relationship it is the same when you are looking for an accountability partner as well. 

2. Do you feel comfortable with this person?

Next, being comfortable around them is another big issue. If you feel like you can't be yourself and real with them then they are probably the right choice. You need to feel like you can be honest with them and open. If you aren't comfortable with them it could cause you to not be completely honest with them and make you not want to tell them if you miss a day of devotions or quiet time. Make sure you are comfortable with the person. 

3. How often do you communicate with this person? 

I feel this is another key point. If you don't already communicate with the person chances are you won't communicate with them during your quiet time devotions as your accountability partner. The thing I always remember when choosing a person to help me is I need to already be communicating with them as least 3-4 times a week. It's very important! Being an accountability partner they need to check in on you at least 3-4 times a week if not more. It doesn't have to be long but even a simple text saying how's your quiet time going is acceptable. 

 

These questions are important! I hope this helps explain to you and help you understand more about accountability partners. I will be praying for you all as you think and pray about whether an accountability partner is right for you or if you want to be one. If you have any more questions feel free to comment or message me. I'll be happy to answer anymore of your questions. 

Blessings and Shalom,

Grace Mae <3 <3 <3 

Worship Wednesdays - The More I Seek You

This weeks song is by Kari Jobe. This song ties into what I wrote about on Monday. We need to seek God and Jesus in prayer. Hope you are encouraged but this song. Let the music just speak to you. Close your eyes and listen to the lyrics and just talk to God. 

Meditation Mondays - Prayer

Prayer is a powerful weapon and also a must need in your life. To me prayer is another way to connect and communicate with God. Prayer is so important. I like to think about it as a telephone straight to Heaven. I always start my quiet time out with prayer. Usually I will thank God for my blessings and for another day. Sometimes if I have certain requests to pray for I will do that as well. I ask Him to open up my eyes, ears and heart as I study His word. Sometimes I just keep quiet and listen for God to speak to me. There are times when I am praying for a specific person and God will speak to me and bring to mind a Bible verse or something. Here's an example: Saturday night I was praying for my sister because she has started a new college in following the path God is leading her down. God reminded me of a Bible verse and I prayed that over her. When I texted her the next day she was so encouraged by it. Don't be afraid to let the person know that you are praying for them. It could be a blessing to them. One quote I came across on facebook and pinterest is so fitting for this topic I had to share. Pray when times are tough! Pray when times are great! Pray no matter what! So today my friends I encourage you to take your prayer life seriously because it will do wonders for your relationship with God and strengthen your faith. 

Blessings and Shalom,

Grace Mae <3 <3 <3 

Worship Wednesdays - Worshipping You

This has been a favorite for a couple years now. I thought it was appropiate to share this week with you. On monday we talked about worship music and worshipping God. This song is perfect. I love the bridge that says, "I'm gonna worship you forever, I'm gonna worship you" Let's worship God today and everyday because He is worthy of all our praise. As long as I am able to breathe I will worship God with my whole heart. 

Meditation Mondays - Worship Music

If you have been following my blog for some time now you will know that mucus is a big part of my life. Today I wanted to talk about Worship Music and how it can help with your quiet time. Ever since I could remember I would love listening to christian music. It wasn't until more recently as I got older that worship music became a big thing for me. 

There's something about getting into worship and prayer that makes me feel so refreshed and alive. I love just crying out to Him through song and just worshiping His Holy name. 

I encourage you to make a playlist of worship music and listen to it before and during your quiet time. I promise you that it will change your life. It did mine. I invested in buying spotify. I listen to enough music each month to justify paying. I have many different playlists on there but my most used one is called Quiet Time. Today I will name just a few of my favorites that are on my playlist for you. These are ones I listen to everyday. I love them!!

QUIET TIME PLAYLIST

Holy Spirit - Francesca Battistelli

Stand in Awe - Phil Wickham 

Let It Be Jesus - Christy Nockels

Refine Me - Travis Cottrell 

Jesus - Chris Tomlin

Nothing More - Aaron Shust

Overwhelm Me - The Village Church 

O Come to the Altar - Elevation Worship 

Faithful - Chris Tomlin

Satisfy - Aaron Shust

O Praise the Name (Anastasia) - Hillsong Worship

Glorify You Alone - Gateway Worship 

The Cause of Christ - Kari Jobe 

Do you have a favorite worship song? Let me know in the comments below. 

Blessings and Shalom, 

Grace Mae <3 <3 <3

Worship Wednesdays - Oceans Hillsong United

Today's Worship Wednesday song is my theme for the year and goes along with my word of the year. I love the line in this song that says "Take me deeper then my feet could ever wander." I want to go deeper in His Word and deeper in my relationship with Him. Hope you are blessed by this song.

Meditation Mondays: Deeper Word of the Year

Every year I know people that choose a word. I personally never really have but this year I decided that I wanted to choose a word for the year. Today I would like to share it with you.

My word for 2017 is deeper. Over the last year I have come to realize He is all I need and this year I want to dig deeper. 

I want to grow deeper in love with God. 

I want to go deeper in my relationship with Christ. 

I want to go deeper in studying His Word. 

D- stands for depending only on Him

E - stands for He is enough for me

E - stands for He empowers me

P - stands for my prayer life of seeking Him

E - stands for He is my everything and more

R - stands for my relationship with Him 

Throughout the year I want to incorporate my word of the year in my everyday life. What word did you pick for the year? How will you incorporate it into your life this year? Let me know in the comments below. 

Blessings and Shalom,

Grace Mae <3 <3 <3 

Goodbye 2016, Hello 2017

Happy New Year Everyone! I still can't believe it's 2017. Did the year seem to go by fast to you? I know it sure did for me. I had every intention on posting this Sunday but sadly I didn't have time.  

As you probably have noticed there wasn't a devotional up on the blog yesterday for our Meditation Mondays. I decided to take the week off and start posting again regularly next Monday. I'm getting over a cold and finishing up finalizing a few exciting things for the blog. I hope you don't mind. 

First off I would like to remind everyone what this blog was started for. The blog verse or motto is Romans 1:12 "when we get together, I want to encourage you in your faith, but I also want to be encouraged by yours." This verse was given to me by God last year and I have held fast to it and put it into practice throughout this blog. 

2017 is going to be a great year for the blog. I am currently writing for two other blogs as well as this one so I needed some help. I'm really excited to bring new writers to the blog. I'm still working out details and scheduling but can't wait to share them with you all. We will still continue with Mediation Mondays and Worship Wednesdays as well as starting to post on Fridays. 

Another thing I'm excited about is being more active on our Instagram and Facebook pages. I'd like to also do more live events for you. A couple videos each week where we can just chat about how God is working in our lives. Another new thing is I am going to post each Sunday afternoon on the Facebook page a post where you can share your prayer requests so that we can all be praying for each other. 

I would just like to take a little time and tell you a couple of my personal goals for this year. Every year I have big ideas and plans for goals I want to reach but never seem to follow through. This year I thought that I would make more reasonable ones that are easy to achieve. 

1. Spend more time diving deeper into the Bible. I want to know God more and study His Word consistently throughout the year. I'm planning to do a few Bible studies this year to help me reach my goal. I already know God but I want to know Him more. My personal word for the year is Deeper. I want to goes deeper then I have before. I will talk more about this in another post sometime. 

2. I want to write more. I get stressed out a lot on my writing because I always manage to wait until the last minute to write. This year I want to focus on writing quality articles and devotionals not just to get them done. It goes along with my word for the year for this blog and writing. My word is Quality. I want whatever I do for my writing or for One Girl One Life One God to be the best quality it can be.

3. Spend more time with the people I love and care about. Life is short and tomorrow is never promised. I want to live life having no regrets. No regrets about wishing I would've hung out with a friend or just talked to a loved one more. I want to cherish every moment as if it were my last. 

What are some of your goals for 2017? I'd love to hear about them. Let me know in the comments. 

Blessings and Shalom, 

Grace Mae <3 <3 <3