This past weekend, we took a small team from our church to serve in gallup, new mexico. Honored is an understatement when it comes to how we felt about leading the Navajo people in worship and in sharing the love of Jesus with them. ⁣ ⁣ It’s funny though, we came to serve and bless but I can totally speak for our whole team and say that we all feel extremely blessed from being a part of this weekend. ⁣From the people we met to the stories we heard, we were blessed. ⁣ The real hero’s here though are the amazing people who live here year round. The ones we came to partner with at Lighthouse Church. This is their community, these are their friends, their neighbors, and their families. These are the people they serve day in and day out and who they love so incredibly well. ⁣ We were so amazed by Lighthouse and what God is doing there through these steadfast friends.⁣ ⁣ Grateful doesn’t even describe how I feel about this trip. I’m totally undone by watching Jesus’s love transform, heal, and save so many hearts. God’s love in action is such a powerful thing. ⁣
Do you have travel must haves? ⁣ 〰️Me too. ⁣ ⁣ Here’s just a few of mine: ⁣ ⚡️My heavy hitters!⁣ ⁣ 〰️Dry Shampoo - my must have travel item. Keeps my hair fresh and conditioned between washes. ⁣ ⁣ ▫️Eye Wonder - to keep these lashes growing thick and long. Cause i’m addicted. ⁣ ⁣ 〰️Rejuvabeads - split end mender.⁣ For this trip in the desert i knew it would be dry and hot and my ends would need a little more love and moisture. ⁣ ⁣ ▫️Rejuvanique Oil- my unicorn oil. I use this to smooth my hair, deep condition or to use on my skin. I’m so glad I had it on this trip because i had an inflammation skin breakout from something i ate and used it to soothe that, the next morning it was gone. #magic⁣ ⁣ 〰️Replenish Hair Mask (sample) -⁣ Cause I was in the desert, y’all! ⁣ 〰️Volume Shampoo and Conditioner - (samples) cause i felt like extra volume this trip. 😉⁣ ⁣ What are some of your travel must haves?
I can’t get the phrase “today, everything can change” out of my head. ⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ We literally have the choice every day to make a change. ⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ What a gift.
fire and gold.
〰️Do the words we speak create the lives we live?⁣ ⁣ Genesis 2:7 says that when The Breath of Life was breathed into the nostrils of the body of man, man became a living soul. ⁣ ⁣ 〰️We aren't just God’s creation but we carry God himself within our very beings, within our very lungs. God breathed His own breathe into us. ⁣ ⚡️Guys, the angels don't even have that!⁣ ▫️We carry God in a way no other creation can or ever will.⁣ ⁣ ▫️Someone once told me I had ugly teeth and that really effected me. I literally didn’t smile with my teeth in pictures for like ten years. I’d try to talk with my mouth as closed as possible. I use to say, I hate my teeth, I hate my smile. ⁣ 👉🏻So guess what? As a result, I wasn’t a very happy person. ⁣ ⁣ ▫️Years later, a total stranger told me I had such a beautiful smile. I was totally caught off guard but somehow that compliment broke off the lie I was living in.⁣ Did that compliment change my teeth? Did I all the sudden have no insecurities? No. But what did change was my perspective. ⁣ 〰️I had the death spoken over me reversed by someone speaking life over me. ⁣ ⁣ 〰️Here's where we must realize that our words actually do have power. ⁣ The same God that spoke the world into it’s very existence, breathed that same living breath, that same power of the spoken word, into us. ⁣ ▫️Why? ⁣ ▫️It was all God’s idea, that we would be living, breathing world-changers and that the same power with which God created the world, would rest in us. So that we might use our words to impact, to heal, to shift, to love, to change, and to create life. ⁣ ⁣ Let’s recognize our words as a gift and recognize the power they have and steward it well. ⁣ ⁣ 〰️ Lets use our words ⁣ To create. ⁣ To shift. ⁣ To change. ⁣ To empower. ⁣ To inspire. ⁣ To propel. ⁣ To bring love. ⁣ To bring life.
When I met Erika for the first time, I remember thinking how cool she was. She rocked this super legit leather jacket and she had a inner confidence and light that shined bright from within her. She was real and honest and someone that was just so easy to love immediately. ⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ ▫️We weren’t instant best friends, we didn’t spend all of time together, but we did connect on a heart level that has stood the test of time and space and seasons.⁣ ⁣ ▫️Our friendship has been something that has been built overtime and seasons and I’ve watched God intentionally weave us into one another’s lives over and over again. ⁣ ▫️She’s someone who has cried with me and championed me. She’s called me into my best self, centered me back in God and always inspires me to go after what God has for my life. ⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ ⚡️E is straight GOLD on every level and she’s someone i’m so thankful God put in my life.⁣⁣ ▫️Real friendship isn’t based on time, shared hobbies, or locational radius. ⁣⁣ ▫️Real friendship is based on connection. ⁣⁣ Find people who love you up and who help you find what God is saying to you, about you, and for you. Find people who call you into your fullest self, who won’t let you believe lies and who set fire to your passions. Find friends who care if your hurting but won’t let you live there cause they know how powerful you are. ⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ These are the kind of friends that will last. ⁣⁣ These are the kind of relationships that change your life.
i’m so proud of this team. @southviewworship these songs, y’all. i cant wait.
cling to what is good.
We tend to think being brave looks like:⁣⁣ 👉🏻An epic soundtrack ⁣⁣ 👉🏻beyoncé wind flying through our hair⁣⁣ 👉🏻 rescuing an little old lady from danger ⁣⁣ 👉🏻 making some crazy daring decision⁣⁣ but, being brave is usually much more subtle. ⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ Olive trees are extremely tough and can withstand searing heat, drought, fire and temperatures as low as -7°C. ⁣⁣ Olive trees have adapted ⁣⁣ over thousands of years to cope with extreme climatic conditions, poor soils and the effects of fire. ⁣⁣ Olive trees even have the capacity to regenerate from the base ⁣⁣ when damaged by fire. 😮⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ Being brave looks like the olive tree.⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ 〰️It’s not defined by the elements, ⁣⁣ it adapts. ⁣⁣ 〰️It’s not bound my it’s situation, ⁣⁣ it prevails. ⁣⁣ 〰️It may wear it’s scars, ⁣⁣ but it still produces fruit. ⁣⁣ 〰️It may have been burned to it’s core, ⁣⁣but it regenerates, perseveres, and continues growing! ⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ Bravery is defined as this: ⁣⁣ “ready to face and endure danger or pain; showing courage.”⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ This is us. ⁣⁣ These are our stories aren’t they? ⁣⁣ Haven’t we all been through the elements? ⁣⁣ Through the pain? ⁣⁣ The Danger? ⁣⁣ Through the fire of life? ⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ Being brave isn’t defined by the heros, it’s defined by us, the everyday people. ⁣⁣ It’s defined by our choices to truly live regardless of what we’ve been through and what might try to come against us. ⁣⁣ And we can be comforted to know we don’t walk alone. ⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ 📞So, call in the epic soundtrack and the beyoncé wind for each of us, cause we all walk a brave story. ⁣⁣ We adapt⁣⁣ We persevere⁣⁣ We rise up⁣⁣ We strengthen⁣⁣ We grow⁣⁣ We overcome⁣⁣ We conquer ⁣⁣ We elevate ⁣⁣ We stand ⁣⁣ and the fire within us burns brighter than any that tries to burn us.
If you asked me a year ago to envision a year from then, i’d be so off. I just saw things going so differently, but i’m thankful because this season, although different than planned has been one of asking God what He has for me and seeing Him unfold that. ⁣ ➕Some of it looks like diving deeper into the things i’m already doing, some of it is taking on some new adventures in my life and in all these things...⁣ 👉🏻pushing me past my comfort zone. ⁣ ⁣ Partnering with this hair care company has already changed the game for me. Cause God has used it to expose and crush some unhealthy mindsets i’ve had about myself. Here’s a few I want to share:⁣ ⁣ ⚡️The fear of what others may think of me will always keep me in a paralyzed state that keeps me from becoming my best self. And ultimately keeps me from what I’m called to do. ⁣ ⚡️ I am strong and qualified to do everything He has for me. ⁣ ⚡️ My dreams and goals can be multifaceted and don’t have to be limited to just one thing. Don’t box me in. 😂 #3w4⁣ ⚡️I was hiding behind excuses. ⁣ ⁣ I’m being crazy vulnerable here but: ⁣ I thought I was superior to the whole network marketing thing. I had a chip on my shoulder because frankly, i’d seen it done so badly. But, my mind has been blown on multiple levels, and ever since I jumped in, I’ve realized that it was actually a piece of community I’d been craving and needing. I found myself in a group of women all pushing each other towards hope and leadership, supporting one another, and championing the entire community towards growth, freedom, and helping to create income to support their families and dreams.⁣ ⁣ I’m watching women all around me be enriched and empowered and lives be changed by seeing their potential and y’all, what started with a hope to help pay off our mortgage has turned into a fire to be apart of this community of passionate pursuers of life and it all started with washing my hair. 🤣⁣ ⁣ 🌱 Listen, I was the biggest skeptic of them all but I can honestly say that i’m truly excited to be here, to be a part of this, to see this business help so many others looking to help their families financially and to crush unhealthy mindsets that tried to hold us back!
My husband and I have been in this on going conversation about challenging oneself. ⁣ ⁣ Last night, he told me about something he read by Jordan Peterson. It was something along the lines of: the mere act of challenging yourself to do something you’ve never done, actually changes the way your brain functions and creates new neural pathways and proteins that actually make you thinking faster and help you succeed at your challenge. ⁣ ⁣ Basically, you keep getting smarter and growing at a rapid rate the more you challenge yourself. ⁣ ⁣ Both of our personalities crave this kind of growth and development and we geek out over brain science and information such as this. But, geeking out and liking this information won’t change me or help me grow. I’ve got to take the information and put it into action. ⁣ ⁣ I’ve got to actively look for ways to keep challenging myself in order to actually be challenged. And let’s face it, being challenged is hard and uncomfortable and it demands a change and sometimes it’s easier for things to just stay the same. But, that will never get me where I want to be. The fear of being uncomfortable will always paralyze the passion within us to dream a bigger dream. Whether this applies to pursuing emotional healing, trusting God with something big, simply changing your routine, growing your family, going after a promotion, starting a business, or going after a big huge God dream... stepping outside of our box is the only way to keep growing and becoming the best versions of ourselves. Whether our challenges are small ones or big ones, it’s in these spaces that we can see how extraordinary we were made to be.
The Olivers. ⁣ It’s crazy to me when God plans divine friendships for us in our lives. From the moment Austin and I met these two, we both knew that it was orchestrated by the Lord and that there was a very special connection between the four of us. ⁣ ⁣ We have watched Brad and Hannah walk through every season that we’ve been friends with them, with so much grace and love and beauty and it’s honestly impacted us deeply to see their dedication to what God has called them to and to living intentionally in all they do play out. ⁣ ⁣ These two are steadfast, brilliantly gifted, natural leaders, so musically skilled it blows me away and best of all, they love and care for people so incredibly well. I’m thankful for them and for their hearts and Austin and I consider ourselves so lucky that we get the honor of worshipping and writing and doing life along side of them.