I’ve Been Delivered

March 25, 2018March 25, 2018 - Amy 3 Comments

Years ago when I was growing up, my dad used to listen to Carman and JAM IT OUT on Saturday mornings. I mean, we were some Carman-loving freaks. I just dated myself, but I have no shame. Carman was the Toby Mac of back in the day. If you haven’t listened to A2J, then you have missed out on a terribly important part of life.

I digress. I’ll get to why Carman matters later.

The other day I was on the struggle bus. I started having some pretty intense body image feelings. I was feeling down about my weight and my figure, and all those things that we girls worry about, even though we know we shouldn’t. I’ve struggled with these most of my life.

So I went about my day. Reminding myself to eat right today. I thought about all the things that I was doing wrong. Maybe I should go for a walk? Maybe I should find a new diet?

But as I was driving down the road after spending the better part of the day beating myself up, something in faith rose up inside me. Almost like a Holy Ghost fury.

I’ve been delivered.

NO DEVIL. The Lord delivered me from an eating disorder 5 years ago. He delivered me from the grips of something that could have controlled my life for years, maybe even the rest of my life. From the constant striving to be a certain weight. From the unrelenting lies that haunted my thoughts.

From the dark.

Now that I am in the light, I recognize the lies that the enemy throws my way to bring me back down. The battle is won and everyone has gone home!

I am free. I’ve been delivered.

Jesus has declared me not guilty. My prison doors are WIDE open. I’m on the other side and I’m not going back in.

I just want to stir something up in you right now. If you have things that you have overcome and the enemy is trying to bring them back up or draw you back in, take heart. You have been delivered.

I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all of my fears. – Psalm 34:4

He is a God of deliverance.

In the moments when I could have easily tanked back into fear and let that old, sinful part of me take over, I decided to stand firm and declare my freedom. I love what it says in Galatians 5:1:

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by the yolk of slavery.

Do not let yourselves be burdened AGAIN. We were all in slavery before we found Christ. Now we serve the Master of the universe and creator of everything. He freed us from our bondages! Hallelujah!

If you find yourself struggling with some of the same things over and over, here are a few things that have helped me over the past few years to walk in freedom.

Confess. Whatever it is, tell the Lord. Hold nothing back. Or tell a trusted friend! God never meant for you to walk this road alone. It helps to bounce thoughts off of a friend who will help point you toward truth. 1 John 1:9
Declare. Use your authority to speak truth against the lie. Speak it out! Find a scripture or two that you can use every single time you feel those thoughts creep in. 2 Cor. 10:5
Praise. He has brought you through this before, so praise God for his faithfulness! Praise him all the way through this trial! Psalm 34:1
Fight. Don’t wallow within your circumstance. You may not have a plan but take the next right step! Then take the next right step after that! One step at a time, God will bring you out of your wilderness. Psalm 37:23-24

After I hopped off the struggle bus, I began to declare out loud over and over, I’ve been delivered.

And allllllllll I could think about was Carman’s song, I’ve Been Delivered. It’s a good old gospel-type song that fires me up folks! I’ll leave you with some of its words.

“I’ve been delivered. I’ve been delivered.
Well the hold the devil had on me,
He ain’t got no more.”

Lowering Your Standards

August 25, 2017 - Amy Leave a comment

As long as I can remember, I have been a perfectionist.

It’s a blessing and a curse. It helped me back in English class, but it was a straight-up nightmare in art class. All those abstract shapes and colors. I threw away so many things to start again. It often felt like the very definition of insanity.

For a large part of my life I have struggled with my self-esteem. I have often felt like I wasn’t good enough. Just like those pictures I would paint back in art class, I wasn’t good enough. I would start over trying this or trying that thinking that it would make me feel accepted. I imagined that my self-esteem issues could be fixed with approval.

If you have ever struggled with this, then you know that it can turn you into an approval-seeking monster. Your life can become a cycle of ups and downs where an approval can send you soaring to the sky and what you consider failure can send you down into the depths of despair.

The striving. The works. The people-pleasing.

We sometimes create a level of standard for ourselves based on what we *think* others will approve of. A world-based standard if you will. I want you to know today that you were never called to live in this cycle. To live up to those standards.

Paul tells the church in Galatia about this very thing…

For am I now seeking the approval of man, or God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. – Galatians 1:10

They were living by legalistic law and Paul came in to tell them, it’s grace. It’s grace. The same applies to you and me, dear sister.

A revelation came to me a few years ago when I really began to pursue Christ. I had a meltdown one night. That awful people-pleasing cycle had led me to a very dark place. The Lord showed me a scripture that spoke to me. You have probably heard it, but let’s dissect it together.

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. – Romans 12:2

Do not be conformed to this world… Wow. That’s hard to do. We live in the world so how can we not be like it? The answer is by being conformed to HIS Word. Not this world, but His Word. Oh if you can truly grasp that, many things will change in your life.

…but be transformed by the renewal of your mind… My mind wants to believe that I need to be a certain way. To get approval from him or her. My mind wants to believe that my acceptance lies within people. Why would my mind need to be renewed? Because Jesus wants me to be like Him, not the world. He wants me to get the Word of God into my heart so that I will be transformed and KNOW that I am accepted.

…that by testing you may discern what is the will of God… Once we get into His Word and know His character and commandments, then we can live out His will. We can more easily discern how it is that He wants us to live. There is so much more rest when you live out of the Spirit and not the flesh.

…what is good and acceptable and perfect… There are those words – acceptable and perfect. I know them all too well. Through Christ we ARE acceptable! Perfect? Only Christ will ever receive the glory of that description, but we know that His will is just that!

Dear sister, if you struggle with never feeling like you’re enough then I want you to see something today that you may never have seen before. The revelation that God showed me that night when I was in darkness.

You may need to lower your standards.

Sometimes we hold ourselves to a standard that is above Jesus Himself. Are you striving for perfection that will never be attainable? Lower your standards. God says that His grace is enough. He says that in your weakness, that His power is made perfect. (2 Cor 12:9)

There is no standard above that of Christ. Take rest in throwing all of that approval-seeking, people-pleasing, and perfection-needing out the window. The only striving there is to be done, is to be like Jesus. Be conformed to His Word, transform yourself by renewing your mind, and discern His will because that is what is acceptable and perfect!

Unmet Expectations

March 21, 2017March 21, 2017 - Amy Leave a comment

When I became a mom, I was blown away by how different momming was from the expectations in my head.

I was told that I would have “sleepless nights”, but I thought oh, I’ll lose a couple of hours of sleep. Then my children came and I realized that sleepless nights can literally mean, sleepless nights. No sleep. Nada. Zilch.

There were days when I would have a sleepless night hangover, functioning only with mass amounts of coffee and looking like a zombie straight out of the Walking Dead. (I’ve never watched that show, but I’ve seen the title picture and it looks just like I did.)

Marriage, let’s get for real here. NOBODY told me that it would be this hard. So. Much. Giving. I mean, it’s an everyday thing.

Why did everyone make it seem like it would be like playing house in 3rd grade? I was super bossy back then. I always got my way.

Marriage is nothing like playing house in 3rd grade. I will testify right now.

What about work? Friends? Heck, the cashier at grocery store? Every time I think I’ve pegged a cashier at the store as grumpy, they turn out like Mary Poppins! And the Mary Poppins of the world, end up like Oscar the Grouch.

Like judging a book by its cover, what we expect out of a situation or person may not always turn out like we thought. Some expectations may be positive (I expect my friend to meet me for coffee) and some may be negative (I expect there to be bad weather because the forecast included thunderstorms), but most involve something that we want or don’t want to happen.

When we don’t get what we want, we get frustrated.

Unmet expectations.

Unmet expectations can lead to our biggest disappointments. Whether realistic or unrealistic, the expectation that is never fulfilled by man may lead to hurt, pain, and negative emotions.

But let me tell you, there is hope. The definition of hope is this:

hope (n) – a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.

The word hope appears 129 times in the Bible. This tells me that God wants us to know that we can have expectation about what He says in the Bible. He will never leave those expectations unmet.

The biblical definition of hope is, confident expectation. There aren’t too many things in life that we can be confident in, but Jesus Christ is one of them.

Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take. – Proverbs 3:6

I’m learning that no matter what the expectations of circumstances, pray. Submit it to God. Ask Him for guidance and then expect Him to reveal His will for you.

Sometimes I literally open my hands and raise them to the Lord as if to hand it over to Him.

The outcome is sometimes not what I wanted, but when you have turned it over to the Lord, you can be confident that this is His will for you.

In those moments when I feel like things didn’t go my way and I might be feeling frustrated, I try remember that He is my hope. That He is for me and not against me and that whatever the reason for the outcome or even the journey that gets us to the outcome, that He will strengthen me within it.

He will strengthen me within it.

Let down can become my lift off!

Remember how deep and how wide His love for you is!

Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. – Ephesians 3:17-18

He will strengthen YOU within your circumstances. Trust Him. He will keep you strong even when the world may let you down.

Accepting the Season

January 28, 2016January 28, 2016 - Amy Leave a comment

Each and every October/Novemberish after the time change, I feel winter set in with its cloak of darkness. It happens so fast and it catches me off guard every. single. time. It’s only 4:30pm, how can it feel like midnight?! I spend days, even weeks wishing it were spring. I feel the need to ditch this premature middle-of-the-night feeling and enjoy the bike-riding-til-8:00pm feeling instead. I have a lot of trouble accepting the season.

How true is this same analogy with the seasons of life that we journey through? When I find myself elbow-deep in the sink with dishes that never end or at Kroger making a scene because I won’t let my 4 year-old eat a grape that she found on the floor, I tend to be fully aware of the season that I’m currently in. I notice the college student buying yogurt. She’s buying yogurt all by herself without a little person telling her they hate that kind or that they want M&Ms instead.

She is in a different season.

Or maybe I notice the mom with older children. She can leave her younger kids with the older while she and the husband go on a date. Built-in babysitters. A different season.

Then there’s the friend who has this great job making a impact in the community and doing what she loves. Oh how I wish I were there. But that’s not my season. That’s her’s.

Just as winter turns to spring, the landscape of our circumstances change. The stark darkness of our night duty with baby transition to sleeping like a baby. Seasons of struggle become the very moments that our hearts will long for. Not because of the things we struggle with, but because of how we can look back and see the good within them. Each one hand-picked by the Creator for us to experience. He will never put us into a place that we are not meant to be.

The Bible says,

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.. – Ecclesiastes 3:1

If you’re familiar with this scripture, then you know that it goes into a long list of things that have a specific time. The good and the bad. Like the scenes at Kroger and the potty training victories. The trips to the store to buy yogurt alone and the times when the crew drags along with you.

It also says,

He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. – Acts 1:7

This tells me that even though we have no idea what’s coming up or why we’re here and someone else is there, that God is in control. It’s a part of His grander plan.

Let’s embrace the place where God has us. Let’s find the purpose in our season. Right. Now.

If we are busy focusing our sights on where we aren’t, how can we truly be present where we are? What is in front of you right now that you might be missing?

Sister, nothing brings greater joy than contentment. Seasons are temporary. As fleeting as the wind.

Accept the season. Whatever it may be. Know that Jesus Christ works in the mundane and the messy. He makes all things new and reveals His purpose if you just take joy in the season that you are in.

Unbeloved

December 30, 2015 - Amy 2 Comments

My heart aches. My spirit is low with unworthiness. I’ve held it in for days. I’ve held it together so that not a soul sees how I truly feel. I’ve gotten good at wearing a mask. It’s like a costume party every day. Sometimes I grow tired of being someone else on the outside.

Why do the little things bother me so much? My rational side knows the silliness of it all, but my heart still aches with the feelings of low self-worth.

What will be the trigger today? Will I make it through without a single tear?

It was a good day. I even felt joy while I took a walk and the sun shined down on me. Almost out of the woods I see the thing that causes my anxiety today. I try shaking it off. I remind myself that it doesn’t matter.

That I am loved.

I hug my daughter and give her a tickle hoping that her giggle makes it all better. For a brief moment, I forget about the thing that made me feel this way.

The dishes are piled high. I make my way to the sink. As I scrape the pot with my fingernail in an attempt to remove the stubborn stuck-on food, the resistance is all it takes to remind me of the thing. The tears begin to well up and my inside begins to show outside. I don’t want to let it out because it makes no sense that something so simple can cause me such hurt. If I even say the words out loud, I may seem crazy. As the tears start to roll down my face, I blame it all on the pot and its stupid macaroni leftovers. I try very hard to keep them inside, but each one fights its way out despite my efforts.

Why do I question my value based on worldly circumstances?

The voice of truth echoes in my head with Psalm 139.

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. – Psalm 139: 13-14

There is a silent battle over what I will believe in this moment. I give into the lie and I let out a big, fat, ugly cry. I feel…

…UNBELOVED.

Sometimes letting it out and being honest with ourselves is the best way to heal. I have my moment. My mascara (which claims to be waterproof) runs and my feelings turn me into a raccoon. I breathe deeply and then there are short breaths like a 5 year-old after a tantrum.

Then, the tears are through and I have nothing left.

After all the messiness is over, I feel a new thing. It’s as though I have been crying on the shoulder of Jesus Himself. I feel mercy in my soul. I have chose to listen to the lie, diving right in, and yet the arms of Jesus are wrapping me up in mercy when I deserve justice.

The sunshine in the morning washes over me in a tidal wave of grace. It becomes impossible to feel anything but joy.

Weeping may spend the night, but there is joy in the morning. – Psalm 30:5

Grace and mercy have stepped in to remind me that I am loved.

UNBELOVED NO MORE.

The name Amy means beloved. It makes sense that the enemy would try to steal that designation.

I prayed this over myself. I am going to need this prayer for days to come. If you ever struggle with feelings of low self-worth, I think you should pray this prayer too!

Heavenly Father,

I ask forgiveness that I have given into the lies instead of declaring Your Truth. I renounce unbelief. Your word says I am fearfully and wonderfully made. That I am not rejected, but accepted. That I am beloved. I am the apple of Your eye. I am of great worth and value. I break any agreements that I have made with the devil allowing the spirits of rejection, fear, insecurity, shame, and unforgiveness to manifest. I command all negative spirits to go in the name of Jesus. Help me to resist the enemy and his unloving thoughts.

I thank you for your mercy and grace. I thank you for taking my sin and shame with you to the cross. Heal and renew my mind, Lord. I am surrounded with favor and grace. I lack nothing because of You. I ask for You to supernaturally help me to overcome negative thoughts about myself and ask you to take authority over my mind, mouth, and actions.

In Jesus name,

Amen

If this is something that you need to pray to Jesus over yourself, I have made a PRINTABLE PRAYER that I would love for you to download, print out, and refer to when you’re feeling unworthy! Click here to download that!

I also made this phone wallpaper so that I see this truth every time that I look at my phone. You can download this Phone Wallpaper here. Just save it to your pictures and make it your wallpaper in settings!

Prebuy War Room- Out December 22nd!

December 17, 2015December 17, 2015 - Amy 2 Comments

Have you seen War Room yet? It was in theaters for a looooong time and I am so glad that it was. Quite possibly one of the best Christian films of all time, it seems to have spurred a new awakening to prayer.

The bible says:

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. – 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. – Jeremiah 29:12

Prayer is the center of our very relationship with the Father. One of the most important things that I’ve learned about prayer is that our struggle isn’t against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, the authorities, against the world powers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens. (Eph. 6:12) The way to fight the wars of this world is with prayer.

That’s why I was so excited to see War Room come out in theaters! What a powerful message it conveyed. What an awakening it seemed to reveal among Christians. You don’t have to have all the answers or figure it all out.

Pray continually.

He will listen to you.

There are countless verses about prayer in the Bible. It is an important weapon against evil and Jesus wanted us to know that!

When War Room came out, the first thing I did was try to figure out where I could make a “war room”. I couldn’t think of a place. Our closet is pretty big, but honestly, it’s never clean enough to count on it as a usable space. And I loved the movie, but there is no way I can empty out my closet like the lady did on the movie! Don’t get me wrong, I LOVED her space and all her notes and verses. I just don’t have the space to put the things that belong in my closet.

I just want to encourage you in that if you don’t have the “perfect” place for a war room, do not fret. A war room or prayer closet can be anywhere where you can go to be alone with God. It could be your bedroom after the kids go to bed. It could be your back porch.

Long commute anyone?

For years, my husband told me that he was having trouble finding good alone time with God. I finally asked him what he does with his commute. He drives about 45 minutes each way to work. He said he listened to podcasts and the Daily Audio Bible. That’s great! But how perfect is a long car ride. It’s like being in a silent bubble for 45 straight minutes. God can use that! The best thing is that it’s built in time. No need to make room in your day.

His war room became his car.

Use what you have, but make it intentional. Go to WAR with the evil forces and storm the gates of hell with prayer.

And guess what?! War Room is available to pre-buy right now! It comes out December 22nd!!

Watch the trailer below and go ahead and pre-buy your copy for just $14.99 at Family Christian!

With your pre-buy purchase you will get a FREE devotional journal along with it! Now is the time!

$25 Family Christian Certificate GIVEAWAY!

Who wants to win $25 to spend at Family Christian online or in-store? Simply leave a comment on this post!

This giveaway will end on Wednesday, December 23rd at 11:59pm CT. I will use And the Winner is plugin to choose a winner after the giveaway ends.

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Family Christian. All opinions are 100% my own.

Wow Hits 2016

November 12, 2015November 12, 2015 - Amy Leave a comment

We’re driving down the road on the way to school when my 4 year old yells out, “Momma! Turn on “there is no such thing as impossible”!”. She does it on the way home from school too. On the way to church and on the way back.

I think she may like that song…

It’s a good thing I do too! I saw it performed live at the Dove Awards last month. Building 429 ROCKED THE HOUSE opening the show with it! Loved every minute of it.

See for yourself:

Another one of my girls’ favorites is “Start A Fire” by Unspoken. They have created hand motions for that song.

And then there’s my absolute favorite from the Outcry Tour, “Even So Come” by Passion featuring Kristian Stanfill. It’s so amazing.

If you listen to Christian radio, you’ve probably heard all of these. I love the radio, but sometimes I just want to have all my favorite songs in one place where I can turn them on whenever. Or be forced by a 4 year old to play what she wants.

That’s why I love the Wow Hits cds! I picked up the Wow Hits 2016 from Family Christian the other day. It has every one of those songs I mentioned and SO MANY MORE. I don’t think that it has a single song that I don’t like. It comes with 2 cds with a total of 33 hits.

Here are some on the cd:

“Greater” Mercy Me
“I Am Not Alone” Kari Jobe
“Brother” Needtobreathe
“Drops in the Ocean” Hawk Nelson
“Who I Am” Blanca
“King of My Heart” Love & The Outcome

That’s just a taste, there’s so much more. You can get Wow Hits 2016 at Family Christian! The regular version is $14.99 or you can get the Deluxe version for $18.99.

Enjoy!

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Family Christian. All opinions expressed are 100% my own!

I’m Going to the 2015 DOVE AWARDS!

October 6, 2015February 2, 2019 - Amy Leave a comment

EXCITING NEWS!

Thanks to Family Christian, I will once again be attending the DOVE AWARDS this year! It was an experience that I will never forget last year. This year I can only assume that it will top what I’ve already seen. It will be ONE WEEK from today on October 13th. I am beyond stoked and you should prepare your news feeds!

The Christian artists work so hard putting out fabulous music that encourages us each and every day. I am thankful to be able to attend this award show where many of them will be recognized for that hard work.

A shot of Vertical Church Band performing at last year’s Dove Awards

Erica Campbell and Sadie Robertson will be hosting and it is sure to be a night of music, fun, and Jesus.

Some of my favorites who will be performing are:

Casting Crowns
Lauren Daigle
Danny Gokey
MercyMe
Matt Maher
I Am They

There is also going to be an opportunity for those who have VIP passes to SING IN THE CHOIR with Casting Crowns, oh my goodness.

The show is already SOLD OUT so it should be a very packed house. Check out all the latest news about who is performing, presenting, and nominated at the Dove Awards here.

I hope that you will follow me on Instagram and Facebook to keep up with my experience!

Living Our Glory Days

September 28, 2015September 29, 2015 - Amy Leave a comment

Our pastor has been preaching on the book of Exodus for quite a while. It’s been a 13-week message covering many different lessons learned through the story of the Israelites.

I find that I can relate to so many parts of the Exodus story. One of the greatest biblical figures of all time, Moses for instance. Moses argued with God about his inadequacy. Sounds like me…

But Moses pleaded with the Lord, “O Lord, I’m not very good with words. I never have been, and I’m not now, even though you have spoken to me. I get tongue-tied, and my words get tangled.” – Exodus 4:10

Ahem, hello. Hi, yes me too. Not a good speaker. That’s me.

I relate to the fact that Moses didn’t consider himself good enough for the job God was calling him to do.

What I love about this story most is what God says next…

Then the Lord asked Moses, “Who makes a person’s mouth? Who decides whether people speak or do not speak, hear or do not hear, see or do not see? Is it not I, the Lord? ¹²Now go! I will be with you as you speak, and I will instruct you in what to say.”- Exodus 4:11-12

God says that HE made his very mouth! He didn’t intend to make Moses do it alone. He said that he would tell him everything he needed to say. Even still, there was a”but”…

But Moses again pleaded, “Lord, please! Send anyone else.” – Exodus 4:13

God doesn’t care about our “buts”. God turns our “buts” into “yes sirs”. He takes our discouragements and turns them into courage.

He told Moses that He would be there the whole way, even giving him help from his brother, Aaron.

I can also relate to the Israelites. They worried constantly, didn’t they?

Will there be enough food?
Can we trust that we’ll find our way?
Even though God has done miracles for us before, can He really do more?

At the end of our pastor’s sermon series, the big question of why was answered. Why did the Israelites go through all they went through? Why did God choose a people that would rebel and continuously lead them back to Himself even though they worshiped other gods?

I couldn’t help but think it was a simple answer. But it’s the answer to anything and everything that God does. And the answer why we should do everything that we do.

For God’s GLORY.

When we live our lives like Christ.
When we stop feeling inadequate, as if God can’t use us.
When we stop our worry and simply trust.
When we leave Egypt and the wilderness in the dust.

Only then can we enter our Promised Land where our exodus will finally end.

These are our Glory Days.

This is where we live to glorify God.

________________________________________________________________________________

How the review of this book and the end of our pastor’s sermon lined up so well is beyond me. God had this planned the whole time. Family Christian gave me a chance to read Max Lucado’s newest book, Glory Days. You know I’m a Max fanatic. This book didn’t disappoint. (It’s pretty too!)

Glory Days is full of subject matter for the very things that I mentioned above. If you find yourself as a wandering, worrying Israelite, you will find encouragement among the pages of this book.

Ever studied the book of Joshua before? No worries if you haven’t. Just read this book! Max Lucado breaks down the many stories of Joshua and the leading of his people with God’s help. My favorite chapter of this one is Chapter 13- You Be You. The entire book is jam-packed with wisdom. It’s all about learning to live out our inheritance!

Win A $10 Family Christian Appreciation Certificate

This giveaway will end on October 12th, at 11:59pm CT. I will contact the winner and they will have 24 hours to respond. If I have not heard from them, I will name a new winner.

This book was provided for review purposes by Family Christian. All opinions expressed are 100% my own.

Welcoming the Fall Season

September 16, 2015September 17, 2015 - Amy Leave a comment

The leaves on the tree across the street began to fall a couple of weeks ago. The green grass fades into the background as reds, golds, oranges, and browns now cover the ground in its place. I feel that first crisp chill in the air as summer is winding down. The world becomes a little more visible as the trees become transparent without their thick covering of leaves.

My how the world around us changes with a simple switch of the season.

It’s harvest time again.

Fall is the time of year when we transition from the harsh heat of the summer to the welcoming cool breezes of autumn. The cozy colors fall make their debut. Campfires fill their air with their smokey, warm goodness. Piles of leaves begin to form in front and backyards followed by cheerful giggles of children jumping into the piles.

There seems to be an overwhelming feeling of thanksgiving during the harvest months. Besides the obvious holiday, smells of apple cider and pumpkin spice always bring about a heightened sense of nostalgia.

Reminds me of this verse:

The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. – Matthew 9:37

What if we adopted a new nostalgia during the fall season? What is we used this time of year to share Jesus with others out of the abundance in our hearts? Jesus told his disciples that there is a large harvest of potential believers out there, but the laborers to go and bring them into the Kingdom are few. It’s like an entire apple orchard brimming with an abundance of apples and no one to pick them. It’s exciting to me to think that Jesus could use me as His laborer. What a special harvest that I could reap!

Gathering Grain is all about abundance. Abundance of love, life, prayer, and blessings.

Let’s pray that as we enter into this new season that God shows us where we need to reap, but also where we should sow.

The first day of fall is Wednesday, September 23rd!

If you LOVE the pillow wraps in my pictures above like I do, Family Christian is the place to get them! I am in love with their new home decor products. Those adorable pillow wraps are only $6.90! You can find them at your local store or online!

My favorite is my new Grace & Gratitude lumbar pillow. It has brought a cozy and warm feeling to my chair. They have so much more than pillows, though! Head to Family Christian and take a look around!

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Family Christian Stores. All opinions expressed are 100% my own.