Too Much Noise

Hey Friends!

What movie are we in?  Seriously, 2020 cannot be a reality!  It seems so chaotic and full of noise.

I feel everyone is just screaming at one another via social media.  Now, I love people with passion.  It's a great quality to posses.  However, my advice to the people I work with is - usually it's not about WHAT you say, but it's HOW you say it.  Man, my heart is so sad at the way humans are speaking about other humans.  Yes, we are going to disagree and that's ok - letting our voices be heard is how needed change happens.  However, the awful words people are using against one another had my anxiety all over the place wondering at every turn what we are teaching the young people that are watching us?

I had to give myself a break from the noise and meditate in the Word.  Immediately Psalms 46:1 came to mind.  God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.   This quieted my soul and I started to pray for my friends that lost parents and grandparents in the last few weeks.  I prayed for my friends with infertility issues.  I am so thankful that a friend that was told years ago she probably would never be able to have a baby just brought home a beautiful baby girl.  I prayed for my friends (and those that I don't know) that have been subjected to social injustices.  It's not ok and I see you!  I thanked him that he is FOR ME (and you too)!  I thanked him for his provision.  I thanked him that even in the darkest hours, he reminds us his mercies are new each day --- just hold on. 

Our world is full of unknowns and chaos.  I am thankful that I know and trust full well the one who is in complete control.  I can rest assured in his promises - and you can too. 

I hope no matter what you may be facing or maybe just coming out of - that you find the same hope in Jesus that I have.  He really is all you need, friend!

May his presence go before you

And behind you and beside you

All around you and within you

He is with you.  He is with you.

In the morning, in the evening

In your coming and your going

In your weeping and rejoicing

HE IS FOR YOU.  HE IS FOR YOU!

May you find the peace that passes all understanding this week.  

Thank you for letting me share my heart.  Please feel free to share with your people who may need to be encouraged.

Be Brave...  Be Blessed... and KNOW YOU ARE EQUIPPED!

Love, Stacey

When Sleep Escapes.... Just Blog

Hey Friends!  I hope everyone is doing well during our stay at home time.  Man, it's hard!  If you know me, you know I absolutely HATE the grocery store.  These days it's basically my only outing and I love it.  Listen-- I have all the things to cook all the meals right now.  Because we are at home, there are many things NOT happening.   Many milestones cannot be celebrated in the traditional sense.  However a wise man once told me that God works in the differences too.  We have to be willing to look and listen.  Trying to find the silver lining can be challenging.  I'm not going to lie.  It's good to talk to people who you know will encourage you and lift you up not allowing you to stay in the pits for long.  I don't know if I've mentioned it before but I love Annie Downs' books.  Seriously, I think we would be great friends.  She plainly states where her favorite coffee place is in Nashville, so I feel that is an open invitation to go have coffee with her. :)  I'm reading her book Speak Love right now.   She talks about how in school people said unkind things.  I mean do we not all have a story?  I'm sure there were other things said about me but really the only thing I remember is in elementary school some boys called me "red-headed woodpecker".  (In case you didn't know - Woody Woodpecker cartoon was really popular at that time--- and I'm aging myself!)  It hurt my heart mostly because I couldn't help that I had red hair.  As a result, I hated having red hair for a while.  It made me different being the only (or at least one of very few) one not having blonde or brunette hair.  At some point the tide shifted and I embraced being different and loved having a feature that set me apart from others.

Being a Christian makes me different too.  When the world around me is chaotic, I know that my comfort and peace comes from something not in this world.  2 Corinthians 4:18 says, "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen but on what is unseen.  For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."  That was so easy to type, but sometimes hard to live day in and day out.  There are situations that are "temporary" that, man, seem to have no end.   In the still of the night, doubts creep in and thoughts of what if... (yes, I'm speaking from experience as I'm blogging at 1 a.m.) That is when I cannot allow my emotions to be my truth.  I have to recount how God has blessed and provided for me through these trying times.  Yes, they still may not be over, but his love never fails.  Zephaniah 3:17 says, "The Lord God is with you, he is mighty to save.  He will delight in you, HE WILL QUIET YOU WITH HIS LOVE, he will rejoice over you with singing."  That was exactly what I needed tonight - his love to quiet all the what ifs and doubts.  Whatever you may be facing now, I hope you allow our good, good Father to quiet you with his love.  He sees you, he knows you and he loves you like no one else.

This is definitely a different time in our lives.  Let's use this time for good.  Take time to encourage someone.  What I know with my whole being is that God doesn't waste a thing.  I've always believed that delays can be divine intervention.  There are a lot of delays right now.  How can we allow God to use these delays to serve and speak love to those around us?   Our words are powerful.  Use them wisely.

Thank you for taking time to read my blog.  It means a lot to me.

Be Brave...  Be Blessed... and KNOW YOU ARE EQUIPPED!

OH MY WORD!!

Hello My Friends,

I'm back and full steam ahead in 2020.  For the last few years I have chosen a word for the year.  Last year it was "discipline".  As I chose this word I was thinking it represented discipline in working out, eating better, managing and saving money, reading my Bible.  I'm sure many of you had the same hopes.  Sometimes I wonder as we make these great plans of how things will look if God is thinking "that's so cute she is making all these plans".  See, in January of 2019 I had absolutely no idea just how the events in my life would shape that word into a whole new meaning.

In the spring there were some major shifts in my world.  I had no idea what to do.  I had absolutely no control over what was happening to my world.  However, in those months that followed my word - discipline- took on an entirely different meaning.  I was completely humbled at the feet of Jesus, and asking Him daily how to walk through all the things.  It was a time I was completely broken, but I was always comforted by people Christ put in my path to encourage me.  I was comforted by the words that Jesus put in my heart on a daily basis.  There were days I was sure I would never laugh or smile again.  As a believer I had no idea how Jesus was going to work this for good as it says in Romans 8:28.  However, I did believe.  It wasn't going to happen in my own strength because I had none.   Then, in the summer I took my annual girl's trip and one of my peeps snapped this picture.

When my friend sent this picture I think it was truly the first time I knew I would laugh again and at some point life would return to normal --- whatever that was.  There were more ups and downs as the days went on.

Still I believed and pressed on and one day God opened new doors to people and places that would become a place to heal personally and lead professionally.  I tell you this story to say that God had a whole different definition and plan for my word - discipline that I would need to navigate 2019.  I would need the discipline of humbling myself.  I would need discipline in owning Exodus 14:14 - "The Lord will fight for you, you only need to be still"  If you know me, you KNOW I don't do "still" well.  However, through all the trials of 2019, I can say that I love Jesus more than I did before.  I know his promise of provision like never before, and I am blessed in truly knowing how much I am loved not only by my heavenly father but those in my world.

As 2020 approached I began praying about my new word.  Several I was tossing around, but one stood out the most.  It was FEARLESS.  Listen, I have to say I was a little afraid of the word - ironically. :)  However, I know more than ever it's a fearlessness of knowing that I truly can do all things THROUGH CHRIST - not on my own.  It scared me a little to think how God was going to grow that word in me this year.  However, being brave means you do it even if you are afraid.  This year's blog will be about the ways I am choosing to be fearless with the hashtag #fearlessin2020.  Now it's out there.  My peeps must hold me accountable.

So here's a recent picture of the girl who behind that smile had a year of experience that could have completely broken her - and did for a time.  God provided in a BIG way, and now I have an amazing beauty for ashes story that has forever changed my path.  Whatever 2019 brought you, I hope that the you will take those lessons and make 2020 an incredible year.

Happy New Year, my friends. 
BE BRAVE.... BE BLESSED .... and KNOW YOU ARE EQUIPPED.