Living Out Loud!
At my daughter Grace's B-day party dancing to Hannah Montana! Life is too short not to have fun!
If I were to describe myself I would use words like strong, passionate, loud(yes, I can be loud), serious, but funny some times=o), energetic, passionate, kind, & yes, even some times moody..lol! Well, all of that to say, I love living out loud. I’m not quiet about who I am or who He is. Some people ask me why I’m so outward about my faith. Why do you express it So much? Can’t you be quiet about it? I had a close highschool friend who was disgusted with my use of scripture on facebook. Her comment was, “come on, faith, for real, you’re freaking me out.” My response was, “well, it wasn’t intentional to “freak” you out. I am just compelled to share something with others that has given me incredible hope.” Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t push my faith on anyone. I simply share with others. You see, there was a time in my life when I was living out loud for other reasons. Like to get attention, to be popular, to be the best. To put it straight, I didn’t care how those actions impacted anyone, not even myself. As I wised up and realized how none of those things were doing anything for me. I mean, I was still broken. I still felt empty. I still had no hope. What I also realized was the God I learned about in church growing up. The God I had intense experiences with as a young girl. He was missing in my equation of life. And maybe that was why I was so empty. Maybe that was why my highs only lasted for a little while and then there was Always the waiting low. Low.
The day I gave my life Completely to him. I’ll never forget the love that filled that tiny apartment. I mean, there’s nothing I can compare it too. And I Really wanted him. Not just to believe in him like I did, but I wanted to Know him. There was this intense longing inside of me to be in his presence again. To feel his Love again. An ever quenching love that overwhelmed my soul. I missed God. And He never left. It was me who gave up on him and left to find Something else. What did I find? I found counterfiet love, counterfiet joy, counterfiet peace. And we know counterfiet is only a fake copy of the Real thing. It only leaves us disappointed.
When you Really understand how much God loves you. How Real that love is…Unconditional. You will want Nothing more. Everything else is just an additive. I am thankful for my amazing husband and how he loves me. I am thankful for my amazing children and how they love me. And my friends and so on. But not even they can love me like God does. His love is Perfect. His love is Unfailing. This is why I live out loud for him. I live His LOVE out loud. I love the people around me, even the stranger in the grocery store. And in the moments I don’t love, I am disappointed in Me.
Living Out Loud,
Faith
ill not fail you. Do not quit. Do not waiver. Only believe. Have faith in God.
The Journey of faith is always so challenging, but more rewarding than anything else. I remember some of the first moments in my life when I trusted God for something and the feeling of not seeing an answer right away was discouraging. But then as you continue on the road of life you realize faith is truly a fight. Like apostle Paul said, “Fight the Good Fight of Faith!” Then you read scriptures like, “Walk by Faith and not by sight!” You see, faith is about believing and trusting regardless of what you see or feel.
up until this year and we typically took bigger breaks through the year, but we went all year round so school never really stopped. I have to admit, I prefer working late when the house is quiet and not having to wake up at 6am. I feel a bit of liberation. I like my school bus stop buddies, but I am happy to not see them for a while. We are pumped … It’s summer baby!!