together beautiful.

You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you. Song of Solomon 4:7

To be fierce is to be HONEST

When you are look at who you want to be like, who are you looking at to be your role model?  This is a good reminder at where my focus should be.  God should be my role model.  For me, I am thankful for the life God gave me! I shouldn’t look down at myself but to be proud of myself.  What is God telling you today?  Click on the link “to be fierce is to be honest” and see what I mean.

Matthew 18:23-35 23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold[a] was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. 26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. 28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins.[b] He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded. 29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’ 30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened. 32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. 35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.” I know that this verse is long but it is something that God has been teaching me for a while now.  I have to give my Husband credit for this verse though cause he was the one that referred me to it.  This is a lesson all of us need to learn.  It is a hard one to overcome but with the love of God, we can forgive others, as we would want to be forgiven by the King.              Forgiving for me is something I felt like I used to be really good at.  I would get hurt by something and then almost be like a duck and let stuff roll off by back and not let it affect me.  Well, those days are over to be honest and the more I get hurt or feel unjustness going on, the more I hold on to issues.  Now I know that this is not fair or right, but something inside of me feels like the more I hang on to an issue the more right and just I feel.  Of course all of these feeling are lies but it brings us an interesting point and this is why I added this verse today.  What would happen to me if I got forgiven for something but didn’t forgive someone?  How would that make me feel if I couldn’t be forgiven for something I have done?             There have been times in all of our lives that things come up and we get hurt. I can testify from my own experiences because I was hurt and angry at a situation for almost 8 years!!!!   Crazy I know but I really felt like my anger was deserved.  If finally occurred to me that my anger wasn’t changing the situation nor allowing my heart to be open to the new situation.  God, in this time, really showed me that I needed to look at it through His eyes.  How was God looking at it?  I thought God would be on my side?  Why is God not looking at my heart and seeing how I felt?  My eyes were opened about 4 years ago.  I finally saw God in the situation and I saw how selfish I was in thinking that “my way” was the right way.  God is good and want there to be reconciliation in all relationships.  I think it is up to us to be the bigger person and show grace in love in hard time verses staying angry and really only hurting yourself more.  God know what we have all done and what others have done but it is not up to us to take it into our own hands and make it right.  God is just and truth.  He is the one that we all answer to.  My heart since this situation has gotten hurt and some times I stay mad for a while but God always shows me grace to find the real answer. Forgiveness. I don’t know where you all are at; this is just where I am.  I am continually learning how to forgive and be forgiven.  I know I will have many opportunities to keep learning this life lesson but for now I know God will leading me to the truth and life in all situations and I will lean on Him to show me how to keep forgiving and be forgiven in Him. God, I am so thankful that You have forgiven me for all my mistakes.  You deserve more then what I have given You but You still love me all the same.  I cherish the life You have given me and I am so thankful for the love You share with me everyday.  Thank you for being apart of my life and I am proud to be Your daughter.  Amen                  In His love, Deven

Matthew 18:23-35

23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold[a] was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.

26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.

28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins.[b] He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.

29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’

30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.

32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.

35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

I know that this verse is long but it is something that God has been teaching me for a while now.  I have to give my Husband credit for this verse though cause he was the one that referred me to it.  This is a lesson all of us need to learn.  It is a hard one to overcome but with the love of God, we can forgive others, as we would want to be forgiven by the King. 

            Forgiving for me is something I felt like I used to be really good at.  I would get hurt by something and then almost be like a duck and let stuff roll off by back and not let it affect me.  Well, those days are over to be honest and the more I get hurt or feel unjustness going on, the more I hold on to issues.  Now I know that this is not fair or right, but something inside of me feels like the more I hang on to an issue the more right and just I feel.  Of course all of these feeling are lies but it brings us an interesting point and this is why I added this verse today.  What would happen to me if I got forgiven for something but didn’t forgive someone?  How would that make me feel if I couldn’t be forgiven for something I have done?

            There have been times in all of our lives that things come up and we get hurt. I can testify from my own experiences because I was hurt and angry at a situation for almost 8 years!!!!   Crazy I know but I really felt like my anger was deserved.  If finally occurred to me that my anger wasn’t changing the situation nor allowing my heart to be open to the new situation.  God, in this time, really showed me that I needed to look at it through His eyes.  How was God looking at it?  I thought God would be on my side?  Why is God not looking at my heart and seeing how I felt?  My eyes were opened about 4 years ago.  I finally saw God in the situation and I saw how selfish I was in thinking that “my way” was the right way.  God is good and want there to be reconciliation in all relationships.  I think it is up to us to be the bigger person and show grace in love in hard time verses staying angry and really only hurting yourself more.  God know what we have all done and what others have done but it is not up to us to take it into our own hands and make it right.  God is just and truth.  He is the one that we all answer to.  My heart since this situation has gotten hurt and some times I stay mad for a while but God always shows me grace to find the real answer. Forgiveness.

I don’t know where you all are at; this is just where I am.  I am continually learning how to forgive and be forgiven.  I know I will have many opportunities to keep learning this life lesson but for now I know God will leading me to the truth and life in all situations and I will lean on Him to show me how to keep forgiving and be forgiven in Him.

God, I am so thankful that You have forgiven me for all my mistakes.  You deserve more then what I have given You but You still love me all the same.  I cherish the life You have given me and I am so thankful for the love You share with me everyday.  Thank you for being apart of my life and I am proud to be Your daughter.  Amen                 

In His love,

Deven

Gift James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.   How do you feel when someone opens up a gift that you gave them? I know for me I get so excited! I basically make them guess what it is before giving it to them-I can’t explain it, but I just LOVE giving gifts. My Birthday was last week and I was opening up gifts that people spent money and time on and I couldn’t help but think how blessed I was-that my friends and family would sacrifice their time and money for me! I was so thankful and I told every person what a blessing those gifts to me were. Let’s explore something for a moment-what if I would have taken a look at the gifts and threw them right back in their faces and told those family and friends that those gifts were not good enough for me?!?! Yikes. I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have any friends and I think my family would disown me for awhile… This last week was wonderful, but it was also kind of dark for me as well. As I was opening up the gifts and thanking these lovely people for them and all of a sudden I got a vision of God giving out gifts to me and all His people-and US literally throwing them back in His face and saying “These are not good enough for me God”. Than, I saw God’s heart literally breaking-He has spent so much time and love preparing gifts for me and time and time again what do I do?-I disregard them and I throw them away. Every time I look in the mirror and criticize my body or my face-God’s heart breaks. God has given me a gift-He prepared me to be ME-just me and that is so beautiful. God prepared you to be YOU-He took time, carefully planning His design and masterpiece that is you. His heart dances when He gives us these gifts-He is thrilled when we take delight in these gifts Now, when I struggle with confidence I reflect back on God’s gifts, those perfect gifts that He sends from above and I thank Him rather than throw them away. I don’t want to break God’s heart any more-I want to live my life with thanks and gratitude to the God that made me who I am. Thank you for taking time to read this-I know God pressed this on my heart for a very important reason and I’m thankful that I could share it with you. Love you all so much! All to Him be the glory. -Ashley W.

Gift

James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

 

How do you feel when someone opens up a gift that you gave them? I know for me I get so excited! I basically make them guess what it is before giving it to them-I can’t explain it, but I just LOVE giving gifts. My Birthday was last week and I was opening up gifts that people spent money and time on and I couldn’t help but think how blessed I was-that my friends and family would sacrifice their time and money for me! I was so thankful and I told every person what a blessing those gifts to me were.

Let’s explore something for a moment-what if I would have taken a look at the gifts and threw them right back in their faces and told those family and friends that those gifts were not good enough for me?!?! Yikes.

I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have any friends and I think my family would disown me for awhile…

This last week was wonderful, but it was also kind of dark for me as well. As I was opening up the gifts and thanking these lovely people for them and all of a sudden I got a vision of God giving out gifts to me and all His people-and US literally throwing them back in His face and saying “These are not good enough for me God”. Than, I saw God’s heart literally breaking-He has spent so much time and love preparing gifts for me and time and time again what do I do?-I disregard them and I throw them away.

Every time I look in the mirror and criticize my body or my face-God’s heart breaks. God has given me a gift-He prepared me to be ME-just me and that is so beautiful. God prepared you to be YOU-He took time, carefully planning His design and masterpiece that is you. His heart dances when He gives us these gifts-He is thrilled when we take delight in these gifts

Now, when I struggle with confidence I reflect back on God’s gifts, those perfect gifts that He sends from above and I thank Him rather than throw them away. I don’t want to break God’s heart any more-I want to live my life with thanks and gratitude to the God that made me who I am.

Thank you for taking time to read this-I know God pressed this on my heart for a very important reason and I’m thankful that I could share it with you.

Love you all so much! All to Him be the glory.

-Ashley W.

Good Moring Lovelies! As we are collaborating on our stories and challenges we have had with food, it is time for me to share mine.  I have a love hate relationship with food.  First off, I love food.  I love experiencing the different types and kinds of food (although this has been a more recent thing)! When I cook, I love the aroma the fills the house when I am cooking cookies or the roman style chicken that I make.  I also love to watch the Food Network or movies where they are cooking and try and mimic them.  I wish I was a better cook but I am learning.  Secondly, the stories that I am sharing are not easy stories to share for me.  Theses are stories from my life that I don’t think I have really gone into depth with anyone.  Well, here it goes….. The first time I remember having an issue was my sophomore year in high school.  My boyfriend had just broken up with me and I was devastated.  I don’t know how this thought got into my head but for some reason I thought that if I was thinner, he would want me back.  My mind had deceived me into thinking that I wasn’t good enough.  There I was heartbroken and just a mess.  With all things in a ciaos state, I figured that the only thing I could control was what I ate.  I decided to starve myself.  My joke was that I would say breaking up were the best diet I had found… My parents were going through a hard time themselves so they didn’t really notice that I wasn’t really eating.  It was during this time that I started a thing I call the tea diet.  It is pretty much what it sounds like.  I would pretty much only have tea and maybe a an apple to tie me over.  If I filled up myself with tea, I wouldn’t feel hungry.  Crazy enough I was doing cheerleading and gymnastics during this time so I’m not sure how I didn’t hurt myself.  After about a month, I realized he didn’t want to be with me still and I stopped.   The next I experienced severe heartbreak was quite a few years later.  I had been engaged to him for a few months and we had been together for over 2 ½ years.  I was a wreck and just sick to my stomach about the whole thing when he broke off the engagement.  I didn’t try and starve myself during this time, I just stopped eating cause I was never hungry and just depressed.  I went from 125lbs to 105lbs in about a month.  Now 125lbs may sound thin already but I am 5’1 so it is about average for my height.  105lbs was scary skinny for me and people were taking note about how thin I had gotten.  I joked it off but inside I was really hurting and didn’t know how to fix it.  After losing all of that weight I started to feel good about myself but for all the wrong reasons.  It took a lot time with God to heal my heart and mind to make me realize that I beautiful the way I am and that my weight doesn’t define me.  I may have a couple problem areas now but I look at myself a beautiful woman in love with my Creature who made me in His image.   I still struggle with my body every once in a while but I know that there is a better way.  I know that even if I never have the body I want, I am happy with the body I have!  God has blessed me with a healthy life that I am thankful for everyday! I know it is hard to always be happy with the way we look but sometimes it is better to shift our mindset to seeing the blessing in what we do have instead of what we don’t.  Lord, I ask that we see how you made us perfectly in your image today.  We need your eye to see how we should value and look at our selves instead of what the world says we should look.  Thank you for our health and for the amazing blessings you give us everyday.  I love you and I an thankful that you love me the way I am.  In His Love, Deven   

Good Moring Lovelies!

As we are collaborating on our stories and challenges we have had with food, it is time for me to share mine. 

I have a love hate relationship with food.  First off, I love food.  I love experiencing the different types and kinds of food (although this has been a more recent thing)! When I cook, I love the aroma the fills the house when I am cooking cookies or the roman style chicken that I make.  I also love to watch the Food Network or movies where they are cooking and try and mimic them.  I wish I was a better cook but I am learning.  Secondly, the stories that I am sharing are not easy stories to share for me.  Theses are stories from my life that I don’t think I have really gone into depth with anyone.  Well, here it goes…..

The first time I remember having an issue was my sophomore year in high school.  My boyfriend had just broken up with me and I was devastated.  I don’t know how this thought got into my head but for some reason I thought that if I was thinner, he would want me back.  My mind had deceived me into thinking that I wasn’t good enough.  There I was heartbroken and just a mess.  With all things in a ciaos state, I figured that the only thing I could control was what I ate.  I decided to starve myself.  My joke was that I would say breaking up were the best diet I had found… My parents were going through a hard time themselves so they didn’t really notice that I wasn’t really eating.  It was during this time that I started a thing I call the tea diet.  It is pretty much what it sounds like.  I would pretty much only have tea and maybe a an apple to tie me over.  If I filled up myself with tea, I wouldn’t feel hungry.  Crazy enough I was doing cheerleading and gymnastics during this time so I’m not sure how I didn’t hurt myself.  After about a month, I realized he didn’t want to be with me still and I stopped.  

The next I experienced severe heartbreak was quite a few years later.  I had been engaged to him for a few months and we had been together for over 2 ½ years.  I was a wreck and just sick to my stomach about the whole thing when he broke off the engagement.  I didn’t try and starve myself during this time, I just stopped eating cause I was never hungry and just depressed.  I went from 125lbs to 105lbs in about a month.  Now 125lbs may sound thin already but I am 5’1 so it is about average for my height.  105lbs was scary skinny for me and people were taking note about how thin I had gotten.  I joked it off but inside I was really hurting and didn’t know how to fix it.  After losing all of that weight I started to feel good about myself but for all the wrong reasons. 

It took a lot time with God to heal my heart and mind to make me realize that I beautiful the way I am and that my weight doesn’t define me.  I may have a couple problem areas now but I look at myself a beautiful woman in love with my Creature who made me in His image.

  I still struggle with my body every once in a while but I know that there is a better way.  I know that even if I never have the body I want, I am happy with the body I have!  God has blessed me with a healthy life that I am thankful for everyday! I know it is hard to always be happy with the way we look but sometimes it is better to shift our mindset to seeing the blessing in what we do have instead of what we don’t. 

Lord, I ask that we see how you made us perfectly in your image today.  We need your eye to see how we should value and look at our selves instead of what the world says we should look.  Thank you for our health and for the amazing blessings you give us everyday.  I love you and I an thankful that you love me the way I am. 

In His Love,

Deven

  

God, satisfy me more than the richest of foods. Psalm 63:5 NLT   Today-I want to talk about our relationship with food and our bodies-Are you ready? 170 pounds. This is what I just weighed in at the Doctor’s office the other day. Most of you might be in shock that a woman gave away her weight, literally to everyone that lays eyes on this blog. First of all, the reason why I did this is not to complain about my weight or make anyone feel bad about what they weigh, it’s about taking away the fear behind weight and our body issues. You already know this, but Deven and I really want to be real with every person who reads this blog. It’s not worth it in life to just read “fluff”-I mean, don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy a good People magazine and a good fashion blog for sure-but I mean, if we are blogging about self-esteem and self worth issues-than I want you to feel the weight of how much we care about this topic. So let’s get real for a moment. I have been talking about this issue with a lot of women lately. My sister has actually started a blog (Loving Yourself Healthy) for this topic in particular and a friend of mine, Tara Arnold, who blogs for Heart for Health, has this on her heart as well. This is really random, but the way the conversation got started was in a bathroom stall. I went into a bathroom and opened the door to find a small flyer on the back of it. It was a flyer for a women’s conference with the author of a book called “Made to Crave”. It’s all about learning how to crave God - not food - and letting Him be in the middle of our body issues and “diet” plans. I was so interested in this, that I signed up for a 21-day devotional that has daily encouraging stories, scriptures, and talks about giving the struggle of our bodies and food away to God. Ok - so I stand before you without a nutrition degree, nor am I a professional body image counselor - but I do have some experience that I think is just as important that I want to share with you. I am a professional dieter - don’t laugh - I have went on “diets” literally since I was 12 years old - I have done it all. And guess what? I have never felt satisfied with my weight - ever - even when I was in “tip-top” shape, working with a professional trainer for months, never was I satisfied. Either my legs were too fat-my arms too flabby-my stomach not flat enough. So here I am, another winter has gone by, which means my body is showing those yummy winter foods as well-and my usual routine would be to go on a mega diet before summer so I could run around in my bathing suite and feel good in shorts. There is no shame in wanting to look good in summer clothes, however, I realized I can’t live this way anymore. I have to be satisfied with God-in who He has created me to be-I know that instead of “yo-yo-ing” (Going from donut to celery stick) I have to CRAVE the goodness of God-soak up all His richest first. Than I have to have a mind-set of health. I have to have balance. And lastly, I have to LOVE myself-the beautiful body that God gave me. So-I want to try something with you all-I want to first try an “exercise”-we will call it an exercise tip for the day-I want you to look at the mirror-find your problem area-and thank God for it. I want you to look at your beautiful body and praise God that He has created you-soak in the goodness of Him. That’s where I want to start. Health starts with this simple and yet hard to find truth-Loving ourselves. We will have many more of these blogs and we will start to unveil some of these issues-all the while Christa with “Loving yourself healthy” giving you encouraging stories and scripture and Tara with “Heart for Health” giving you some fun health tips-I think this will be a fun journey to take with all of you. My Prayer-God, please prepare our minds for this journey with You. Please help us to crave You-and be satisfied with You and You alone. God we are crying out to you today to be in the midst of our body struggles. Help us give them over to You and let us be able to use our bodies and what we eat to glorify You-to praise You for all your bountiful riches you have set before us. We love You-we thank You. Amen YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL-thank you for taking time to read this. All for Him, Ashley Links www.lovingyourselfhealth.tumblr.com www.heartforhealth.wordpress.com

God, satisfy me more than the richest of foods. Psalm 63:5 NLT

 

Today-I want to talk about our relationship with food and our bodies-Are you ready?

170 pounds. This is what I just weighed in at the Doctor’s office the other day. Most of you might be in shock that a woman gave away her weight, literally to everyone that lays eyes on this blog. First of all, the reason why I did this is not to complain about my weight or make anyone feel bad about what they weigh, it’s about taking away the fear behind weight and our body issues. You already know this, but Deven and I really want to be real with every person who reads this blog. It’s not worth it in life to just read “fluff”-I mean, don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy a good People magazine and a good fashion blog for sure-but I mean, if we are blogging about self-esteem and self worth issues-than I want you to feel the weight of how much we care about this topic. So let’s get real for a moment.

I have been talking about this issue with a lot of women lately. My sister has actually started a blog (Loving Yourself Healthy) for this topic in particular and a friend of mine, Tara Arnold, who blogs for Heart for Health, has this on her heart as well. This is really random, but the way the conversation got started was in a bathroom stall. I went into a bathroom and opened the door to find a small flyer on the back of it. It was a flyer for a women’s conference with the author of a book called “Made to Crave”. It’s all about learning how to crave God - not food - and letting Him be in the middle of our body issues and “diet” plans. I was so interested in this, that I signed up for a 21-day devotional that has daily encouraging stories, scriptures, and talks about giving the struggle of our bodies and food away to God.

Ok - so I stand before you without a nutrition degree, nor am I a professional body image counselor - but I do have some experience that I think is just as important that I want to share with you. I am a professional dieter - don’t laugh - I have went on “diets” literally since I was 12 years old - I have done it all. And guess what? I have never felt satisfied with my weight - ever - even when I was in “tip-top” shape, working with a professional trainer for months, never was I satisfied. Either my legs were too fat-my arms too flabby-my stomach not flat enough. So here I am, another winter has gone by, which means my body is showing those yummy winter foods as well-and my usual routine would be to go on a mega diet before summer so I could run around in my bathing suite and feel good in shorts. There is no shame in wanting to look good in summer clothes, however, I realized I can’t live this way anymore. I have to be satisfied with God-in who He has created me to be-I know that instead of “yo-yo-ing” (Going from donut to celery stick) I have to CRAVE the goodness of God-soak up all His richest first. Than I have to have a mind-set of health. I have to have balance. And lastly, I have to LOVE myself-the beautiful body that God gave me. So-I want to try something with you all-I want to first try an “exercise”-we will call it an exercise tip for the day-I want you to look at the mirror-find your problem area-and thank God for it. I want you to look at your beautiful body and praise God that He has created you-soak in the goodness of Him. That’s where I want to start. Health starts with this simple and yet hard to find truth-Loving ourselves.

We will have many more of these blogs and we will start to unveil some of these issues-all the while Christa with “Loving yourself healthy” giving you encouraging stories and scripture and Tara with “Heart for Health” giving you some fun health tips-I think this will be a fun journey to take with all of you.

My Prayer-God, please prepare our minds for this journey with You. Please help us to crave You-and be satisfied with You and You alone. God we are crying out to you today to be in the midst of our body struggles. Help us give them over to You and let us be able to use our bodies and what we eat to glorify You-to praise You for all your bountiful riches you have set before us. We love You-we thank You. Amen

YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL-thank you for taking time to read this.

All for Him,

Ashley

Links

www.lovingyourselfhealth.tumblr.com

www.heartforhealth.wordpress.com

April showers bring May flowers Hey everyone! I am an Oregonian.  It rains here a lot.  I will add that it doesn’t rain as much as Seattle but still, a lot.  I have been in the Portland metro area my whole life and I’m not even use to it.  The weather here has been rainy for the weekdays and then a nice sun break on the weekends.  This is the sign that spring is here.  The saying “April showers brings May flowers” came to me last week when I was thinking about the end of this month and the events ahead.  There is change in the air and I am having a hard time with it.  There are many times where I have heard this saying and had hope that we would see the sun one day.  Now as an adult, this saying has a different meaning.  To put it out there, the whole band and us wives are all moving to Texas.  It is a great opportunity for the band and has great advantages for all of us but it doesn’t come without sacrifice.  We are all leaving our family and friends to move to a place that we have only been to a couple of times.  It is not an easy thing to leave the people that support and care about you.  We all know that this move is what God has called us to do and we were all willing to go when He called us there.  Having bittersweet feeling has left me confused, excited, sad, and happy.    In the time where we are feeling like there is no end to the storm, God is there to give us hope.  He is always there to love and show us where He is in the mist of the storm.  When we allow God to use our lives, we have to be prepared for Him to move in ways we don’t expect.  But God is faithful!!  He has His best in mind for us.  When we give God control, He is able to use our lives for His good.  God has a plan for all of us.  Are you willing to accept what He has offered you?  I know that my bittersweet feelings will be changed but it will take some time.  God has some healing work to do in my heart, but for now, I hope.   Lord, I ask that you show us all the plans that you have for our lives.  I want to be a woman that runs after you with all of my heart.  Help me see the plans that you have set in front of me so that my hearts desires are Your desires.    In His love, Deven

April showers bring May flowers

Hey everyone!

I am an Oregonian.  It rains here a lot.  I will add that it doesn’t rain as much as Seattle but still, a lot.  I have been in the Portland metro area my whole life and I’m not even use to it.  The weather here has been rainy for the weekdays and then a nice sun break on the weekends.  This is the sign that spring is here. 

The saying “April showers brings May flowers” came to me last week when I was thinking about the end of this month and the events ahead.  There is change in the air and I am having a hard time with it.  There are many times where I have heard this saying and had hope that we would see the sun one day.  Now as an adult, this saying has a different meaning. 

To put it out there, the whole band and us wives are all moving to Texas.  It is a great opportunity for the band and has great advantages for all of us but it doesn’t come without sacrifice.  We are all leaving our family and friends to move to a place that we have only been to a couple of times.  It is not an easy thing to leave the people that support and care about you.  We all know that this move is what God has called us to do and we were all willing to go when He called us there.  Having bittersweet feeling has left me confused, excited, sad, and happy.  

 In the time where we are feeling like there is no end to the storm, God is there to give us hope.  He is always there to love and show us where He is in the mist of the storm.  When we allow God to use our lives, we have to be prepared for Him to move in ways we don’t expect.  But God is faithful!!  He has His best in mind for us.  When we give God control, He is able to use our lives for His good. 

God has a plan for all of us.  Are you willing to accept what He has offered you? 

I know that my bittersweet feelings will be changed but it will take some time.  God has some healing work to do in my heart, but for now, I hope.  

Lord, I ask that you show us all the plans that you have for our lives.  I want to be a woman that runs after you with all of my heart.  Help me see the plans that you have set in front of me so that my hearts desires are Your desires.   

In His love,

Deven

Good Morning Ladies!  God has been so good. And He is so Beautiful. Sometimes we forget that we are created in His image and if HE is BEAUTIFUL-so are WE.  I have been listening to a lot of Hillsong United lately and have been so blessed by their worship. Listening to worship music is so important to revive your soul. Here are the lyrics to one of their songs that talks about God’s beauty that He’s shown through His never ending love. If you get the chance, you should listen to it as well!   Like An Avalanche by Hillsong United  Verse 1 Beautiful God Laying Your majesty aside You reached out in love to show me life Lifted from darkness into light Oh Verse 2 King for a slave Trading Your righteousness for shame Despite all my pride and foolish ways Caught in Your infinite embrace Oh Chorus 1 And I find myself here on my knees again Caught up in grace like an avalanche Nothing compares to this love love love Burning in my heart Verse 3 Saviour and Friend Breathing Your life into my heart Your word is the lamp unto my path Forever I’m humbled by Your love Oh Bridge Take my life Take all that I am With all that I am I will love You Take my heart Take all that I have Jesus how I adore You Chorus 2 And I find myself here on my knees again Caught up in grace like an avalanche Nothing compare to this love love love   Dear Heavenly Father, let that be the cry of our hearts today-to take our lives-take everything that we are-Thank You for loving us-Thank You for showing us your beauty through Your ultimate sacrifice of Your Son and resurrection. We love You-We Praise You. Amen. Blessings and Much Love my Friends, Ashley 

Good Morning Ladies!

 God has been so good. And He is so Beautiful. Sometimes we forget that we are created in His image and if HE is BEAUTIFUL-so are WE.  I have been listening to a lot of Hillsong United lately and have been so blessed by their worship. Listening to worship music is so important to revive your soul. Here are the lyrics to one of their songs that talks about God’s beauty that He’s shown through His never ending love.

If you get the chance, you should listen to it as well!

 

Like An Avalanche by Hillsong United

 Verse 1

Beautiful God

Laying Your majesty aside
You reached out in love to show me life
Lifted from darkness into light
Oh


Verse 2
King for a slave
Trading Your righteousness for shame
Despite all my pride and foolish ways
Caught in Your infinite embrace
Oh


Chorus 1
And I find myself here on my knees again
Caught up in grace like an avalanche
Nothing compares to this love love love
Burning in my heart

Verse 3
Saviour and Friend
Breathing Your life into my heart
Your word is the lamp unto my path
Forever I’m humbled by Your love
Oh


Bridge
Take my life
Take all that I am
With all that I am I will love You
Take my heart
Take all that I have
Jesus how I adore You

Chorus 2
And I find myself here on my knees again
Caught up in grace like an avalanche
Nothing compare to this love love love

 

Dear Heavenly Father, let that be the cry of our hearts today-to take our lives-take everything that we are-Thank You for loving us-Thank You for showing us your beauty through Your ultimate sacrifice of Your Son and resurrection. We love You-We Praise You. Amen.

Blessings and Much Love my Friends,

Ashley 

Colossians 3:12 New Living Translation (NLT) 12 Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Today I went to an amazing women’s Bible study at Solid Rock Church all about beauty. What was cool about this was that I felt my heart being prepared to hear the message that was taught today for months now. I know God took me through a journey of deliverance and of restoration to really understand beauty and where it comes from. Diane Comer delivered a heart felt message that came from a true place of understanding. She first talked about the world’s definition of beauty. The world defines beauty as “sexy, sensual, alluring, provocative, enticing”. Than she talked about the “church” definition of beauty which is defined as “nice, sweet, super-woman, smiley, shapeless”.  The last, she gave the Biblical definition of beauty, which there are two versions of the word “beauty” in Hebrew. One of the Hebrew words is “Tob” which translates to: beautiful, good, delightful, happy, expensive, generous, happy, righteous, precious, sensual, pleasant, intelligent. This is the kind of beauty that God wants us to radiate. And He wants us to use our beauty to bring the glory to Him and His creation. Mrs. Comer than went on and asked the question “How do we get our beauty back” from all the lies that have been poured over us? There’s something simple and beautiful in what she said next and it’s as easy as remembering how we get ready in the morning. We first should wash ourselves by confessing to God all the “yuck” we’ve let build on us. Than we should “Put God on” (like we would get dressed in the morning)-by reading the Word and “decorate” ourselves or “clothe” ourselves with “…tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience” Col. 3:12. And finally “Pour our beauty out” by embracing other people, having compassion, not let jealousy or bitterness have any room in our hearts, and champion other women by words of encouragement. We should adorn ourselves in love. What I loved about what Diane Comer said today, was that she understood that every woman wants to be and feel beautiful. Our perspective has gotten flipped around though and instead of listening to the promises of God, we listen to everything else about our beauty. Because, the cold hard truth is that every single person on the face of the earth is BEAUTIFUL. They were created uniquely and with purpose. YOU-are beautiful-YOU were created unique-YOU have a purpose. Truly beautiful women-women with “Tob”- shine a knowing and understanding of God’s beauty that has been placed in their life. My question for myself and for you is do you know this? And if we don’t, how can we restore our perspective of beauty? Diane ends with some questions on the screen which are: “How can we be a restorer of beauty?” “Who is the Spirit prompting you to pour beauty on?” “What specific “clothes” do I need to put on?” “How can we champion each other’s beauty?” My prayer: Father God, thank you for being so loving and kind. Thank you for revealing your truth to us. Please help us to evaluate each of these questions Father and be able to get to a place where we look at ourselves and we be joyful at the creation You have made us to be. Help us be women of encouragement and help us rally along side other women to help them get to a place where they understand Your love for them. We love you Father, and we praise You. Amen Love you all-I’m excited to keep this conversation going with you all. You are a blessing in my life. -Ashley  P.S. This is Diane Comer’s Blog Link: http://www.hespeaksinthesilence.com/. Read and be blessed. 

Colossians 3:12

New Living Translation (NLT)

12 Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.

Today I went to an amazing women’s Bible study at Solid Rock Church all about beauty. What was cool about this was that I felt my heart being prepared to hear the message that was taught today for months now. I know God took me through a journey of deliverance and of restoration to really understand beauty and where it comes from.

Diane Comer delivered a heart felt message that came from a true place of understanding. She first talked about the world’s definition of beauty. The world defines beauty as “sexy, sensual, alluring, provocative, enticing”. Than she talked about the “church” definition of beauty which is defined as “nice, sweet, super-woman, smiley, shapeless”.  The last, she gave the Biblical definition of beauty, which there are two versions of the word “beauty” in Hebrew. One of the Hebrew words is “Tob” which translates to: beautiful, good, delightful, happy, expensive, generous, happy, righteous, precious, sensual, pleasant, intelligent. This is the kind of beauty that God wants us to radiate. And He wants us to use our beauty to bring the glory to Him and His creation. Mrs. Comer than went on and asked the question “How do we get our beauty back” from all the lies that have been poured over us? There’s something simple and beautiful in what she said next and it’s as easy as remembering how we get ready in the morning. We first should wash ourselves by confessing to God all the “yuck” we’ve let build on us. Than we should “Put God on” (like we would get dressed in the morning)-by reading the Word and “decorate” ourselves or “clothe” ourselves with “…tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience” Col. 3:12. And finally “Pour our beauty out” by embracing other people, having compassion, not let jealousy or bitterness have any room in our hearts, and champion other women by words of encouragement. We should adorn ourselves in love.

What I loved about what Diane Comer said today, was that she understood that every woman wants to be and feel beautiful. Our perspective has gotten flipped around though and instead of listening to the promises of God, we listen to everything else about our beauty. Because, the cold hard truth is that every single person on the face of the earth is BEAUTIFUL. They were created uniquely and with purpose. YOU-are beautiful-YOU were created unique-YOU have a purpose.

Truly beautiful women-women with “Tob”- shine a knowing and understanding of God’s beauty that has been placed in their life.

My question for myself and for you is do you know this? And if we don’t, how can we restore our perspective of beauty?

Diane ends with some questions on the screen which are:

“How can we be a restorer of beauty?”

“Who is the Spirit prompting you to pour beauty on?”

“What specific “clothes” do I need to put on?”

“How can we champion each other’s beauty?”

My prayer: Father God, thank you for being so loving and kind. Thank you for revealing your truth to us. Please help us to evaluate each of these questions Father and be able to get to a place where we look at ourselves and we be joyful at the creation You have made us to be. Help us be women of encouragement and help us rally along side other women to help them get to a place where they understand Your love for them. We love you Father, and we praise You. Amen

Love you all-I’m excited to keep this conversation going with you all. You are a blessing in my life.

-Ashley 

P.S. This is Diane Comer’s Blog Link: http://www.hespeaksinthesilence.com/. Read and be blessed. 

Good Afternoon Ladies!!!

We are almost to Easter!!!  This journey has been a joyous reminder of the sacrifice that Jesus made for us.  Jesus dying on the cross for our sins and rising up on the 3rd day is something we talk about a lot in church but do we ever really let that sink in what He did for us?  Do we ever find ourselves really falling at the feet of Jesus and thanking Him for what He did?  As Easter is upon us, I wanted to take some time and share what God has done for me in this 40 day fast from makeup.

I know that Ashley and I have both shared that 40 days without make up was really hard for both of us (trust me, it was!!!!), but the things we learned from this fast had nothing to do with makeup at all.  Makeup was the symptom of a much deeper problem in both of us.  For me, mine was love.  God wanted me to be in a vulnerable to show me where I was shutting Him out of my life.  The start was makeup.  Taking off the makeup allowed me to be vulnerable enough for God to show me that I don’t love myself.  With my insecurities showing, inside and out, I started to second-guess if people loved me.  Funny how a silly thing like makeup can change my perspective on myself and how others would feel about me.  Surely if I didn’t love myself and others didn’t love me, how could God love me??

God really revealed the places in my heart that I had been putting wall after wall up against Him.  My failures, past hurts from others, feeling let down….  God not only showed me those areas but He healed me of those things.  He took my smelly garbage from me and let me experience His grace.  By keeping those things from God, I could and didn’t allow for Him to love me.  Pushing Him away just made me colder and colder by every wall I put up.

God want to show all of us that He is big enough for all of or stuff.  He loves us so much that he did the only thing He knew how to show us.  God gave up His one and only Son, let Him die a horrible death, and it was all for the love He has for us.  Do you receive that today?  Are you in a place that you are allowing God to love you?  Today is Good Friday, the day the Jesus died for us to save us from our sins.  I want to day to be a reminder that we are all in need of the Savior, that we all need God in our lives.  Jesus was willing to lay down His life for us so that we could have a relationship with the Father.

I encourage everyone to look at your relationship with God today.  I know the work God has started with me, is not finished, I have only just begun.  God is ready to start a new work in you!!  Philippians 1:6 “And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue His work until it is finally finished on he day when Christ Jesus returns.”  God wants to show you His love.  Will you receive it??

In His love,

Deven

Hello lovely ladies!!     As we are coming to the end of our 40 day fast, I was thinking about the process we have taken as individuals and together.  The lessons that we have all learned through this process are ones that I will cherish forever.  I know that I am not the same person now that I was when we started this fast. God has taken us on a crazy but amazing ride that Ashley and I couldn’t of imagined would be possible.    We have struggled with self-esteem, love, fear, unworthiness, and brokenness.  These are the walls that stood in the way of God doing His work.  It is almost like when we were walking around that He would see us with a bag of garbage.  It stinks and it’s heavy… God has been asking for a long time for us to let Him take our trash and dispose of it but when it came down it, we allowed those things to define us.  For me, I would let those things define me.  I would constantly look back at my faults and failures and never want to be in those places again.  But by need looking back into my past and always reminding myself, I would be adding more and more stuff to my list of trash in my life.  I even got to a place that I didn’t see my garbage anymore.  It had been so covered up but my false sense of security with it.  The thing that I couldn’t see with my stuff is that God has wanted to take those things from me for a long time.  Those things have defined us all for too long and during this journey God showed us that He is strong enough to handle our stuff.        Roman 1:17 This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”   I thought of this scripture because it is how God has worked in our lives.  During this journey, God has made us right in His sight! He has purified those areas that we have hidden away.  From the start to the finish, God had been faithful to us and has healed our brokenness.  This is all because of our willingness and obedience to His calling on us.  God I always ready for us to come to Him but we have to be willing to go through or expose our stuff so that God can do His work.  It is by faith that we all let go of control and let God have the control.  By giving up our right for control, we are saying that God is powerful and strong enough to work in our lives.   My prayer: Lord, I ask that if we haven’t already given up control that we do so today.  We need You to work in our lives.  You have a plan for all of us and I know that if we all take a leap in faith that You can change and heal our lives.  God, I thank You for all of the great healings You have done so far and I know that You still have so much more You want to do with us.  Help us to be obedient to Your calling and help us to see how You see us. We love You Lord and we are thankful that You care and love us so deeply that You were willing to die for us.  In Your holy name, Amen.   In His love,     Deven      

Hello lovely ladies!!

 

 

As we are coming to the end of our 40 day fast, I was thinking about the process we have taken as individuals and together.  The lessons that we have all learned through this process are ones that I will cherish forever.  I know that I am not the same person now that I was when we started this fast. God has taken us on a crazy but amazing ride that Ashley and I couldn’t of imagined would be possible. 

 

We have struggled with self-esteem, love, fear, unworthiness, and brokenness.  These are the walls that stood in the way of God doing His work.  It is almost like when we were walking around that He would see us with a bag of garbage.  It stinks and it’s heavy… God has been asking for a long time for us to let Him take our trash and dispose of it but when it came down it, we allowed those things to define us.  For me, I would let those things define me.  I would constantly look back at my faults and failures and never want to be in those places again.  But by need looking back into my past and always reminding myself, I would be adding more and more stuff to my list of trash in my life.  I even got to a place that I didn’t see my garbage anymore.  It had been so covered up but my false sense of security with it.  The thing that I couldn’t see with my stuff is that God has wanted to take those things from me for a long time.  Those things have defined us all for too long and during this journey God showed us that He is strong enough to handle our stuff. 

 

   

Roman 1:17 This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”

 

I thought of this scripture because it is how God has worked in our lives.  During this journey, God has made us right in His sight! He has purified those areas that we have hidden away.  From the start to the finish, God had been faithful to us and has healed our brokenness.  This is all because of our willingness and obedience to His calling on us.  God I always ready for us to come to Him but we have to be willing to go through or expose our stuff so that God can do His work.  It is by faith that we all let go of control and let God have the control.  By giving up our right for control, we are saying that God is powerful and strong enough to work in our lives.

 

My prayer: Lord, I ask that if we haven’t already given up control that we do so today.  We need You to work in our lives.  You have a plan for all of us and I know that if we all take a leap in faith that You can change and heal our lives.  God, I thank You for all of the great healings You have done so far and I know that You still have so much more You want to do with us.  Help us to be obedient to Your calling and help us to see how You see us. We love You Lord and we are thankful that You care and love us so deeply that You were willing to die for us.  In Your holy name, Amen.

 

In His love, 

 

 Deven