As Christians, we all desire to grow close to God and to know him. There are countless examples of God interacting with mankind throughout the Bible. How do we, as modern day believers find the same closeness to God? How do we see God do works in us? What does it look like to seek the Lord? This episode will tackle these questions and provide encouragement for you as you continue to grow in your relationship with God.

By nature, I love to achieve and succeed in everything I do. Sometimes that can get me trapped in a fast-pace that isn’t healthy for me. In this episode, I’ll be sharing some of my personal battles with juggling too much at one time and what God has done to help me find balance. It’s my hope that through this you will be able to look at your own pace of life and ask the Lord if it’s healthy for you, so that you can go after God and let go of the burdens that are weighing you down!

Do you ever feel like your life is more difficult than you expected it to be? Yeah, me too. Why is that? In this episode I talk through some of the “false expectations” I’ve been processing through lately, relating to how our Christian life can sometimes look a lot less put together than we may hope. I’ll also help put into perspective what God’s reality for our life looks like, so that we can both walk with some boldness and strength to fight through life’s hard moments.

Every day we encounter people. Do we take time to notice them in a way that allows us to be a light in this world and the hands and feet of Jesus? In this episode, I share how to take the self-centered mindset we all tend to gravitate toward (thanks to our culture!) and turn it outward so that we can see people and love them more fully.

1. Take time for the people around you.

   • Be present and engaged, and ask people about themselves!

2. Go out of your way to ENCOURAGE

   • You never know the impact that one positive comment can make on someone. If you notice something positive about a person, what harm is there in sharing it?

3. Be an EAR. Spend time Listening.

   • Learn to be OK with someone not being OK. A lot of times, they aren’t looking for you to solve their every problem. They just need someone to talk to.

The other day, I was sitting in a meeting when I heard God say, “I need you to have mercy.” From that, I’ve been exploring the topic of mercy. This podcast is my thoughts and observations as I’ve been unwrapping mercy and how it comes to play in daily life and relationships. I don’t have all the answers, so make sure to leave your comments and thoughts as you listen along!

This episode is all about having a heart to know God more deeply in the new year. For 2019, my goal is to go after God with all of my heart, and I’ve outlined 3 simple ways to do this. Follow along with the notes below and join me as I choose to put God first.

Knowing God deeply requires more than just a resolution, it requires LIFESTYLE CHANGE.

3 Things to Remember as you pursue God with ALL YOUR HEART:

1. Guard Your Heart

   • What are you letting into your life that isn’t honoring God and may affect your mood, thought life, and attitude?

   • Matthew 6:22 - The eye is the lamp to the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light.”

   • Be aware when things enter your mind that are uncharacteristic of you and bring them to God. Don’t let it go, because it’s an attack from the enemy!

2. Make Time and Make the SACRIFICE to have time with God EVERY DAY.

   • Sometimes making yourself aware that something requires sacrifice allows you to have the grit to push past the discomfort and commit.

   • Even if your schedule changes or it’s not easy, make time to spend with God. It’s not about the amount of time, it’s about the position of your heart and that you are choosing to pursue God daily. (Five minutes or five hours, spend time with God.)

3. Give EVERYTHING You’ve Got

   • PRIORITIZE. What’s your focus? If God is your priority, then everything else should come FIRST. What kind of distractions keep you from making God your priority?

   • Give yourself grace. NO ONE is perfect, and God isn’t expecting perfection. Again, it’s about your heart! It’s OK if it takes a while to get a routine down, or if you miss a few days (or a week) here or there.

   • Pray about what your desire is for the year and what you hope to experience as you pursue God this year.

   • Jeremiah 29:13 - You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart.  

I’m excited for you as you step into this new year! If you’re choosing to really go after God this year, I would love to hear from you in the comments below!

All the time, we see words like “Faith” written out in elegant fonts. It can make it seem like faith is meant to be a beautiful, artistic, and easy. In this episode, I’m sharing a personal story that illustrates a season of life where God worked tragedy into an exercise of building my faith. You’ll see that faith isn’t always easy; actually, it can be pretty hard - but the rewards are well worth the struggles!

While social media is an incredible tool, it can cause us to view our lives and those around us with an expectation that is impossible to reach. In this episode, we will go through the difference between perception and reality as it relates to social media.

As you pursue God and your calling, YOU are your biggest roadblock! Well, your insecurity, anyways! In this episode, let’s get personal and talk about our insecurity, gain clarity on what exactly it is, how it affects us, and most importantly, how to overcome it.

1. Be self-aware.

   • Are there moments where you recognize an internal discomfort or lack of confidence?

2. Ask yourself, and the Lord, “What’s holding me back?”

   • Where are you getting stuck or feeling less than adequate?

   • Is there a specific area of your life where you feel insecure?

3. Once you’ve found where you are dealing with insecurity, it’s time to find the root.

   • Where did the pattern of insecurity begin?

   • Ask the Lord to help you answer this question. It may be something you never expected!

4. Talk about your insecurity with trusted friends or mentors.

5. As you face moments where insecurity creeps in, remind yourself of the truth.

   • You are loved by God, you are surrounded by people who love you!

   • You were uniquely made by God for a unique purpose.

Hello, and welcome to the very first episode of She is Courageous! In this episode, I’ll share with you what She is Courageous is all about, how it began, and what to expect in future episodes!