HELLO AUGUST!
It's My Birthday Month Y'all (yesterday in fact) and I want to share with you some of my reflections of the last year and future plans.
Reader.
Though August is my birthday month I want to GIVE YOU my best gift!
First let me share some future plans (as I promised).
As you read in my last emails God has been walking me through a uncomfortable season of sifting, crushing, and pruning. But, He has also been faithful to reveal my growth through it. Through this season He has been transitioning me into a different kind of Kingdom Work, from coaching to writing, in my refining process over the last year God revealed to me my giftings of Shepherding and Teaching as He continued to prompt me to write Devotionals.
My best gift to you is to be obedient by sharing my journey (Shepherding) and (Teaching) you the lessons God has taught me through the words and devotionals He gives me to write.
In these devotions you will still see the common thread of how we can cultivate healthy rhythms in our lives (that I used in my coaching) through overarching themes of:
- Aligning our hearts to God's
- Restoring our thoughts and emotions
- Cultivating & growing healthy routines
You will see topics in relation to:
- True Identity (Alignment)
- Kingdom Work (Alignment)
- Growth with Grace (Alignment)
- Spiritual Rest (Alignment)
- Creating a Nurturing Environment (Restoration)
- Unkept Thoughts (Restoration)
- Emotional Wellbeing (Restoration)
- Managing Stress (Restoration)
- Establishing Rhythms & Routines (Cultivation & Growth)
- Nutrition (Cultivation & Growth)
- Fitness & Recreation (Cultivation & Growth)
- Rest & Sleep (Cultivation & Growth)
My prayer is that by writing about what God has taught me in these areas will encourage you as it has encouraged and stretched me. I hope you keep reading.
Now for a bit of reflection. What better way to share then through a sample devotion. I hope you are blessed by what God revealed to me as I reflected on this last year.
|
Devotional
Bloom where you are
Where do you go to spend time with God, to reflect, to process thoughts, to pray, and meditate on God's word?
I often go to a place I affectionately call my grassy patch. This is a small peninsula of open grass next to a waterway we call “the creek”.
God reveals interesting things to me there. Sometimes it's simply through observing the beauty of the world He created.
For the last several summers I noticed beautiful white blooms with dark pink centers appear along the retaining wall around the cove. Each time I’d see them towering in their beautiful glory out of the brown and murky hydrilla infested water, I'd wonder, “how do they do that”? "How do they manage to survive there?"
A few days ago as I walked along the cove, I again admired their graceful blooms. but this time I noticed across the cove, where the tide was lower, revealing that the hardy plants were actually growing out of a crack in the wall.
As if the environment of a murky creek surrounded by thick grass wasn't enough…… Against all odds she also worked her way past a wall built by man.
Wow, how amazing is that!
Just like these beautiful blooms we too can struggle with an undesirable environment or a circumstance that builds a wall. But, God gives us a way to grow and emerge past all those things, a crack in the wall and the light of sunshine through the murky waters for us to reach towards.
This illustration that God gave me blessed my heart and soul as I reflected on the difficult things I have endured this year. He is where we find redemption, beauty, and joy!
Bloom Where You Are, friend!
Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your god; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10
How has God provided cracks in your walls and a bright light for YOUR growth this year?
Blessings of Wellness, Friend!
Melissa
Have you gone through my 7-Day devotional "slow, FAST, Restore"?
You can get this devotional FREE until August 31st.
*I’ll be reformatting this devotional and re-releasing it this fall at a small cost.