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This magical change from Summer to Fall is one of my favorites, like many of you out there, Fall and Winter are my favorite seasons and I am really looking forward to these next few months of the air becoming a tad bit crisper and causing us to run and grab a sweater. The smell of cinnamon in all the grocery stores. The sights of gorgeous leaves turn from their green colors to excellently crafted maroons and browns. I love this shift because it makes my soul want to shift as well. Shift to a slower pace and a deeper intention to be present. Doug and I recently took a trip to San Fransico and my heart felt so free I wanted to share the wisdom God has given me to slow down, feel at peace and romanticize your life so you can live the BEST life you can possibly imagine!

How are you today? I hope you’re feeling joy, and if you’re not; I pray that God would cover you in his love right now! That you would experience the joy of his love that has nothing to do with outside circumstances and does not look like a smile plastered on your face when you truly don’t feel like smiling.

Joy comes from knowing his love will help you through any situation of your life, so your soul can rest and find peace.

One of my favorite things in life is change. I know that might sound weird to some of you because I know many people dislike change. I like it because it forces me to cling to only Jesus, the only one who won’t ever change. And through any change I face, I always pray that God would reveal to me the treasure he has hidden in it all! In any challenging season, any good change, or hardship, there you’ll find some of the best healing, lessons, and hope-building character! Some of my favorite memories with God belong to the seasons in my life when nothing looked the same and I had to search for the anchor of Christ within me to find peace and steadfastness. Tough times have taught me that I can handle anything with God! He is holding you and me by his right hand and he will help us, no matter what we face! You are not alone! Look up Isaiah 41:10

For me, change (and crazy traumatic change) has been at the core of so many years of my life. It had created a toxic, self-destructing, mechanism within me. I was always expecting the roof to fall off every day of my life. I didn’t know how to trust myself or anyone. And change became my norm. I adapted to it but didn’t know how to cope with the feelings of anxiety. Now I find change envigorating because I know where to cling to for my safety. “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. “ Psalm 46:1

I DO NOT suggest living in fear or dwelling in uncertainty. The goal for me here is to show you a way that you can be at peace and at the same time endure change and even thrive with change!

The way my brain was wired from all the traumatic past I’ve faced was that I had a fear of EVERYTHING! I also dealt with paranoia from PTDS, so my head was a place of hostility and feeling like something bad was always going to happen. The worst-case scenario for every situation (even if it was a good thing in my life, there was fear of losing that good thing)! Like my handsome husband here! I felt so scared to lose him, that I never received him fully as the gift God had given me. Now my heart is open and rejoices in the gift this man is to my life! I also surrender all my life and blessings with open palms up to the Lord, knowing he is the boss. At the end of the day, everything I have belongs to God and he alone knows what is best for me. I trust now in God’s promise for my life and I can trust myself. What a miracle!

It became my mission to heal from worst-case-scenario thinking. I prayed a desperate prayer that if God could help me or heal me from this toxic way of thinking, he would! At that time, I didn’t think that it was possible for me to be different.

and. then. God…

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.” Ephesians 3:20 ESV

I didn’t know when I said my prayer that God would do everything in his power to not only heal me from so many PTSD episodes but also from the toxic identity I had believed for so long; I believed I was unworthy of love and connection. I felt so much shame from my past I never thought anyone could truly love the real me. God has healed me in so many ways that I could write 1,000 books X’s 10 and every page would contain a miraculous way the Lord has healed me, restored, encouraged me, and inspired me to live my life without the chains of fear of the unknown! And if he can heal me, he can heal you in the way he wants to heal you. I believe healing comes in many forms. It can be physical, mental, or spiritual. He will do what you need if you dare ask and invite him into your mess, darkness, shame, and fear. He isn’t ashamed of you. He loves and wants to heal you and help you. And nothing anyone is ever done to you or you to anyone else will scare him away. “He is near to the brokenhearted. “ Psalm 34:18 Trust me, if anyone could scare him off, it would be me.

I don’t know about you friend, but after COVID, I think we are a little traumatized. And a part of me is having a really hard time going back to full swing on all cylinders. I forgot how busy and hectic and time-crunchy life can get. Here are the ways I’ve romanticized my life, slowed down, and found myself at peace this Fall season and I hope you can take some of these nuggets of wisdom with you to create a beautiful life where YOU are the director and can take hold of the life Jesus died to gift you!

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it in all its fullness (abundance).” - John 10:10 from the Berean Study Bible .

If Jesus died so you and I could enjoy life in all its fullness and abundance and peace. Why do we allow satan to ruin the peace and love God died to give us on a daily basis? It’s because it’s easier to believe bad things than it is good things. I promise you we are bent to complain, to unforgiveness, to bitterness. It’s not easy to be grateful, especially if we’re experiencing a really bad or challenging season. I’ve learned the antidote to fear; is gratitude and praise. I’ve made it a point at very low moments of my life to praise God the same way I would praise him if he were “answering all my prayers the way I want him to in my head”.

Listen this girl understands praying prayers like “heal my dad from brain cancer, Lord.” and then seeing my father take his last breath. No God didn’t answer that prayer the way I wanted him to but our God is PERFECT, He is FAITHFUL. And he knows everything and we don’t. I don’t know why he answers some prayers in some way and others in a different. That’s why I worship the guy, he is Sovereign, and thank HIM I am not the one in charge of my destiny. I am glad he is a forgiving father who is welcoming me time and time again after I make mistakes, which is every-single-day!

Here’s the way I see my life now: God is ALWAYS GOOD, and Life will always have it’s VERY HIGH HIGHS. And very low lows. In between the suffering, God is doing healing in my soul that wouldn’t be possible without this pain and it is for a good reason that God has allowed this situation into my life. I’ve noticed that most of my prayers have been answered through some sort of emotional pain or difficulty. My healing has come from pain. But on the other side there has been ABSOLUTE FEEDOM.

SHOP THE LOOK

7 Tips To Romanticize Your Life + Slow Down +

Be At Peace

1. Take charge of your morning. Your morning routine will have a great impact on you, your day, and the way you set the intention of your life. Will you consider building a morning routine that works for you? Here’s an example of mine!

2. When you feel rushed or hurried ask yourself; why? Perhaps start a journal on why you find yourself worried. We have made the cutest bullet journal to your left with dots inside for you to pour out your heart! It’s a little way to keep your mind in check.

   Then you can say my favorite mantra: “Slow is better.” OR “Slow and Steady wins the race.” and make it a point to slow down. Don’t rush or hurry yourself or your family. A hurried state robs us so much of being present and also efficient.

3. Be honest with yourself about what your schedule looks like. And re-evaluate your schedule to minimize what you are committing yourself to! Are you in the places you really need to be or do you need to cancel some commitments or restructure your time budget? Please know you can say no to things!

4. Find a way to move your body with physical exercise that really blesses your day! Only what you need for that moment. Have you ever tried to instead of following a rigid workout regimen that you might not even like; ask your own self and body what it is that you actually need and want to do on any given day?

   I‘m now into this kind of intuitive exercise. I am more prone to do something even if it’s a 5-minute stretch, a 20-minute HIIT, or an hour of yoga. Some days I’m craving a run. Other just a walk is sufficient. I’ve found such joy in this change and I wanted to encourage you to try if you haven’t already! Exercise should never be a way to punish your body. It should be a celebration of who you are and to help your mental health and operate from a much clearer mind! Lifestyle changes begin with clarity and an important WHY.

5. Find peace at God’s feet and be still so he can heal you. I don’t know about you but my brain offers me so much to worry about and stress out over. It has been transformative in my life to surrender those fears to God each time they make their way into my mind. I love meditating on God’s word and one of my favorite verses to say when I’m feeling a lot of fear is. “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain.” Philipians 1:21 as well as, “God did not give me a spirit of fear but one of power, love and a sound mind.” 2 Timothy 1: 7

   There are so MANY other verses that have to do with fear and you can pick one that resonates with you. But do everything in your power to say this out loud, read it over and over. Memorize it and give it time to heal your heart! God is so faithful.

6. Find time to journal a gratitude list of all that you feel so grateful for even on bad days! It’s so important to shift the focus from a negative, scarcity lens to a grateful and joy-filled state. Not always happy when you’re not but optimistic that God can work anything out that is happening to you for your good! There will never be a time when God will let you go and for that I find that romanticizing my life EVERY bit of it, is magic. Even mundane tasks like laundry will have a purpose. I can rejoice and be grateful on days when my spirit is down because I have lungs that are breathing air that has been placed there by a God that made you and me with purpose and on purpose. Your life matters and you are important. Act like you are. Believe that you already are everything you want to become THROUGH Jesus you are enough.

7. Ask Jesus to help you forgive yourself and others. Resentment is the biggest time suck and waste of your energy. When you forgive you don’t negate that you were hurt you give God the glory for your suffering and in turn, he gives you supernatural wisdom to gain from your pain and suffering. He turns your shame into double THE JOY. “ Instead of your shame there shall be a double portion; instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their lot; therefore in their land they shall possess a double portion; they shall have everlasting joy.” Isaiah 61:7

I pray you would know the depths of the love that God has for you and that out of that abundance HE will meet every need of yours with his Riches in Glory! Read; Ephesians 3:16-19

See you soon my beloved friend, God willing I’ll write to you next week!