Today is another day where I can’t just write what I want to say – I need to “show and tell” you. In today’s short video message below I share how God walked me through a process of looking back with courage – so I could move forward with hope. He helped me identify things I didn’t even know were affecting me and gently led my heart on a journey towards freedom – showing me how to of let go of the pain from my yesterdays so I could live with confident hope in my todays… and tomorrows.
{Are you a note-taker? If so, I created “Video Message Notes” in a PDF format here or in a MSWord doc here, just for you. Even included key verses and blanks to fill in.} 🙂
Today’s Giveaway:
I’m giving away 3 Confident Heart gift packs for 3 of you. Each one includes a copy of my book, A Confident Heart {for you or a friend?}, my “Rest Assured” message on CD and a Starbucks gift card!
Let’s Connect {and how to enter today’s drawing}:
I’d love to hear how God speaks to you through today’s video message… and this is an easy way to enter today’s giveaway too. Just click “share your thoughts” right below this post and do just that. I’ll be here reading and praying over each of you and your stories. {Also, I know the timelines I encourage you to create might sound overwhelming or scary, so I recorded a little video message to talk/walk you through that process – If you’d like to hear more click here to watch it after you share your thoughts below.}
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Thank the Lord for Proverbs 31 ministries, else I would not have been directed to this video. God is working in me to free me of my past hurts. I am afraid. What if I can’t stop crying? What if I can’t change my negative self talk? What if my husband doesn’t support me if I try and let go of my past (he doesn’t do well with tears and such.)? I am “this close” to being too dependent on wine and the shame I feel during the day for it is daunting. I am afraid, but I want to be free from the deep deep deep hurts from my past. How long will it take? Can I make it? Will God still honor my prayers for my kids? He is touching my heart deeply – like many others – tears flow as I type. I am afraid. The pain is so intense when I try to go to the hurt places. Fear, shame, insecurity. Yet, I WILL sing to Him. I WILL praise Him because He really has blessed me in so many ways. I believe He can make me whole, just not if He will. If anything I appreciate your prayers. Blessings to you, Renee. What an amazing woman of God you are.
Hi Renee, God brought me to your website today to hear His words spoken through you! I have struggled for over 40 years with myself worth and have tried, prayed, talked to God with working through these things that still haunt me today. I have a 16 year old daughter, who is precious! I have tried to teach her that she is so beautiful just the way God made her (even though I steel don’t feel that way about myself, I am working on it) I pray for my children daily, but I also know she needs a little extra prayer due to her esteem and self worth. I intend to print this devotion off for her to read. I know that not only God’s work but also His work does not come back void. I would love the book “A Confident Heart” to help us both learn and grow to be able to help others who are dealing with the same issues and hurts from the past that so many are dealing with in todays world. THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU DO FOR GOD’S KINGDOM! May He bless you abundantly Renee!
Love and Prayers,
Jenny
Hey Renee,
Can’t begin to tell you how much i needed to hear your video message today… really appreciate your transparency and wise words. Jeremiah 29:11-14 is an area of Scripture I’m very familiar with, but it’s sadly we can often push back God’s promises when we’re in pain. Was amazed at the similarities of yours and my past… i too, suffered the pain of my parents divorce, my dad leaving, and trying to grow up with very little parental guidance and no Jesus. I didn’t realize the depth of the damage and how much i had not ever dealt with until the last year or so. Once I came to Christ, seemed the world was a big adventure and i’ve lived an exciting ministry life – but now at 45, i find myself deeply struggling with the pain of my past and it’s profound effect on my life. i’ve never married, have no children and yet deeply hunger for it. It’s been painful for me to know that God declares “it’s not good for man to be alone” and the beautiful role of a woman to help a man… yet not allow me to walk in this. And now, unlike my younger years, i feel like a failure as a woman. Even despite all my “ministry successes” – i still feel like a failure. it haunts me now and it’s caused so much of my past to surface and reinforce those feelings. Lastly, and so amazing… I have been to Ethiopia, and have a huge desire to adopt from there! But with no husband and in full time ministry – I haven’t seen a way to make adoption happen. When you shared about your adopted Ethiopian daughter… i was stunned. Only God could have had placed your story in my life for such a time as this… as if God is saying… it can happen for you too, Lysa. i pray one day it will. But your story breathed hope into my heart today… i’m grateful. To you and to God. May His anointing continue to rest on your life such that many women would know His touch through your life!
Renee thank you for this message. It made me realize the things in my past that I had not yet dealt with and need to but am afraid to. Because I don’t/ didn’t want to bring them back up again, but when I don’t they do creep back in unseen ways or untimely ways and it affects the way I see my husband. I don’t want that.
Renee,
What perfect, God-timing for this message! Thank you for sharing your heart. I agree with so many previous commenters that this is a woman-message if there ever was one 🙂 I, too, come from a divorced family and have just recently left an emotionally and psychologically abusive relationship. How tempting to try to put a bandaid on all those hurts, but after hearing your message, I know Jesus wants to walk through the healing process with me. Thank you again!
Your word have touched me deeply and comes as confirmation from God that what I need to be doing is seeking after him with all my heart
Renee, thanks so much for sharing your story. You put it so simply and it made sense. I to came from a divorced family, but there was also some abuse. I’m starting to understand now what I need to do so I can move on and stop being “stuck”. Thanks for sharing. Terri
Thanks Renee for this message. Your words of encouragement and healing have touched my heart. I, too, am in process of grieveing the childhood I never had. I receive your emails and decided to take advantage of getting your book free on Kindle, so I read it on my computer. You have great insight and wisdom. Praise the Lord for how you are allowing Him to use you and your story to grow so many hurting women who long for wholeness. Thank you for your honesty and compassion. As I read this post and watched your video, God moved in my heart not only to continue to seek after Him harder to allow Him to grow me, but to share this message with an unsaved, hurting friend who has been so wounded by divorce. I have tried to reach out to her and share the gospel with her, but her heart was not opened at the time and I have been praying for her evr since. It would mean so much to receive a copy of your book for her as I think God could use it to bring another child home!
Thanks again so much for serving the way you do!
Renee thank you for investing your time into GOD’s kingdom! I recently came across Psalm 143:8 in a book I was reading from a co-worker and then again in your devotion last week.It has been in my opinion God speaking to my heart and now today’s devotion that includes one of my favorite bible verses!I have struggled remembering his promise that he has a plan for my life that was designed by him just for me.My life has been filled with many disappointments from bad childhood memories, a failed marriage and drug addiction that destroyed my ex-husband and has had a tremendous effect on my two sons.Yet I know my redeemer lives and this week I decided to let go of the past and to cherish the time that I have with my growing teenage boys focusing on the good things that GOD has done for us and letting go of the victim that I have become.Your devotion today was again a message for me to keep moving forward and pushing the doubts behind! I cannot thank you enough for your words of wisdom and taking the time to share them with women like me who sometimes just need to hear that there is hope!
Renee,
I love your devotions and your dedication to helping others to gain their confidence in Christ. I am having a difficult time in my life due to going through menopause at the age of 43. I feel broke and that my husband deserves someone better than me. I am thankful that he is a Christian and tells me that we will get through this together. We are a military family and have been through several deployments and have been told he will deploy again in 2013. We have survived many challenges and I know that Christ will help us through the tough times ahead. Thanks for your encouragement and making me feel that I am not alone.
I couldn’t believe it when I read the Proverbs 31 message today. It is so me. I am a recovering alcoholic and addict. I was married to my ex-husband for 35 years. We have 3 grown sons and I have 2 grandsons. We were divorced 6 years ago. He was a practicing alcoholic at the time. Now he has been sober for 5 years. It tears me apart to know that I broke up our family. I was always proud that my family was not a statistic. Now we are. I remarried 3 1/2 years ago and I just am not sure about my love for my new husband. I have been battling it ever since we got together. We moved in together, I felt guilty so he married me. it has been a battle ever since. He loves me, treats me really good, accepts me for who I am, even with my faults, and I left him about a month ago because I was tired of pretending and felt like I was living a lie. I am now living with my sister. No papers have been filed. It is tearing him up. I just don’t know what to do. I don’t feel like I love him, but it seems like I should. I want God’s will for my life. I just am not sure he is it. The confusion, depression and chaos is something I have dealt with, or not dealt with all of my life. Thank you for your words of wisdom. I have an appointment with my pastor today. I pray God will speak to me through him. I look forward to your future emails for encouragement. Thank you again.
I’ve been feeling “stuck” for about 10 years now and can’t seem to get over that wall; some of it is because deep down, in spite of the scriptures I hold onto, I don’t think I’m deserving of God’s grace and love. I know the scriptures that pertain to that, I’ve read the books, but the wall is still there. In addition, I’ve let a relationship with a long-time male friend go places it shouldn’t have, and even though I wasn’t the one who actively pursued it, I allowed things to happen. I’ve asked God for forgiveness, but I don’t think I’ve forgiven myself, and that, I think, adds to my “wall”. There, just a little psychoanalysis of myself, 🙂
No one really knows about this situation and it’s getting increasingly hard and frustrating to deal with.
Renee Thank You Thank You for writing this book and sharing so many things. This is my second time reading this book.It is so helpful for me to know I am not alone. So many of the things you have shared about your feeling I am so graetful for.I have gone through a deep depression and still struggle on days. I believe God led me to your book. I want to be able to share this book with my sister. so we can work together on the difficulties we both have gone through. Thank You again for sharing some very hard things.
Renee: You are such a blessing to all of us. It is always so difficult to recall our painful past, but so necessary in order to move forward. I know I have a lot of unresolved issues, but I keep them well hidden as I have been taught to be strong and un-emotional. I have always worked with men and have had to take on the male persona so as to not appear weak. I have sought affirmation in good grades, good work performance and the approval of others. This has been disappointing, as people will always disappoint us, even those who profess to be Christians but don’t emulate Christ. You are helping me reach more deeply and seek the Lord’s guidance on moving forward. Thank you so much for your ministry.
A truth that I needed to be reminded of today. Even when my hurts, disappointments and pain trigger fears that cloud out God’s truth HIS HOLY SPIRIT sends a messenger like you to bring me back to HIS WORD of hope and love that never changes. Please pray for my husband whose past hurts and disappointments are not only keeping him from God’s best but is creating a barrier that gets thicker with each day when he faces yet another career failure and disappointment. Pray he will be open to getting the help he needs to begin the process and that we can deal live in God’s victory instead of sweeping it under the rug and the dust continues to leak out. Pray that I will love him where he is and be Jesus to HIM and depend on the Lord to provide and I will allow the Lord to heal my wounds as well.
Hi Renee – I think the toughest thing for me is to realize that I do have past hurts and wounds that need to be healed. We go through life so intent on covering up those hurt and jagged places in our hearts, that when God wants us to uncover those to Him to allow Him to heal, we balk at this request. We tell God that we’ve spent years trying to “move on” and that looking back will just ruin all those years of heard work and progress. But those years weren’t progress…we weren’t “moving on”…we were just making due. Now when we have the opportunity for true healing and restoration, we’re afraid. That’s my biggest challenge and what I’m glad to be confront through your book…my fear. I pray that God continues to bless you and all of those who are reading your book or your devotions. God desires to heal that which is broken…we have to trust Him with our brokenness and know that everything He wants to do with us is from a place of His amazing love towards us. Thanks for providing a place to release and share.
Hello Renee!
Thank you so much for sharing this video, I was reading the daily devotion on Encouragement Today and then was drawn to this video. I went through a divorce five years ago (from a marriage of 22 years) and still don’t know what went wrong. I lost my mom almost four years ago and she said something on her dying bed that left me with harsh feelings toward her and so I have not yet cried for her or even tried speaking to her through God. I have often thought about counseling but can’t really afford it so it’s just a thought. I do plan to purchase your book ‘Confident Heart’ in the near future because I am always touched by your words. I know there is a God and I have faith in Him but I too, asked ‘Why?’ when I was going through all my pain of deception and losses. All week the word ‘HOPE’ has popped up in front of me and so I have decided to keep the Hope and Pray that I find answers and give my whole heart to God!!!
I am currently struggling with my daughter living a life that I do not approve of. I do know that God will lead her out of this in His time and I have the hope and faith that this will happen. Then we both can look back and have the courage to move forward. But reading your passages continues to lift me up and give me courage to continue hoping and praying for her and her life with God.
I’m currently struggling through a separation from my husband. This is has been both difficult and painful and liberating and peaceful. The more I hurt, the more I take to God, the more I find peace to help me through all this. I too have been asking God to show me what I have done wrong, help me correct it and to redefine me. Through my asking, I have discovered much unprocessed pain and hurt and disappointment from my past that IS defining me and my relationships today. I don’t want to be known as who I was. I have traveled a long journey to become the woman I am today. I have discovered that God doesn’t keep me in my old cage and ask me to daily try to live from within that cage. I do. Instead, He is helping me escape that cage that I keep myself locked in. Through Him, I find release and freedom and the opportunity to be who I am now and forever escape that old cage. It’s not easy. I write and cry and pray a lot. When reminders come of certain hurts and disappointments, I ask God to help me work through them. I ask Him to open my memories so that I can honestly look at them and process them and see my part in them. When I acknowledge that I had a hand, small as it sometimes may be, in what has happened to me, then it is easier to walk through the door towards healing. Sometimes I can get through a hurt or disappointment or broken dream in a day. Sometimes it takes weeks. I always depends on how much effort I put into really wanting to heal, really wanting to be free from that cage. God has spoken to my heart and told me that He wants me to soar. He doesn’t want me to be caged and to be forever longing for freedom. In order to do that, I must ask Him to use his “key” to unlock my cages and set me free. Your words today, Renee, confirm to my heart just this very concept. I know I’m on the right path. The Lord’s plan to prosper me includes setting me free from the pain and mistakes and heartbreaks of my past so I can soar. Thank you for your guidance and help through this process.
Thank you for your message of hope…I really need it today! I pray that I will be able to find a more intimate relationship with God, and not feel like an outsider and unworthy of Him.
Just going through my timeline and asking God to reveal anything that is blocking victory in my life. I’m just waiting on him as I truly want to have the confidence only he can give.
I have read this scripture a million times over and up until now, it has truly come to life in my soul and heart ! Thank you renee for this teaching, I am having one of those days where the disappointments from my past are crepping up on me, so i needed this today. thank you and god bless!
Thank you for sharing your testimony. I am going through a very difficult time as we speak. Separation leading to divorce, separation from the Lord little by little asking HIM “where are you?”. Yet, I have been getting revelations since last night and this morning but what hit me profoundly was your Encouragement for Today Devotion “If God loves me, why…?”. As many times as I have read Jeremiah 29:11-14 it has not hit me the way that I understood it from your perspective. I guess sometimes someone has to give examples or share what they have gone through for someone else to see it in a different light especially through a broken heart. I will be clinging on to your words and to what God says in Jeremiah 29:11-14. I don’t know how to thank you for what you did in just sharing. Thank you.
Renee,
Thank you for this messge today! I had a particularly rough day yesterday. My son was being defiant which happens a lot with his ADHD and language/speech delay. He will be 4 in July and the daily struggles we have with him are so challenging. I am often embarrassed in public with his tantrums and sometimes I just can’t do anything about them. The people around me just stare and give you the look that says “Lady, why can’t you control your child?” I wish people would understand.
In my Lifegroup at church, we just studied GodQuest and one of the chapters dealth with “Why do bad things happen to good people?” I have learned that it’s okay to question God but at the end of day still put your trust in Him. One of the verses that sticks with me is this, “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” Romans 8:28, NLT
Even though, I struggled with my son, struggle with not knowing my purpose yet….your message today has made me think once again to pause and listen to what God is trying to tell me.
I continue to pray everyday and know in my heart that God is always with me. I tell Him everyday, “God I don’t understand your plan for me or even know what that plan is yet but I have faith that whatever you have decided for me, I will be grateful and happy.”
“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'” Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV) This will be added to my wall of hope here at work.
Jenny,
I understand your pain and embarrassment. I have four children and a husband with ADHD and teach Special Education. Sometimes the stress is so bad that I just want to give up. I pray that God will strengthen and help you.
Lana,
Thank you so much for your encouragement and prayers! Taking it one day at a time….but there are just some days so much worse than others and yesterday was one of those days.
Thank God that today is a new day and so far, so good!
Blessings,
Jenny
Laurie,
I’ve got a severe to profound hearing loss in both ears. I sign some. I’m loving this community and this study. I hope you find a copy of the book soon!
I would love to receive your book. I have been damaged as a child and dragging my junk around for too long not knowing how to release it and truly believing God has the best for me. My most troublesome issue now, is how I’ve let my past affect my children. Thanks for sharing your heart to help others learn how to be free in Jesus.
Thank you so much for sharing this today….. I had a whole page of things I was going to share on here, but after writing it and re-reading it, I realized that God is opening my eyes and heart to things that I wasn’t even aware were still buried so deep in my heart. I am going to listen to your message again and then I’m going to get into His word…… I know something BIG is going to happen today!!! Thank you for blessing me today – sister!!!
Thank you for hitting the nail right on the head! You’re exactly right when you said that we avoid dealing with pain from our past because it would take too much time and the pain would come to the surface and I’d fall apart. I’ve danced around the issues for so long, it’s time to begin to face issues head on and let the healing begin.
There is no temptation that has seized you except that which is common to man…… or woman! Thank you for helping me and so many others realize we are not alone and that there is a way out of the confusion of these struggles.
Hi Renee! thank you so much for that video clip.i don’t know where to begin,lately I’ve battled with my spiritual life-not a real desire to read the Bible&to fully trust God-I feel ashamed even saying that because He’s done so much for me&then I have these feelings.i need prayer-if I look back I’ve had a good life,Christian parents,grew up in a Christian school.always went to church.is it because I’ve had it all&Im ungrateful?even when I constantly thank God for all those things&pray for those that haven’t had that opportunity.have I let to much pride in?somedays I pray humble me Lord&yet I’m scared what is Gods response gonna be?please pray that I may release these trust issues.IWANT TO STOP DOUBTING&LIVE IN THE SECURITY OF HIS PROMISE!!!!
Thank you for allowing God to speak to me today, through these words. I have been struggling with health issues for the last two years. I never thought I’d be in this position. I try to be strong, but I had a meltdown last night, asking, “Why, God?” I’m so glad I was obedient to the Lord this morning and found my way to my devotional time. I feel a new hope, one that wasn’t there last night. I don’t want the disappointments from my past and the pains of my todays to keep me from living out the life God wants me to live. Thank you for this encouragement!
I am deaf and cannot understand your video. But I do want to say I am always encouraged by your blogs. I have been searing high and low at library to see if I could find your book to borrow…none so far! Please keep up with your positive yet realistic blogs!
God gave me this passage from Jeremiah 29 just a few weeks before my young son died unexpectedly. In the last 14 years since that time it has resonated in my heart so many times… it’s such a great reminder that even when I don’t understand my circumstances… I can rest in knowing that He still has good plans for me. Thank You for the reminder that when He whispers these words to me that it’s also a call to seek Him wholeheartedly & that when I do… He will listen to my prayers & I will surely find Him… waiting with open arms to hold me & comfort me.
Thank you!
Thank you Renee for being so faithful to bring this message of hope and restoration to us!!!
Wow! I am encouraged to continue despite my daily struggles with thoughts that try to keep me from the powerful truth you are sharing.
As thoughts come into my mind, I am throwing them away!! Replacing them with God’s truth!! Simple thoughts like : “I am not good enough, pretty enough, smart enough….” Attack me all the time, but I am recognizing them more quickly and replacing them more easily lately – PRAISE GOD !!!
I actually drew out a timeline a few nights ago and was amazed at all the ‘stuff’ I’ve gone through; that God has brought me through and I wasn’t even aware of it at the time! Yes it’s scary, especially the thought of sharing it with someone other than God!
Your video was very encouraging this morning, especially the revelation of Jeremiah 29:12-14! Funny how we neglect to read on to find out more truths…
This is my first on-line study and I love it!
Blessings to you and your family
Karen
I have started on the timeline. It is difficult. I pray God will heal me through this process so I can have joy.
Thank you Lord! Thank you for leading me here. I have just recently, Monday night, been contacted by my father who walked out on us when I was 9. He was very bitter and hateful, he hated my mother and often would tell me and my brother, “if I had a gun I would shoot her.” When I was 16, he called to say My kids are dead to me, I want nothing to do with you. We tried to repair the relationship but his bitterness and hate were more that I could take and I haven’t seen him since I was 21, I am now 46.
Your video is as if you have been watching my life from afar. I am have struggles in my marriage, and I am not sure why. Now my father had contacted me and I feel lost, confused, hurt, angry…. I want to forgive and move on but just as you say in the video, I am realizing, has moved into so many aspects of my life, I don’t know where to begin, and I feel more hopeless than I have in a very long time.
I have a family of my own, and I have so many responsibilities that I am over loaded. I don’t know where to start to crawl out from under the load. I try to talk to my husband but I am so ashamed by the things of my past. I find myself pushing him away, almost daring him to leave…
I so want to get past this hurt, I don’t know if inviting this person back into my life will do that or just cause me more pain?
Thanks Renee, I look forward to following you, and how you got to a place of peace.
With kind regards,
Suzanne
Thank you for allowing God to speak to me today, through these words. I have been struggling with physical health issues for the last 2 years. I never thought I’d be in this position. I try to be strong, but every now and then, I have a little break down – “Why, God?” I’m so thankful that I was obedient to the Lord this morning and found my way to the devotional. In this short time, the Holy Spirit has given me a new hope – one that I didn’t have last night. I know that He wants to work in my life, and I don’t want my hurts of yesterday or my pains of today to hold me back. Thank you for the encouragement I’ve found here!
I thoroughly enjoyed your video post today. I, too, am currently reading A Confident Heart and loving every minute of it! I would love to have extra copies to give to some very close friends who truly need this. I’ve thought of passing my book on to them, but I just can’t stand the thought of losing it. I have highlighted, written notes, etc. inside of it. So the gift pkg would be very welcome by me.
Keep up the good work. God is SOOO blessing us through you!!!!
I love your blog and your books. I’m dealing with so much from the past and I know it’s crippling me and I try every day to “let it go”, but it doesn’t go away. I always enjoy when you speak about dealing with your past. I guess because my past deals with my children being hurt and my daughter still hasn’t forgiven me, so it has an impact on my daily life. Thank you for your words! I would love to win your package and receive this book. Have a blessed day!
Thank you for this post and video. I have several things from my past that always seem to rear their ugly head at the most inopportune time. Thank you for this very wise post and information. I am prayerful that I too can make this tremendous transformation in my life, as you have done in yours.
May God Bess You!
Thank you for sharing- I love your ministry- I so relate to many of your experiences- and I love your heart for adoption- your daughter is beautiful and blessed to have you and your husband. We, too, hope to adopt in the near future.
I am scared of the timeline. I am scared of the sorrows in my past. But your book is helping me find the courage to face my past hurts and look towards a promise filled future. Thank you.
This really spoke to my heart tis morning. This is so in line wit things I a struggling so deeply with right now and I’ve been hearing from the enemy that it is just me and that no one else is this messed up or miserable but I feel so much hope and encouragement just from what ou said and ht I’ve read. Thank you so much and I am looking forward to getting a copy of your amazing book! God showed me that He is thinking of me and lves me through you today, thank you.
Wow! This book is helping me to bring out things i didn’t even know was there. I’m on the path to freedom! I feel that it was meant for me to do this study so that God can take me to a higher level in him.
I just came upon your page from Proverbs 31……your devotion hit home! I can’t wait to explore your site and join your site. Hoping I can win a book…but if I don’t, it is getting ordered!
thanks. im here from proverbs 31, that your friend didnt have an answer made me feel better and sorry did too. b/c i’ve learned you never know what your born into. perhaps your forefathers made poor choices and now you are reaping the fruit. God doesnt promise to protect us from others bad mistakes. So to say im sorry is the right response. u see my dad was a criminal and because of it i suffered a great deal. I look back on my own mistakes which followed in suit with his and there’s more. God isnt going to change my reality but allow me the opportunity to choose Him to choose better. my dad took me to church a decision that is yielding tremendous fruit. so i suppose there is hope but its not going to happen overnight.
I am so, very excited about this study! I am in a Bible study group at my church, but they only do sessions in the spring and fall. I have a difficult time between sessions keeping up with my Bible studies. Our spring session just ended a few weeks ago and I was just starting to feel the disappointment of me failing to keep up with reading my Bible every day. I had come across your book via a Proverbs 31 Facebook post. It was when you were giving away free downloads of it. I glanced, thought “Eh, I’ll go ahead and download it, since it’s free and all, and SOMEday, I’ll read it.” A week or so later, I saw another post (also on Proverbs 31’s Facebook page) that you were doing a Bible study on it. I signed up immediately! It has really helped me in this “in between sessions” time.
I have not started Chapter 4 yet, but I am already nervous about it. 🙂 Until now, I have honestly felt like I really haven’t had THAT severe of a hurt in my life. I have had quite a good life, actually. But now I feel God tugging at my heart that there is SOMETHING down there that I need to deal with. Not quite sure what it is yet, but we’ll see!
~Heather~
P.S. – I see that to enter the contest, all you have to do is comment in this section. But how do you pick the winners? Do you just pick random posts? Or do you pick posts that you particularly like? Just curious how it works. :0)
We pray and choose randomly :0) Thanks for asking.
I thank God for placing you in my path. I just recently uncovered alot of hurt from my past and do not know how to deal with them. I am so used to covering them up with a smile and acting like everything is okay. You made me realize that I can’t heal unless I deal with my past hurts. Hurts that have been done to me and what I have done to myself. The enemy loves to keep reminding me of those hurts and uses it to distance me from God. I have just been too scared to ask for help, for fear of judgement in who I confide in. I know that Jesus gave us the ultimate sacrifice and through him we have grace from God. I just can’t find it in myself to forgive myself and that is what is holding me captive. I want to be able to have all of what God has for me, to see his purpose for me in my life.
I truly enjoyed your devotional on Proverbs 31 which led me to your web page and your story. I plan to purchase and read your book The Confident Heart. Thank you for sharing hope through God’s Word.
So encouraging – thank you. I definitely would love to read your book and work on ways to deal with past hurts and struggles along with current insecurities and truly give them over to the Lord.
I hope to share your book with my five children. We are dealing with an alcoholic husband/ father. We are just now beginning to talk about the pain it is causing in our life and learning how to deal with it. I know that god’s word and his love are the only thing that will see us through this. I am hoping with all my heart to help them to learn a healthy way to deal with the anger and bitterness that this is causing in our lives. Thank you.