• Devotional,  Faith

    5 Ways I Practically Cast My Cares On God and Why It Works For Me

    March 24, 2017

    Hi friends! I promised I’d be back to share my guest post so here I am. I’m super excited about this one. I hope you all like it!

    Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken. – Psalm 55:22

    I’ve struggled with anxiety before I even knew what anxiety was. I’ve always been a worrier. The only thing that has changed as I’ve grown up and gotten married is what I worry about. When I was five, I worried about making friends. When I was eleven, I worried about my grades. When I was fifteen, I worried about what all of my peers thought about me. When I was nineteen, I worried that I wouldn’t find a husband to marry. And now that I’m twenty-five, I worry that this little family that God has blessed me with will be taken away from me, or something terrible will happen to one of us.

    To read the rest of the post click here.

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  • Coffee Dates,  Faith,  Life,  Marriage

    Let’s Have Coffee || Vol. 4

    December 14, 2016

    If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that this month has been a hard one so far. My anxiety has been flaring up again, and I think I finally figured out what’s causing it but it took soo long to figure out what it was, and I’m still not sure if knowing what the reason is, is going to make it go away.

    If we were having coffee, I’d share with you that I cannot believe that Tommy and I have been married for almost 7 months. I’m actually quite sad that the newness has worn off and we are now closer to being married for a year than we are to when we got married.

    If we were having coffee, I’d dig deep and ask what your biggest struggle is right now. If you’re comfortable I’d love to actually chat about this, email me? Mine is just staying positive. The cold weather has come on fast and strong already and it has really taken its toll on my emotions. I have a feeling it is going to be a long winter ahead. (Although I do have a surviving the winter post coming soon!)

    If we were having coffee, I’d share that I am actually attempting to take a break from coffee until Christmas. If I drink too much of it, which I have been doing, it throws my stomach completely off, so I unfortunately think it’s best if I stop drinking it for a little bit. I also think it is making my anxiety worse so we will see how these next two weeks go.

    If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that I went to the gym tonight, by myself might I add, and ran/walked for 2 and a half miles! I am so proud of myself and have felt much better after doing so. It gave me so much energy for the rest of the night and I think it might just be the trick to managing my anxiety as well. Let’s just pray I stick to it! I think my mental sanity might be at steak if I don’t haha.

    If we were having coffee, I’d apologize that the majority of the things that I wanted to talk about tonight were erring on the side of sad, it’s just where my heart is lately. I’m hoping to turn it around for the rest of the month though, Christmas is coming soon! Hope you all are doing well. I’d love to hear from you! If we were having coffee what would you want to share with me? Are you having a rough start to the winter season like me, or are you loving it so far?

    Today I’m linking up with Erin from Erin Salmon Writes.

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  • Life

    Our God is a God who HEALS: my story about dealing with health anxiety

    October 17, 2016

    Just wanted to swing by and share just how good God is. I can’t help but write when God shows up in my life in a big way – and that’s exactly what He did today.

    So I’ve shared a little bit about how I’ve been struggling with anxiety for quite a while now. A lot of this has had to do with my health. It all started out about two years ago when my body just started doing some funny things that it never had before. I had a dry cough that never seemed to go away and an ache in my left side after sleeping on it all night. I’ve never had issues like these before this so it really freaked me out and made me think there was something seriously wrong with me (read: cancer).

    Cancer has been my biggest fear for the past two years. It’s pretty bizarre too because I don’t know anyone close to me who had cancer nor do any of my family members have it. The fear kind of came out of left field but it was a very real fear of mine. It came and went but when it would really flare up I would have some serious anxiety attacks.

    Although I was pretty scared I still never really went to the doctor too much because I reasoned with myself saying that it was all in my head and that I don’t have anything to be afraid of (although I still never stopped being afraid). This caused me to be stuck in this place where I was terrified but had no way to move past the fear either because I wasn’t seeking truth from a doctor.

    I did go to a lung doctor at one point and got a CT done of my chest but the doctor said I was okay. This oddly didn’t help my fears much at all because I still had the cough but there wasn’t an explanation – and I really just believed that I had cancer sometimes so it was almost as if I wasn’t going to believe that that wasn’t true.

    I eventually figured out that when I get anxious that’s when the cough happens so I have since stopped being worried about it because it’s obvious to me where it’s coming from now and I don’t have to be worried it’s something serious.

    Fast forward about a year and you’ll be right around the time when I got married (about 5 months ago). I started having more minor health issues, like UTI’s, colds and indigestion. Meanwhile I still had that darn aching feeling in my side. When things like that flare up together it’s a sure thing that my anxiety will flare up with it. I went to the doctor, got each issue taken care of on their own but still didn’t seem to have any relief from the anxiety this time. I knew deep down that I wasn’t trusting that God was good and I didn’t think He cared if I got cancer to be honest. I’m not sure where I got this idea but I didn’t know how to shake it.

    Now jump to about a month ago when I seriously got tired of having health anxiety. I mean it had been over two years at this point and it got to be exhausting. I decided I needed to do whatever it took to get this gone, whether that be going to the doctor, or even a counselor if need be. I just wanted to feel normal again.

    I went to the regular doctor for a “yearly checkup” because I knew if the tests came back normal I would at least be able to tell myself that when I was feeling anxious. Even though at this point I really didn’t feel like the aching feeling was really serious I knew I had to bring it into the light and tell my doctor about it so I could finally have peace about it. So that’s what I did and it was SCARY. The doctor sent me for an ultrasound, which did not help with my anxiety AT ALL. It made it so much worse because it told me I had a reason to worry. I didn’t trust that God wanted me healed but I knew that He was the only one who could heal so I cried out to him multiple times a day and read about 60+ psalms over the few days I had to wait for the results.

    Today was the day that I found out that the ultrasound was CLEAR. I finally have nothing to worry about. It helped me confirm that certain foods just bother my stomach and I need to work on not eating so much of them. But most importantly of all it showed me that my God is a God that heals and a God that CARES. I can’t even begin to tell you how overwhelmed I was when I head that I do not have to worry about it anymore.

    And that is how God has healed me of my health anxiety. It was so difficult at times but God always carried me through it. I am so so thankful that there is nothing seriously wrong with me and I finally believe that God really does want GOOD things for me.

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  • Faith

    4 Tips for Overcoming Anxiety

    September 26, 2016

    Can I let you guys in on a little secret? I’ve mentioned it here a few times in passing but never really am too open with it. I struggle with anxiety. There I said it. I struggle with it a lot sometimes. Ever since getting married my anxiety has gotten a lot worse and I’m not really sure why. I think a lot has to do with me not being in control and that just downright scares me. The past few days though have been rough. Sometimes I literally feel like I’m lost at sea. Sounds like a funny analogy but for those of you who also struggle with anxiety maybe can relate. The thing that confuses me the most is that I feel like God has been insanely good to me in this season and this seems to be the hardest season yet. I just listened to an old sermon from my church on anxiety and it seems to have helped a little bit. I wrote a list of things that I am going to do when anxiety strikes to help and hopefully these might be able to help some of you as well.

    Tips for Overcoming Anxiety:

    1. Pray. Come before God and share your heart with Him. Tell Him your fears and just pour out everything on your mind. Sometimes this alone will help ease some anxiety. “Cast your cares on Him because He cares for you.” Also lay down your control as best you can. Recognize that God is a good father and you can trust Him. He’s brought you this far and will not leave you now.
    2. Memorize His Promises. This was sometimes I picked up from the sermon I just listened too. If you have time, I would suggest also listening to it too. The link is here, it helped me to remember the greatest thing we can do to battle anxiety is to fight back by memorizing God’s promises to us and also by transforming our minds by reading God’s word.
    3. Eat Healthy. For me this is going to mean to participate in the Whole 30 Challenge. But for you that might just mean eating more fruits and veggies. Do something to make yourself feel good. Eating good food always helps me feel more healthy and can in turn help with anxiety.
    4. Exercise or get active. Again this may mean something very different for each person. For one it might mean going on walks every night after dinner to clear your head. For others it might mean hitting the gym three times a week or going for a hike. Whatever it means to be a little more active for you – just do it. Don’t buy the lie that you’re too busy to be just a little more active. It is so important when it comes to mental health. I’m committed to going for runs or at least walks every day just to try to get outside my thoughts. So far it seems to be helping.

    These are just a few ideas that might help with anxiety. If you struggle with anxiety too – what are some things that help you? I could use all the help I can get over here.

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  • Faith,  Life

    True Life: I Hate The Unknown

    August 24, 2015

    It’s true. I hate the unknown more than anything. When I don’t know the details of things that are happening in my life I get anxious. I love to be prepared and when I’m prepared I think that I’m the one in control of what is happening in my life. Obviously this isn’t true in the slightest. God’s in control, no matter how much planning and preparing I do. He ultimately decides how things happen in my life.

    Planning and preparing aren’t bad things in themselves of course, I think God honors us when we are responsible and plan for things that are happening in our lives. But I believe it’s a sin when we plan and plan and plan so much that we think we are out planning God. I don’t know if anyone else struggles with this but sometimes I think I know better than God does. I know what I’ll enjoy and I want to enjoy it when I want it. I can be very impatient at times.

    The most frustrating part to me is that I KNOW Jesus’s ways are better than my own. I know that waiting on His timing will only bring me more joy, but sometimes I still feel that I know better or maybe it’s just that I can be selfish at times and I want what I want more than I want to wait for whatever Jesus has prepared for me.

    I’m having a hard time with this but I know that Jesus will carry me through. What do you guys do when you struggle with waiting on Jesus? I’d love to hear from you.

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  • Faith

    A Secret About Your Fears

    August 15, 2015

    I felt like God wanted me to write about this specific topic earlier today but I reasoned with myself and told myself that I didn’t really feel in the mood to write at the time so I decided not to write about it.

    What I wanted to write though was that God has really been trying to show me the secret of why I fear things is because I picture the fear without God being there. 

    God’s really been telling me over and over again lately that He is always with me. And that this is the most important thing that I can remember, especially in those times that I’m worrying about something in my future. If I think back to my past, about the hard things I’ve gone through (and there have been a lot if I’m honest), and I realized that He was always there through all that, and that He is still here for me now, then I need to start picturing Him in the future as well.

    I just read my devotional, Jesus Calling for the day and I want to share it with you:

    Sit quietly with me, letting all your fears and worries bubble up to the surface of your consciousness. There, in the light of My Presence, the bubbles pop and disappear. However, some fears surface over and over again, especially fear of the future. You tend to project yourself mentally into the next day, week, month, year, decade; and you visualize yourself coping badly in those times. What you are seeing is a false image, because it doesn’t include Me. Those gloomy times that you imagine will not come to pass, since My Presence will be with you at all times. When a future-oriented worry assails you, capture it and disarm it by suffusing the Light of My Presence into that mental image. Say to yourself, “Jesus will be with me then and there. With His help, I can cope!” Then, come to the present moment, where you can enjoy Peace in my Presence”

    Once I read this I knew I had to write about it. This is the secret to conquering our fears. There’s no reason to worry about the future because He will be with us and He will give us the strength to get through whatever may cross our paths. What an awesome God we have.

    “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” –Deuteronomy 31:6

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