New Life

by Amy Posted on May 21, 2013

Here’s a peek into my life around here friends…
EmmaBirthThese little people, have a way of bringing out things in you that you weren’t aware of before they entered the world.  They don’t call themselves teachers but are possibly one of the best guides toward our own self-awareness.  They are life changing.  And God uses them when they aren’t even aware yet…

Twelve days ago my nine month wait came to an end.  A little girl was born breathing with brown eyes staring back at me.  Things changed quickly, forming beads of sweat on her forehead for a warning.  We didn’t know what to think.  Her first visit to the nursery showed scary levels of low blood sugar.  A mother’s milk turned into formula quickly and I had to take a step away.  They thought they could get her balanced out but the next days knowledge knew she had to be moved to the nicu.   A five day stay there felt like some of the longest hours I’ve ever known.  We entered into a part of doctoring we didn’t plan to.  We met people we never expected to know.   I wept out deep from my gut a mother’s heart and fear took hold for the little life I had just birthed hours before.  Needy prayers grew and helped fears lay still…
You don’t want to let go.

EmmaDaddy2

photoAnd only by God’s grace, we didn’t have to.  Some of the smartest brains join together with ivs and feeding tubes and we hold our breath and hold her while she’s connected to life.

I’ve thought of this before friends.  I’ve thought of death as a critical part to life and wondered how I would go on worshiping when the lives I care for threaten to leave.  There truly is no way of knowing.
But God…

I could say, “we thank our lucky stars” and so many other things… But I know right now all I can thank is the God I say I serve.  I can’t call this a “Job Story”.  But it is now ingrained as part of my own Biblical history, that I’ll carry with me.  I can only hope I have the surrender and submission that Job got to experience after hearing directly from the maker of all things…

Friends, I know there are so many of you out there who’ve experienced loss at a level unimaginable to me.  All I want to say is, let’s do our best to prod each other along towards faith at every chance we get.  May we not miss a beat of anything He’s offering.  Life is worth living… Welcome home baby girl.
DSC_0880Thanks for sharing your time with me friends.  I hope you have a great day out there in this big old world!

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Tomorrow’s Fresh!

by Amy Posted on April 25, 2013

FHL_TomorrowMistakes_Anne“Tomorrow’s fresh with no mistakes in it.”  What a great way to think…

A few words lined up on a page from one of the most passionate fictional character’s I’ve ever come across, can come to life for us right here and now, and be very helpful!
(Hint… Sometimes, we have to Life Coach ourselves!)  :)
For me, it’s as if this thought jumps off the page from my head to my heart.
And that’s where I need it most to be life changing.
We could choose to minimize it as “just” fiction, but fiction is always written by someone who’s lived a reality somewhere.

This can roll around our heads like a song and encourage change in our very real lives… It’s from a story but the truth is it comes from the most real story ever told… The Bible.  There’s a beautiful truth here, but we’ll only get the change we want if we embrace it!

Can you imagine how effective we would be if we lived this way?  Believing and living each day as fresh, full, and new!  And isn’t this just how God sees us 24/7…

 Forget about what’s happened: don’t keep going over old history.
Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new.
It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it? There is is!
I’m making a road through the desert, rivers in the badlands.
Isaiah 43: 18,19

If you’re anything like me, you’ve already failed in something this week.  But when failing isn’t the focus, we are free to dwell on something greater.  When we don’t get it right we get to refocus on the One who already has.

So, we can ponder, pray, and choose to act well today.  Because today has already been covered by grace with no mistakes…

Do you have a favorite line or positive quote to share?  Drop me a note in the comment section here and the whole Full Her Life Community will benefit!

 

 

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Choosing Thanks and Getting Gifts

by Amy Posted on April 5, 2013
There’s nothing better than setting your alarm to the Spring birds songs.  Or, taking a walk in fresh air, and opening “The Good Book” with orange juice and pen in hand.  There’s nothing better than… well, many things.
DSC_0740
Once God helps us start looking!  In life, there’s something interesting about bowing low but looking out.  We will never find everything we need by only looking in.
There are natural gifts given that don’t need our hand in it, and some we’re invited to create moment by moment.
What will you do with the life that’s given, friend?  Today, is all we have for now and it’s enough if we breathe in deep, thoughts of thankful breaths.

When God encourages, “Give thanks”, He says it knowing it helps.  He knows us and how we tick.  We get the opportunity today to re-define the bad, the sad, and the pain-filled moments…The good, the happy, and lighthearted moments by giving them all up as one, because we trust the One who gives them.  He gets to hold them and mesh them together.  God shows us how to call them all gifts.

Life is always right at our fingertips… Learning to live life to the full is what Jesus died to give.  So, when you wake up today begin training your mind to say, “Thank You”.  Write your gifts down, say them out loud, share them with your community.

This is just the beginning.  God’s Life doesn’t run out.  MAKE it a great day friends!

 Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
~1 Thessalonians 5:16-18  NLT~

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Joy And Waiting For Spring!

by Amy Posted on March 20, 2013

Spring is here but it looks a little different from what you’d expect.  Not by our choice but by, “that’s life”… instead of green it’s keeping the white for a time.

FHL_JoyGrowsYou never know what you’re going to get so why not choose joy anywhere, anytime, anyplace?

It was only last week in the lovely northeast, I had to weave around melting puddles and brown mud layers thick deep.  Exiting a long country driveway for a morning walk can be tricky and creative in times like these.  But, it was worth it to get out and get moving!

Now, as Spring arrives, Winter decides to give us a grand finale by letting out about 10 inches of snow just to keep us on our toes… and in warmer shoes.

Thankfully, our attitudes don’t have to follow wherever the weather goes.  We don’t have to be that unpredictable.  Because joy isn’t born when “good” things happen, but of how you think of all the things that do happen.  Joy grows from how you thank.  And somehow by God’s sweet grace, joy can build a new mind and mold a new person over time.  Someone sweeter than before.  So, why not choose joy as we linger here between two seasons?  Why not, embrace feeling a little stuck in the middle?  This to shall pass, friend.  Why not enJOY the life that’s given…

The flowers are waiting for us beyond the mud.  And there’s still beauty in white snow falling from heaven, even in late March.  We can choose joy right where we’re at.  Today, all we can say is, “Welcome Spring”, whatever you look like!  May God be glorified, Amen…

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Miracle Days

by Amy Posted on March 12, 2013

“It’s not that unusual, when everything is beautiful”…
 And Ms. Sarah sings it so lovely too.  It makes me want to prepare it for a special for my church family, and turn it up loudly for the children here who follow me.  I have the sudden urge to raise my hands as high as they can and smile, and I think I will.  Maybe I’ll touch more of Him if I try to?  Won’t you join me friends, in an ordinary day filled with gratitude…

The sky, the stars, sunshine and sunsets, birds, trees, flowers, mountains, lakes, the changing of seasons, and the uniqueness of humans… It’s hard to call these gifts “ordinary”.  They’re nothing less than extraordinary, once we start noticing.

It’s just another ordinary miraculous kind of day.  Everything is new in some kind of way.  If we want to see a miracle… then maybe, all we have to do is look around us now.

It’s about not waiting around any longer for more life to come by but adding the living to life right now.  Living today to the full.  What if we’re barely scratching the surface?  It makes me wonder if God can’t reveal too much at once because we wouldn’t know what to do with ourselves…
I think God has more for us, friends… To embrace ordinary things that happen every day like, a refreshing walk, a good book, your favorite meal, my baby boy’s smile.  The list is endless once we start it… So make the decision to never stop.  What a beautiful way to live.

Feel free to stay and press “play” to hear Sarah Mclachlan & see a few of my pictures!

“You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence
and the pleasures of living with you forever”.
~Psalm 16:11 NLT~

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We’re Moving On!

by Amy Posted on March 7, 2013

FHL_Isaiah43MSG(1)Because of Jesus, we get to move on with our lives.  We get to receive the joy of letting go what’s been done to us, and the things we’ve done wrong in our past.  We get to inhale that spiritual breeze that blows by and release it towards others.  What a breath of fresh air that is!

Today friends, this is about moving forward with the One who knows how to love us best.  Sit with me for a moment and be silent.  Let go of your past and pick up what He’s capable of now.  Every experience is a part of us but doesn’t have to define us.  That’s God’s job.  He’s ready to move us on.  I’m learning, I’d rather move forward into the unknown than stay stuck circling the same mountain over and over.

It’s almost Spring!  It’s time to touch down on new soil!  Are you ready to move on…

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Rainbow Moments

by Amy Posted on February 25, 2013

FHL_RainbowDP(1)The other morning I asked my oldest to jump in and help unload the clean dishes.  You never know what you’re gonna’ get when you ask for help, do you.  I wasn’t shocked when she answered she didn’t want to and while I appreciate her honesty, I asked her again anyway.

Who really wants to begin a day in a negative way?

I walked away and within a few minutes time something in her changed.  I could hear her humming when she called me in to see her work.  She hadn’t just put the dishes away, she had made a display!  With our assorted colors combined she found almost all the colors of the rainbow and stacked them up high.

She may not have noticed  but I saw truth in it.  God was here for a visit.  One of His promises was at rest in my kitchen.  When we choose to do right, we’re blessed in return.
There’s power in small moments.

How do we take the mundane and make it beautiful?  Sometimes, we luck out and just fall into the flow but other times we have to make conscious choices to change our own attitude and look on the bright side of things.  We have to search for our rainbow.

How often in every day life do we have the chance to turn something around but we’re too blinded by our own attitude?  We’re so closed we can’t even see the promise standing in front of us.  As we grow older than 8 years old this becomes a skill.  We have to see it to practice the artistry of creating beauty in each moment.  Small moments can make up big living!  What a difference it would make if all our small moments were good moments… It was something that my little girl and me got to experience together that day.

We don’t have to wait any longer if we embrace the promise God has already given.  How will you find your rainbow today, friend?

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A Season Of Returning

by Amy Posted on February 14, 2013

Lent.  It’s a small word that means big things.  I didn’t know much about the act of it until recently.  In fact, I don’t think I had ever heard of it until last year… besides the occasional Catholic Christian I would pass by wearing black ash on their forehead.
I never knew those ashes meant something was beginning…

DSC_0506And this season begins in returning.  Confession, surrender, and a heightened awareness of ourselves as Jesus works in our midst.  While some of us may fast something we’ve discovered distracts us from this holistic return to Him, some of us may choose to slow and reflect.  What God truly wants is us.

Love.  It’s a small word that means big things.  And I’m feeling it’s highly complementary that Valentine’s Day steps in the day after Lent begins.  I appreciate that.

I’m reading through this little book named “Holey, Wholly, Holy”, available here.  And this friends is how I desire to be.  And my prayer for you right now is that on this Valentine’s Day you return to Him in some way that you’ve never been near Him before.
God is love and this year, on this day, I’m thankful for Lent.

 You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one.  You do not want a burnt offering.
  The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit.
You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.  Psalm 51:16-17  NLT

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Scented Grace

by Amy Posted on February 4, 2013

Our woodstove is backfiring on us coming through where it’s not supposed to.  For days its seemed to have grown a mind of its own.  It’s rebelling and coming through, dripping down all black, and causing an awful smell that travels down to the floor.  My husband scrubs it away.  Just when we think it’s better it comes through again.  Something inside isn’t working and we can’t figure out the right solution… yet.

DSC_0456But for the grace of God to reveal things from the inside out.

Sometimes life doesn’t go as planned.  We think we’re fine and something comes pouring out when we least expect it.  Creosote is a dark, black, death of a stench not any different from what pours out of us people at times.

And I wonder how little we can do on our own.

I slide something into the oven like meatloaf, squash, potatoes, a full course meal that will help cover up the smell for an hour or two.  But, inside that chimney there’s still work to be done that I can’t do on my own.  It’s something in a dark side or corner that I haven’t dealt with yet.  And sometimes we don’t know how big our pain is until it starts seeping out to the surface.  Are we willing?

Everything means something.  And can point us in one way or the other.  We can’t just scrub it away once or cover it up and expect healing and new life!  We can’t ignore it for long and keep just the rest of our house clean and tidy because this scent affects everything.  We have to get down and do the work until the work is complete.

DSC_0371Peace stays when willingness is invited in.  And we learn our happiness isn’t determined by outside circumstances or even things occurring within our own home.  Our hearts are becoming stronger and more stable inside the deep places where real peace can’t be moved, only because we’re willing.  God does the real work.

And life begins to take on a new scent.  Life is here for the living, friends!

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Life

by Amy Posted on January 22, 2013

Since when did we think it was okay to look away?

And how on earth do we begin to say, “we’re sorry” to the 1.3 million babies that had no birthday this year in our country?

BabyGirl

The truth is, having a choice for this is simply choosing death.  At some point the truth will hit each of us.  It’s not only our body but someone else’s.

How do you say, “Happy 40th Birthday” to a people who believe in a law created for death?

I watched the president address the tragedy of Sandy Hook School and thought to myself… What about the children whose lives we thought it was okay to end?  It’s only a matter of time until God Himself  comes down to turn our leader’s head…

So, “happy birthday” Roe-Wade but there’s still hope for change.  I will hug my children today, I will covet the health of the 24 week old life growing within me… and I will say, with God all is possible. LIFE was His idea, maybe we should be more careful with it.

I will cherish life and choose to live this day to the best of my ability.

And maybe someday, America, the so called “super power” will bow down to a power that’s greater.  Maybe, my children will lead the world in repentance and redemption?

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