The Quiet Place

This labor day weekend I would like to introduce something new to the blog called "Teachable Moments". From now on each week (give or take a few days ;) ) you will find a post from me discussing what God is teaching me. Simple enough, right? So this last Friday of August I would like to share with you what God has been doing in my heart. One of the things God has been teaching me is trust. I am constantly learning to place my reliance on God. This is a difficult thing for me to do. Not because God isn't trustworthy, but because I like to be self-reliant. I'll be honest, I feel much better when I am in control of things. Therefore, I am working on relinquishing my self-reliance and giving my trust to God.  Proverbs 3:5-6 Place your trust in the Eternal;  rely on Him   completely;      never depend upon your own ideas and inventions. Give Him the credit for everything you accomplish,      and He will  smooth out and ...

 Philippians 2:14-16  "Do everything without grumbling or arguing,  so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation." Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain." This month as we have talked about self worth, we have talked about what self worth is, that we are precious in his sight, bought with a price, and how we are worth more than many sparrows to God. Today as I read the verse above in my devotional and I was reminded that when I hold firmly to God's word that is when he shines in me.   When we hold firmly to the truth in God's word instead of the lies that the world feeds us about our self worth, that is when we shine. The second part of Phil. 2:14-16 says it best, "Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the wo...

We have teamed up with one of our sponsors  The Girl Who Loved To Write , to bring you a back to school giveaway. I know your bummed that summer is ending, but here's something to brighten your day!  Be sure to enter it, cause there are some great things being given away, we are giving away a $25.00 Gap gift card, so be sure to enter to win! $25 Etsy Gift Card Grey and white chevron maxi skirt from Chevron & Lace Large ad space from Mer in America $25 gift card to Gap $10 Starbucks card  a Rafflecopter giveaway

Today were linking up once again with Kiki who is one of our monthly contributors( be sure to check her out on our about page, if you haven't already) And the awesome women of God over at  In it's Time . She is definitely one of those blogging friends that I hope to meet someday, i just love her!  And when we first started this blog, she was a big help when we needed to know how to do something.   So, as summer comes to an end, here are the goals I accomplished.  Go to the beach - - - This was one of my goals this summer and my family and I did make it to the beach this summer, which wasn't hard since we live near Lake Michigan.    Save money for Grad school -- Well this didn't really happen, I am looking at different schools and hoping to find one that I can maybe start at in January. so we will see.    Have a all girls weekend --I did see some of my friends this summer at a wedding in PA for my dear friend Becky. I also got to...

I certainly can't let the month of August pass without mentioning this passage for our self worth theme. So read on my friend... Luke 12:1-12 (VOICE) The crowds at this time were packed in so tightly that thousands of people were stepping on each other. Jesus spoke to His disciples,  knowing that the crowds could overhear . Jesus:  Guard yourselves from the yeast that puffs up the Pharisees—hypocrisy,  false appearance, trying to look better than you really are. Nothing is covered up that won’t be discovered; nothing is hidden that won’t be exposed.  Whatever a person says in the dark will be published in the light of day, and whatever a person whispers in private rooms will be broadcast from the housetops. Listen, My friends, if people are trying to kill you, why be afraid? After you’re dead, what more can they do?  Here’s whose opinion you should be concerned about: the One who can take your life and then throw you into hell! He’s the only One y...

 1 Peter 1:18-19   "For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And the ransom he paid was not mere gold or silver. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God." In the last few weeks we have talked about resting in his price, seeing yourself as God sees you, how much we are worth it to God, and how we are God's handiwork. I got the verse above in my email the other day and ever since it has been on  my heart and mind. The first part says, "For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors." That's right, we were bought with a price, just as the title of this post says. Jesus paid the ultimate price when he died on the cross just for us, cause sisters he knew you were worth it! What really get's me is that he never once questioned weather or not he was going to go through with it, he easily could have just said w...

Founders Note: Today on the blog we have Katy, a dear friend from our recent college days. I asked her if she would do a guest post for The Quiet Place because she is THE most passionate Jesus Lover I know. Today she is sharing her heart on this month's theme self worth. So grab a comfy seat and prepare to soak up some passionate sister love.  I am a woman of extremes. Not only do I enjoy living life in extreme spontaneity, intense fellowship, and fiery passion for what I do, but I have sometimes been haunted by extremes. I have experienced both sides of the pendulum of emotion….sadness, despair, and on the other end, euphoria, bliss. I have experienced breakthrough from God, and also experienced those desolate places, as I am sure many people who have walked with God for more than a minute can relate to a sista. I have been told I can be extremely silly, and some people are surprised when they are acquainted with my depth hidden inside, while others are surprised I can b...

Founders Note: Today on the blog we have Ashley from  Grace to Grow . She sent us her post via email  and once we read it, we emailed her back and told her we definitely wanted to use it! Today she is sharing her heart on this months theme self worth, be sure to connect with her at the links below!  I sin. I fall down and get stained by the mud and dirt of this fallen world. I mess up. The more I fall, the easier it is to just stay down. The more I fall, the worse I feel. What’s the point of trying to get back up when I’m constantly failing? It’s inevitable. I’ll fall again. For a lot of my life, the “falling down” was the focus of my Christian walk. Any time I messed up, I’d be overcome with guilt. I couldn’t pray. I couldn’t let God see me like this. He’d be so disappointed in me. It was better to just stay away. There’s one problem with this kind of thinking. It’s a lie. A lie straight from hell. Because as children of God through the blood o...

Founders Note: Today on the blog, we have Charity our newest monthly contributor and one of our sponsors here on the Quiet Place. Today she is sharing her heart on this months theme self worth. Be sure to check out her blog  The Word of a Nerd .  One phrase we do not hear often is self worth, but we talk about self esteem from childhood. Parents will try and build your self esteem by encouraging you and reminding you of what you are good at. My mom helped to encourage my self esteem by telling me how great of a reader, dancer, actor, etc I was. Your parent's probably said the same to you at some point too.  _________ you are so good at _________, keep it up!  Your Name                              talent/uniqueness While it's wonderful to know that we have good things about us it is more important that we know our self worth. In self worth we understand that without talents, ski...

"For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" --Ephesians 2:10 These past couple weeks we have talked about what self worth is, how we should find our identity in Christ, and how we are precious in  his sight despite the lies that we tell ourselves. Today I want to talk about how God see's us, simply because it's been on my heart lately, and it fits right in with this months theme of self worth, it's funny how God works, isn't it? I love it! The World tells us that we aren't worth the pursuit, or we should do things that disregard our morals to fit in, or that we aren't worth it at all. Stop, cause those are all lies. My dear sisters, we have a God who says we are loved and chosen by him and that is all we need. Taped to my closet door I have this list of  who God says I am, that I got from a friend, it says: I am crucified and the life I now live is not mine but Christ...

Where do you find your comfort? your security? your peace of mind? I think if we were all honest, we would say that sometimes we find our peace of mind in things. Things like locks on the car doors, our homes, and our safes. Peace of mind on our alarm systems, emergency funds, insurance plans, and stashes of money hid in our underwear drawers. Are these things bad? no. Are they helpful? they can be. But what happens when our emergency funds run out, and our locks fail us? what then? Do you still have the same peace of mind you had before? I came to this peace of mind realization on Thursday night after getting back into my car at the movie theater. As I was searching through my purse for my GPS, I soon realized that I had left it in the car. The thing was... it wasn't there. I am usually so careful to always put it in my purse and make sure my windows are up and my car doors are locked. However, Thursday night I had friends with me and though I locked my doors, I didn't sti...

I was just reading this lovely blog post written by Holley Gerth and I think it is perfect for this month's theme of self worth. You can read the whole post here...  When It's Hard to Be You . There are a few quotes I want to note from her post.   " Yes, sometimes it’s hard to be you. But it’s always harder to try to be someone else."  Have you ever tried to be someone else? I know I sure have had my moments when I wanted to portray myself as somebody different from who I really am. Often it was to impress new friends or mask insecurities. But the truth is, no one can change their innate personality, eventually it seeps through the cracks. But you know what, I think that is a good thing. Because...  " You’re made in the image of God and your purpose is to mirror a part of who he is in a way only you can.  When you try to be like someone else, you end up reflecting them instead of God." ...God made us to mirror a part of who he is. No two of us a...

Founders Note: Today on the blog, we have our monthly contributor Kiki, from In It's Time . She is sharing her heart on this months theme Self worth!  My family has been doing some major cleaning around here. And by cleaning, I mean spring cleaning during the hot and sunny days of summer. We've been tossing out old perler bead creations, recycling old magazines that we saved for random projects, and discovering old craft projects that we never did finish. All of that cleaning oddly enough put me in reminiscing-mode. A mode where I found myself thinking back on childhood, teenage, and even more recent memories. And somewhere, somehow, I unfortunately began thinking remembering old middle and high school ID cards. You know, those business card sized laminated cards with your school's mascot and your ever-so-lovely school photo? Yeah. Don't ask why, but I still have all seven of mine (6th-12th grade). And while I have no desire to relive those years, it got me to t...

You know, the song by Relient K called Getting into you, well I was listening to that the other day and as I heard  the words-"I'm getting into you, because you got to me, in a way words can't describe", I instantly thought of this months theme.  Since listening to that song, those words have been stuck in my head and have  reminded me that God loves us in a way that we can't describe. When it comes to our self worth, I think that sometimes we compare ourselves to others, or feel like we aren't good enough, or feel defeated because of the circumstances going on in our lives. But sisters, those things are all lies that Satan is feeding us, cause we know God loves us in a way we can't describe. Proverbs 3:15 says, "She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her." This verse is a good reminder that God loves us as much as a precious ruby, and  he let's us know that we are worth it, despite the lies that we tell our...

When I thought of this months theme self worth, I thought of Isaiah 43:4, "Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give men in exchange for you, and people in exchange for your life". This verse captures just how much God says we are worth it to him every time, despite what we are going through. To the world our self worth should come from things or people, but God tells us multiple times throughout scripture to find our self worth in him and that no matter what our mercies are new each day. Lamentations 3:22-23 tells us just that,   "Because of the Lord's Great love we are not consumed, for his compassion's never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness"   Right here God is telling us that because of his love we are renewed in him each day and that no matter what his love for us never goes away. You may be saying to yourself, how can he just wipe the  brokenness  of  your past or yesterday away, a...