The Quiet Place

Today has been a crazy day. But tonight as I sit in my quiet home in front of my pretty Christmas tree, I am feeling very thankful. I am so thankful for God's grace and love for me. I am thankful that he meets me right where I am. I am thankful he looks at me as his beloved daughter, imperfect but beautiful. I'm very grateful that in the chaos God is my peace and focus. I'm thankful that he is teaching me more of who he is every day. I am thankful of his great love for me and each one of us. I'm grateful that he loves everyone more than I love them. I am thankful he is deeply compassionate and abounding in love. I am grateful he gives me everything I need exactly when I need it. His provision is perfect and he does not fail me. I feel so blessed that God has done so much in my life that I could not remember it all to write down.  God is our Hope. God is enormous Blessing. God is true.  God is faithful. God is compassionate. God is full of mercy. God is ...

Though the blog has been quite, this past year has been a season of growth for me. God has met me in ways I never would have imagined. I continue to learn how his love abounds for me and yet I still can't grasp the depth of it. Even when my life circumstances are unsteady God is sovereign; he provides exactly what I need when I need it. He is transforming my heart to be even more compassionate, empathetic, forgiving, and merciful. I don't know yet what he has in store for me but I know it is something quite large and unimaginable. It's terrifying yet exciting to think of what the future might hold; I have found that I continually need to remind myself of God's great love as I shudder at his mightiness. Even though the Lord has revealed to me that he has great plans for my life, I tend to get lost in worries when I see that circumstances and resources don't seem to be adding up in a way that would promote success. I struggle with a very real fear of suffering and di...

In  December of 2013 I found myself attending an all night prayer meeting to support a friend. I thought I was just going to go, support my friend and see the guy I liked at the time. It turns out God had MUCH bigger plans for my heart that night. We arrived the all night prayer meeting around 11pm and entered a very beautifully filled sanctuary. I had the opportunity to pray for others and witness the healing power of Jesus. Little did I know that a few hours into that meeting the Lord would move my heart to full surrender. You see sisters I had been struggling for years with sin and bondage. I was so stuck I didn't even know it was possible not to be stuck. But that night I lifted my shortcomings to the Lord and asked him for freedom and forgiveness. The Lord was faithful to that prayer and set me free. For the first time I experienced the depth of Gods love and grace. He healed me from the mess I was in and made my life and heart more fruitful. It is a moment I will never forget...

"But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed." 2 Corinthians 4:7-9  Photo Credit Hillary Read 2 Corinthians 4:1-18   Even in the midst of the darkest circumstances God is good.  That is exactly what this passage tells us. And I love how that last part brings the point home... "Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.   For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.   So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." I have learned that even in my darkest places God's hope is there shining through, providin...

Founders Note: Today on the blog we have our Monthly Contributor Victoria. Victoria is sharing her heart on this month's theme Hope. You can learn more about Victoria and her blog on the about page. In February here at The Quiet Place, we talked about faithfulness. When I hear the word “faithfulness”, I always begin thinking about God. He is faithful to the glory of His name, to His will, to His people, and to remaining true to who He is. Last week, I finished reading the Old Testament and one thing stood out to me. I might have been looking for it, but I really don’t think that I was. In those pages, I saw God declaring the truth about Himself. Over and over again as we follow His people through the days leading up to the coming of their long awaited Messiah, we see His faithfulness on display. My words here are nothing compared to what you will see if you commit yourself to reading His Word! Grab a chronological plan and read for an hour every day. (I read about a “week...

image via unsplash This, is a passage I love.  " Therefore we do not lose heart.  Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly  we are being renewed  day by day.     For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. "  2 Corinthians 4:16-17  This single passage has the power to change my perspective on life completely around. It reminds me that I am not alone in my hardships or struggle to live as Christ calls me. It reminds me that I was not made for this broken world and thus my reward and eternal peace will come in eternity. In that which I hope.  Christ offers us a Crazy love. And lately God has been loving me like crazy. Even in the midst of tough circumstances, God is showing up just to say "I love you", "I'm here", "You are not alone in this", "I know it hurts, but trust me. This is for your good". These words are a great comfort to m...

I don't know if you've ever had a broken heart, but let me tell you from experience that it feels like the whole world is falling apart. Everything you had dreamed and hoped for seemed to finally be at your fingertips, and then boom, it's gone.  I've found that Heartbreak is a lot like grief. You have to morn the loss of what you thought was going to be and that is a rough process.  It can be really hard to do life with a broken heart. Yet, amongst the mess, heartbreak, tears, emotions, and long days, God does not leave us by ourselves. In fact, God says in Psalm 147:3 that " He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds".  Psalm 34:18 also tells us that " The  Lord  is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." And lastly God shows his love for the brokenhearted in  Isaiah 61:1 where it says, " The Spirit of the Sovereign  Lord  is on me, because the  Lord  ...

Happy March Friends!!! I am very excited about the month of March, pretty much every year. I think it has a lot to do with the sights, sounds, and warmer temperatures of Spring - oh and maybe my Birthday too ;)  Anyways, the theme for this beautiful month of March 2015 is Hope. :D I am especially looking forward to this month's theme and can't wait to talk about hope with you all. I hope you'll join us!

Founders Note: Today on the blog we have are monthly contributor Victoria, she is sharing her heart on this month's theme Ruth. You can learn more about Victoria and her blog on the about page.  “The life of the godly is not a straight line to glory, but they do get there.” John Piper Four falls ago, just before my 20 th birthday, I had the opportunity to move to Plymouth, MA to complete my student teaching requirements. I was young and I had no idea what I was in for. It wasn’t always easy, but those months were nothing short of amazing. About a week after I arrived, I had a stirring in my soul for the book of Ruth. After reading it several times, I got on to Desiring God LINK: http://www.desiringgod.org/ and typed “Ruth” into the search bar. My search returned a four part sermon series that would change my life. I spent the month of September listening to those sermons and allowing them to guide my study. I began to see that sometimes circumstances an...

Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.  Matthew 4:4 If you’re looking to dig deeper, you can find the original context of this verse here   Deuteronomy 8 The other night I watched an online church sermon that spoke to my heart in so many ways. Today Matthew 4:4 came to mind and I have to say that I have really been feeling that hunger for Jesus lately. I've been so hungry to understand him more, to seek what he wants from me.  This is one of the passages that was shared in that Sermon... Do you not know? Have you not heard? The  Lord  is the everlasting God,     the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary,     and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary     and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and wea...

Happy August! This month's theme is... I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26  This is one of the first verses that I came across when I started out to write this post. At first I wasn't sure how I would relate it to this month's theme, but after some thought, I've realized that this verse is perfect for August. If you've been keeping up with the blog, you have probably heard me mention about a thousand times this year that life has been a bit hard for me. A lot of that has to do with what God has been doing in my heart. During my time at Grad school, God brought me out into the wilderness where I was alone. And as you can imagine, being alone is a really difficult thing. Some say that loneliness is the worst feeling in the world to live with. But what I realize now is that God brought me to that broken place so that he could ...

Founders Note: Today on the blog we have are Monthly Contributor Beka. She is sharing her heart on this month's theme, Joy. You can find out more about Beka on the "About" page.  I don't know about you, but I definitely struggle with keeping my emotions in check and my thoughts focused on Christ. I'm pregnant, and my hormones have been all over the place! Although that is no excuse, it does make the battle a little harder to fight when I'm already prone to fall in this area. Emotions are a tricky thing when it comes to us as women. It is so easy to be controlled by them and to lean toward thinking thoughts of loneliness, misery, and depression when there are actually so many reasons to be joyful!  But what do you do when you really can't find reasons to be joyful ? When everything seems to be falling apart in your life? Sometimes our circumstances are less than ideal. When a friend passes away, when the bank account is empty, when ...

Founders Note: Today on the blog we have our monthly contributor Meg, she is sharing her heart on this month's theme Joy. You can find out more about Meg on are About page.  (photo credit  @rendcollective-Twitter) Have you guys heard the song “Joy” by Rend Collective? It’s one of those songs that you can’t help but fall into worship, full of complete happiness and praise, feeling your whole self dancing with joy. Take a minute and have a listen: Did   you feel yourself dancing a little?   Don’t lie. For real though. Those lyrics! They’re amazing right? “We’re choosing celebration, we’re choosing freedom.” Because sometimes, in the depths of despair and hard times, all we CAN do is CHOOSE to remember that there will eventually be joy again and that God is there to comfort us. In THAT we can rejoice. How about “we’re dancing to the rhythm of your heart.” Have you ever thought abo...

Founders Note: Today on the blog we have Melanie from Running to the Father sharing what is on her heart. You can find out more about Melanie in her bio at the end of the post.  Photocredit: Watchdog.org Return to your fortress, you prisoners of hope...( Zechariah 9:12) This past week has been hard. Far too many reasons to count. The lies have been stronger than the truth. Scripture has danced before vacant eyes and bounced off my hurting heart. My hands have been open and longing. My soul desperate and tired. Prayers have been sighs and moans. I could go on and on about frustrations. We've had a new social worker for almost each month we've had Little Bitty-- 4 workers in 5 months. Confusion, chaos, dropped balls. We've gone to court 3 times-- arranging for my gracious mom to come from out of town to keep the kids. Each time we've returned home with no trial. Court has been rescheduled 4 times. I hate family court. My fractured past colliding wit...

The heart of man plans his way,  but  the  Lord  establishes his steps.  Proverbs 16:9 ESV I am currently on the job hunt and attempting to figure out what God's plan is for my future (who isn't trying to do that?). Anyways, the past few weeks have taught me to trust what I know. Most of you probably don't know that that is something I struggle with. Sitting at home has allowed me plenty of time to think over what I'm doing, how I'm going about the job hunt, and what I want for the future. This past week I just had to ask God what he wanted me to do, I didn't feel like I knew what I was doing or what I really wanted. I don't feel that I've received an answer for that prayer yet, however, I did realize something in the time I spent talking to God. I realized that I DO know what I am doing, I DO know what jobs (for the most part) are best for me, and where (location wise) I want to be. For some reason I needed to spill my guts about all of this to Go...

Hello Friends! I am excited to share this post with you on are theme this month, rest. When I thought of the theme for this month, John Chapter 15 came to mind. This passage has been coming up a lot in my life lately. My plate has been full these last few months and this passage has brought me so much encouragement. I hope that you find the same encouragement here today as I share about rest with you. So read on my friend... The Vine and the Branches 15  “I am  the true vine,  and my Father is the gardener.   2  He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit,  while every branch that does bear fruit  he prunes  so that it will be even more fruitful.   3  You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.   4  Remain in me, as I also remain in you.  No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 5  “I am the vine; you are the ...