The Captivating Woman

Designed with purpose.

Advent – Day 24

I can call God many things. He is my friend. He is my comforter. He is the source of my joy when life tests my faith and patience. He is my protector. He is also my redeemer. I can’t say that I’ve always understood the full meaning behind the title of redeemer, but now that I’ve been enlightened, I must share my excitement!

To redeem means to compensate for the faults or bad aspects of something. When I read this definition I get mixed emotions. On one hand it is a reminder that we are filled with so many things that are not of God. Simply put, we are sinners.

On the flip side, the amazing thing is that we will forever be connected to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ because His love covers our “faults and bad aspects.” I can’t help but feel loved with a dash of hope and peace because I know what it feels like to feel completely unworthy of God’s love. As such, I am thankful for many things this holiday season, but most of all, I am thankful for the gift of redemption.

Micah 5:2-5

“But you, Bethlehem Ephratha,
though you are small among the clans of Judah,
out of you will come for me
one who will be ruler over Israel,
whose origins are from of old,
from ancient times.”

Therefore Israel will be abandoned
until the time when she who is in labor bears a son,
and the rest of his brothers return to join the Israelites.

He will stand and shepherd his flock
in the strength of the Lord,
in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they will live securely, for then his greatness
will reach to the ends of the earth.

And he will be our peace their peace.

Here it is, a precious baby filled with the presence of the Holy Spirit, would become our Savior and our redeemer. If that’s not worth celebrating, I don’t know what is.

Christmas Day will be here before we know it and we will wake up with a sense of excitement, even as adults. For those of us who are fortunate enough, gifts will be exchanged and our bellies will be full. Let us not forget to sincerely celebrate with our hearts that because of God’s love and magnificent power, we have not been forsaken. Let us not replace the significance of the day with our new pretty and shiny things. May we not forget to celebrate the prince of peace, love, and hope.

Throughout my walk with God I forgot to hold on to God’s gift of freedom. I can’t help but think that on Christmas morning many of us will put on fake smiles and go through the day masking what keeps us up at night. There is someone out there feeling like they are a lost cause. They are tired, their spirit is broken, and they struggle to pick themselves up from the floor. If this is you, I want to remind you that God’s love is greater than all of our sins combined. Better days are ahead and God has not forgotten about you.

Our inability to meet the mark of righteousness will never disqualify us for the gift that Jesus Christ has given us. During this holiday season it is my prayer and hope that we would find complete peace in knowing that Jesus is our biggest cheerleader in life. He has a plan for all of us and through Him all things are possible. Know that you are deeply loved. You are enough. You are beautiful. You have been redeemed.

Credit: Photo by Sarah Simon // Instagram: @themintgardener

Advent – Day 13

God is beautiful in every single way.

I’ve heard this all my life and I can remember being a small child singing in the children’s choir about how awesome God is. The God I sang about then may be the same God I worship now, but today I have a greater understanding of just how beautiful and magnificent He is.

He is perfect and yet in all His power, He is kind, gracious, and loving towards us. When I think of the goodness of who God is, it only makes me fall for Him a little bit more. While I may be in a season where I desperately long for more of Him, I know that my heart has not always been after God. See, the Lord our God knows every single thing about us, but yet, we are protected and favored. Despite our daily sins and inability to meet the mark of perfection, He doesn’t leave us. He stays near us. He lives within us.

Even when we are lost, it is only by His grace that we are able to find ourselves again.

It is only throughout Him that we can reach our full potential. Only His power is strong enough to turn a mistake into a testimony, a broken past to a ministry, and imperfection into a perfect mirror of redemption. He is just good, no question about it.

As we near the time of the year when we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, let us remember all that God has done. It is the perfect opportunity to sit and reflect on where we would be without Him. We ought to acknowledge and thank Him for every single display of His love and mercy we have experienced. While we may exchange gifts, let us not get so caught up in material things, but rather ensure that we truly celebrate the true gift of the season, the gift of salvation that Jesus gave us.

I believe that as our faith grows, God wants our perspective on who He is to evolve as well. It is my hope that as women of God, our relationship with our Savior would not become stagnant but always going to new heights. While distractions won’t ever be far away, let our desire to know Him overshadow our tendency to run from Him.

That little girl who sang in the choir didn’t yet grasp the wonders of God and I know with all my heart that I have yet to truly experience all of who God is. And so with each day, with each time we sit in His presence, and with each opportunity He reveals something new to us, let’s soak it all in. Let us learn to trust that He will always be our helper and redeemer.

It is is my hope that we wouldn’t forget how good He is when life tells us to believe otherwise. May we always hold on to the fact that God is good and perfect in all His ways for He is the King of Glory Himself.

Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates
Words by: Georg Weissel

Lift up your heads, ye mighty gates!
Behold, the King of Glory waits;
The King of kings is drawing near,
The Savior of the world is here.
Life and salvation He doth bring,
Wherefore rejoice and gladly sing:
We praise Thee, Father, now,
Creator, wise art Thou!

A Helper just He comes to thee,
His chariot is humility,1
His kingly crown is holiness,
His scepter, pity in distress,
The end of all our woe He brings;
Wherefore the earth is glad and sings:
We praise Thee, Savior, now,
Mighty in deed art Thou!

O blest the land, the city blest,
Where Christ the Ruler is confessed!
O happy hearts and happy homes
To whom this King in triumph comes!
The cloudless Sun of joy He is,
Who bringeth pure delight and bliss.
We praise Thee, Spirit, now,
Our Comforter art Thou!2

Fling wide the portals of your heart;
Make it a temple set apart
From earthly use for Heaven’s employ,
Adorned with prayer and love and joy.
So shall your Sovereign enter in
And new and nobler life begin.
To Thee, O God, be praise
For word and deed and grace!

Redeemer, come! I open wide
My heart to Thee; here, Lord, abide!
Let me Thy inner presence feel,
Thy grace and love in me reveal;
Thy Holy Spirit guide us on
Until our glorious goal is won!
Eternal praise and fame
We offer to Thy name!

Credit: Photo by Sarah Simon // Instagram: @themintgardener

Advent – Day 7

When I close my eyes and imagine that day when we will all meet Jesus Christ I feel pure joy and excitement.

Just imagine that one day our God will descend from Heaven and we will behold all of His beauty and power with our very own eyes. We don’t know when that day will come, but in the meantime we have the unique ability to be filled with His goodness, His love, His mercy, and His power.

So until that day comes, we ought to live with expectancy. We ought to use our time wisely and make sure that we seek every opportunity to prepare for that glorious day. Life has a way of swallowing us whole with no mercy at times. We get busy, priorities shift, and sometimes we find ourselves lost in responsibility and the demands of work, family, etc. The tragedy comes when life becomes so overwhelming that we miss the opportunities to experience the fullness of God.

I like to think that when we give God the opportunity to speak to us, it equips us for life. It gives us the confidence and reassurance that we indeed can get through anything because God promised He would never leave us nor forsake us.

Those daily reminders of who God is are critical because it renews our faith and perspective on life. So even when life gets busy and we have no clue how we are going to find our way, we must take things one day at a time, and maybe even hour by hour.

To be prepared in life is to be equipped with God’s word. To be prepared for that day when we meet our Lord and Savior is to make a conscious effort to live according to His word. To be prepared means we live in anticipation of His return while yet depending on Him to be our very best till that day.

I like to think that when mistakes are made, it is a beautiful reminder that without God we are nothing. Only He is perfect and it brings me extreme peace in knowing that we serve a God who cannot and will not fail us, but we must do our part. That is worth celebrating.

I believe with all my heart that when we prepare ourselves by praying, spending quiet time studying, and making a true genuine effort to honor God in our day to day decisions and actions that it brings a smile to His face.

I hope that on that day when I see God for myself that He would be pleased with me. When I meet Jesus I want Him to be proud of me. I want Him to look at me as His child and feel pride in knowing that I made every effort to live a life that gloried Him. So my responsibility it so be mindful of how I live, how I respond to others, to be forgiving, etc. Faith and discipline requires discipline but even in that we honor God.

Are we properly equipping ourselves to experience the work of God in our lives? Are we really prepared for the day God returns? Are we intentionally making God a priority in our lives or are we giving Him a little bit of our time here and there?

These are hard questions but ones we should be mindful of in our walk with God. Let us seek to please God daily. Let us remember that when we fall short, God’s love remains. Let us be mindful that even when life is not perfect, God is.  When we equip ourselves to be our best through Christ, we are indeed making God happy.

Wake, Awake, For Night is Flying
Words by: Phillip Nicolai

Wake, awake, for night is flying,
The watchmen on the heights are crying;
Awake, Jerusalem, at last!
Midnight hears the welcome voices,
And at the thrilling cry rejoices:
Come forth, ye virgins, night is past!
The Bridegroom comes, awake,
Your lamps with gladness take;
Hallelujah!
And for His marriage-feast prepare,
For ye must go to meet Him there.

Zion hears the watchmen singing,
And all her heart with joy is springing,
She wakes, she rises from her gloom;
For her Lord comes down all-glorious,
The strong in grace, in truth victorious,
Her Star is risen, her Light is come!
Ah come, Thou blessed Lord,
O Jesus, Son of God,
Hallelujah!
We follow till the halls we see
Where Thou hast bid us sup with Thee!

Now let all the heavens adore Thee,
And men and angels sing before Thee,
With harp and cymbal’s clearest tone;
Of one pearl each shining portal,
Where we are with the choir immortal
Of angels round Thy dazzling throne;
Nor eye hath seen, nor ear
Hath yet attain’d to hear
What there is ours,
But we rejoice, and sing to Thee
Our hymn of joy eternally.

Credit: Photo by Elizabeth Berry // Instagram: @ellie.m.berry

Let’s Talk about Friendship

Think back to when life was simple as a child and you had no responsibilities. You had all the time in the world to sit with your friends and laugh until your stomach hurt. Now fast forward to adulthood. Life is busy. Stress is never far away. Responsibilities are growing at a rate you sometimes can’t keep up with. What happened to those friends you were once thick as thieves with? Are they still around? Are those relationships still going strong? Have those friendships managed to last over the years? Well, not every person I once called my best friend is still around in my thirties. I’ve learned that as life changes, there is the potential for friendships to change as well, whether we anticipate it or not.

I have a small number of friends who have been in my life since grade school.

Our lives have gone in different directions and thrived at different speeds. We have individually endured our own challenges and setbacks in life. We have laughed together, cried together, and supported each other though tough times.

And while we may not all speak to one another on a daily basis, we are forever connected by the love we have for one another. That sounds like hearts and flowers, doesn’t it? The truth is, some bonds will grow stronger with time, while some will lose it’s intensity for one reason or another. Yes, I still have my faithful few in my corner, but it takes work. It takes an undeniable effort to be there for one another when life becomes more complex with time. More than anything it requires an unconditional love that Christ defines for us in scripture. Sometimes we are successful in this pursuit of being a good friend, while sometimes we aren’t.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
– 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

The love God requires of us doesn’t come with stipulations or clauses. It just is. But I have to admit, to love the way God commands us to is not easy. We as women are emotional beings who are opinionated and driven. We are busy. We are complicated. We are imperfect. Our flesh can be overpowering at times and let’s not start on the power of an ego.

Must we be patient, kind, encouraging, humble, and forgiving? Yes. Indeed that is what a true friendship is built on. This isn’t the kind of love the world encourages. It’s the kind of love that takes strength, patience, and understanding. Some relationships will require more of us than others, but ultimately, to be a good friend we must strive to love God’s way. The scripture reference above would have us to know that if we insert our name in the place of “love” and “it”, much work would be required.

I must admit that there is a season for everything and sometimes letting go of a friendship is very necessary for our own personal growth. How we come to that conclusion should not be influenced by heightened emotions, but rather the Spirit of God. If we find ourselves in a toxic relationship, we should take the time to seek God for guidance and also take a good look in the mirror at our own actions and motives.

The strongest relationships in my life are those built on transparency, honesty, and unconditional love. Like all things that God requires of us, being a good friend calls for us to be intentional and to love as Christ does.

While all friendships don’t work the same or require the same efforts, I’ve come to understand that friendships require sacrifice, intentional gestures of love and support, and an overwhelming amount of empathy. It requires the giving and receiving of grace and an aptitude for letting things go. It calls for us to be the friend we want others to be towards us.

Spirit of Worry

We are excited to share our first guest blogger on the site – Krystle Barrington. We want our site to be a platform for writers to use their gift. If you are a writer and would like to develop your gift, please click here for more information.

We all have things we struggle with, and for me, worrying is at the top of the list. I’m not sure exactly when I developed this habit but adulthood has been overwhelmed by anxiety, insomnia, and worry. Countless nights of tossing and turning have been an ongoing struggle for years. I’ve seen doctors and have taken medication, but the process of learning to give all my cares and worries to God, has been the hardest yet most effective cure for my problem.

I’m definitely not a doctor, but merely a woman who is learning to surrender all things to God, and in that I’ve found extreme peace. I’m still going through the process but with each day it becomes a little easier. The more time I spend with God, the more I understand that it isn’t my job to worry about the outcome of anything taking place in my life. I am learning to embrace that all things work together for God’s glory (Romans 8:28).

My God is an awesome God and the word reassures me that through Christ, there is always victory on the other side of uncertainty.  

This idea that we should cast our problems on God is no easy task for the average Christian. For someone who naturally worries about things, it becomes an even bigger challenge. If you’ve struggled with anxiety, then you understand the heightened difficulty in putting complete trust in God. It is a learned practice that requires faith, discipline, and prayer.

One of the many lessons I’ve learned while trying to tackle the spirit of worry is that the more you pray, the less you worry, because worrying and praying cannot coexist. And once we are done praying, it doesn’t make sense to have prayed about something only to then worry some more. Rather, praying and exercising our faith is a means to trusting that no matter what we are facing, we are not alone.

So what does this mean for those who struggle with worrying? It means that we can surely replace worry with peace and hope. It means that we can overcome those stressors that cause us to be anxious. It means that things can and will get better.

I think there is a natural tendency to only pray for those major things happening in our lives, but we indeed can pray about anything, no matter how small or big. We have to get to a point where we don’t make a fuss about trivial things. Even when we don’t understand where our lives are going, God does, and that should be enough. We have to get to a point where we learn to depend on the Holy Spirit, especially in those moments when our palms get sweaty, our hearts begin to race, and we feel the most defeated.

God is so much bigger than any problem we will ever face. He is our strength and refuge, always an ever-present help (Psalm 46:1). No matter what you are facing, give it to God. Start believing today that whatever you are facing has an intended purpose. Don’t allow life’s struggles to keep you from being present in this beautiful thing called life. When you begin to feel anxious, I encourage you to pray for peace at that very moment.

Worry and fear steals our joy. It literally can keep us from being present wherever we are in life because we are so focused on the worst-case scenario. Worrying will make us complicate a situation that is far less complicated. We were not created to live walking on eggshells. You were created to live a joyful life, one where we give our problems to Jesus. We can find peace in knowing that God is always with us, and just a prayer away.

Remember, He said that He would never leave us nor forsake us. I am learning daily that things out of my control are really in God’s hands. I am learning that day-to-day frustrations are not merely tests but an opportunity for God to reveal himself in new ways. God is with you and He will never leave you. Know that there is hope and peace when we seek Him in all things.