Our Only True Satisfaction

We frequently mention the devotional New Morning Mercies by Paul Tripp because it is seriously that good. For every day of the year there is a page full of wisdom, inspiration, and Truth penned by Tripp and completely tied to Scripture.On May 24th, Tripp talks about our heart's search for satisfaction here on earth. We can so easily look to things and people here on earth to satisfy our heart's longing for love, happiness, and complete satisfaction. The thing is, though, that our Father did design our hearts to search for satisfaction and to be satisfied, but not by or in earthly things."All those things that we think will bring us contentment and joy will fail to deliver. What we need in life is Him, and by grace, He is with us, in us, and for us." - Paul TrippOur hearts, so tender and loving, can only be satisfied by the Creator himself. Every time our hearts long for that satisfying, complete, real love, it is longing for closeness to God, it is reaching up toward him, and it is a need for the love that only comes from Him alone."Your sense of well-being is intended to come from a reliance on his wisdom, power, and love." -Paul TrippIt is by grace that we find peace. It is by grace that the searching ends. It is by grace that our hearts find rest. It is by grace that we feel at home with Him. Without Him in the center of our lives and as the focus of our lives, we would be on a constant search for true peace and satisfaction that we would never find."By grace, we have been given everything we could ever need, in Him." -Paul TrippLong story short, without Him, we would be so hopelessly lost...searching, reaching, struggling, striving, and stressing. Instead, we have hope, peace, rest, love, and grace. Thank you, Jesus!

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Embracing the Temporary

A consistent conversation with my friends recently has been encompassed with wondering when the next desire of our heart will happen (meeting a man to marry, being able to move to an area we love, having a baby, etc) and sitting in the moment of what feels like unanswered prayers, tempting us to feel temporarily hopeless and impatient. So many of these desires are out of our control, yet we try so hard to control them + when our attempt is failing, we feel defeated. It's a vicious cycle!I have realized that these conversations have not only been happening with friends, but they have been subconsciously swirling in my thoughts. We all tend to be on this mission to make life just the way we want it. This seems like a bit of an intense and selfish statement, but if we are honest, it tends to be the case, right? To explain further, we may be so pleased with the majority of our life, but there always seems to be something we want to change; something that can be "bigger and better." To get vulnerable for a minute, here are some personal examples: I absolutely love our life in California, but I wish my family was here; I am grateful for our house and neighborhood, but there is another living location that is grasping my attention; I am so thankful for our dry shampoo company, Stranded, as well as my blog, but sometimes I feel like they could both me more groundbreaking and "successful."As I sit on these thoughts, I am reminded that striving for more and being driven are not bad things, as long as they are managed properly and do not overtake our gratefulness in the present moments as well as in our current victories. On the other hand, our attempts to make things better often blind us from the beauty of what is happening now. Not to mention, the word contentment is vividly flashing in my mind. Contentment is defined as satisfaction; ease of mind. If you are honest with yourself, do you have ease of mind? Do you feel satisfied? If the answer is no, why do you think that is? Our culture has trained us into getting things when we want them, and social media tempts us to compare and feel like we are not good enough. We often see the successes of others without the work and the struggle that made them happen; we see beautiful relationships without the arguments and intentionality it took to develop them; we see pretty pictures without the hustle and reality behind them. The visuals that fill our minds every day are real life minus a lot of reality, yet even when we know this, what we are seeing can still so easily lead to discontentment.But what if we changed our perspective? My two dear friends and I were talking yesterday about starting the practice of gratefulness. We want to wake up every morning and write down or state ten things we are currently thankful for. This helps us to dream in a healthy way about the future while being settled in today. Not to mention, some dreams are way tougher than we may realize or imagine. If we think about it, there is so much hope in embracing the temporary! I believe resetting our minds in this way takes practice + requires us to have grace on ourselves. Training ourselves also gives us hope during painful seasons because it is a reminder that they will soon pass and healing will come!I have come to realize again and again that striving for me is almost always not the best. God knows what is best for us and when it is best for us. This simple thought is so difficult to accept sometimes. The reason something isn't happening right now does not mean He is not answering prayers. He is always working even when we are unable to see it + we might translate not getting what we want into an unanswered prayer when it is far from the case! My prayer is to always live open-handed, being aware of the beauty of the present (even during painful seasons), and having trust that Jesus guides us and leads us in His perfect timing.This post is in collaboration with The Refined Collective Series. Be sure and check out the other ladies in this wonderful group--- The Refined Woman, Brynn Watkins, Sarah Shreves.

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Our Strength & Our Refuge

And let the King of my heartBe the wind inside my sailsThe anchor in the wavesOh oh, He is my songLet the King of my heartBe the fire inside my veinsThe echo of my daysOh oh, He is my song

-King Of My Heart by Bethel Music

Oh worship music- it has the power to awaken our hearts and sharpen our minds. There is nothing I like more than turning it on in the morning while spending time in the Word, turning it up in my car while driving, or listening to it soothingly in the evening as I am winding down.This song in particular has my heart singing praise to Jesus. As Bethel Music sings and the Word declares, Jesus is the King of our hearts, our reason and inspiration for everything, our stronghold during hard times, our passion, our strength, our refuge, our fortress, our light, and our savior! The wind inside our sails...he gets us moving in the right direction and keeps us moving along His path.

But I will sing of your strength and will joyfully proclaim your faithful love in the morning For you have been a stronghold for me, a refuge in my day of trouble. To you, my strength, I sing praises because God is my stronghold- my faithful God. Psalm 59:16-17 (CSB)

By singing songs like King Of My Heart and believing every single lyric, we are proclaiming our faith in Jesus, the One who loves us, protects us, strengthens us, and holds us everyday of our lives. He is a good, good father!

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Inspiration To Be Strong and Courageous

Whether it is something big or something small, we all need inspiration to be strong and courageous quite often. It could be learning something new at work, taking a professional risk that you believe you have been called to take, making a personal decision that you have been praying about for months, going into a social situation that might give you anxiety, or so on and so on.The list is truly endless of situations that come up in our lives that require strength and courage, in both little amounts and big amounts, so thank goodness that the Lord is with us through it all. Literally through it all! Not only is he with us, but he is before us, behind us, beside us, for us, and in us. He has already stood where we are standing and knows exactly what will happen before we even get there."Haven't I commanded you: be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go" -Joshua 1:9 (CSB) This is our inspiration as believers- the promise that He is with us. He has commanded us (out of love for us) to live life courageously and with strength, for He is with us every second and every step of the way, so there is no reason to fear or lose hope. Keep pressing on and keeping fighting the good fight every day...He is with you!

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A Beautiful Hardcover Version Of The Bible

We have mentioned it before on the blog, a beautiful hardcover version of the Bible that we absolutely love spending time in. Of course every version of the Word is a beautiful gift, but this version is especially dear to us. Friends, meet She Reads Truth.Many of you have probably heard of She Reads Truth- an online Christian community inspiring women who love Jesus to spend time in the Word and live out their lives in Truth while inspiring and encouraging others in their faith journeys. Their website, Facebook page, Instagram account, and app are all inspiring places inviting His daughters to spend connecting with other believers while strengthening their faith.Their hardcover Bible is not only aesthetically gorgeous on the exterior, it is complete with the Christian Standard version of the Word with additional historical information and timelines, devotions, space for notes, and more. We look forward every day to spending time in our She Reads Truth Bibles, expectant to what we will read and grateful for the time spent with Him.Thank you, SRT, for developing such an incredible version of the Bible- it is such a blessing to all! Click the image below to check it out. xx[show_shopthepost_widget id="3152070"]

Worship Song On Repeat

There is something so powerful, beautiful, and truth-filled about worship music that makes listening to it a real spiritual experience and we thank God for that! We have talked about our love for worship music on the blog before by sharing our Spotify playlist + including lyrics to songs in our faith posts. Today we want to discuss one of our favorite worship artists as of late: Will Reagan of United Pursuit. His latest album, Tell All My Friends, is currently on repeat, but there is one song by him in particular that has been causing me to pause and really meditate over the lyrics and that is a track titled "Nothing I Hold To".  Turn it on ASAP and read our thoughts below!

"I lean not on my understanding,my life is in the hands of the Maker of heaven"

Proverbs 3:5-6 immediately comes to my mind when I hear those lyrics. No matter how many times I hear this truth and read this promise, I am just forever blown away by how awesome it is that we have the Maker of everything- heaven and earth- in constant care of and control of our lives, enabling us to be free from having to rely on our own limited understanding. Thank you, Jesus!

"I give it all to you God, trusting that you'll make something beautiful out of me"

Giving it all and then trusting. Trust, trust, trust! As Isaiah 64:8 reminds us, we are the clay and He is the potter. We are His work and He is forever working on us and refining us to be the beautiful masterpieces that he designed us to be. It is by surrendering our lives to Him through trust that we reap the fruits of His promises to us.

"I will climb this mountain with my hands wide open"

What a beautiful picture this is. May we all take each day as an opportunity to climb the mountains, go through the valleys, and journey through life with hands wide open- available and ready for whatever He calls us into, guides us out of, and leads us through. Even though it sounds scary not to hold on to anything, that is actually the best way. Our hands can be open as we stay close to Him, since he enables us and strengthen us through any circumstance that we will ever go through.Are there any worship songs that are especially speaking to you right now? We would love to know in the comments below. And thank you, Will Reagan (and all other worship music artists) for writing such incredibly beautiful and true lyrics about the good Lord that speak right to the heart of His children!images by Felicia Lasala 

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Praising Our Great Provider

Do you sometimes just rest in awe of how awesome God's provision truly is? When we dwell on this, our hearts undoubtedly overflow with amazement, gratefulness, and humbleness, and before we know it, we are giving and living in a state of praise for our great, heavenly, perfect Provider.Even though our circumstances might not always look or seem like it, the Lord knows exactly what we need, when we need it, why, how much, and everything else- in every single aspect of our lives! How incredible is that? Praising Him for how wonderfully he cares for all of His children both requires and causes a thankful, open, appreciative, trusting, believing heart.Lately, I have been spending time in the Old Testament and seeing how God led Israel out of Egypt is truly mind-blowing. He made promises to them and fulfilled those promises, leading them out of slavery and into the Promise Land. In His time and His way, God made a way for His people because of His immense love for them. Even though they weren't aware of His plan, He carried it out, gently yet powerfully leading them out of bondage and into freedom with Him!The same is true for us. He loves us more than we could even begin to imagine and is providing for, caring for, planning for, preparing for, and making a way for us, leading us to His best at all times. Rejoicing in the simple yet heart-changing Truth that we are His children and He is our Father is a way of life and is no doubt the best life!What we need and what we want are vastly two different things. Being grateful for everything, trusting completely (especially during hard seasons), and following Him even when you aren't so sure is always, always, always the way. Just think- He knows us better than we know ourselves, so I would much prefer He provide for me than rely on my own "strength"!So don’t worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’  For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. (Matthew 6:31-33 Christian Standard Bible) "But seek first the kingdom of God...and all these things will be provided for you". We are to seek Him. That is all this verse requires of us. A heart that is seeking Him is one that is believing, praising, trusting, and prioritizing Him. God is so good and we are in His loving, protective, wise, perfect hands.I recently heard this song by Housefires and listening to it really puts my mind in such a sweet, peaceful place. A place of reassurance that He always satisfies us. Any want, desire, aching, longing, and dream...He is our answer and the way!

Come to the water, all who are thirsty Come and drink Come to the table, all who are hungry Come and feast Those who are weary, those who are needy Come receive!

-Come To The River, Housefires

Favorite Bible + devotional:

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Q&A With Lauren Curry: The Beauty Of Moving

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Hey friends! We are so excited with be chatting with our dear friend, Lauren Curry, today on LSK. Lauren manages our Pinterest page & you can read this post to get to know her a bit more. Read the Q&A below to hear about her move to LA and what the big life transition has shown her about the goodness and greatness of God. She shares extremely inspiring words about trusting the Lord to lead you in your life in His perfect time, how important it is to find a Church community that you love, and how Jesus comforts and provides in the sweetest ways. Regardless of if you are moving soon, have moved, or never moved, this is a must-read![/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width="1/2"][vc_column_text]

What inspired you to move to LA?

I had been visiting California 4-5x a year since my uncle and brother had both moved from California to Washington State around 4 years ago. Since they left, I had really been finding reasons to visit since they moved. When I was in college, I interned in California 3 summers in a row and literally every time I came to LA, I felt like my heart was exploding because I loved it so much. It sounds so dramatic, but it’s true! It was this past September when my dad had finally sat me down and said, “God told me that this isn’t your place anymore and that you need to move to LA. So I think you need to move as soon as you can, like in the next 2 weeks”. So literally, I think I moved 2 1/2 weeks after my dad had sat me down without any full time job or any idea what I was going to do in LA, but I knew that it was the right timing. 

What was the biggest challenge in moving to a new city and how did the Lord help you with the adjustment?

The biggest challenge for me was feeling lonely for the people that I had left in Washington. Whenever I would talk to my family who was celebrating a birthday party all together or see my friends back home on social media hanging out and having fun, I would, to be honest, ask myself why I did the hard thing. Through this, the Lord really has really surrounded me with such amazing people, but He has also been teaching me how to do things alone. When I got to LA, I realized a lot of what I had to learn was that sometimes there’s areas of your life and things you need to grow in and do alone so that God has space to lead you to new places.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width="1/2"][vc_column_text]

What are 3 of your favorite things about the city?

1. I LOVE the restaurants and coffee shops in LA. One of my favorite things in the world is finding new coffee shops and discovering new eats and LA literally has a never ending list of amazing places to go for food or coffee. Living here makes me wish I was a professional food critic. 2.  I really admire how the mindset in LA is to dream big. Everyone you meet here is here to really chase and pursue a dream. It's really inspiring to live in a city that doesn’t put rules on what you can accomplish- I think it’s helped me really to start thinking outside my comfort zone. 3. I really just love my Church. I’ve been going to Mosaic in Hollywood since I moved and it’s literally been a lifeline for me. I've met some of my closest friends from LA through Mosaic and it’s really just allowed me to grow more and make my faith my own. As a follower of Jesus, it’s so important to surround yourself with a Church community who can be alongside you when life feels hard.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]

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What has been the biggest gift about transitioning to LA?

God’s timing, 100%. Before I moved, I kept making excuses for why maybe I shouldn't. I was scared that I was going to relocate myself and then end up with no job or no community, or realize that maybe this isn’t the place that I was supposed to be. But literally the day I moved to LA, I could feel God’s favor on my life. Doors kept opening for me and God’s timing was so perfect in every detail. So much has happened for me in the past 6 months and it was all stuff that, before I moved, I was desperately trying to organize on my own rather than allowing God to bring it to me when I was ready for it.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width="1/2"][vc_column_text]

Biggest piece of advice you would give someone who is considering a relocation?

Have a tangible, genuine faith in where God can take you.When you know and believe that the Lord has called you to greater places, you must also understand that He will truly protect you and guide you to where you’re supposed to go, while giving you what you need along the way. It’s not always going to make sense and it’s not always going to be on your timeline, but He truly has the perfect place for you at the perfect time and when He calls you to that, take action with the thought that He WILL provide for you and give you exactly what you need, when you need it. Before I knew I was moving, I prayed for MONTHS that God would give me 3 things: My place, my purpose, and my people. Months later, I’m truly reaping the seeds of those prayers, so I would challenge anyone who is confused or scared to pray for those 3 things and I promise, you WILL see that prayer come to pass.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][/vc_column][/vc_row]

The Delight Of Discipleship

The act of discipleship truly is a beautiful, powerful, incredible thing. Sometimes easier said than done though, as discipleship can seem daunting and intimidating, but this is not how the Lord wants us to view discipleship! Instead, let's think of discipleship as it is: a true delight to spread His love and grace with those around us. It really is a lovely, delightful, Spirit-led journey that does not need to be intimidating at all!Matthew 5:14-16 reads: “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." (NIV)As the Bible says, we are to "let our light shine before others". This alone is a huge part of discipleship and lays the groundwork for inviting others to experience that light which comes from God and God alone. Our "light" is really not our light...it is His light shining through us as believers in Jesus.Living lives that glorify God and allow for His spirit to permeate in us and through us is the beginning of the beautiful, obedient act of discipleship. Just as a smile is contagious, so is a God-centered way of living. Letting His light shine through us on a daily basis with people can ultimately lead to wonderful conversations and serve as a gateway into bringing people to Him in His time. Of course discipleship takes time, patience, endurance and this is just the start, but it is such a necessary, important, and delightful start!We would love to hear your thoughts on discipleship in the comments section below. Also, if you don't follow them already on Instagram, IF:Gathering is an incredible group on a mission to inspire and equip women to share the gospel with other women in their lives so they can live life with Jesus.

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