To you, the woman who feels like there is no hope. To you, the woman who feels like things could never get any worse than they are right now. To you, the woman who feels like her life is spinning out of control.

I see you.

I {Melissa} see you dangling from the side of the cliff. Red rock crumbling between your fingers as you frantically grasp, hoping you will catch even just a piece of a branch or some other lifeline that will pull you to solid ground.

I see you.

I don’t know how you got here.

Maybe a marriage that has spun into places you never imagined.

Maybe a loss more disappointing than you ever dreamed.

Maybe a medical diagnosis that you couldn’t have prepared for.

Maybe a child or a friend or someone else close to you who has drifted too far away.

Whatever brought you here, know that I see you. I see the tears rolling down your cheeks as you grasp and grasp some more. I see the pain in your heart as you try to make sense of the hurt. I see the fear in your eyes as you wonder what’s next.

I see you, because I am right there with you.

Do you see me? On the other side of the canyon? Look...there I am... grasping for those same lifelines that you are. Feeling weaker and more defeated with each attempt. Clinging to any ounce of comfort I can get my fingers on as I keep trying to press through this difficult season.

And, like you, I’m dangling. The lifelines aren’t coming. My footing remains unsteady. I don’t know what to do next.

But, my dear friend, I want to let you in on a little something that I am learning.

As long as we keep grasping for things in this world to be our lifeline, we will always feel hopeless. As long as we believe that we alone have the strength to pull ourselves out of whatever mess we are experiencing, we will always be dangling on a dangerous edge. As long as we let our pain and our worry and our fear dictate our decisions, we will never experience true peace.

So what are we to do?

When life overwhelms us?

When the struggles press in on our chests making it so hard to take even one more breath?

When our spirits are so weak that we can hardly muster up the strength to carry on?

The answer is simple.

It’s time to let go.

It’s time to let go of the earthly lifelines that we are clinging to, grasping for … because they won’t last. Because they won’t support us and the weight of our pain. Because they will never bring us the authentic peace and joy that we so desperately crave.

It’s time to let go and trust that the only lifeline that we will ever need will catch us. Because He will.

He’s waiting. At the bottom. Ready to lift us up. Ready to help us regain our footing. Ready to help us see the beauty in the brokenness. Ready to restore us. If only we will let Him.

It seems counter-intuitive, doesn’t it? To climb out, we need to let go – to fall, even. But Jesus has shown us time and time again through His promises that He is ever faithful, ever present and the only true solution to our hopelessness.

In Him, our weakness is made strong.

In Him, our cowardice is made courageous.

In Him, our fear becomes brave.

In Him, our disappointment becomes comfort.

Today, I am clinging to those promises and listening to His urging to release my grasp on what I think are the answers – the things of this world – and to begin the fall into His strong, open and ever loving arms. Because it is there and only there that we will find hope and joy and peace and love and the promise of a future more awesome than we could even imagine. The one that our Lord God has laid out for us …

Dear Beautiful One, 

Do you know your value? What do you anchor your significance to? Does it exist in the lies you tell yourself? In the rumors people say behind your back? Is it confined to what you think you should be? Is it bound in comparing yourself to others? Do you place your value in flawed relationships and counterfeit friendships? 

The Holy Spirit is committed to getting a message delivered to you. For the past 10 days, this verse:
“Do not allow this world to mold you in its own image. Instead, be transformed from the inside out by renewing your mind. As a result, you will be able to discern what God wills and whatever God finds good, pleasing, and complete.” - Romans 12:2 (The Voice)
has shown up EVERYWHERE—I {Alison} have found it in countless Facebook and Instagram posts, and referenced in three different books I am reading—each time I come across it, He delivers a new meaning, a new understanding. At first, I was reluctant to share my story. I was ashamed to look back at my past and realize the truth, but as I delved deeper a sense of peace replaced feelings of anxiety. I know now my story is crucial to not only healing my own broken view of my w orth, but to help other women, like yourself, who are struggling with their own self-worth. So, with hope and love, I share my journey of self-worth with you.

In the middle of a verbally abusive relationship, I didn't think I was worth too much. I was completely deflated, empty and depressed. My life had no meaning, no substance. I was desperately chasing purpose and meaning in my life, but looking for it in all of the wrong places.The enormity and desperation of my lost soul was so incredibly real. I was lost in the partying and self-medicating, surrounded in relationships based on false identities, and grievously unable, and unwilling, to take responsibility for myself. In the end, when I would go home alone, late at night, when it was finally quiet, the flood of heartache poured out.

In the morning, I would stare at myself in the mirror and not recognize the girl staring back— a desolate, sallow girl; 40 lbs overweight with bloodshot eyes.— She desperately needs some sleep, I would think, she used to be happy. One day I woke up and realized, thats me, thats what I have become. “Who am I?” I said aloud. I didn't have an answer.

Gone was the innocent, bright eyed, bubbly girl and in return I was incredibly self-conscious, dependent and spiritless. My entire worth was placed in the wrong hands: in a man who broke my heart and squandered my significance, in friends who didn't care for my well-being, in a job I absolutely hated. My whole significance was only surface-deep. 

This isn't the end of my story though, in fact, it is just beginning…

“You were made for more then you’ve settled for. You know you're life does not reflect to who you really are deep down inside.” -Craig Groeschel

It’s been 9 months since the Holy Spirit led me to the cross. I am the example of a life filled with mercy and grace. I am a testimony of the love of Jesus Christ. Because of his mercy I have been reborn. “The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (2 Cor. 5:17 NIV). I don't have to worry about my future, because He is making me who I was born to be. It is through Him that I have found myself.  When I decided to stop running was when I found peace. I finally understood that I didn't have to keep living the life I was chained to.  

I know this post is meant for someone. I cannot stress it enough that you are worth it.  You are so incredibly worth it to God. “God paid a high price for you, so don't be enslaved by the world.” (1 Cor. 7:23 NLT). Permitting your worth to depend on the World will cause only heartache and pain. Defining yourself by what the world deems as acceptable is a dark and lonely path. “The thief approaches with malicious intent, looking to steal, slaughter, and destroy; I came to give life with joy and abundance.” (John 10:10 The Voice).  

Jesus came and sacrificed his life for you. “You belong to God, and Jesus paid for you with his life. The cross proves your value. Nobody has ever paid a greater ransom price than God paid for you! You're acceptable, and you're valuable.” —Rick Warren The amount of love he has for you is endless and unconditional. “Think about this:  while we were wasting our lives in sin, God revealed His powerful love to us in a tangible display—the Anointed One died for us.” (Romans 5:8 The Voice) While we were still sinners He loved us regardless.  You have always been worth it. You don't have to accomplish or do anything in order to accept the love and blessings of Jesus Christ.

So, beautiful one, I urge you to seek Him, to know Him, to begin a relationship with the Lord. He will do amazing things in your life if you will let Him. He will move through your life restoring your heart. That hole in your life you so desperately tried to fill with the world will be healed. Through Him you will no longer be the broken and lost girl. Through Him you will rise up. He is greater than your past mistakes and heartache, He will overcome your fear, regrets, and sorrow. Jesus will redeem you. In Him you will shine.

Who You are in Christ  [ for when you forget ]

1. Loved - “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God. who loved me and gave himself for me. “ - Galatians 2:20
2. Redeemed - “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” - Colossians 1:13-14
3. Accepted - “To the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.”  - Ephesians 1:6
4. Found - Once you were like sheep who wandered away. But now you have turned to your Shepherd, the Guardian of your souls.” - 1 Peter 2:25
5. Chosen - “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” - 1 Peter 2:9
6. God’s Workmanship - “Yet you, LORD, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.” - Isaiah 64:8

“Don’t dish it out if you can’t take it!” Have you ever heard that or some variation of this sentiment before, or better yet has anyone ever said that to you? I (Mia) don't really have a problem with "taking it", but please don’t fact check this with my husband. In my defense, I only use the pouty lip as a tool of self-expression and creativity, not weakness.

I’ve learned over the years through life experiences (and the music industry) to grow a pretty thick skin and not take critique and opinions too personally. As a friend once said to me “let it roll, like water off the back of a duck.” So when things come at me, I repeat the words “water off the back of a duck, water off the back of the duck” and then I tend to waddle on.

What I do have a more difficult time with is this “You can take it, but you can’t dish it out!” This reversal of the old saying in my life is referring to GRACE.

I can take all the grace people are willing to give, but when it comes to extending that grace to others when they repeatedly irritate me, repeatedly say the rudest things and continually get under my skin, finding the grace in those situations tends to come a bit more slowly. Those are the times when I need to dig a little deeper and dish out what has so generously been served to me.

Do I do this perfectly every time? No, but ironically that’s when I need His grace even more in order to extend it. It’s a never- ending cycle. Dish it up and serve it out.

Are you anything like me? Do you struggle to show grace to the people that need it most. Not the ones where it comes easily, but to the ones that challenge you, push your buttons, take more than they give….you know, the ones that downright get on your LAST nerve?

The reality is that there are times when I am THAT person. There are times when YOU are that person too. In those times, I am glad that people chose to show me grace so that I could learn to show grace to others.

May I challenge you today, to serve grace. Set it out on a beautiful platter and enjoy the feast. Your preparation of this main course may just teach someone else how to cook, how to dish it out and how to take it in.

Orders Up!
Love you in the Lord, Mia