A special post written by a special friend!

I am really excited to share a special post that was written by a wonderful friend of mine. Denise was one of my very first military spouse friends and we actually lived right next door!
This was our first military base housing experience and Denise was the best part of it. She would have me over and make breakfast and we’d enjoy yummy coffee together while chatting about everything.

Moving away from her was really hard but thankfully we have remained in contact through social media and phone calls! While she was a source of knowledge with how to navigate this military world, she was also a great encouragement to my faith in God and I think you’ll find some encouragement from her too.

Today she is sharing about forgiveness and I love what she wrote, please leave a note for her in the comment section!

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Forgiveness

That one single word has so much power behind hit.

But wait before you write this off as just another blog post about being nice and playing well with others (not that we shouldn’t), I’m going to flip the script on you. Let’s talk about forgiving ourselves.

Yes I said it, forgive yourself.

Dear daughter of the most high, your heavenly Father loves you. He also knows that you are in fact human. That you will mess up, sometimes so badly that you don’t feel there is a way out.
But you can hold on to his word.

Deuteronomy 31:8
“It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”

So you see even in your darkest hour He is there.

The question I pose to you is this, “Why is it so hard for us to look in the mirror and say ‘I forgive you’?”

Often we find ourselves apologizing for the simplest acts without even a passing thought of what our words mean. Is this directed at me? Oh wait. . . .So easily we forgive those who continue to hurt us day after day.
But as wives, mothers, daughters we are our worst critics.

We find ourselves screaming that we are not good enough, telling ourselves that we could have done it better. We look at what the world tells us is right and compare ourselves to the images we see on TV and magazines.

Nowhere in Proverbs 31 does it say we have to be 5’9 a size 4 and look like Angelina Jolie. If we all did, what would make her so special? Haven’t read Proverbs 31?! Well honey, get on it because it’s some good reads.

So maybe my one night, one day, week, month, or decade of regret doesn’t look like Sue’s down the street. But that is my battle, my testimony, that was my struggle and God saw me through.

Now is the time to stand up and go look into the mirror and tell that beautiful woman standing there that she is forgiven, and she has a testimony to share with others. You forgive her.
I promise you that if you’ve laid it at God’s feet and asked him to forgive you he has.

1 John 1:9
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness”.

It’s already been cast in the sea of forgiveness never to be thought of again.

So now what? You stand strong knowing that the creator of this universe has your back. Who wouldn’t want a best friend who created butterflies? You can lean on the Lord, because some days it just won’t make sense. But trust that He’s got you in the palm of His hand. I’m not saying that you’re not going to struggle, that there won’t be life shattering, earth changing things that you will face, but He’s got you.

Let’s work on that inner beauty. Let’s start spreading some salt around and shining in His glory. Let people see Christ in you. Let them wonder why you shine, and when they ask, proclaim Jesus is my magic pill!

So go have a conversation in the mirror, and then put some miles on those knees talking to the one who loves you the most.

Galatians 5:22-23
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”