by Lysa TerKeurst | Jul 28, 2020 | Life Advice, Sisterhood
I’ll never forget the first time a girl in elementary school told me I was ugly.
I remember it felt like the world stopped spinning and suddenly everyone was looking in my direction nodding in agreement. Red hot shame filled my cheeks. I ran to the bathroom. I stared at my face in the mirror. I didn’t bother to wipe away the tears. I just stood there wishing I could cover up whatever it was that made that girl determine I wasn’t acceptable.
Have you ever heard the phrase “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me”?
As much as I wanted to grab those words and declare them as my mantra, I realized it wasn’t just a part of me that I could hide that she thought was ugly.
It was the sum total of me.
Not just my hair or my nose or my body… it was all of me.
And the saddest part of all… as I stared at my reflection that day, I decided to agree with her hurtful words… and I let her, a girl who didn’t even really know me, define me.
I’m more than 40 years removed from that incident (hey now – don’t try and calculate my age) and yet sometimes I still look in the mirror and feel like that little girl struggling to not feel defined by the worst that’s been said about me. It’s not just moments from elementary school, there are moments in my adult life where I have struggled with feeling not enough.
Can you relate?
It’s so easy to remember others’ hurtful words to us instead of leaning into God’s healing words over us.
But friend, if I was sitting down to speak some mentoring wisdom into your world today, I would challenge you with some truth that has helped me tremendously.
Someone’s assumptions about you and facts about you are not one in the same.
You see, sometimes people get so jaded that it brings them some kind of weird satisfaction to point out what they assume to be flaws in you. They let stirred up feelings inside of them be mistaken for permission to attack and judge and reduce you down to their worst thoughts about you.
And usually, what they say isn’t even really about you. When people feel bad about themselves, they’ll often try to project their own insecurities on others.
But the truth is, if they haven’t sat with you when the whites of your eyes turn red and leak tears, they don’t know you.
If they can’t readily share something they love about you, they don’t know you.
If they haven’t ever admitted their own flaws and insecurities and uncertainties to you, they don’t know you.
And if they don’t know you, they can’t possibly see your true beauty. So, they can’t possibly speak as if their assumptions are facts.
If you’re hanging your head today because of something not nice or not true someone said about you, I want you to remember these words from your friend Lysa: prove them wrong.
Respond with gentle, kind words and your true beauty will shine in such a way that no one can deny it. 1 Peter 3:4 says, “Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.” This isn’t a girl who is silent. This is a girl whose soul isn’t screaming for the world’s approval because she already has God’s approval. Remember who you are and whose you are.
You are kind.
You are compassionate.
You are fun.
You are loved.
You are creative.
You are thoughtful.
You are prayerful.
You are more than enough.
You don’t have to fall into the trap of saying ugly things back. Prove them wrong with living in such a way that illuminates the beautiful reality of who you are and who Jesus is in you.
Proverbs 15:1 says “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” As disciples of Jesus, we are called to exercise emotional restraint by giving soft responses rather than harsh or painful ones. This enables us to turn back wrath instead of stirring it up, which only serves to cause further damage.
We can decide that cycles of hurt going ‘round and ‘round the world today can stop with us.
We can determine today that we will not scrutinize and brutalize others with our unknowing and incomplete understanding.
And we can declare that we will be beautiful women more willing to uncross our arms and get to know one another. That we will not be critics full of assumptions eager to point fingers. But instead, we will bring lots more love into every conversation people have with us, even from the very first hello.
You deserve to stop suffering because of what other people have done to you. Walk through a step-by-step process to free yourself from the hurt of your past and feel less offended today with Lysa’s new book, Forgiving What You Can’t Forget. Pre-order your copy at ForgivingWhatYouCantForget.com and instantly receive the first three chapters!
Lysa TerKeurst is president of Proverbs 31 Ministries and the #1 New York Times bestselling author of It’s Not Supposed to Be This Way and Uninvited. She writes from her gray farm table and lives with her family in North Carolina. Connect with her at www.LysaTerKeurst.com or on social media @LysaTerKeurst.
by Ryanne Gordon | Jul 23, 2020 | Life Advice, Sisterhood
Note from Team LO: We are so excited to be sharing part of our LO sister exclusive workshop, The Everyday Girl Guide, with you today! This portion from LO sister ambassador, Ryanne Gordon, is all about sharing God’s true heart for unity. Want to be a part of this entire workshop as we cover topics like relationships, unity, motherhood and more? Download Sadie’s app LO sister today and get your first month free! Click HERE and get started! Now enjoy today’s blog from Ryanne 🙂
The past few months have been such a blur emotionally, physically and spiritually. Honestly, I wasn’t sure how to even share about unity so I asked God what was on His heart regarding this topic and He started downloading…
The title of this post is His response to my question which is “But I Love them Too…”
Who would have thought this sentence would take me on a heart examining journey with Jesus! I have two passages to share with you that God placed on my heart, but first let me give you a microwave story about my upbringing!
From age 3-10 I lived in a single parent home. I had 2 older sisters and 1 younger brother. My dad remarried and I was blessed with a bonus mom and two older siblings (1g,1b). When I was 10 my mom remarried and I got blessed with a bonus dad and two younger siblings (1g,1b). What‘s unique about my family is that my bonus mom and her children are Mexican and my bonus dad’s children are half black half white. From the age of three God has been cultivating “unity” in my heart, but I know there’s always more to learn when it comes to God! His word is living and that’s why you can always receive greater revelation when you read it! Let’s dive in!
In John 8:1-11 TPT/AMP, you have Jesus teaching in the temple at Mt. Olive when all of a sudden He is interrupted by the Pharisees bringing a woman to Him. They accused her of adultery and test Jesus’ beliefs. Silent, Jesus draws in the sand and says “He who is without [any] sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” One by one they left until it was just Jesus and the woman. He tells the woman that He does not condemn her and to go on and not sin from now on.
Doesn’t this sound familiar today? People pointing the finger. Demanding justice on their terms. Some ready to throw stones (labels). Now for the second passage.
Luke 22:39-46 TPT/AMP, We find Jesus leaving with his boys and they go to Mt Olive. Jesus then instructed them to pray for strength to prepare them for a SEVERE test of their Faith. Then He himself goes off on his own to pray. Jesus begins conversing or praying to His Father. He says “ Father, if you are willing, take this cup of agony away from me. But no matter what, Your will MUST be mine.” As he’s praying, an angel appeared to him and he began praying harder. When finished, he returned to his disciples only to find them asleep. “Why are you sleeping?,” he asked them. “You need to be alert and pray for the strength to endure the great temptation.”
It says in Hebrews that the word acts as a double-edged sword and God wouldn’t address something without addressing all sides. Like I said, there is always more to God and deeper revelation. Reading these two passages, God not only exposed my own fleshly desires but validated the emotions I was experiencing. He also reminded me of His love for me and my kingdom assignment as His child.
What does living a life in unity look like practically & spiritually? It looks a lot like Jesus but in your daily life. No one told me my pursuit of unity meant first looking in the mirror. It meant changing my heart first in order to change the world around me. I’ll share with you some practical and spiritual steps that stood out to me in these two passages.
1: Being “H.O.T.” – Humble, Open, and Transparent
This is a acronym that my pastor uses and lives by (Hey ?? Pastor Michael Todd! ??) and is a part of my church’s culture code. In Luke, Jesus was H.O.T. before His Father. Humilty was shown when He expressed his heart’s pain and yet submitted to God’s will. He was open because He asked God “is there any other way?,” even though He knew the answer in His heart. Lastly, he was transparent and didn’t hold back his emotions as he prayed, but He knew God’s will had to be His.
It says he was in agony praying to God. The word “agony” means the struggle that comes before death. Jesus had to take a moment to die to himself in order to gain strength to choose to be in alignment with His Father. In our weakness God IS made strong! In order to be “H.O.T.” we must acknowledge how we feel without fear of looking weak, weird, stupid, etc. to choose God’s path.
2: Being GraceFULL/FILLED.
Let me first give the definition that I learned from a series from my church called “Grace Like A Flood”. Grace is the unmerited, undeserved, unearned kindness and favor of God. How do we practically become graceFULL/FILLED? Go to God. Ask for grace to walk in, thank Him for being filled with it and believe that it has been done.
As the Pharisees brought the “adulterous” woman to Jesus to seek justice, Jesus never addressed her as an “adulterer”. Though He had evidence every right to throw a label…He didn’t. It says in the word that God corrects those He loves and Jesus did the same. He convicted the accusers with one question and responded to the accuser with a redeemed mindset in which both rooted out of love and grace.
We must be slow to point fingers and label someone. Have you ever played “Never Have I Ever”? Well the Jesus did that with the accusers. God looks at all sin the same. For this woman it was adultery but for someone else in this story it could be gluttony. Both are a sin. Daily, we all fall short but because of Jesus, God sees us as redeemed. He calls us HIS. He Still gives us days filled with grace that we did not earn.
3: We need LOVE.
This is foundational in order to reach unity. Love is what kept Jesus from labeling the woman. Love is what addressed the accusers. Love is what lit a fire under the disciples when Jesus instructed them to pray.
Love looks out for everyone. Isn’t that what God did through His son? God sent His son not just out love but in pursuit to unite us with Him. Permanently. No matter if you are the accuser, the accused, the slumberous, or even Jesus, there’s something to take and grow from.
Reaching unity first starts within ourselves. I don’t find it a coincidence that both of these passages take place at the same location. In God’s presence and place of worship. By the power of God flowing through Jesus He was able to examine hearts and address all sides.
To the accuser in us, let’s not throw labels that cause division. Our emotions might be valid, but the only difference between you and the accused is that one physically acted and the other only thought it.
To the accused in us, God has redeemed you. God’s justice is YOU living in Him. Living In freedom. Living with your heart back in His hands. And accepting that God’s love is always in pursuit of You. No(thing) will ever change that.
To the slumbrous, wake up. Keep prayer going before you. Attaining unity takes alertness. Attaining unity takes strength to keep choosing not our side or the world’s side but God’s side. It takes discernment to identify what is causing discord.
To the Jesus in us, I know it’s unfair to have to fight something that you feel isn’t your problem, but as an ambassador of the kingdom/ holy priest of God’s presence, it is your given birthright and purpose to be an example of God’s word.
What is God’s plan for unity? I believe is having a redeemed mindset towards one another. Which takes going against the grain of the world and our own flesh. It takes selflessness and courage. It takes being uncomfortable and asking bold questions. But the awesome thing is that God never intended us to walk alone. We can’t learn to be unified without being practicing it. We have our brothers and sisters in Christ, through marriage, through adoption, through ethnicity, through culture or whatever the case may be. God blessed us with diversity to pursue unity.
I waited to mention “racism” until the end. Only because I wanted the sole focus to be about unity. I think we put too much emphasis on a problem and never give enough attention to the solution. Racism is a product of the spirit of division and fear. It is a mindset/stronghold that has kept people captive to where love cannot flow freely and/or without conditions. I hope you can apply what’s been shared and treat one another with the solution in mind. That’s knowing that “God Loves Them Too” and His son was sent on this earth for their heart too.
Ryanne Gordon is an Oklahoman Native who currently resides in Tulsa. There she designs homes for a new home builder. She also owns her own jewelry line called “RYANNEMARIE”. You can find her enjoying time laughing with her family and friends. Though she’s passionate about a lot of things her goal is to help people know/discover their worth and ultimately point people to Christ in whatever God has her doing in that season.
IG Handle: @Rib_of_man
Business IG Handle:@_ryannemarie
by Chrys Howard | Jun 16, 2020 | Life Advice, Sisterhood
I moved to the south at the end of my fourth grade year, a month away from turning ten. It was devastating for this shy, skinny as a bean pole girl who barely talked to anyone. I couldn’t imagine making friends again. It had been hard enough in a small town in Oklahoma.
The year was 1963. Our country was in a war of sorts—a war for and against a race of people being given rights and acceptance and equal opportunities. It was a war I didn’t understand. I was more concerned with how I was going to meet a friend. I didn’t care what color that friend might be. I was only nine, after all.
My mom did her best, as she pointed out the water fountain or the door we should use and the ones other race would use, to explain that she didn’t understand either. She just explained it to her five (at that time) children and followed it with an admonition to be kind to everyone. It seems it was a “is what it is” situation.
In 1969, integration happened in my school district. Other districts across the state had begun desegregation years before, but apparently my district was behind, so in my junior year of high school, it happened.
Black people and white people mixed. It really wasn’t the first time, it was just that the schools were required to be intentional and bus the other race in. white children would now go to a predominately black school and vice versus. It didn’t seem fair to make kids leave the schools they loved, but we were still young and didn’t understand it all. It many ways, it didn’t feel strange to me to be in school with children of other colors and I wondered why it bothered people to go to school or anywhere with people of color. There were kids of color in my schools before the mandate, but now there were more. In any case, I hadn’t been raised to think of others any differently for the color of their skin. I did realize that it was the beginning of breaking down walls and building bridges and connecting people.
It’s now been over 50 years and I still wonder why anyone would be against being around someone for their skin color. It still doesn’t make sense and it makes me sad at how little progress we have made in this color war. Protests and riots are going on today exactly like 1968. Maybe now is the time. Maybe 50 years is enough. Maybe God will have softened hearts and enlightened heads.
One of the men from my church is raising his granddaughter. She’s a hoot and a very wise 11 year old. Here’s part of their conversation he posted on fb the other day. Her grandpa asked her what we should do about all this race tension. Here’s her answer:
Thalia: Ah….. put the bricks down and stop being mad. Let’s all go to church and loves one another. And have a fish fry. Let’s do what Jesus wants and be friendly.
Grandpa: What about the cops?
Thalia: Invite the deputies too. They ain’t all cattywampus. There’s good deputies too. All the adults can eat catfish and talk. And if they don’t, maybe GOD will do something!
Grandpa: Like what?
Thalia: like make everyone blind. Then how will ya know if you’re talking to a black or a white person. GOD loves everyone and made everyone, so none of this makes any sense….. unless you know the Devil is having his way.
I love the “they ain’t all cattywampus” part so much. In any demographic, there are good folks and bad folks. Policemen and women, white, black, brown, school teachers, politicians, preachers, and on and on. There are some bad ones, for sure, but they all “ain’t cattywampus.”
Seek the good. Stand up against the evil. Love and pray for everyone.
Hugs, 2 mama
Chrys Howard is the mother of three adult children, Korie Robertson, who is one of the stars of the A&E® hit TV show Duck Dynasty®, Ryan Howard and Ashley Nelson. She has fourteen grandkids, including Sadie. They call her 2-mama and her husband, John, is 2-papa. Chrys directs a Christian youth camp in the summer, spends time serving in the mission field, and hosts a weekly radio show titled It’s a Mom Thing. She has edited and co-written more than 100 books and is the author of nine books with more than 1,000,000 copies in print in six languages. Her more recent book is Rockstar Grandparent. Stay connected with Chrys on Instagram: @chryshoward, on her websites: chrysHoward.com and RockingItGrand.com, and Facebook: Chrys Shackelford Howard.
by Live Original | Jun 11, 2020 | Life Advice, Sisterhood |
Note from Team LO: Today is a VERY special day. It is everyone’s sister and friend and our fearless leader’s BIRTHDAY! We want to give a huge shoutout to Sadie Rob and the kind, real, incredibly loving, life-giving soul that she is. There is no one else like her so we thought: What better way to honor her today than to share with you all *23* of her original, life-changing quotes? Soak these up and comment your favorite below. Even better, head on over to insta @legitsadierob and show her some love there!
HAPPY 23rd BIRTHDAY SADE!
1. Your purpose is to love.
2. The presence of Jesus begins to remind you of your past but only so He can redeem it.
3. Here I am, God. No Limits. No Distractions. Send me.
4. If you’re waiting for peace, your peace is on the other side of that obedience.
5. Don’t be the fancy version of yourself. Just be you.
6. What God uses most often is our brokenness and our humility.
7. The number one way to fight jealousy is to be about something.
8. Dance is a universal language of freedom.
9. You’re worth a lot more than your feelings will tell you.
10. Just because we are waiting, does not mean that God isn’t working. He is preparing us for our purpose.
11. That right there, that moment when I started to think about myself less and Him more was the turning point for me, and that is probably my greatest piece of advice I could give you to walk out the calling on your life and survive the hatefulness of the world. More of him, less of you.
12. You have heard me say it before and I will say it again, you will not experience the true depth of love just by being liked or just by liking others who like you back. You will experience the depth of love when you feel known and are loved anyway, and when you love others not because of what they do for you, but because God loved them first.
13. To say that a gap needs filling is to say that from the beginning something is missing, but I’m telling you, if you’ve given your life to God, you already have all you need to fill your heart and soul; you just have to realize it. To fill a gap, you have to add something to it so that there is enough, but to fulfill something, you simply need to step into its reality.
14. You are already loved just as you are. You are already enough just as you are. You are already seen just as you are. You are already known just as you are.
15. The turning point is where everything changes. There is a path of death and a path of life. So turn in His direction, toward life.
16. Even when we see it, we can’t fully comprehend it. Because what we really have to know when we’re walking into something with God is that even though we might be able to see a little bit, his ways are higher than our ways, his thoughts are higher than our thoughts, and he is going to do exceedingly and abundantly more than we could ever dream of.
17. The words of life empower. The words of death destroy.
The words of life encourage. The words of death cause people to lose heart.
The words of life affirm. The words of death tear down.
The words of life give hope. The words of death cause despair.
The words of life are confident. The words of death are powerless.
The words of life are full of hope for the future. The words of death replay the pain of the past.
18. We can place our confidence in God and truly live rooted in his never-changing love.
19. We forget that we only have the grounds perspective and a oneway track mind when it comes to getting where we are going. It is so important we remember God sees our future, all those who we cross paths with, and is considering everyone’s life plan from the sky’s perspective.
20. Take some risks. Face plant. Laugh about it.
21. Examine what’s in your heart and make sure your words align with it.
22. You will most likely have a revelation of what you feel God wants you to do before you have a realization of what He is actually going to do.
23. Love requires vulnerability, authenticity, work, and sacrifice.
Want more encouragement from Live Original? Follow us on Instagram @legitsadierob and @liveoriginal.
by Live Original | Jun 9, 2020 | Life Advice, Sisterhood
“Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.” – Ida B. Wells
What a few weeks it’s been. We as a team have been in prayer over the devastating events that have deeply impacted our black brothers and sisters and have grieved us all as a nation.
At the same time, we know that Jesus is in this and we KNOW he wants to show us something during this time. How to not just be about racial reconciliation in our hearts, but to also live it out. How to make love a verb.
We want that, and we know you want that too.
Team LO has sought out resources from leaders in our country that have educated us and taught us more about systemic racism in our country and world. We know that there are ENDLESS resources out there that can educate and lead us to change, but today we are just giving you 5 of the top resources that we have found to be helpful for us during this time.
Friends, put in the work. Ask God to search your heart. Pray for God to give us all the strength and desire to shatter the very dividing wall of hostility that He sent Jesus to kill roughly 2,000 years ago.
No one can make you dig into these, but we hope you’ll take it as an individual challenge to rise up, learn, and live out change.
1. A Conversation on Race + Restoration in the Body of Christ with Christine Caine and Dr. Anita Phillips
“In this moment, action is our love language.”
2. A Conversation with Pastor Carl Lentz and Biship T.D. Jakes
“We have to reject the notion of a world that excludes people that Jesus died for.”
3. “Justice” by the Bible Project.
“This is the surprising message of the biblical story. God’s response to humans legacy of injustice is to give us a gift. The life of Jesus.”
4. Listen In: Real Talk with Real Friends about Racism by Natalie Grant
“It’s about making an effort to do what we can to love one another.”
5. Be the Bridge (Book) by Latasha Morrison
**This is a book our team has not yet read, but it’s the next book on our list. We would LOVE for you to join us.
Want more encouragement from Live Original? Follow us on Instagram @legitsadierob and @liveoriginal.
by Sadie Robertson Huff | May 7, 2020 | Life Advice, Sisterhood |
If you have heard me speak before, or read any of my books, you know that I talk about waiting seasons. Waiting seasons are very common for our generation. We constantly feel like we are waiting for the next step of life. Waiting for the college acceptance letter, waiting for the job offer, waiting for our spouse. Whatever it may be, we are always talking about the “waiting season” but now the WHOLE WORLD is in a “waiting season.” We are in a global period of waiting, which is new for all of us.
There is a sickness that is really scary, and it has left us questioning. This is no longer just a personal season of waiting we are ALL waiting. Waiting on a vaccine, waiting on God to move, you name it. We are ALL looking for the next step of life. But just because we are all waiting at once, it doesn’t change the message. Yes, we are waiting, but the time still doesn’t need to be wasted.
Ephesians 5 verse 8-14 says,
“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. This is why it is said:
“Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”
I am going to pause right there. Now is not the time to be asleep! We are children of the LIGHT! Let’s be the light in the dark and scary time. It’s easy to get sucked into just binge-watching Netflix or mindlessly scrolling through Instagram or tik tok, but let’s choose to not fall victim to wasting our time in the waiting.
Ephesians 5 continues in verse 15 saying,
“Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
RIGHT NOW is the time to be fruitful. Let’s be wise. Pick up the word and learn it, gain understanding. We have so much time to dive into a deeper understanding of who God is. Make the most of the time He has given us. Let’s not waste the waiting.
The definition of waiting is, “preparing for one’s purpose.”
COME ON! If we are all waiting right now, there has to be one heck of a purpose coming out of this. God is preparing each of us right now.
I think of this as an airplane waiting on the runway. No one likes just sitting and waiting on the runway, but the reason behind the waiting is so that someone can prepare the plane and make sure it gets you in the air safely to fulfill its purpose of getting you where you need to go.
That is what God is doing right now. Just because we are waiting, does not mean that God isn’t working. He is preparing us for our purpose.
There are so many things canceled right now, but that doesn’t mean the will of God is canceled.
Some of you might be wondering practical ways to not waste this season of waiting. Here are some things we can focus on.
+ Dive into the word. There is so much to learn just by opening up your bible and reading. Start with the Gospels and get excited about what God is doing!
+ Worship. Worship him singing, dancing, praying. Connect with God in this time. Pray for the desire to be closer to Him
+Be thankful. Although it may not seem like it. There is so much to be thankful for right now. Write those things down and thank God for them.
I am here with you friends in the waiting. We are going to get through this, but let’s all chase after Jesus fiercely during this time. This waiting season is preparing us for our purpose. Wait and watch what God is going to do. The things that the Lord can do during this time are big. Don’t just wait and sleep. Wait and WATCH. God is working.
I am believing and praying for big things to come out of this season, and you can too.
Want more encouragement from Live Original? Follow us on Instagram @legitsadierob and @liveoriginal.
