Asking "Why Me?" and Finding Hope

Hey friends, Have you guys even been through a hard trial in your life and think, "why me?" There is always the BIG "why me?" after anything goes wrong in your life. What we don't know is that while we are engaging in our pity party, God has a bigger plan. God teaches in mysterious ways and He gets us prepared to teach and shine His light by having us going through trials. 

Let's face it, who is going to want to listen to a Christian evangelize that has never had a single bad thing happen to them. You won't be able to be relate or even be able to sympathize. People listen to people who they can relate to and they can share how they overcame their struggles. They want to know how we are still positive after we have gone through such hard times, and that is when you can share the love of Jesus Christ! 

All my life I have been down on my learning disability and I have felt so alone as a child because no one else I knew had dyslexia. I would always ask God, "why me?" I absolutely hated the fact I had it. I still have times when I get really down on myself, but, for the most part, I am extremely thankful to God for allowing me to have it. Instead of looking at it as a bad thing I look at it with a positive mindset! I am the person I am today because of it and I have been able to encourage many people who struggle with school as well. Satan wants me to be down on myself but God wants me to be victorious, be a fighter, and an evangelist. When I was younger I would never think I would be saying I am thankful for God giving me dyslexia, but as I have grown up and have had more experiences I would not trade it for the world. Next time you get down on yourself or go through a tough time in your life, try to have a positive mindset about it and think of all the people who have also gone through the same thing. You can shine God's light too and show them how much God loves them!  Till next time 

Prayer for a New School Year

Happy Tuesday friends! We hope that you had a wonderful long weekend! At the start of a new school year we wanted to share a prayer that is the heartbeat of our community and that we pray for each of you. We pray that this reminds you that as you embark on this new school year and season that you are not alone. God is with you in each and every class, every hallway, and every situation that you encounter this year. May you fall more in love with Him and who He is in the days, weeks, and months to come. You can do this!! Let us make this year the best one yet!

God, we ask for your help as we start this new school year. Give us grace for the days before us and strength for the school year as we take one day at at time. In the midst of the schoolwork, the requirements, the after-school activities, the work that is before us we ask that you show yourself in new and mighty ways this year. Show us the purpose that you have for us this year. Show us how we can have an impact on our worlds for you. Let us see the joys and challenges that we will experience as unique opportunities to fall more in love with you and to have an opportunity to share your love with others. Give us strength for our studies and the wisdom on how to do our best. Give us an open heart to see those who are broken and hurting around us so that we may show your grace and love to each person. Give us your eyes and a vision for this year that goes above and beyond anything we can think or imagine. We love you our precious Savior. Thank you that you promise to go before us, never leave us, and strengthen and equip us for the journey before us this year. Amen.

A New School Year Begins (and Scripture Memory Verse for September)

Welcome Back!! We hope you had a wonderful summer and we are so excited to connect here together in this upcoming year! We have been praying for you as some of you have started and been in school for a couple of weeks, for those who just started this week, and for those that have yet to begin. What an amazing year the Lord has in store for us coming up!

As we shared last year, one of the heartbeats of Grace Engaged is the scripture memory program that we hope y'all will join in with each month! Each school year we will be picking one "theme" to look at in scripture. Last year our theme was "grace" and this year we have chosen "purpose". For the month of September we will be memorizing a portion of one of my favorite verses- Psalm 138:8 which states, "The Lord will fulfill His purpose for you."

What a beautiful verse to ponder and think about as we start this new school year. A year filled with unknowns and unexpected things ahead. A year that will be filled with highs and some lows and a year that we have an opportunity to fall more in love with the Lord and to share that love and grace to each person we encounter.

This verse is such a beautiful verse to memorize as we embark on this new adventure of this year. God has amazing things in store for you and you have a unique purpose that He has created you for. 

Throughout this month of September, let us memorize this verse and imprint it on our hearts. Let's pray for the Lord's guidance to show us what purpose He has in store for this year and in each of our lives. We are so excited to connect here with you and jump into this new school year! We are cheering you! 

Blog Returns September 1st!

The blog returns in ONE week! Join us NEXT Thursday, September 1st for our blog and the start of this new year where we will be announcing some exciting updates, our theme for the year, and kicking off the blog! We can't wait to connect with you more and grow in the Lord this coming year!

Can we stop the lies?

I'm honestly REALLY sick of the message we're confronted with every day in our society that says that we have to be specifically and unrealistically aesthetically pleasing in order to be beautiful. Honestly, how completely ridiculous is that? You have to "look" a certain way to be beautiful, and what's more, to be valuable?

No.

No, you don't.

I'm not bashing those who choose to fix their hair and do their makeup every day. I'm one of those people! But what I do have a problem with is this idea that if we don't measure up to some outward ideal—some unattainable standard—we're not beautiful. 

Contrary to what we've been raised to believe and our society states, beauty and outward appearances are not one and the same. Yes, a person can be described as beautiful based upon their looks. But looks are not the only thing that can be called "beautiful". So can hearts, minds, attitudes, acts of kindness, and character.

You have the ability to be beautiful no matter what you physically look like, because you can choose to treat others well, put their needs before your own, and follow Christ with your life.

And as for value... that will never change, because God made you, and Christ died for you. That's enough to make anyone and everyone, without exception, inherently valuable.

So... can we just stop the lies? Can we believe that we are more than what we look like? Because I think beyond changing our lives, we would make this world a far better place for future generations if we did.

Do you feel pressure to look a certain way? Do you feel that in order to be thought of as beautiful you have to look a certain way? In what ways can you stop the lies that society has fed us and cultivate a heart of beauty today? Want to read more on this topic? Check out Erica's post on "what is beauty?" by clicking HERE!

"You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God."

-I Peter 3:4-

Happy Easter!

Dearest Friends, as we head into this precious weekend of remembering Christ's extravagant work on the cross to save us, may you be blessed with the knowledge that Christ is risen, draw comfort in the truth that our sufferings are temporary, and rejoice in the miraculous hope of a risen Lord! 

Happy Easter sweet friends!

Staying Motivated

Sometimes going back to everyday life after all the excitement of the holidays is challenging. The newness of 2016 is over and now it's back to school, back to everyday chores, and back to normal life. I used to try to start out every year with ideas of what I wanted to accomplish. Hoping to work harder, to get more done, to be a better person. But after a while the newness wears off, life gets busy and soon I don’t feel like using energy to do my best, even in the little things. The other day I read that about 45% of Americans make New Year’s Resolutions and that only 8% of people actually keep them. I guess a lot of people have the same problem!

Thankfully, it doesn’t have to be that way. God has given us in His word everything we need for “life and godliness” and the scriptures mention over and over how to live a fruitful life.  Here are a few verses that I have come to love that encourage me to strive to do my best.

Do it in Christ - “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in Him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:4-5) We can do nothing apart from Him. We can have good intentions and good ideas. But if we really want to make a difference it has to be in Him. Spending time in His word and in prayer is a vital part of our relationship with Christ.

Do it for God’s glory - "Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." (1 Corinthians 10:31) My life is not my own and when I am doing things for God’s glory it gives me a special desire to do my best.

Do it Joyfully - "The Joy of the Lord is your strength." (Nehemiah 8:10)  Whatever you set your hands to do, do it in joy! Joy can only be taken away if our focus is in the wrong place. Knowing what God has done for me through Jesus Christ gives a peace and joy that really does give strength to carry on even when I’m tired. 

Do it Willingly - “Whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve…For I have given you an example that you should do as I have done to you.” (Matt 20:26-28, John 13:15) A lot of doors are opened just by being willing to serve others. I’ve read books about missionaries and heard so many stories of people that had a huge impact for the gospel by serving those around them.

Do it Faithfully - “The one who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much.” (Luke 16:10) It might seem that the tasks are little and insignificant, but maybe God is using them to prepare us for something greater. Be faithful in all things!

My prayer for all of us is...

 “That you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and long-suffering with joy.” Colossians 1:10-11

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We here at Grace Engaged have been so blessed by Hannah's blog contributions and the entire Wissmann Family's love and devotion to the Lord. If you would like to connect with them, view their schedule of concerts, or purchase their music (which we highly recommend), you can connect with them at their website, on instagram, or on their Facebook page. Thank you Hannah for your beautiful blog post contributions this year! You are a blessing!!