Speaking Clip

5 Minute clip from

 The Pearl Event ~ The Triple Strand

Charity

The Pearl Event

I am getting very excited, this time next week I will be packing my car and getting ready for Nashville!

The Pearl Event will be here in just 9 short days and I can’t wait.

Until then..

I have exciting news for today I have tickets for some of you.

Leave a comment below and I will pick a winner on Friday.

Make sure you leave your name and email so I can get in touch with you.

Can’t wait to meet you there!

Charity

Growing Girls in Grace, book 1

Good Morning!

I am getting ready to pack my car and head to the church to get my booth set up for

 The Johnny Hunt Women's Conference.

I am excited to see all the God has planned today, for myself and for every lady coming.

It is going to be a great day.

Before, I pack up and leave I wanted to let you in on some exciting news.

I have written an ebook!!!!!!!!!

The book is called

Growing Girls in Grace

Growing Girls in Grace is a perfect way to for mother and daughter to connect
over God's word and crafts. Included in this book is a Bible Memory Verse
Card and detailed craft tutorial for each month of the year. Each month
focuses on a different Biblical principle vital to girls of all ages to learn. Start
the month by introducing the memory verse card and end each month
discussing the verses and doing the craft together. Use the monthly
conversation starters to aid you as you teach your daughter the corresponding
Biblical principle.

Writing this book has been on my heart for several years but the timing was never right. 

Until, God put all the pieces and people into place and allowed it to come together in record time, in a way that was and is so clearly Him.

I am blown away by all of the support and encouragement He has brought to me and others through this adventure and can not wait to see what He does next with it.

For now, I am offering it only from my blog. If you are interested, send me an email @ TheHeartfeltHome@gmail.com for more info.

Reviews

As a mom of three girls, I cannot recommend Growing Girls in Grace enough. In this world, today, it is more important than ever to equip our young ladies with God’s word and the tools they need to grow into Godly women. Charity has perfectly captured a way for moms to connect with their daughter’s through great conversation starters, relevant Bible verses, and fun crafts. The crafts require minimum materials and are explained in great, easy to follow steps. They are also crafts that you will be thrilled to use in your home. A year spent with Growing Girls in Grace will be a wonderful time of growth for you and your daughter(s). 
Kelly Lorenzen
 

Looking for some help to creatively and intentionally foster a love for God's Word in your daughter while also bonding with her? This ebook is filled with step by step directions to guide you as you connect with your daughter in discussions of the Bible and how it practically applies to real life. The hands-on crafts will surely make a mark on your daughter! She will take these lessons with her into life! You will be making priceless memories for both of you! Use this book if you want to encourage your daughters relationship with the Lord and with you in truly meaningful ways.

Kristy Dorminy
 
What a delightful book! It is vital that mothers and daughters spend time together and cultivate a healthy relationship. This book is full of the sweetest ways to do that. Cha Cha’s heart for her own daughters shines through the ideas and makes me want to grab my girls, sit down at the kitchen table and talk. Her clever and easy going combination of working with your hands, using your creativity, sharing your inner thoughts and adding Scripture is an inspiration! I pray that all moms can catch the vision of spending this kind of quality time with their daughters, creating a bond that will last a lifetime. And in the process have a fun takeaway craft that will be a charming reminder of the time they spent together. Best of all, she beautifully points to Christ through this precious mother-daughter time. You will be blessed by this book.
Lisa Pennington
Author of The Pennington Point and women’s group speaker

To God Be All Glory

Tomorrow at this time I will be packing my car to overflowing and checking and rechecking a list that I have been working on for weeks now.  So what am I doing, you ask.

Vacation… NOPE!

  Even BETTER!

I am following God’s call, stepping out in faith, jumping heart first out of the safe into that place where only God knows what will happen next.

The truth is I have been taking steps toward the edge for the last few weeks but tomorrow many other people will know about it.  Those people will be able to judge my leap of faith as either a success or a failure.  My faith will be watched and scrutinized but I am ready and I already know the answer to all of this.

It will be a success because it is God and no matter what it looks like to our earthly eyes God has ways and plans that are not like ours.

So,

ENOUGH

with tip toeing around the what.  Here goes.

Tomorrow I will start selling my Bible Memory Verse Pillows again.  To some of you this means nothing but to those of you who have been here long enough you may remember them and the struggle I had with them..

For those of you who are new they are basically a decorative pillow, for your kids, with a pocket on the front to store Bible Memory Verse Cards in.

I had made many and tried to sell them a few years ago but did not have any real success, if you count selling them as success. I felt like a failure and was pretty beat up over the whole thing, I knew that God had planted the idea in my heart but I did not know what to do with it.  I put the idea and my inventory on the self for the last few years and would occasionally find the tote that they were stored in and pray and ask God what to do.  I never had a peace about doing anything so back on the shelf they would go and some days this was easy and some days there was still heartbreak and confusion.

Then one day, not too long ago

God said it was time.

Time to bring them off the shelf

Time to expose my heart and faith

Time to jump

So…

Here I am today,

Telling you that I am jumping!

I am jumping without fear and hesitation because this time…

This time,

I do not care what the earthly success looks like.  I have already seen God’s glory exposed and talked about through the whole process. Since it is my only goal to allow God’s glory to shine then if not one pillow sells it is still a success  and I am still full of joy.

God has use the pillows to spur other ideas, ideas that are fully His.

Ideas that have brought me to my knees with tears of joy to have a glimpse of His heart and for Him to trust me to move forward with this.

Today I want to say,

Thank You

God

for every good and perfect gift,

to

You

be all glory and honor.

Charity

I will be selling at The Johnny Hunt Women's Conference on Friday and Saturday if you are going to be there please stop by my booth and say hi.

If you are interested in purchasing a pillow or just want more info send me an email @ TheHeartfeltHome@gmail.com

Come back tomorrow to see one of the other ideas God has entrusted to me.

Broken Ground

The other day I was dreaming of all the fresh vegetables that will soon flood my kitchen from the garden.  I could not help but be excited for fried green tomatoes, tomato sandwiches, eggplant parmesan and fresh corn.  I was ready for it

NOW!

An early picking from last years garden

Then I stopped to think about all of the work that would have to be done first.

I felt God nudge my heart…

I felt Him say,

before there can be growth

remember

the ground has to be broken

I could not stop thinking about that.  For those who do not know, before the first seed can be planted in a garden the soil has to be tilled, broken up, multiple times.  The soil MUST be turned, broken, and stripped of the weeds (useless, wasters of fertile soil).  Isn’t that true for us too.

Before we can grow anything but weeds in our lives we need to turn our hearts toward God, then He breaks up the soil of our lives making it soft and ready to receive the seeds of His word and removes all the time wasting weeds.

Our backyard garden

This has been so true in my life.  I know I have seen the most growth after seasons of brokenness.  Currently, I am in a season of great growth but I can still feel the pain of my ground being broken up, the pain from not understanding all that God had planned, the pain of change, the pain of dying to selfish pride, the pain of doing what was not comfortable or easy, and the pain of digging in deep and finally dealing with those hard and hurtful things.  But, you know what?  God did have a plan.

 

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  Jeremiah 29:11

 

And it was worth the pain!

Dear Friend,

I pray that if you are in a season of broken ground that you embrace it.

Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.  Psalm 46:10

Do not run from this time, do not try to give it a quick fix.  Settle in, ask God to show you any other areas that you need to submit to Him.  Spend more time praying and reading God’s word.  He has great growth planned for you, let Him do His work.  Soon enough, you will be in a place where you can not explain the excitement you have because of what you are watching God do through you.  You will be in awe of and humbled by the fact that you are being used for His work.

Be encouraged, Sweet Friend, seasons change and your growth and harvest are coming…

but first the soil has to be broken and made ready for the father to pour into.

What season are you in?

Charity

Remember to purchase your tickets for The Pearl Event ~ Nashville

Can’t wait to meet you there!

The Pearl Event ~ Speakers

Good Morning,

I am beyond excited to share with you the other ladies who will be speaking at

The Pearl Event

Each of these ladies has a heart to serve God and His people.

I hope you will take a few minutes and visit their blogs and get to know them better.

It is going to be an amazing day and

I would love it if you would join us.

Tickets are available  here.

I would love and appreciate your prayers.  This is 

W A Y 

out of my comfort zone.

I am not afraid to stand in front of people but I do not want to disappoint anyone.

That is where the fear sneaks in…

am I good enough….

will people understand what I am saying…

will people like me…

will I be a disappointment…

I know this is the enemy’s way of distracting me and I continue to give these fears to God but I want to be real and share them with you.  I want you to know that this call, like most God has for us, is not a piece of cake.  I am having to die to myself and my selfish desires and trust and stretch my faith to new places.  The crazy thing is with all the fear and trembling also comes excitement.  I am excited to be chosen by God for this moment and even more excited to be able to watch him at work.

In addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Ephesians 6:16

Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  Hebrews 12:2

Have you been called to stretch your faith recently?

I would love to here your story! 

Charity

Eggtra, Eggtra

Just a little egg decorating.

Charity

The Pearl Event ~ Nashville

Hi Friends!

Guess What?

Are You Sitting Down?

Okay, deep breath…..

I am speaking at

The Pearl Event III, The Triple Strand

Can you believe it?

ME,

Standing in front of people sharing.

WOW, God is Good.

I have been ready to scream from the roof tops since the day Sibi asked me to speak.

I can’t wait to meet everyone there!

Here is some important information.

When: Friday, May 17, 2013

Where:

The Schermerhorn Symphony Center, Nashville Tennessee

Tickets are on sale now and include a wonderful boxed lunch,

click here to purchase your tickets.

You can stay up to date on all the latest information by liking the        

The Pearl Event Facebook Page

Goodness, I am excited and nervous. All prayers will be greatly appreciated!

More info to come next week.

Charity

The Power of a Testimony, Your Story

*For those of you following me here and at The Church Blog please forgive me for posting this in both places. I am trying to figure out where to post what but this is important to me and I wanted it in both places. Thank you!*

Recently, I had the pleasure of attending a conference that a dear friend of  mine, Sibi, was speaking at. You can read more about her ministry and our friendship here, here, here, and here. I have heard her speak before and because we have been friends for several years, I know much of her story.

Her story is a but God story.  The type of story that brings you to tears each time you hear it because it is just that heart breaking…but God.  God took what man did wrong and used it for His glory.

 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in

order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive. 

Genesis 50:20

All the heartbreak and brokenness man heaped on her God healed and rebuilt.  Because she now shares this, her testimony, many lives are saved… changed for eternity.  Women find hope in her story because if God can do such a radical transformation in her life what might He do in their own!?

I had this moment with God not too long after meeting Sibi.  As she would share pieces of her past, I would be shocked at the fact that I could not see any residue of that left in her.  She was not the broken person she had been, she was whole, full, and overflowing to others.  God used this to open my spiritual eyes to some brokenness I still had.  Brokenness that I wasn’t even aware of.  I thought the effects of my brokenness was just apart of who I was, my personality.  But God… He had other plans, plans to trade beauty for ashes and to rebuild the devastated places.

Isaiah 61

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
² to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
³ and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the Lord
for the display of his splendor.

⁴ They will rebuild the ancient ruins
and restore the places long devastated;
they will renew the ruined cities
that have been devastated for generations.
⁵ Strangers will shepherd your flocks;
foreigners will work your fields and vineyards.
⁶ And you will be called priests of the Lord,
you will be named ministers of our God.
You will feed on the wealth of nations,
and in their riches you will boast.

⁷ Instead of your shame
you will receive a double portion,
and instead of disgrace
you will rejoice in your inheritance.
And so you will inherit a double portion in your land,
and everlasting joy will be yours.

⁸ “For I, the Lord, love justice;
I hate robbery and wrongdoing.
In my faithfulness I will reward my people
and make an everlasting covenant with them.
⁹ Their descendants will be known among the nations
and their offspring among the peoples.
All who see them will acknowledge
that they are a people the Lord has blessed.”

¹⁰ I delight greatly in the Lord;
my soul rejoices in my God.
For he has clothed me with garments of salvation
and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness,
as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
¹¹ For as the soil makes the sprout come up
and a garden causes seeds to grow,
so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness
and praise spring up before all nations.

I pushed in close and dug in deep.  I allowed God to reveal some ugly and broken places in my heart, places where full forgiveness had never been offered because I had never allowed myself to fully explore the pain that had been caused.  And until I allowed myself to fully feel and view with hindsight the full amount of damage caused I could not fully forgive.  As I went through this, there were days, I didn’t want to leave my bed because the weight of it all would be so heavy but God showed up day after day.  Eventually, as I started to forgive things got lighter.  So light, one day I was shocked.   I was shocked by the change.  There was no more anger, no more hurt.  My responses to life started to look different.  I was operating from a full and overflowing place and no longer from a place of brokenness.

   

          Let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.  Hebrews 10:22-25

Seeing who Sibi is and knowing all that she has gone through was what God used to open my eyes to pain I was still carrying.  I dug in deep and allowed God to rebuild my devastation and now I share my story with others.  One night last week my friend, Suzanne, used the words spiritual mentor to describe me. I know that I could not be full enough to overflow into her life had God not healed me.  God used a testimony to start my healing, to change my life and the life of those around me.

Share Your Testimony!

Your Story Matters!

Who is the One You Should Tell Today?

 Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and

considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith.

Hebrews 13:7

Has God ever used someone's testimony to change your life?

Charity

The Master Bedroom

Today I thought I would share about

The Master Bedroom

My husband, Jeremy, and I have been married almost 15 years and in that time we have never put much effort into our bedroom.  When we first got married we tried to sleep in a full size bed.  When that didn’t work and we ended up in two separate bedrooms.  Jeremy’s, wise aunt and uncle offered us a king size box spring and mattress.  We rushed to pick it up and made do with some discount sheets and a comforter.  It did what we needed it to because let’s face it newlyweds should NOT be in separate rooms.  We used that box springs and mattress for about 5 years until we had enough money to get a queen size bed.  It is the bed in the pictures below.  I bought a bed in a bag set for the bed and called it a day… we had two little kids under foot and not much time to worry about anything but them.  Fast forward a few years and we moved into the house we live in now.  I was overwhelmed by all that I wanted to do in every room, I hung some drapes and started to work on the rooms that everyone would see.  Through the years our bedroom became the dumping ground for all things without a home.  So here we are today almost 15 years later with a unfinished bedroom with lots of clutter and mess.  I know our story is not much different from many of you, that is why I told it.  We all worry about the rooms that the world sees but we, wives, need to worry about the room that is just for us and the love of our lives.  This room is where we let our guard down, where we give love and receive love like no where else, it should be

Special

I recently decided that was what I was going to do, make our room special.

I started by removing all of the mess and clutter, then studied the room,

I made a list of all that needed to happen in the room, started a Pinterest board for styles and ideas that I like, and really tried to think about what my husband would like.

My husband and I are opposites , he is very practical and I think the more drama the better.

With all of this in mind, I started work on the room.

I this is what I ended up with.

There are still a few things that I want to do…

Like get a BIG,  BEAUTIFUL, SPARKLY,

CHANDELIER!!!

Even without those things done

I Love It

and it is

Special.

The perfect mix of practical and drama, just like me and my man.

Now it is time to light a candle and tell him how much I love him.

With some thought, effort, and a little money you can have a special bedroom too.

Now go get busy.

 Charity 

Savvy Southern Style

Answering God’s Call

I was a 7 year old little girl sitting on the land I now live on when I first remember the dream God placed in my heart.  I was sitting with my mom and a woman who was a family friend.  I had a doll in my hands and I was playing with her hair, I was always playing with my dolls hair or brushing my mothers…these are some of my earliest childhood memories.  The family friend offered to teach me to French braid my dolls hair.  I don’t know how many tries it took but I do know I walked away from that day knowing how to French braid.  In that moment I knew I would be a hairstylist - CRAZY, I know, but I KNEW!  Through the years of middle school and high school I went about playing with hair and makeup to an even bigger degree than most girls my age, my poor parents.  I remember being drawn to the cosmetic aisles of stores like it was a need not a want, a moth to the flame.  I needed to explore, to touch, to see, to smell.  If you were my friend during those years and came to my house you were getting a makeover whether you wanted one or not, just ask my friend Lana. After becoming comfortable doing makeovers, if you sat still long enough I might cut, color, or perm your hair.  I am by nature a pretty cautious person but in this area I was fearless.  Even stranger than being fearless was the fact that I wasn’t bad (not good but not bad).  Looking back I now know it was God given courage and talent.  He had a call on my life but I was far too immature spiritually to know it.  I finished high school and hair school should have been the next step.  Sadly, it was not.  I did not have much encouragement in this area, my dad believed that “there is a salon on every corner, you can never make money at it”, he was being protective not mean.  I was in a relationship that I thought was the one, you know the boy you have known your whole life and your parents are best friends, I thought I was getting married and going to stay home and have babies but like so often happens, he broke my heart.  These things combined with many others had me confused, hurt and mad at God. I spent the next 4 years in and out of college and trying many different career options, none of them were satisfying.  During this time I was becoming more and more depressed because my other dream of being a wife and mother seemed that it would NEVER happen.  My friends were all getting married and starting families, while I on the other hand couldn’t even find someone to date.  I was desperate for love but never thought to turn back to God.  I kept aimlessly looking to someone to provide this for me.

Then at the age of 22 I read a book about making a list of qualities you would want your future husband to have and then to start praying for them.  So I did!  This was the first time in years I had approached God.  In His perfect way He started to soften my heart toward Him and His ways.  He brought back that childhood dream of becoming a stylist.  I told my parents that I wanted to go to hair school and asked if I could move back into their house and go to school.  They agreed!  So I quit my job , moved back home, and signed up for school.  I was hooked, this was what I was made to be.  Through a God ordained chain of events I ended up quitting hair school (insert the song Beauty School Drop Out here) and going to work for a high-end salon that provided me an opportunity to apprentice.  This was such a gift from God, covered up with His extravagant favor.  The education I received was far above anything I could have ever paid for and not only was this free I was being paid (min. wage) to be an assistant in the salon.  About the time I was ready to “graduate” and be a stylist God brought my husband into my life.  From the day we met to the day we got married was 1 year to the day and 5 months after getting married I became pregnant.  It was as if God was waiting on me to answer that original call/dream before He would or could gift me the rest.

I continued to work in the same salon that I apprenticed in until I had my second daughter.  God stirred my heart to come home and be a wife and a mother first and work part time out of my own, in home, salon.  I started to work with a few friends and family and within a few months I had another stylist friend, who also worked from home, call and tell me she was moving and offered me all of her clients.  I had more clients than I had time to work.  From that time forward I 100% believe every single client who walks through the door is a gift from God.  I have never once advertised – He has provided week after week.  That was 10 years ago.

Today I live in the house I grew up in, on the land where God first gave me the calling.  Did you get that?  My salon is on the ground where I was sitting when He placed this call on my life.  Only God!

I am writing all of this because I believe God has another call on my life, one that scares my socks off and makes me want to hide in my closet.  I keep answering it one baby step at a time with much feet dragging and pleading to God.  He keeps pushing me forward and telling me to trust.  This dream is bigger than I can even wrap my brain around right now.  In all of my crying out and feet dragging God reminded me of this dream and how I could have never imagined or dreamed how to have made it happen but He knew. HE KNEW!

Then as I was preparing for our Sunday School class last week and reading Luke 2, God made these verses jump off the pages at me.

Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth. This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city.Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child. While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

 “Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”

When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, “Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.” So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger. When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child. And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart. The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.     Luke 2:1-20

 

I could not believe what God was showing me.  The Lord called the shepherds and they went straight to Bethlehem in a hurry.  WOW, they did not drag their feet or go hide in a closet, they went in a hurry.  And do you know what?  God was there waiting on them.  I cried when I read that and I am crying now writing about it.  He has called me, I need to go forward, He will be there each step of the way.

 

Has God called you to something bigger than you could dream?

You have a story to tell and a dream to chase!

He gave it to you, stop living in fear and step out in faith and know that He, the God of this universe, will meet you there.

 

Love you,

Charity

And just in case you need more encouragement to follow God’s call in your life go read my friend Sibi’s POST on how her calling came about.  You will be blessed, I promise.

And if you want to see my new Master Bedroom Makeover you can see it HERE

Closet Makeover

Happy Wednesday, hope you have had a great day!

I wanted to let you know that I am sharing today, how I made over my closet, at

FBCW Women's Ministry Blog

I would love it if you would hop over and see what has been going on around here lately.

Love Ya,

Charity

New Year, New Closet, New Heart

 

Have you ever had a meltdown over what is in your closet?

I know I have!

I had them in high school at a size 6 and now in mid-life at a size __... a girl needs some secrets.

I had my last meltdown over a year ago but I still remember it, vividly. It was a Sunday morning while getting ready for church, seems that Sunday mornings often have problems but that is a topic for another day. I hated everything in my closet, nothing was working together and I could not find something that I was looking for. At the high/low point of this meltdown my daughter walked into my room to ask a question. When she came in my bed was piled high with rejected clothing, shoes were all over the floor and my nerves were shot. I do not remember her question or my answer but I remember my attitude. Boy, do I remember my attitude! It was HATEFUL and SELFISH, not nurturing and kind. She left my room hurt. I was left in my room with a pile of clothing and an even bigger pile of regrets. I started praying, I asked God for forgiveness and asked Him to help me change this area of my life. He started by bringing a verse to my mind.

I will give thanks to You, for

I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

Wonderful are Your Works

And my soul knows it well.

Psalm 139:14

God convicted me that I would tell my daughters this verse but I did not believe it and if I did not believe it they might not either. Again, I confessed to God and asked for forgiveness. Then I did the same with my daughters.

The next day I started cleaning out my closet.

1. I got rid of everything that did not fit.

- This was very hard for me. I can be a hoarder and live in the what ifs of life but God...

BUT GOD wanted to know did I have faith that he loved me enough and could/would provide again if my size changed. Did I trust Him?

I let the clothes go.

2. I calculated how many pieces of clothing I really needed.

- I started getting rid of excess. This step was easier because it tended to be things that I had extra of or never wore.

3. I decided if something was going to hang in my closet I had to love it.

- I learned things about myself during this step. God revealed a very ugly and large void in my heart that I had tried to fill with selfishness and pride. I was not prepared for this. I wanted these clothes even though I did not love them. It was hard to pass these pieces on because they fit and I did not have extras, everything in me wanted to cry out but God...

BUT GOD reminded me that all that I have is His and that He had freely given it to me and I should freely give to others. So I gave. With each item I gave God filled a piece of that gaping void with His love.

Fast Forward to today.

Do I still have bad days?

Of Course! I still have hormones and the devil is still on the prowl but I do not meltdown.

Did you hear that?

I DO NOT MELTDOWN.

Now when I have a bad day I go to my closet and know that I love everything in it but more importantly I know that

I AM FEARFULLY AND WONDERFULLY MADE

and I give thanks to God for all that He has given me and taught me.

My closet today
What has God been cleaning out in your life?

Charity