The Encouraging Crafter

My tag line always reads: Jesus Follower, wife, mother, daughter, sister and friend. But the other day I was thinking who am I really. I know I am a child of God, but what defines me. I was thinking the other morning of an idea for my next blog. I wanted to do something more encouraging. Because this has been a rough year for me and my family, most of my blogs have been about losing my mom. My goal lately has been to find that joy again, to help others who may be struggling and to let them know they are not alone. I think that is something my mom would want. She wouldn’t want us to be sad all the time.

So back to my morning…I was thinking about different scriptures. “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.” Psalms 139:13-14 and there is one of my favorites…“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.” Jeremiah 29:11-12.

These scriptures don’t directly talk about joy but they are encouraging to me. They remind me that my creator formed me in my mother’s womb and created me. He knows my past and my future. I can talk with him and He is ALWAYS there. Even though I am human and far from perfect, Jesus loves me and wants me to be joyful. He wants me to be a light for Him and to tell others about Him. He wants my focus on Him. That can be hard in this world of people who thinks that everything should be about themselves. It isn’t about us, it is all about Jesus. Jesus walked this earth sinless and died a death that we deserve so that we can be forgiven and spend eternity with Him. There is a Heaven and a Hell and the only way to Heaven is through Jesus!

So after having all these thoughts going through my brain as I was getting ready for work, I went on iTunes. I go on there every few months to see what songs are popular and listen to clips of songs by artists I like. I don’t listen to the radio a lot but when I do I hear songs like, and then of course forget the name. This is my way of kind of remembering. I saw this new song by Lauren Daigle called “You Say” and man did it just confirm all the things I was thinking. I love it when God confirms my thoughts. It starts off by talking about feeling like you don’t measure up and not being good enough and leads into the chorus:

“You say I am loved when I can’t feel a thing

You say I am strong when I think I am weak

You say I am held when I am falling short

When I don’t belong, oh You say I am Yours

And I believe, oh I believe

What You say of me

I believe”

I mean…wow!! I just listened speechless. God just laid this song in my lap at the perfect time. It just showed me yet again He cares for me and wants me to draw closer to Him. Even though sometimes I tell myself I’m not thin enough, smart enough, pretty enough or rich enough…NONE of that matter because my God loves me for me. I mean after all he created me. All of these worldly things do not matter at the end of the day.

So Who am I? I am a child of a God who loves me. Because I believe in him, I am His for eternity. My identity is in Him and how He sees me.

You can have that too! You can spend eternity with the one true King who loves you. It just takes a step of faith to believe and trust in Jesus. To know that Jesus walked this earth sinless and died for you! He wants you part of His family. He wants a relationship with you. I pray that anyone who reads this and doesn’t believe will begin to search and begin a relationship with Jesus. I pray for those that know Jesus, that this will encourage you in your relationship with Him. I hope this encourages you to focus more on Him and to spread His word!

Love

Katrina

To listen to Lauren Daigle’s “You Say” click here.

To read Desiring God’s blog called “what God thinks about You” click here. It is pretty amazing!!