Category Archives: Spirituality

No Coincidence

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By Cynthia Aralu

Hi everyone. Pray the Rosary.

I started believing there were no coincidences even before understanding the reason I believed it, beyond something I heard on a TV show, coupled with my ability to connect dots where people didn’t. I did not grasp the depth of what I believed either, beyond the little that I did see.

Recently, however, I came across a passage of scripture about Angel Gabriel’s visit to Zachariah, and it dawned on me in a deeper way that there are no coincidences in life. Zachariah was going about his duty as a priest before God, and it fell to him “by lot” to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And there, he was met by the angel who gave him the message from God that he would have a son and name his son, John.

What had the appearance of being random, was all within God’s providence and will.

I called that to mind when certain disappointing and hurtful things happened to me and offered the events and my emotions up to God. I felt a weight lift off my chest, as I submitted to God on separate occasions, even praising and thanking God in the most recent event. It is as John Jin Han sang in “Days of Youth”, “I know there is still so much growing that I have to do but I know in the end, I want to burn for God”. I am not so gracious in processing it all as it happens to me but I will leave it to Him to give me the grace to have more grace, then I will actually be able to act like my other name.

My other name is Amarachukwu. It is an “Igbo” name and it means “the grace of God”. I was given that name at birth because of an overflow of thanksgiving and gratitude my mom felt towards God at my safe, easy, least painful among my siblings (I gleaned from her words) and quick delivery. Upon giving birth to me, she had broken out in an “Igbo” song which featured my name. To give more context, while my mom had been pregnant with me, a soothsayer had told her that when she gave birth to me, there would be joy and crying. So, my mom’s joyous gratitude to God had flowed from her faith in God and her utter dependence on God to deliver her and hers from all evil, which is why she had decided to go into prayer rather than to accept the soothsayer’s suggestion of a fetish ritual to prevent the evil omen.

My mom told me my name means more than the grace of God but she couldn’t really describe it to me in English because as she explained, the English Language is limited in its expression of the meaning of my name. I think she described it as the goodness of God, the grace of God and the mercy of God all balled up in one name.

My naming was not a coincidence. Even the soothsayer’s prophecy was not a coincidence. Neither was my mom’s doubling down in prayer, a coincidence. Not even my birth or my life. All I know is that the devil has always been after us, even as a baby in my mother’s womb, and God has always been protecting us. If my mom had given in to that temptation, we would have been destroyed. Even the soothsayer recognized the spirit in my mom when the soothsayer turned to my dad and told him to ask my mom if she would agree, because as the soothsayer expressed, she could sense that my mom wouldn’t.

As I count my blessings in this life, as I look around at the evil and tragedy in the world, I suppose I think how sad it is to see so much sadness in this world. Yet, I know if you look closely, this world is fading away, and who’s to say the ones whom I learnt just passed away tragically are not the blessed ones.

I have always dreamt of a place full of order, a perfect place. It is my reason for leaving home. I know now that I was naive in my thinking. There is no perfect place. Yet, I do not regret my decision to leave. I came to realize recently that I have been longing for heaven all along. I have been longing for God. This longing hits me harder at certain periods and I get tired of being here. I can only pray for a happy death and hope in Christ my Saviour.

It is my hope that my life and death brings glory to God. Even my many sins and mistakes. How they weigh down heavy on me, as I am starting to recognize the gravity of them, after I have confessed them. How nonchalant I have lived without considering God. It is an all-permeating, fixed thought; of how much I have been loved even while being wholly undeserving, even now. I struggle to extend that grace to people; to be moved with compassion for people when they hurt me instead of taking offence. Just one of the things I am processing and praying about. I know one day even this struggle will be a thing of the past because I know that God is shaping me from one moment unto the next into the image of His Son, my Lord Jesus. I feel His guiding and instructive footprint in my mind and in my life, even as I am a mixture of resistance and willingness. I tell Him I am trying my best and ask for His help to be joyful in complying without that initial resistance. It is a funny scene but it is also rough.

Thank you for reading today’s post. Remember to like this post and share it with your friends if you enjoyed it. Follow me on my blog, Katmira’s blog or my podcast, Amara’s Musings, to receive notifications whenever I have a new post. You can also subscribe below to get an email notification whenever a new post is out. This is particularly helpful if you don’t have a WordPress account.

Pray the Rosary. Let it be, until we meet again or “Ka ọ dị” as it is said in Igbo.

A lovely song you can listen to!
Another lovely song you can listen to!

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The Forgiveness of Sins

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By Cynthia Aralu

Hello everyone! Pray the Rosary.

I suppose I will begin at what I do know.

Yesterday night and today, my mind has been full of the memory of a past dream I had about my dad, close to 3 years ago, in which at the end of it, I started to preach to the people present about the forgiveness of sins, after what I perceived to be my dad’s departure from the land of the living into the Kingdom of Heaven.

I have never done that preaching in real life and to be honest, I do not know how to. I was so full of boldness and conviction in that dream as I preached the forgiveness of sins. At the time I had that dream, I was coming back to a belief in God from a time when I believed in nothing. I had finished reading the book of Mark in order to understand Who Jesus is to me. I had tried to tame my distrust and work on a bible plan on YouVersion and I chose Mark because it is the shortest gospel. I did see things in a new light by the grace of God, to the extent that I could, but at the core, I was still weak in faith and morals, and I did what I wanted and found pleasing, not what God wanted.

The dream I mentioned earlier stuck with me, mostly because I had seen my deceased dad and he’d felt so real to me and somehow, I felt as though he had gone to heaven.

Today, in church, I heard St. Paul say that he does as he ought to do when he preaches the gospel, that it is of no boasting to him, and woe to him if he doesn’t, as it is a necessity that he does so, as he has been entrusted with a commission, and I thought that perhaps I ought to fulfil the dream I had in some way, right now, since I have never really outrightly spoken about the forgiveness of sins.

So, what is the forgiveness of sins, which I wholeheartedly believe and profess?

The truth is that God so loved the world; He loves you and He loves me so very much, that He sent His only Begotten Son, Jesus, so that anyone who believes in Jesus will have eternal life and have it to the fullest. It is the wish of God that we all become His sons and daughters and it is His desire and His good pleasure to give us the Kingdom, every single one of us, the righteous or the sinner, the weak or the strong, the poor or the rich, the despised or the loved, the broken or the healing. He wants you. He wants me. But, we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory and the goodness of God. As such, Jesus made the way for us to be reconciled and bridged back to God, the Father, through the sacrifice of His Life, the sinless for the sinful; and Jesus, He has conquered sin, death and the troubles of the world. If we would but repent, put away our old, sinful ways that bring harm to our souls, and believe in Jesus and all that He has revealed, we will have eternity with Him, living as beloved sons and daughters of God. Be baptized, therefore, in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, as Jesus has commanded and walk in new life in Jesus, remembering always that He is with you always even to the end of age and through it all, and knowing as well, that once we have endured this life, we have a crown of glory waiting for us with God forever.

This is as best as I can tell of the forgiveness of sins in this post. If you would like to learn more, you can go on the YouTube page of Ascension Presents.

Thank you for reading today’s post. Remember to like this post and share it with your friends if you enjoyed it. Follow me on my blog, Katmira’s blog or my podcast, Amara’s Musings, to receive notifications whenever I have a new post. You can also subscribe below to get an email notification whenever a new post is out. This is particularly helpful if you don’t have a WordPress account.

Pray the Rosary. Let it be, until we meet again or “Ka ọ dị” as it is said in Igbo.

A beautiful song you could listen to!

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Thanking God this New Year

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By Cynthia Aralu

Preserve me, O God, for in Thee I take refuge.
I say to the Lord, “Thou art my Lord;
I have no good apart from Thee.”

The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup;
Thou holdest my lot.
The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
yea, I have a goodly heritage

I bless the Lord who gives me counsel;
in the night also my heart instructs me.
I keep the Lord always before me;
because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.

– Psalm 16:1-2, 5-8

Happy New Year Everyone! Pray the Rosary.

I hope everyone is keeping well this New Year. We are about halfway into the first month of year and I’ve got to say, I started off the New Year with good news. I took the PMP certification exam in the early hours of Jan 1st, right from the comfort of my home and I received word the next day that I passed. I am so thankful to God for his help in my success, which is His. It has been a long time coming. He put the goal in my mind years ago, although I did not know the path to take to get it or think that I would be eligible to take the exam, but He pushed me forward with a gentleness and His persevering Spirit. I applied around July last year for the exam and my application was approved. I was so overjoyed because prior to applying I had a fear that I hadn’t had the title of “Project Manager” for very long and perhaps that could affect my application but it did not matter.

I was deep into preparing for the exam when I discovered that I made a huge error in my application which had already been approved; there was an error in my work history which made it look like I had more years of experience in a particular job role than I actually had. I wrestled with myself about reporting this to PMI. And then I wrestled with God. I have a tendency of taking shortcuts as long as I get to my goal and no one gets hurt. It is still something I am fighting to overcome and in that moment, it was so hard. I told God that anyone I told about reporting this and withdrawing my application would think I am stupid, since I had already passed through the approval process and there was no way I would be audited after that approval. But, as I wrestled with God in my head, I heard a video playing from my phone say, “Have Faith”.

I felt a profound peace wash over me after I heard that, so, I messaged the customer service line of PMI and reported the error and told the rep to withdraw my application. I think this happened in October of last year. At that time, I was nearing the end of the study group session I was a part of, so when I withdrew my application and re-applied, I felt unsure of where I stood, even as I attended the study session that followed after. In the wait for the re-evaluation of my application, my studying slowed down somewhat and I took a bit of a break from the gruelling studying I was engaged in. I saw a movie at the cinema with a friend and really just slowed down. Thanks be to God, my second application was approved and I didn’t have to go through a stressful audit. The studying I did for this exam was incredibly stressful and I don’t remember an exam ever stressing me as much as this exam did.

To put things into context, and not to be boastful because my life really is a display of the goodness of God; I have not failed any course I have taken since the WASSCE at the end of secondary school. It was understandable I performed poorly since I had not studied and I did not trust in God. I got mostly Cs, which was not helpful to me if I wanted to get into Medicine, which I did want at the time, but since then, I have grown to be aware that I am somewhat capable if I work hard and ask God for His help, because I graduated with a Distinction, the highest grade achievable, in my MSc course in Pharmaceutical Sciences at Kingston University, despite my “poor memory” which I have struggled with a long time, and yet my MSc course did not stress me out quite like this exam did. It could be because this exam is not a part of the sciences, so it was a lot of learning of terms or concepts for the first time.

There were moments I wanted to stop studying but I deeply wanted God to help me and I wanted to approach Him knowing that I had given it my all. I knew He would help me like He always did. To be clear, I did not wait until it was time to take the exam before I started praying. I prayed before I applied; continuously as I prepared, for guidance while I studied, to absorb the information as I studied, to retain it, to be able to answer any question put forth in front of me at the exam, and to have an easier exam than the practice questions I went through. I prayed as well during the exam, as my belly started to hurt as I answered the first 60 questions which I thought were okay enough, and continued praying as the questions got annoyingly harder during the second 60 questions, and continued praying as the discomfort in my belly persisted during the last 60 questions which I thought were fair.

I did not fully sense God’s presence as I wrote the exam but I knew He had to be present because He is always with me, because He is faithful, not because of anything I do, but because of His Character. However, my senses were dull, so my prayer as I took this exam was desperate as time progressed. You see, sometimes, I am able to sense Him in the breeze that envelopes me, or in the movement in my mind that allows me to see things clearly which I once did not understand, once I ask for His help, or a warmth of my cheeks and a rush, or a warm, cozy feeling in my heart that makes me feel cocooned, or the repetition of a phrase everywhere He would like me to explore in the bible, or a peace that comes over me, and many more ways, because God cannot be contained and I am not able to know all of the ways in which He makes His presence known.

I did not get my result immediately after the exam, like I expected to, and I allowed that to put me in a bad mood for the remainder of the day. I even started to regret taking the exam on that day because of how tired and sleep-deprived I was, how unsure I was about how I did on the exam, and my foul mood on the first day of the year. At the end of the day, I realized the reason my mood was off. I did not start the day praying. When I was planning to take this exam, I did not factor in setting aside an hour of the day to pray in the morning like I normally do. I woke up, did a quick prayer as I got ready for the exam and got on with it.

I am working on staying joyful throughout this year, despite what my eyes see, since I am short sighted in the physical and in many ways in the spirit. I am praying for discernment this year, of God’s will, God’s voice and God’s wise counsel. I am also praying for the grace and the strength of will to always do His will, so that I may be wise in all that I do, and also that I and my family may always abide in His house forever.

I am working on building intimacy with God this year, being mindful of my actions and acting indeed like I believe God to be the Lord of my life, so that I can glorify God by the way I live my life.

I am also working on bringing to the forefront of my mind, to serve as a guide on how I perceive and move through this world, that everything in the world belongs to me, so that I do not try to rush to grab it all for myself and I can be patient in letting others have it. Let me try to explain what I mean and I hope this makes sense. I came to this realization early one morning, on my way to work last year, when I pondered on one of the temptations of Jesus, which on and off would come to my mind, and I would think it strange, confusing and not very smart of the devil to tempt Jesus with the whole world when it all belongs to Jesus, but then it dawned on me, “Does it not all belong to me too, since I am an Heir of God and co-heir with Jesus?” It allowed me to be able to give more to the people around me when I remembered, because there is no reason I should be fighting or grasping for things or getting mad or sad over things that are ultimately mine. To operate from a mindset of abundance that comes from being who I am, a daughter of God, rather than from a viewpoint of scarcity that comes from the brokenness and scarcity I have encountered all my life. Of course, I am still working on remembering and applying this.

I hope to be thankful all year to God for all of His mercies, His kindness, His love, His grace, His revelations, His presence, His nearness, His movements, His provisions, His goodness and for Him, which He has already poured out into me and around me, trusting that He will continue to do so the rest of this year and the rest of my life, because He is faithful.

God bless you all in the New Year!

Thank you for reading today’s post. Remember to like this post and share it with your friends if you enjoyed it. Follow me on my blog, Katmira’s blog or my podcast, Amara’s Musings, to receive notifications whenever I have a new post. You can also subscribe below to get an email notification whenever a new post is out. This is particularly helpful if you don’t have a WordPress account.

Pray the Rosary. Let it be, until we meet again or “Ka ọ dị” as it is said in Igbo.

A beautiful song you could listen to!

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St. Paul

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By Cynthia Aralu

Hi everyone! Pray the Rosary.

Today’s post was written on a night in January. I am convinced I am loved by God no matter what because of St. Paul’s confidence. I believe it is similar to what Fr. Mike Schmitz has explained about our belief not being in isolation when we say the Nicene Creed. We believe in and with a community of believers and are strengthened together in the midst of all believers. My translation of what he’d said anyway. Funny enough, I wrote this post prior to listening to Fr. Mike Schmitz.

It was nighttime that day and I thought of St. Paul as I ate my peppery pasta. I tried to imagine how he must have felt. He’d sinned against God when he persecuted God’s people. I wondered for a moment if he ever went back in his head and heart and felt torture remembering this but as soon as that thought formed, I realized he felt loved because a summarized version of a bible verse which he wrote popped into my head right after.

“Nothing can separate us from the love of God.”

I knew with certainty that he felt loved and I felt loved as well by proxy.

Reading the bible verse now, I must admit he says it so much better. His conviction carries through and lifts my heart. So, I shall put it here for you to read, so that your heart will find rest from its torment.

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?

As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 8:35-39 (NIV)

08 Jan 2023

“Catalogued thoughts”

Thank you for reading or listening to today’s post. Remember to like this post and share it with your friends if you enjoyed it. Follow me on my blog, Katmira’s blog or my podcast, Amara’s Musings, to receive notifications whenever I have a new post. You can also subscribe below to get an email notification whenever a new post is out. This is particularly helpful if you don’t have a WordPress account.

Pray the Rosary. Let it be, until we meet again or “Ka ọ dị” as it is said in Igbo.

St. Paul By Cynthia Aralu (Audio Recording)
Listen on Podcast @Amara’s Musings
A Song Suggestion!

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2022 In Review

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By Cynthia Aralu

Hi everyone! Pray the Rosary.

I started off the year feeling hopeful. I wished to remain hopeful and persevere once again this year.

There were moments I lost hope. I felt hurt. I felt pain. I could not see the light. When I caught myself doing this, I reminded myself to hope once again. I am glad I kept on hoping.

Wonderful things happened to me this year in the midst of life’s turbulence. I got a merit raise. I am thankful to God that I had the courage to ask for a raise…and for the raise as well. The raise didn’t even come to me until 3 months had passed after I had asked. I wanted more in the way of professional development into a future career path I am hopeful for but when I asked I was not given that opportunity.

After a long wait this year, my Canadian PR was approved and in the same month as my mom’s too.

I dealt with unsavoury characters and thrived in a hostile environment. A character showed a softness towards the end of my time in London that I never expected.

I had a conversation with someone about this and she told me we attract everything that happens to us. I don’t agree with what I had been told about attracting all that I am because I have not had unkindness dealt towards me because this is what I put out. I had had a tough time in London. I had met difficult people and the wall I developed was higher than that of the wall of China. I never let myself be soft with these people. I matched their toughness and defended myself. Even though I didn’t fully agree with her, I did wonder if there was some level of truth to what she said. It made me sad. It made me ask myself these questions.

“Is it faith I’m lacking,

Is it hope I’m lacking,

Is it love?

Maybe it’s all.”

– Me (23 Sep 2022)

While I do not agree with her now, I do see how I could have reacted differently to the way I had been treated. I could have been soft towards them while they were terrible to me and rejoiced in it. Now, I see it as a chance I could have used to draw even closer to God. To know His word, To know His Will. To know Him.

I was complacent in my spirituality and I didn’t realize this until I had moved to Canada. I actually had a thought in London prior to moving, “If God is not angry with me because He was still good to me. Then, it must be fine. I must be doing nothing wrong.”

I had a tough time with my job applications in Canada and I thought, “Could God be mad at me?”

I had felt I was good relatively, but upon self examination, I realized I was far from being okay and I resolved to fix things.

I am not quite sure what spurred on my study of the bible.

Was it the funny skit that Ariel Fitzpatrick made. The one where she said, “God answers the prayer of the righteous”. That skit had caused me to pause. I did not feel righteous. I always imagined it impossible to be righteous so, I never really thought I could win there and I never tried, but I did know I am a daughter of The Most High and I am loved regardless of my imperfections.

Was it the bible notification I received which said to “Seek first His kingdom and everything else will be added onto you”. Did that do it?

I know I sensed I was supposed to seek God. Even heard a voice say, “Seek me” at some point. I read about Abraham, who himself was a nomad, and I could relate to him in that aspect of his life. Reading about Abraham made me realize what it meant to be righteous. Obedience to God. Then, I read the Bible even more. I explored devotional plans on YouVersion that I felt I was supposed to read and I learnt more about God and how I have not exactly been living a life that was pleasing to God and it felt ridiculous to me that I had even been complacent.

I found God once again, but also quite differently. This time I care enough to do what pleases Him because he really does care about what I do and I love Him. I think I am still learning and growing to be firm in these things, praying and asking for His help every step of the way.

The year ends soon. I am so hopeful for all the New Year will hold. I am expectant of the blessings God has in store for me and I feel His love for me; His presence in my life.

In the New Year, I hope to have an even stronger understanding of who God is and to live as he would want. I hope for all things good and soft in the New Year. I especially hope to have faith, hope and love, swirling within me and everywhere all around me.

Thank you for reading or listening to today’s post. Remember to like this post and share it with your friends if you enjoyed it. Follow me on my blog, katmira’s blog or my podcast, Amara’s Musings, to receive notifications whenever I have a new post. You can also subscribe below to get an email notification whenever a new blog post is out. This is particularly helpful if you don’t have a WordPress account.

Pray the Rosary. Let it be, until we meet again or “Ka ọ dị” as it is said in Igbo.

2022 In Review By Cynthia Aralu (Audio Recording)
Listen On My Podcast @Amara’s Musings
A Lovely Song To Listen To!

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Community

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By Cynthia Aralu

Hello everyone! Pray the Rosary

Today’s post is really about the importance of community. Sometimes, I do not really have the words the convey my thoughts and feelings. So, I rely on past words from myself and others to convey my heart.

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The first mini write-up are the words from a priest’s sermon that has been stuck in my head since I heard it in 2017/2018.

A Priest’s Sermon

“If God is community, why go it alone?”

– Fr Uche of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church New Malden, London

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In the second mini write-up, I realized my family and I always had community even if we may not have always seen them.

To Those Left Behind 

I attended a mid week prayer session on Clubhouse and one of the speakers while praying, said some words for the people who passed away. She went further to add a prayer:

“And for those left behind…” Her words came through my phone’s speaker. 

Maybe I have heard this line in prayers a million times before. However, at that mid week prayer session, it felt like the first time I had heard a prayer for the ones left behind. The words “Left behind” really registered in my mind because it described exactly how I felt after my father died. My anger had been great that I had been left behind. But even more important than my past anger which all dissipated a long time ago, I was surprised that we’d been prayed for by people who knew us and those who didn’t, and that we were constantly being included in the gathering of believers who said the same prayer. 

“Were we prayed for?” That was my thought as I’d heard her prayer. Just how much were we bolstered as a family by these prayers by no faces, even when we could have been defeated? I just think there is something powerful about that.

I am grateful to have had the support of all who said that prayer and I am humbled at the immensity of the community that is found within the Church. 

– Me (28 May 2022)

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The third is an indulgence in retrospection on the importance of having your own community, even more important when you are having a bad time.

Isolation 

People are peculiar when they say because they are going through it, they cannot make the required effort to keep relationships going. Basic contact to say Hi . I have been through it. And by it, I mean periods of mental incapacity. 

I think in all of it, through all of my internal cries for help, it was my isolation that killed me most.

– Me (08 Sep 2022)

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To wrap up today’s post, I am reminded of the words of Albaner C. Eugene, when he spoke of surface relationships. He likened the relationship that God calls us to have with Him as one which is intimate and draws a parallel to the type of relationship he would prefer to have with his community. There is reciprocity in intimacy…true intimacy, that is, which asks of us to be vulnerable with each other. I am reminded as well of a conclusion I made about Jesus from reading the book of Mark; Jesus was okay being vulnerable regardless of being all knowing. I suppose I have been blessed with my family, that I can indeed be vulnerable with them. My mind draws back to a time when I was comfortable being vulnerable with friends until I found it difficult to trust. I suppose I would like to change that. I would like to build meaningful, deeper friendships.

Thank you for reading or listening to today’s post. Remember to like this post and share it with your friends if you enjoyed it. Follow me on my blog, katmira’s blog or my podcast, Amara’s Musings, to receive notifications whenever I have a new post. You can also subscribe below to get an email notification whenever a new blog post is out. This is particularly helpful if you don’t have a WordPress account.

Let it be, until we meet again or “Ka ọ dị” as it is said in Igbo.

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By Cynthia Aralu

Hi everyone. Welcome to another episode on my blog, Katmira’s blog, or podcast, Amara’s Musings, depending on which platform you are listening in on or reading.

At the risk of stating the obvious, the Year 2021 ends in 2 days. I started the year with God and I am ending it ever aware of God’s presence and hand in my life. I feel loved by God and I know nothing comes close to touching that. I am aware that I am loved just because. It is a very strong knowledge and a beautiful place to be in. I hope to stay here forever. I am thankful I have God as my Father. I pray He watches over and guides our every move and decision in the New Year. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

I decided to write a love letter to myself. Perhaps, you will be able to read or listen to my love letter, tell yourself you are beautiful and truly believe it. Thank you in advance for reading or listening to this post. Thank you for sticking with me throughout the year, when I was consistent and not so much that. Thank you for the compliments. I am thankful that my voice has brought peace to you. Thank you to all who promoted my blog and podcast. It means a lot to this girl who wants to reach as many hearts as possible but still stay hidden. And as always, I hope you enjoy this!

Dear Me,

Hi there! What a year you’ve had. You started the year not sure of what direction your career or future was going to go but you had trust in God and which ever way He meant for you to go and you persevered.

Thank you for being courageous this year. Actually, you have been pretty courageous these past four years being in a foreign country with no family around you. 

I guess instead, thank you for choosing courage every single time this year you could have let fear and doubt get the best of you. For the numerous times you have chosen love, thank you Me. For the times, you have risen above and allowed the Holy Spirit to lead you, Thank you. 

The bible says that we rejoice in our suffering, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s Love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who have been given to us (Romans 5:3-8). You are going to need that perseverance, courage, hope and trust in God and His Love once again in the New Year, love.

Look at you. You are no longer in crippling pain. Living is so much easier now. 

Look at you. You are no longer in darkness. You feel. You laugh and feel your laughter bubbling over in your chest. 

Thank you for choosing to grow. Thank you for reaching this level of self love, growth and self-confidence. I know you still have ways to go but you are always willing to do the work. 

Thank you for choosing to reach this level of knowing God and wanting to know more of Him. 

I can’t believe how far you have come. You can only go up from here with God’s help. 

Thank you for choosing love and being willing to trust in love again. Since God is love, it makes absolute sense that you would always come back to the core of who you’ve always been. 

Thank you for choosing peace. Thank you for choosing you. 

To the beautiful me,

Who is just beginning to grasp how beautifully made she truly is. 

Signed Me,

Who is in love with all that she is, everything, the up, down and the in-between.

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