Weekly Reflection | #40Days of Faith March 12, 2017 | Hi Friends! Happy Sunday! We woke up to a winter wonderland here in North Carolina and are all in shock. Coupled with daylight savings time, I woke up this morning feeling like I was Alice in Wonderland…ha! Here’s my reflection from the week. If you’ve been keeping up on Instastories…you’ve seen each word, reading and photos…but here I’m adding journal entries to open up a little more about what I learned each day. Thanks again for your support and for following along! Initial Post | Week 1 Reflection 3/6 Trials “…Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.” James 1: 2-3 TRIALS…admittedly I looked at that word on Sunday and fully expected to write a bit of a “poor poor pitiful me” post for it on Monday. I was feeling the weight (literally) of pregnancy, Dan worked until nearly midnight that on Monday, Landry didn’t nap, I have a sinus infection (for the zillionth time) and I have work and unanswered emails coming out of my ears. All silly things really, but I let them pile up (and add them to big picture worries) and they become heavy. I wanted God to talk me through it and boy did he deliver…and served me a big ole’ slice of humble pie right along with it. In James 1 he calls us to look to trials of many kinds with pure JOY…assuring me that these tests of my faith are part of him shaping me. Look to these trials with happiness, Mallory, and be glad that I am working in your life. Gotcha, Big Guy… 3/7 Faith “…But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on FAITH and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” 1 Thessalonians 5: 6-10 I’m up super early starting my day with today’s reflection. I woke up to my first negative comment about this journey. It was a direct message sent on Instagram specifically “begging” me to stop these posts. Well, that stings and although I was actually expecting a lot more of these comments (this has been the ONLY one), it didn’t seem to hurt any less. Judgements from strangers like that immediately make me doubt myself and subconsciously I was begging for God to give me some reassurance that I was doing the right thing through todays word. And, well, what do you know…He delivered. He tells us to put on faith and love as a breastplate daily, with the hope of eternal salvation as a helmet. His love for us and our faith in Him serves as form of armor to take on each day in His name. And then verse 11 “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as you are doing.” Well, if that wasn’t enough to keep chugging along…then I don’t know what else would have been. Through all of the verses about Faith in the Bible, God brought me to this one right away. So personal and so direct…and just what I needed. Now just get me some coffee to add to this and I know that I can tackle today in Faith and Love 🙂 3/8: Comparison “Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.” Galatians 1:10 This was a big one for me as I began the journey and something that I knew going into it that I needed to work on. In a world saturated with social media, it’s so easy to begin to compare yourself to others…as a mom, wife, blogger, or human in general, I’m guilty of it on all levels. Everyone is hiding behind a screen of some sort, only flashing their highlight reels and it leads people to unrealistic expectations, and opens their hearts to compare their “everyday” against the highlight reels of others. Some days I let myself get completely bogged down in comparison…questioning even the stupidest things like Instagram likes. I pit myself against other people in my head and instead of counting my blessings, I look to point out how my life doesn’t stack up. It’s a toxic thing for any of us to do and I know that it happens to us all, especially you mamas in my phase of life. As I was searching for words today, I gently found this verse. It wasn’t harsh, but it was very direct…who are you serving by trying to win the approval of human beings, Mallory? They will not grant you eternal life. Seek MY approval and live a life worthy of entering into my Kingdom only. So true. Living a life trying to win the approval of human beings will get me completely caught up in comparison…houses, money, social media, and who’s the best mom…but living a life trying to win the approval of Christ…seeking honesty and justice, giving love and compassion and spreading His word of hope and forgiveness will give me the clarity to know that I don’t wasn’t born to serve earthly objects and that my journey could never be compared to another… 3/9: Joy “You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent. LORD my God, I will praise you forever.” Psalm 30: 11-12 This day was a doozie. On top of being sick, there were so many little things that aggrivated me throughout the day. To top it off, I was sitting in a parking lot responding to an email and all of the sudden someone slammed their car door into mine so hard that my car shook. I hopped out and approached the lady (who was walking away) from behind saying “ma’am!” “ma’am there’s a huge dent in my car from what you just did.” “HELLO?!”…nothing. She didn’t even turn around. Kept walking right into the store and didn’t even choose to acknowledge what she’d done or respond to me in any way. It was disgusting and disheartening, but I couldn’t follow her into the store because Landry was in the car and quite frankly I knew from that brief encounter that I wasn’t going to gain anything from it anyway. I got back in the car and…on any other day…I would have let this completely ruin what hours in the day I had left. Normally I would have sat there stewing over how people could be so rude or replaying how I could have handled it differently in my head. But not today, damnit. Today’s word was JOY and I couldn’t let that woman take my joy. I scrounged up a piece of paper and left her a note assuring her that she was in my prayers and a simple “Luke 6:31” and I was able to let it go. I sought to regain my joy at Ben and Jerrys, because there is nothing that makes me more happy than watching Landry enjoying the simplest things like navigating an ice cream cone. This verse is so true of what God does for us when we choose joy. He removes the heavy cloths of earthly concerns and instead clothes us in the happiness of His promises. When we praise Him in any and all situations, He turns our crying into laughing and our wailing into dancing. 3/10: Compassion “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me. Your children hasten back, and those who laid you waste depart from you.” Isiah 49: 15-17 That was powerful in that I could never ever imagine forgetting my children. No mother can. They are the very fabric of our being and our sunrise and sunset everyday. The Lord knows that and says even if you could possibly forget your own children, I will still never forget you. I have your name on the palm of my hand. Not only did that comfort my own heart, but it made me take a good look at the people around me. He loves us all the same and when He created us, carved each of our names on the palm of his hand. We are all equal in his sight and he loves us all the same. This verse felt like he was calling me to openly show others around me more compassion, like the Lord shows me. Be slower to judge and swifter to open my heart… 3/11 Follow “Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done. Matthew 16:24-27 I’ve heard this verse countless times…but yesterday was the first time I’d REALLY heard this verse. How powerful and it kind of summed up all of the reflections from the week beautifully. Deny yourselves of the earthly things that surround you, pick up the crosses that I have laid before you with bravery, give up the life that you previously knew…and follow me. You can work your tail off to try and gain earthly things, but that will get you nowhere…for your ultimate reward will be given according to what you have done in His name… 3/12 Judgement “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” Matthew 7: 1-5 This is terribly embarrassing to admit, but so often I find myself judging without cause. Why in the heck do I even care about how others parent their children enough to judge them? Why do I care what people choose to wear, what they do for a living, their political affiliation or the lifestyle that they choose to live? Clearly being judged does not feel good and here we are told that we will indeed be judged with the exact same measure that we judge others with. Yea, no thanks. Before passing any sort of judgement upon others I should look in the mirror at the plank of wood in my own eye and I will quickly see that I have no room to judge others and that there is only one true judge before us all…and that’s the Heavenly Father. Thanks so much for following along this week on Instastories. Your constant positive feedback has been so amazing and this week’s words were enlightening beyond measure. I appreciate you allowing me to share it all here…
Michele Shannon says March 12, 2017 at 9:59 AM Beautiful and inspiring! Of course someone’s going to be critical, there is a lot of hurting people in this world! Thanks for sharing these beautiful posts!
Style Your Senses says March 12, 2017 at 9:14 PM Michele- thanks so much for following along– means so much to me! xo
Kellyann says March 12, 2017 at 7:14 PM I love reading this, your honesty and openness. Putting it all out there can be scary but it makes you so much stronger. I’m still trying to wrap my head around why anyone would ask you to stop doing this! So crazy. Keep it up girl, it’s inspiring!
Style Your Senses says March 12, 2017 at 9:13 PM Kellyann- Thank you so much for following along on this journey…and for taking the time to write these encouraging words. You are so right, this was one of the most terrifying things I’ve ever done…but the reward has already been greater than I could have ever imagined 🙂
Michele says March 12, 2017 at 10:12 PM YOUR Lenten journey has become MY Lenton journey! Thank you so much for sharing–I look forward to each post!!
Kris says March 12, 2017 at 11:12 PM Thank you so much for being so open and sharing your personal journey. I loved this post and plan to reread it many times! I can’t wait for the next one! You are sharing a wonderful gift with so many!!
Style Your Senses says March 21, 2017 at 12:01 PM Kris- Thank you beyond words for following along and being open to me sharing this! xo
Marilee says March 13, 2017 at 12:56 AM Mallory, you dear sweet angel, I love these posts. I love your intelligence, your bravery, your humility, and your faithfulness. Xo Marilee
Style Your Senses says March 21, 2017 at 12:00 PM Marilee- Thank you for being such an amazing cheerleader. Made my day!
Judy Clark says March 13, 2017 at 7:11 AM Mallory, Thank you so much for sharing your faith story. What a beautiful testimony of your family’s life. Yes, you will be persecuted. When we share scripture the enemy wants to destroy us… our faith in our Savior, steal our joy, make us feel inadequate. Hey,was defeated at the Cross! Hallelujah! People can be cruel. That catches me off guard every time, and I am much older than you. You just keep doing what you are doing my friend. God Bless you today!
Style Your Senses says March 21, 2017 at 11:59 AM Judy- Thank you so much for sharing this wisdom with me! Its so true and, regardless of what others may think, this journey has already been worth my weight in gold 🙂
Hayeon W. says March 13, 2017 at 9:22 AM First things first, you’re the realest. 😉 I loved your blog before these 40days of faith posts but I love it even more now! Not to mention, pictures of Landry are giving me a slight baby fever. (my husband should probably thank you. lol) Thank you for sharing!
Style Your Senses says March 21, 2017 at 11:51 AM This is the best comment of ever…for so many reasons!!! Thank you for following along through this journey with me and you can let the hubs know he can thank me anytime 😉 xoxox
Melissa says March 13, 2017 at 5:09 PM I really like the Lenten journey posts. I am a practicing Catholic, and get plenty of spiritual “stuff” from the Church. But your “stuff” feels very real to me. I look forward to reading more.