Thrive In Grace

I had an experience this week that was really symbolic to me and I think many can relate. On Monday night, I came home and found out that my roommate had cleaned my messy room. To be honest I was mortified. I knew her heart was absolutely in the right place but my room still had boxes from storage that hadn't been unpacked among other things. There were things I would rather not have her see. Then I thought about my shame rooms in my life. The things I want to hide from others. The things I feel that if people really knew about me they certainly couldn't love me after seeing them. The things I have crammed so deep in my soul that they are aching to come out. The memories packed away in boxes. It's natural to want to hide things. Even in the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve hid from God. They knew they had done something wrong. I am not sure what they felt then but I am sure it easily could have been connected to shame. Yet it is only in bringing these things to the light th

My word for 2017 has been TRUST. For those that don't know, each year a word chooses me and that is the word I focus on. Obviously with my background, trust does not come easily to me. Whether it is trusting the Lord, trusting myself or trusting others it is a huge challenge. But I have learned so much this year! I have been really digging in deep to learn to trust again and to heal. In June, I started attending Codependents Anonymous. It's a powerful 12 step program. It's helped me a lot especially working the steps. For those who are interested, www.coda.org is their website. I can't say enough good things about this program. I really feel like I have gained more in CoDA than I did with 5 years of counseling. I have also been doing energy work and especially working on healing inner child issues. I also started EMDR therapy this month. It's been a lot of work but I am finally realizing I am worth it. For a long time, a very long time, I felt like I was in th

I just had my 8th surgery today for endometriosis and some other health issues. It is my 11th one overall. I have so much on my heart and mind that I want to share. But first things first, thanks everyone who took the time to read my story featured on Ashlee's Blog ( www.themomentswestand.com ) Welcome to my blog that is under development. I really will try to write more as I have set a goal to finish the book I am writing by June. I had a powerful experience today. I prayed that the Lord would send His angels that weren't busy doing other things to come and surround me at the hospital from the moment I walked in until this healing process is done. I felt them in such a strong way. I won't say it's not hard when they ask from a family emergency contact and I couldn't write down my mom or grandma. But I know with ALL of my heart that the Lord always compensates us for what we are lacking. This has always been one of my favorite quotes:  "The Lord compensat