Live Amazed - A Season of Celebration

I don’t know what I expected. But I don’t think it was this.

It’s a bit surreal. I’m not even sure how I feel.

I guess that shouldn't surprise me. I am, after all, an introvert.

I need time with just me and my thoughts, to reflect, and sort through the jumble of expectations in my head.

As I approached this milestone birthday, many thoughts flitted through my mind. Honestly, they weren’t all pleasing to my self-esteem. Many of them began with ‘shouldn’t I’. Shouldn’t I be further along by now? Shouldn’t I have it all figured out? Shouldn’t I be more at ease with myself?

‘Shouldn’t I’ questions never offer congratulatory remarks. Instead, they mock and taunt and remind me of what I haven’t done or how I wish I could feel.

Sometimes, I guess, I think too much of myself.

Then I wondered, “Does God celebrate birthdays?”

I know; I think too much.

But the good thing is—it got me to switch my focus from me.

And when I looked up . . . I found oh so many reasons to celebrate. The ‘shouldn’t I’ questions didn’t stand a chance.

I am so incredibly blessed, and the best part—it has nothing to do with me.

When I think of all the milestones in my life, I see God’s gracious hand over them all.

He is truly the God of all my days: ordinary days, sad days, mountaintop days, and yes, even milestone birthdays.

I can’t imagine life without Him.

I think of His mercy each time I stumble, how He picks me up and assures me it’s okay.

I feel His comfort through the valleys, His strength lifting me up, and His love that keeps on loving no matter how unloving and unlovable I tend to be.

I’m blown away by all the good gifts He showers on me.

And I appreciate His incredible patience with me when I struggle to believe who He says I am.

Oh, so many reasons to celebrate . . . to live amazed every single day!

To mark this season of celebration, I’m thrilled to announce the upcoming release of ‘Live Amazed – Embracing the Gifts of God in Longing, Loss, and Life’, a thirty-day devotional that celebrates who God is!

God blossomed a tiny seed of a dream that He planted in my heart many seasons ago. A desire to write. All in His time and by His plan.

Live Amazed invites us to look beyond our secret longings, staggering losses, and day-to-day worries to savor God’s unending goodness, love, mercy, and power . . . to marvel at God! Through scripture and real-life struggles, these daily reflections guide us to embrace what is already ours through Christ. Included are thought-provoking questions that guide us to peace within our longings, remind us of hope inside our deepest losses, and pour grace over circumstances that threaten to define our lives.

I hope you’ll join me in the celebration and live amazed at our all-powerful Creator.

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What about you?

Can you trace the hand of God throughout all your seasons?

There’s cause for celebration in every season, what are you celebrating today?

How can you live amazed right now, right where you are?

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For more information about ‘Live Amazed – Embracing the Gifts of God in Longing, Loss, and Life’ click here.

Grace and peace to you,
Carlie

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Live Amazed - A Season of Celebration