Let It Go: When Dreams Are Derailed

Every young mother has dreams for her children. 

As we hold that newborn babe in our arms, we begin to see the potential in this tiny human being…one made in the image and likeness of our Creator God. We wonder if that baby girl will grow up to be a carbon copy of her mommy or will she accomplish so much more than her mama had ever dreamed? We see our sons and are in awe that this little man will grow up to be a man perhaps like his father, even having a wife and children of his own someday. We have visions of tea parties, t-ball, and prom dates. But more than anything, I believe we mothers just want our babies to grow into happy, healthy adults.

I was that young mother so many years ago...

To continue reading this article, head over to this link: Pretty & Wise: Let It Go       _____________________________________________________ 

Before you head over, I want to share a few things about this new website!

I have the joy and privilege to be one of the six contributors to this brand new website and today is launch day! 

Pretty & Wise was founded by my daughter, Lyndsay Terry, and is based on this verse: 

How wonderful it is to be wise, to analyze and interpret things. Wisdom lights up the person's face, softening its harshness.               Ecclesiastes 8:1  

And so she has brought us together to connect with you. We are a collective of women...speakers, writers, mothers, pastors, friends, ministry leaders...who are passionately pursuing relationship with Jesus Christ. We've been changed by Him, and continue to seek to go deeper with Him. Because of that, our mission is to...

dig through scripture, share our testimonies, and gain some wisdom from the word together so that we can live the Word bravely and boldly as women of God.

In order to create a platform that nurtures community among the readers/visitors, Pretty & Wise has a unique feature that I absolutely love: 

The Community Page. 

Here's how it works:

Go over to Community page and sign up, create your account and put your face on there so we know who we're taking to and then go join in on the conversations. 

After reading an article on the blog you can click on the link to go over to the community page related to that article. The author of the article posts a related scripture and questions to spur on a conversation from the readers in the Pretty & Wise community.  

Anyone who comes directly to the community page can join in on any of these conversations. I love this! We are able to respond to the questions, respond to people's questions/replies, and just join in on the conversation...encouraging one another. This is what brings us together in a community of sisterhood.

We need these kinds of conversations in order to know that we are not alone. That moment when we read someone else's reply and think, "Yes! Me Too!" That is the moment that connects us! Connection is so important for true community to happen. 

There is so much more over at Pretty & Wise to encourage you. I hope that you will join us for some laughs, some tears, and some serious sisterhood.

...and let us run the race with endurance that God has set before us.  Hebrews 12:1b

The women at Pretty & Wise want to cheer you on to keep running that race with everything you've got, girl!

I will continue to write here at Captive Heart. Come back soon!

Don't forget to head over and read my article here: Pretty & Wise: Let It Go

OH...and if you have not already done so, head over to the facebook page and enter to win the launch day giveaway!

Healed or Walking Dead? Choose Now...

This week is the last in a series of link-ups with Jo Ann Fore's book study, When A Woman Finds Her Voice. It has been a privilege to walk in this community of voice bloggers. To join in with other women who are learning to walk, healed and whole, into the fullness of redemption and restoration that God has for each one of us.  It is the light that leads the way home to a lost and hurting world.

  It isn't a trivial journey, this healing. This restoration, this redemption, is a biblical mandate…a life principle to be worked out, and shared with others. We redeem the hurts of life when we allow them to come full circle, when we pour into the lives of others. ~Jo Ann Fore,When A Women Finds Her Voice.

With these words in mind, let me caution you. You cannot fast-forward past the process of healing into the sharing and comforting of others. When you do…you end up not sharing words of hope and comfort, but words of pain and bitterness. The cacophony of the pain and bitterness of your story all but drown out any of the words that are meant to point to the light of hope and healing. Too many come together to talk about their painful past only to find themselves commiserating in their stories of pain and misery. You cannot reach out to give hope and comfort when you, yourself, have not received that comfort.

The Walking Dead...

I believe there are too many women walking around with soul wounds…gaping, bleeding, ugly wounds.  I have this picture running through my head of the ghouls on the show, the Walking Dead. I know that sounds extreme but let me tell you what I mean.

Sometimes the wounds we carry are caused by others, sometimes by life's circumstances, or they may have been self-inflicted. In any case, they are an indication of this fallen world in which we live.

Having an open wound requires all of our focus and attention to remain on ourselves. We spend the majority of our time and efforts tending to the wound. If the right salve is not applied we begin to look like the 'Walking Dead'…stuffing our emotions down, becoming lifeless. There is no 'inner light' left for others to see. We begin to think that no one should be exposed to the ugliness of our wounds, and so we withdraw deeper into our own world. But we don't become hermits because, as they say...life goes on.

But our voices become wilted…melting...silencing the emotional pain.

We go on about the tasks of our daily lives in a 'Stepford Wives' sort of existence, saying and doing all the right things. All the while, our true self longs to be heard, longs to call out to someone who will listen and apply the needed salve to our wounded spirit.

The enemy of your soul wants you to be a member of the walking wounded. He wants you to believe that there is no way out…no answer…that it is so much easier to remain in your present state than to move forward.

Scars...a sign of healing

It is difficult, if not impossible, to move forward in our God-given purpose, if we do not first address the wounds of our spirit. You see it is not the open wounds that propel us forward, but wounds that are healing and healed...leaving the scar.  Scars are an indication that healing has taken place.  We first need to address the open wound, the brokenness, if we are to be emotionally whole again.

As the healing begins to take place, it is the scars that we use to propel us forward. The scars that enable us to say, ''See,  I have been there, but now... I'm healed." The scars that allow us to point to the healer and redeemer, Jesus Christ. We can now say as Joseph did in Genesis 50:20...

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.

If you are one of the walking wounded, I cannot 'fix' you. Only God, through His Son and the power of the Holy Spirit in your life, can do that.  But…I can come alongside you and encourage you. I can point to the hope that is within me…to the One who fixed me. I am not perfect. I still mess up, stumble, fall, sin…but I am redeemed! He is in the process of restoring me to the woman he created me to be…to walk out His purpose in my life. How very thankful I am for my Lord and Savior, who is my righteousness.  He is yours too!

The salve...God's Word                                                                                                       

Walk away from the lies of the enemy of your soul, the one who would have you remain in the pain of deep wounded-ness. Walk toward the truth of the Word of God, into the loving, faithful and healing arms of Jesus.  It's time to replace the lies of the enemy with the truth of God's Word (2 Corinthians 10:5).

Your story, wrapped in God, around His word, and what He has done in your life will safely lead women home. ~Jo Ann Fore

It's a process. A journey we must walk. Let the journey begin. Move into your calling as one healed to be a healer. We become over-comers when we use the words of our testimony.

They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.  ~Revelation 12:11                 ~   

  Find your voice!

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. ~ 2 Corinthians 1:3-4


 This is the last link-up for Find Your Voice, Make a Difference.