Blog : hope

It doesn’t get more real than this. It doesn’t get more real than battling worry or silencing deafening, fearful thoughts. Or having chapped hands from over sanitizing because hubby still has to go to work & all you want is to protect your family from germs that could be carried too close to home. It’s REAL to wonder about your kids schooling or if you’ll have a job after all of this, to think about the impact this will have on those littles who need the stability and protection of a dependable, safe school where they can get an extra full belly or our elderly loved ones & immunosuppressed that need extra safe shelter from the outside world. It’s real to dread running to the store to find empty shelves. But you know what else is real? God is BIGGER. The vastness of His love covers this world & bridges hearts all across the globe to support to each other! Organizations that can provide meals for kids are being financially poured into, we have more time to BE with our families – to teach our kids & to protect them. Grocery stores have established hours just for the elderly to safely shop, we are choosing to protect our neighbors & those at higher risk by quarantining so we stop the spread. We are choosing each other in a world that so often chooses ourselves. There are far too many unanswered questions & too many opportunities to worry but if there’s one thing we can put our hope in, it’s God! He created us to heal. He’s redeeming, He fights for us against an enemy that comes to steal our peace, kill with a virus & destroy our economy. If you don’t have hope that God is greater, what do you hope in? He will keep fighting on our behalf but He calls you to fight the good fight of faith too, don’t carry fear onto IG or spread it along with the virus. Choose to speak hope, to believe in the good that the world is creating in the middle of chaos, to have faith that God is still good in a broken world. And when this is all over, keep choosing each other. .
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#choosekindness #hesgotthewholeworldinhishands #godsbigger #nofear #holdontohope #inthistogether #godisgood #speakhope #peace #standtogether #bettertogether #thistooshallpass #godisbigger #hope #hopeinjesus

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Photo taken at: Carlsbad, California

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I’ll love you forever. Tomorrow I’m 32 years old & 8 days later we cheers to ELEVEN years as Mr. & Mrs. ✨
When I reflect on my life so far I’m humbled that I’ve been so fortunate. Life is messy, it’s hard & full of exhausting battles BUT battles can be won, messes can be cleaned up and hard things take work but get easier with time, understanding and patience. I’m so loved, I’ve never doubted that for a moment in my life – that’s something I have never taken for granted. As I get older I really understand that love offers a safe place – for you, for the refugee, for the abused & broken. A place where we are reminded that we are worthy of being loved. We get broken in relationship but we can also heal in relationship where love is pure. I have learned that love DOES – love isn’t silent, it doesn’t see a hurting person & turn away. Love believes the best, it makes a way for broken people, it offers hope. Pure love has the power to rebuild our brokenness. The way Scott loves me is something he chose to do, he chose to be intuitive & aware of my heart and love me in a way that I’m grateful for every single day.

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Photo taken at: A.K. RIKK’S

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These three. I have never second guessed pressing pause on my career to give them all of my heart, I think that’s because I never let myself stop dreaming. That doesn’t mean I didn’t fight with thoughts of doubt – I definitely did. A lot of women feel like they lose their dreams when ‘mama’ becomes their title, understandably so! The demand to be present and available for them doesn’t leave much free time to invest in ourselves as women apart from being a mom. But can I just throw this out there… choosing to be a mom first in no way disqualifies you from chasing after your dreams! They might get a little dusty but they’ll still be there when you’re ready to pursue them! And for mom’s who need to work to provide, that doesn’t discount you as a mother! Finding the balance is HARD! I continue to see women show up, give it their everything in their careers and at home and seriously right now, y’all are BOSSES. I’m just really proud of so many of you for doing what you can to hold onto your dreams through the sacrifice of raising kids & when the time comes for YOU to shine, God honors the sacrifice and it doesn’t go unnoticed by those around you. I’ve become a pillar of strength in my kids eyes, a place of refuge & peace – someone I wasn’t familiar with before my kids helped me see that that’s part of who I am to my core. Raising those babes is a beautiful sacrifice! #proudmom #mompreneur ? @kelseyhettinga

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Photo taken at: Grand Rapids, Michigan

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This little quote just keeps circling around my heart. Isn’t it so (unfortunately) normal for us to consider ourselves a mess instead of a work in progress or a story worth writing? Life can most definitely be messy & for some the messy chapters feel like the end of their story. My story has been full of love, pain & beauty. It has bursted with adventure and challenge & it’s a story of loss, hope and healing! My story is about a girl discovering the depth, width & constant love of Jesus! For the refugees that are rebuilding their life in a foreign place, the mothers who are raising babies on their own, or babies who have grown without a mother, the people who have suffered the loss of a loved one or have dealt with depression and heaviness – YOU ARE A STORY WORTH WRITING! •“If here is hope in the future, there is power in the present!”-Zig Ziglar •“For I know the plans I have for you says the Lord, plans to prosper you & not to harm you, plans to give you hope & a future.” Jeremiah 29:11
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#bettertogether #real #hope #future #story #iamastory #worthy #encouragement #jesus #messy #life #lifeisajourney #zigziglar #fashionstylist #personalstylist #gr #grandrapids #michigan #michigrammer #insta #realtalk #quote #quoteoftheday

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Photo taken at: Grand Rapids, Michigan

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Self reflection has become a regular activity around here as of late. I want to live in a constant position of gratitude & awareness – for my life journey so far and the things I have yet to discover in my story.
I feel full of eager anticipation for the things ahead! But today I also feel aware of the process, the steps I’ve walked that have lead me here. They’ve written a lovely little story and today is a valuable part just like the rest, a page that holds a new paragraph in my story. Like with the unfolding of spring, everyday is significant; the rainy days that soften the earth, the sunny days that feed the soil, all with the anticipation for new life to emerge.
But the process couldn’t begin without a seed – like a vision for the flower from the hand of the planter, my God anticipates the moment my life emerges into something new and beautiful and I come alive! The way I did when I got married or became a mom, the way I did when I overcame anxiety and grew in confidence! The way I will so many more times in this life! So, I’m aware of the process and grateful for the days and moments that push me closer to another season of refreshing and newness! .
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#grandrapids #michigan
#encouragement
#style #stylist #fashionstylist
#grateful #spring #fashionblogger #hope
#ootd #darlingweekend #thatsdarling #outfitoftheday #wardrobe #vision #seasons #spring #fashion

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Photo taken at: Grand Rapids, Michigan

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