simplyblair

Author Archives: simplyblairblog

• To the girl who feels lost.

  Posted at 1:28 am by simplyblairblog, on February 1, 2017

  Dear sister,

  You are loved. You are loved so much that the God of Heaven sings over you and rejoices over you. To even capture the magnitude of our Father’s love for you is incomprehensible. A love that never leaves, never hinders, and never hides. God’s love for you is so strong, he willingly died for your weariness and brokenness so he can be with you forever and ever and ever.

  Sweet friend, you are cared for. There is never a moment where Jesus is not praying for you and looking after you. There is never a moment where you’re not being thought about, and you will never be forgotten. You are cared for so much, that The Lord God Almighty knows exactly what’s happening in your heart, and in your soul. His ways are higher than ours, so he guides us, protects us, and leads us.

  When we are straying far away from the church that he has given us, he embraces and shepherds us, out of his enduring love. When we are so lost in the depths of our being, he sends reminders of why he has given us life. When we turn to the ways of the world, he shows us that none of it will satisfy our hearts and everything will fall to our human standards. When we have lost all control of the sin that grasps us, the bread of life pours devout grace upon our tender souls, so we can rest in the gospel. When Satan tempts us into falling into a trap of pressure and immorality, God sends his people to serve as his messengers to spread the unwavering mercies of Jesus that he bestows upon us. When you feel short of beauty and lose the confidence that you are in the image of Christ, our Father tells us that we are altogether beautiful in every single form because we are created holy in Christ. When doubts creep into our sinful nature and the questions arise of if there is really a God in Heaven, he swoops down and tears apart every evil essence that Satan tries to throw on us to torment our inner souls. When we feel unloved, he reminds us that he is our forever daddy, and when we fall, we can cry out,”Abba Father.”

  So dear child of Jesus, when you are lost, and when you don’t know where to go, always remember that you have a cheerleader up in Heaven, who has already gone before you, died for you, and is with you until the end. You are so wonderfully loved, sweet sister.

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• A poem called A Masterpiece Through Grace.

  Posted at 4:21 pm by simplyblairblog, on January 9, 2017

  How can we comprehend the immeasurable power that reaches us in love?

  For we cannot because of the sinful nature that takes place in our soul.

  We fall short every day of the timeless accounts of righteousness that reach us in our day to day lives.

  We fight the chains that cling so closely but they don’t budge and we are stuck.

  We find our pleasure in earthly figures that come back to bite us when we lose something dear.

  So how can we find the being who surpasses all knowledge when we are orphans who have never had a home in our soul?

  How could we ever find peace in something that isn’t visible to us when we are falling off a cliff or stumbling on a rock?

  The questions asked of “how” are undoubtedly answered in the book of unwavering truth;

  the place of rest from all the fears that try to ignite our bones and crush our delight.

  For there is greater joy in a preeminent figure who chose to cleanse us from all iniquities and sins that take part in our human lives;

  a being who has stood where we currently stand and has walked the Via Dolorosa to solely lay his life where our bodies should have been crucified.

  This name is the sovereign and never changing Jesus.

  For we are his children who cry to him, and he cradles us with the words,

  “you are my masterpiece.”

  

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• Many things of 2016!!

  Posted at 6:35 pm by simplyblairblog, on December 30, 2016

  Hey y’all! It’s been a while since I’ve done a blog, but to close out 2016, I wanted to do a post about the many things I’ve learned and discovered this year. Here is a list of the numerous things:

  1. Forgiveness in Christ brings you peace.

  2. God is sovereign.

  3. Find an adult, in addition to your parents, that you can talk to or call at anytime.

  4. Have crazy dance parties in your room.

  5. Find someone who inspires you. (Mine is Laura Bush!) 🙂

  6. Be real with your friends.

  7. Go hiking and explore the beauty of God’s creation.

  8. It’s okay to cry!

  9. Let out the old soul hidden inside of you.

  10. Math is not my subject by any means.

  11. You don’t have to wear makeup everyday.

  12. Recognize and find your soul flowers! (People who flourish your soul)

  13. You don’t have to wear what’s in style.

  14. Stay rooted in the never changing truth of the gospel.

  15. Dream your biggest dreams!! (Mine currently is to go to Greece and run through flower fields after hiking up a volcano!)

  16. It’s okay to think and dream about your future, just don’t wish your life away.

  17. Listen to music that you love, not what everyone else has to love! (My favorite music is folk music or anything that involves a banjo!)

  18. Spending quality time with old people is good for the soul.

  19. Find a church that is deeply rooted in the gospel, and Jesus is at the center.

  20. Laugh boldly because laughing brings you joy.

   

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• “What Great Mystery”

  Posted at 2:05 am by simplyblairblog, on October 17, 2016

  I was introduced to Corner Room’s album, “What Great Mystery” at a time where I was feeling lost and dealing with personal and spiritual struggles in my life. I was new to high school and everything seemed big and different. I was experiencing moments where I felt pressure to do something that I didn’t want to do, and all this pressure was beginning to take over. I was trying to fix things by myself, and I was so focused on others liking me, instead of being content with who I was. My life seemed great on the outside, but on the inside, I had a weary soul. I was scared of rejection but was also struggling with rejecting others. I couldn’t rest in grace, and I wasn’t content with my life.

  Of course, I knew the gospel, but at this time in my life, for about a month, I wasn’t truly applying it to my life. I even got physically sick from the stress and anxiety that I was bringing upon myself. But, God saw what I was going through, and one of the ways that he cared for me was introducing me to music that was focused on the gospel and the everlasting love that Jesus gives us. All of these songs have applied to my life, and it’s so cool to see how God has used this music in my life. I know that he is using this music for others also, where we can experience the peace and grace found in Christ. When I listen to all of these amazing songs, I can find freedom in celebrating the gospel. I feel refreshed, and I feel that God is clearly whispering the words of the gospel into my ears every time I listen to this album.

  With a combination of acoustic tunes, and a new urban feel, “What Great Mystery” all is wonderful to the ear. The lyrics are nourishing for the soul, and the tunes match perfectly with the lyrics. “O God be Merciful to Me” states, ”Hear gracious God a sinner’s cry; for I have nowhere else to fly. My hope, my only hope’s in thee, O God be Merciful to Me.” These lyrics, pull out the true nature of grace by stating the simplicity of the gospel. This pattern continues throughout the album, constantly bringing me back. When I listen to these songs, it is an escape from all the earthly things going on and I get a true picture of the kingdom of God. Through all of the songs, the title of the whole album, “What Great Mystery”, is related. The reason for this is because the mystery of mercy is pronounced, and over and over again the assurance of true love through Jesus is given. After listening to the tunes, I feel the calling of God telling me to go tell others about the great love of Jesus that is described in the music because ultimate truth is being sung. The song called “Unworthy” states,” We’re unworthy of your great love for us. We praise you Jesus, for your great love for us.”

  The authenticity and rare love that happens in Jesus is told through these lyrics by exclaiming the all-powerful nature of God, that he would save us through our brokenness. This music is my place of rest from school, activities, and my need for affirmation from others. I am thankful for this gift from the Corner Room because it points me to the gift of Jesus. I encourage you to check out Corner Room music because I know you will be blessed by it!  

  http://cornerroommusic.com/

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• We all want approval.

  Posted at 1:41 am by simplyblairblog, on September 2, 2016

  Hey, y’all! So, today has been a good and bad day in so many ways. It was a really good day at school, but I came home, and I fell apart for reasons I just can’t describe. I got home and I was having some homework issues with printing out some stuff, and so that pushed my homework back, so I knew God was calling me to just sit down and write a blog; so here I am. This topic has always been on my heart but it has been pounding on my heart for the past day or two. And what I’m writing about is… approval. This is something that I know I struggle with and I see other people struggling with it as well.

  Lately at school, I’ve seen people wanting to be in the “popular crowd” or the “sports crowd” or whatever friend group you want to be in. Trust me, I struggle with it too. There’s such a pressure to just fit in. You have to wear these clothes, or you have to play this sport, or you have to be funny, or whatever it is that the “clique” requires. The sad thing is, we all want to be in. We all want approval. We all want affirmation. We all want others to look at us, and love us. And y’all,  that’s the devil trying to tell us differently from who we are. But I can tell you right now, it does not matter a single bit what someone thinks of you or whether you’re “in” because God has the first and last say on who you are, and nothing can change that. You are his, and you are his chosen child by the grace of God, and there is nothing in the whole world that could ever separate you from his embrace, and his perfect, outrageous love.

  In every school, you can’t escape the pressure you put on yourself, and the devil puts on you, of being liked. It is CRAZY, the things people will do to get attention. But right now in this very moment, I am telling you that you shouldn’t be looking for other people’s approval, but for God’s approval.

  The reason why I’m saying all this is because you were created in the image of Christ, not the image of your friends. It doesn’t matter if you’re captain of the cheerleading team, or if you didn’t even make the team. It doesn’t matter if you’re the quarterback on varsity football, or if you’re 7th string. We were all made in Christ’s likeness, and he calls us his beloved. Isn’t that just amazing? God loves you so stinking much, that he calls you his beloved, his good and faithful servant, his adored child.

  Y,all, this isn’t the girl at school calling you these things, This is the God of the Universe who created all things, and he is the ruler of the entire world and everything in it is good. This is the person calling you his beloved. For me, this gives me peace. Because when I know that God loves me so much and that I don’t need the approval of others, I feel this huge weight being lifted off of me because I am free to be me.

  Psalm 139:13-15 says, “For you formed my inward parts, you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.”

  What David is saying in this psalm is that the Lord truly made us in him and he is so wonderful. Y’all, scripture says it right in front of our eyes, that we are made in him, and our approval should not be in others. He says it over and over again to assure us where our hope is.

  He fills us with promises of his grace, and he gives us peace when we are stumbling. He remains our Rock of Ages when the day seems long, and he calls us his beloved sons and daughters. May you always rest in this peace of our amazing God and always be assured of his true, abundant love, forever.

  

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• The biggest peace in spiritual warfare.

  Posted at 2:38 am by simplyblairblog, on July 31, 2016

  Hey everyone!! So this is kind’ve a last minute blog post but the Holy Spirit was knocking on my heart tonight to share this with y’all. So I am about to make a big transition and it’s the move from middle school to high school. I just finished 8th grade, and so now, I will enter high school as a freshman. 

  One day I sat down and I just wrote and reflected on my middle school years and how God has worked in my life over the past 3 years. I have definitely felt closer to him in such an amazing way and I have been able to do life easier because I know that the Lord is leading me. But, I have also dealt with a lot of spiritual warfare. There are times where I just can’t find a peace in anything. Sometimes I have doubts on whether I really am saved and if I am really chosen to be His. Sometimes, I have to be reminded that I NEED Jesus because I feel far from him. 

  One particular time was a few months ago. It was the week before dance tryouts and all I was feeling was stress and weakness. I felt like everything was just going wrong and again, I didn’t have a peace. But the thing is, I had no concentration on Jesus. I was focused on myself and what I had to do to satisfy myself. 

  That Saturday night, I remember praying that Jesus will make me realize how much I need him, now matter what it takes because I felt so far from Him. So, the next morning, I was getting ready for church, and I started balling crying. I couldn’t contain myself because I was so full of sin. But, in that moment, I knew that God had answered my prayer because of how much I needed him. The Lord had clearly placed that moment in my life where I just felt distress, so I would thirst for him. 

  So, when we got to church that Sunday morning, I was still really emotional, but I held it together pretty well. And then, our music leader played the offertory song. The song she played is called “Rock of Ages” by Sandra Mcckracken. The cool thing was, that was the song that was in my heart all morning as I couldn’t hold myself together. The song talks about how in our distress and suffering we come to our rock of ages who leads us safely home to him. 

  Y’all that was a Holy Spirit moment for me. I can’t even describe it, but it was like that whole week when I wasn’t peaceful and satisfied, God used that moment that Sunday morning to help me realize my need for him. 

  This is just one way that God has showed me grace and the endless love he has for me. Y’all, life is tough. It’s not some beautiful rainbow that our culture tries to make it. But when you know your need for Jesus, you can have a peace in the midst of spiritual warfare. So as I reflect back on that day, and as I’m about to take on high school, I can know that I am His chosen only by grace, and that nothing else will satisfy.

  

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• Embrace it!

  Posted at 10:36 pm by simplyblairblog, on July 12, 2016

  Hi, Everyone! I wanted to write today about something that the Lord has been clearly showing me for about the past month. Jesus has been teaching me to embrace things lately. This basically means to accept the imperfection and the certain things that go on. This is something that my mom and I have been doing lately because we have realized that the dumb things we do, the weird things we do, and the interesting things we like, are all a part of how special Christ made us.

  For example, I have learned to embrace the fact that one time I couldn’t put my shoes on in public because I “forgot”that I have to loosen the laces in order to put the shoes on. With that being said, I looked like a complete idiot, but I embraced that I can be dumb sometimes, and that’s completely okay. Also, I have learned to embrace the true fact, that I would much rather listen to music with a banjo and a mandolin, then all of that Justin Bieber and rap music that comes on the radio. So I have embraced that when I go to big parties where all there is is pop music, I don’t know any of the words and I want to go to the DJ and tell them to play Dixie Chicks and Rend Collective.

  With all of that being said, it brings me to how this ties into the gospel. Jesus has given us this life by giving his life, and he calls us to embrace it. This means to embrace grace. When you embrace grace, you live by grace. You live with the fact that the Lord delights in you, and it makes life so much easier. Grace is a gift given to us and when we embrace it, the simplicity of being a Christian becomes unreal. Living life is so simple when you embrace grace because even when you have doubts, questions, and fears, you are willing to just rest in the truth that you are loved by a divine savior, and you can’t help but be joyful!

  So whether it’s acting like an idiot in public because you “forgot” how to put your shoes on, or whether it’s knowing the fact that Jesus came down from Heaven to wash your feet clean and give you eternal life, embrace the imperfection in life, because that’s what makes life beautiful.

  

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• The Search.

  Posted at 3:03 am by simplyblairblog, on May 20, 2016

  Hey, everyone! I hope y’all have had a great month of May. It has been a very exciting month, and tomorrow is especially exciting because it’s my last day of school! I have been longing for tomorrow all year and it’s finally here! But anyway, what I wanted to share today, is something that Jesus has shown me for about the last month. So, when I turned 13, I was given a necklace. The necklace I was given has a small diamond heart. This diamond heart was given to my mom by my dad when I was born, along with 2 other hearts, representing my 2 brothers. So as you can tell, this is a very special necklace.

  Well, about a month and a half ago, I lost my necklace. When I lost it, I thought it was gone forever, and I searched everywhere for it. I looked in every nook and cranny of my house, I called my grandparents, friends, but it was still nowhere. I cried about it, prayed about it, and still, it was nowhere to be found.

  But, one night, my friend was over, and we were just hanging out in my room. My friend was sitting on my carpet, and all of a sudden, she saw a glimmer in my rug. She pulled my necklace up from my rug, and I started screaming and running around like a wild maniac!!!

  So, this brings me to my point. For about a month, I was searching in every spot I could think of to find my necklace. But throughout this time, my necklace was laying right in front of my face, and all I had to do was open up my eyes and see. I’ve realized that this is how we are with Jesus. We are searching in so many areas to find fulfillment, but nothing will satisfy. We look at culture, our friends, our body image, our talents, but nothing can please us. But as we are searching , there is a God who has always been right in front of us, but we were too sinful to open up our eyes to see.

  Our sweet Jesus has always been there because of his eternal grace and sovereignty. He never leaves us, even when we were searching for worldly things to bring us joy. So through every wrong thing we do, every stupid move we make, he is right there in front of us, leading us towards him. He is the glimmer of hope that leads us to the cross.

  So friends, brothers, sisters, let us know the simplicity of the search. Pray that you will know the God that is always right there before us when we are looking at other things in this world. It is so simple but so beautiful. So, let’s stop our searching and come to the God that fulfills every promise for us.

  “But from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.”            -Deuteronomy 4:29

   

  

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• “Rest in Me”

  Posted at 1:36 am by simplyblairblog, on April 30, 2016

  Hey Y’all! So as I was trying to think of what my next blog post would be, I think God revealed it to me very clearly. The title above has been pounding on me for the past few weeks.

  Lately, I’ve found myself so down, and you never know if I’m going to have a breakdown in the next five minutes. I’ve given into the ways of this world, and the culture has tried to take hold of me. I’ve been looking to other things for acceptance whether it’s my friends, my dance skills, my grades, or even if it’s just pleasing others. The devil has tempted me, and I have fallen short of the glory of God. I’ve been guilty of my pride, my selfishness, my anger, and my neediness to take control.

  I’ve lost all concentration on Jesus getting all the praise, and I’ve tried to get all the praise for everything I do. This is what sin is. Sin tries to snatch us from who we really are, then we can only feel broken. We are a broken people in a broken world. I’ve been convicted of feeling so broken, lost, and alone, over and over again. But thankfully, we aren’t just broken. We are all broken vessels, and Jesus uses the most broken people in ways to further his kingdom.

  Think of Paul. Paul was a murderer, a hater, and rejected Jesus in every way, shape, and form. He was broken from the top his head, to the end of his toes, and he was used as a vessel to proclaim the name of Jesus throughout the whole world. You see, through all of our messiness, we are a beautiful, broken, piece, in the midst of God’s puzzle. So through all of our brokenness, we can rest in Jesus’s simple, unfailing love.

  A few weeks ago, I was simply just having a bad day. So many things happened that day that I just felt weary and broken. I was unable to rest in the grace that was offered to me, and I was so guilty of looking upon myself to feel content. I got in my bed that night, and as I started to pray, I could only get one word out before I busted into tears. That night, as I cried out to my God because I was lost and lonely, he answered me in the way that a merciful father would answer. The Holy Spirit entered in and he softly whispered these words into my ear,”Rest in me.” As I continued to cry that night, the Holy Spirit just kept repeating those words and giving me a peace that I wasn’t expecting. As he was speaking to me, I closed my eyes, and images started forming in my head. I got an image of Jesus in heaven rocking me to sleep. He kept rocking me back and forth, and he just kept saying,”Rest in me.” As my Heavenly Father was rocking me to sleep, the tears stopped, and I physically was rocking back and forth as I drifted off to sleep. That night of brokenness suddenly turned into a beautiful picture of the gospel.

  Jesus conquered all of our sin, so we can rest in him. Always remember that he made everything perfect, he gave us full access to him, and he is our merciful father that sings over us. This is the significance of his love. We are made whole through the grace that he gives us. We are his adopted children and by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, he will forever be able to rock us back and forth to sleep. Let us rest in his promises, and trust in his goodness, because the simplicity of his love is so overpowering. We are woven into his beautiful picture that he created, and he calls us to REST IN HIM.

   

  

   

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• Hello to you!

  Posted at 11:00 pm by simplyblairblog, on March 8, 2016

  Hello friend. Hello to you and welcome to this simple blog that is an adventure for you and me. I called this blog, “Simply Blair,” because I want your mind to rest while reading my writing. I want you to feel like you can come to this page with an open mind, and an open heart. Simplicity is letting go of the noise of the world. It means letting go of the world trying to tell you to do what you feel to the point where all you feel is pressure. Simplicity is rooted in scripture also because Jesus has a simple love. So this blog is rooted in the gospel because the Bible is the only place we can come rest in Jesus. Now, I just wanted to tell you a little bit about myself. I’m 13 years old, I`m in eighth grade, and I live in a family of five. I live in a small town in Alabama where all you hear is football and Jesus talk everywhere. It’s a pretty great town. I go to a small church, but I feel at home there. It’s a place where I can rest, and bring my shame, guilt, and brokenness, only to find healing in Jesus. So with all that said, I hope this blog brings you joy. I hope you can come here with all that you have, simply to find Jesus. Let’s go on this journey together as God leads us in revealing how to live a simple life in Him.

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