Gods plan

Trust God with your Mess

Trust God with your Mess 5665 4506 Paula

When I was 15 years old and pregnant I found myself in what felt like a mess, and at the time I could see no way out of it, let alone see the BIGGER picture. But 26 years later here is my photo in the Grand Rapids GR magazine as I speak to a group of teenage girls who are pregnant and scared just like I was at their age.

You see, when we are going through something hard or something scary, it’s hard to see pass the mess. What I’ve learned in my personal experience is no matter what the situation may be that you find yourself in, just to continue to trust God and know that he has a bigger plan. I have witnessed it over and over how faithful he is to take our messes and our brokenness and turn into a beautiful story of redemption. But at the time it’s so hard to believe He will turn our situation around for good. I had a friend once tell me, ” it may feel like you are crawling through a black tunnel, but I promise you if you don’t stop, there will be light at the end.” Man, was she right! I can now see that God was moving even in the dark places that I felt would never end.

Today I get to be a part of something bigger than myself and that is offering hope to teen moms. I am part of a non-profit called the Lighthouse for Teen Moms here in West Michigan. And I am in awe of what God can do through other people’s brokenness. Now I get to witness him working through this non-profit helping pregnant teenage girls just like me. The Lighthouse for Teen Moms primary goal is to get homeless pregnant teen moms off the streets. The Lighthouse provides poor, distressed, or underprivileged young mothers with housing, counseling, and access to spiritual instruction; to mentor them using a Biblical model Goal. If you know of a young girl who can use help, please be sure to reach out. Also, to learn more or be part of what this ministry is doing you can go here for more information.

thelighthouseforteenmoms.org

 #teenmom #teenpregnancy #teengirls #teenagepregnancy #pregnant #pregnancy

Who’s Plan Are You Trusting-God’s or Yours?

Who’s Plan Are You Trusting-God’s or Yours? 800 800 Paula

Who’s Plan Are You Trusting-God’s or Yours?

I can remember around this time four years ago. I felt strongly that God was asking me to leave my job. This is something I didn’t want to do because I loved my job and I loved what I was doing. One night my husband and I sat down and talked about it and he asked me the question, ” what do you feel God is telling you to do? ” My response, that he has something else for me and that I needed to let go of this job because it was interfering with his plan. But the scariest part was, I didn’t know what he had in store for me.

After spending a few weeks of praying, I ended up leaving my job. For the next few years I was kind of miserable, I am not going to lie. I had no clue what God was up to and I was striving to figure it out and try to make things happen in my own strength. I spent a lot of time following people on social media and I even started trying to mimic what they were doing, but something just didn’t feel right.

After coming to the end of myself, which took awhile, I was ready to listen and then I asked God what do you want me to do? As I sat quietly I heard him say, “nothing. Just rest in me, spend time with your family, take care of your health and in your free time write your book.” WHAT? WAIT. REALLY? IS THAT ALL YOU GOT? But..but..but…What will people think? Ah, bingo. What will people think? Oh, what a trap I was in. Caring what other people think if I was not known for  doing anything but trusting God and what he asked me to do. Why am I sharing this with you, because I want you to be encouraged. Let me share of few short stories with you. In the midst of my sitting with him, he has taught me a lot about myself, who I am and that my identity comes from him alone. He also has taught me that I don’t have to make his things happen. If I just trust him, he will work it out.

I want to share another quick story with you. I met this lady a few years back who was an amazing writer and she worked for a pretty big company. I so badly wanted to be friends with her, but I let it go and didn’t force anything. Well, a few years later we met through mutual friends and we started working on a few writing projects together and she was interviewing me about my story. Now two years prior I wanted so bad to tell her all about me… But since I let it go and rested in God, he made it happen. This is just one cool God story I am sharing with you, there are many more.

So what is God asking you to lay down?

What do you feel he is calling you to do?

I promise you if you trust God’s plan you won’t regret it!

I wanted to share a few reminders I see everyday when I walk into my closet to get dressed… ‘follow your heart’ and ‘live the life you imagined.’ Friends…God has such an amazing plan for your life! And the world is waiting for you to walk it out! Don’t allow past regrets, doubt or fear of failing hold you back!