Hello Siestas! I pray you are well and blessed.
My name is Amy. I grew up in Texas and New Mexico. I’m blessed to have been raised in a loving home where I grew up as a Pastor’s kid. While I am no longer living in either of those states, I still claim Texas as my ‘Home Sweet Home.’ I love to read, cook, organize everything, and writing. Just recently I took up knitting!
I chose a scripture that while I know it – I don’t live it. For that reason I don’t have it memorized like I should. It carries so much promise I knew I needed to share it with you.
“She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future.” Proverbs 31:25 NLT
I could write about my insecurities and fears all day. In fact, I have re-written this post four times now. Why? I have a fear of what other people will think of me – of how I will sound when people read it. The funny thing is that I want to be a writer. My heart and passion are in encouraging others, listening to their stories, and teaching God’s Word.
It has taken me a few years to find out this is what I really want to do with my life. My education is not in English or Communication, but I have figured out that it doesn’t matter. As my pastor says, “God does not call the qualified, He qualifies the called.”
For years I have allowed my insecurities and fears to control me. I allowed the enemy to use them to hold me back from God’s call on my life. It has crept into my life in many areas: with my weight (a struggle that has lasted over fifteen years now), in finding a spouse, with other relationships, with job opportunities, with life goals I’ve wanted to achieve, and so much more.
Coming into this year I knew I had to change focus. My problem wasn’t that I didn’t know the issues I needed to deal with, or even the solutions to those issues, it was in the action to take the steps to achieve them. We’ve all been there at one time or another, right? Take my weight issue, for example: I’ve known for years I’ve needed to admit it, work on it, and conquer it. My problem wasn’t admitting I needed to lose weight. I had admitted that to family, friends and even myself. My problem wasn’t in knowing what to do – I had read everything, been to a dietitian, nutritionist, a few trainers, and tried many diets. My problem was simply doing it.
I have a wonderful younger brother. He has grown into an amazing man of God. He is my best friend and the best person in my life when it comes to being honest. He isn’t afraid of hurting my feelings. He loves me enough to speak truth. He talked to me the other night about this very issue of weight. His words, while truthful and hard-hitting, held so much grace. While I was carrying on about feeling alone with no one around to help me, he said “Amy, in the physical sense you are alone. You are alone because you are the only one who can physically do this. I can’t step into your body and make you – it’s up to you. But in the spiritual sense, you should know better. You are so strong. Physically you are strong. Spiritually you are strong. But you’re also strong mentally. If there is anyone I know who can do this it is you. You really are a warrior. You just have these jabs the enemy keeps hitting you with. You are in this for yourself!”
I need to hear those words. My eyes watered when he called me a warrior. I don’t know that I’ve ever been called that before. It made me realize that I’ve allowed my insecurities and fears to control me for too long – not just in my weight, but in many areas in my life. To hear someone I admire so dearly call me a warrior! I associate warrior with words like boldness, courage, dedication, steadfast, determined, unstoppable. To see my brother’s confidence in me helped me to understand that is how Christ sees me – like a warrior! I needed this to kick me into high gear.
Now I’m determined. I won’t allow fear or insecurity to hold me back from what God is calling me to do. It doesn’t matter what the issue, I can conquer it. I am a daughter of the Most High God. Dear Siesta, you are too!
I want to encourage you that whatever issues you are facing this year, remember that Jesus adores you and calls you His daughter. His Word says that we can confidently walk forward in life wearing strength and dignity as our fashion statement. We can walk into our future knowing that we are warriors for Christ. We don’t have to know the future to face it with confidence. The Word says we laugh without fear of the future! We don’t have to fear what is to come, our future mistakes, our insecurities and how they will play out.
We just do our part and take a step. Our confidence comes in knowing he is taking us one step at a time as Psalms 37:23 says: “The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.” NLT
My prayer for us, Siestas, is that we take Him at His Word. He delights in the details of our lives, He knows what is to come, and we can confidently take the step, the action, and move forward, without fear.
Heather Morgan
Waxahachie, TX
“For the LORD your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.””
Zephaniah 3:17 NLT
Cecilia, Pflugerville, TX
Matthew 7:4 NIV
How can you say to your brother, “Let me take the speck out of your eye,” when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?
Kristen, Paramount, CA
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up.”
Hebrews 12:1-3 NLT
Adria A. Jackson TN
Sink your roots in Him and build on Him. Be strengthened by the faith that you were taught and overflow with thanksgiving.
Col.2:7 (GW)
For he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go. They will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone. You will trample upon lions and cobras; you will crush fierce lions and serpents under your feet! Ps. 91:11-13 (NLT)
Holly Tabor Nixa, Missouri
Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.
Matthew 11:29-30 NIV
Carrie, St. Paul, MN
O God, you are my God, I seek you,
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
Psalm 63:1 (NRSV)
to satisfy the waste and desolate land, and to make the ground sprout with grass. Job 38:27 (ESV)
Chris, Seattle, WA
Acts 17:28a NIV
“For in him we live and move and have our being.”
Julie Patrick, Florence, SC
Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there anything too hard for me?
Jer 32:27 KJV
Gail-Tyler, TX
For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.
I Timothy 2:5-6 NKJV
Beverly Welch, Dallas, NC
Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there anything too hard for me?
Jer 32:27 (KJV)
Laura in Aurora, MO
“She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future.” Proverbs 31:25 NLT
Beautiful post, Amy! I relate and join you as a Siesta Warrior! <3
Teri Wymore in Millington, TN
“She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future.” Proverbs 31:25 NLT
Robin Ivey, Meridian, MS
“Because you have these blessings, do your best to add these things to your lives: to your faith, add goodness; and to your goodness, add knowledge; and to your knowledge, add self-control; and to your self-control, add patience; and to your patience, add service for God; and to your service for God, add kindness for your brothers and sisters in Christ; and to this kindness, add love.
2 Peter 1: 5-7
New Century Version
Rhonda McKamie – OKC
Then He touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be done to you,”
Matthew 9:29 NIV
Shari Valdez, Long Beach, California
The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. (NKJV)
Vivian, Birmingham, Alabama
Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.
I Corinthians 16:13 KJV
Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong.
I Corinthians 16:13 NLT
Malinda Guider, Chattanooga, TN: For I will restore health to you, and your wounds I will heal, declares the LORD, because they have called you an outcast: ‘It is Zion, for whom no one cares!’ Jeremiah 30:17-ESV.
Shari Valdez, Long Beach, California
Sorry for the duplicate, forgot to note the verse.
The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. Lamentations 3:25 (NKJV)
Charlotte Wilson Stedman, Austintown, Ohio
“If you abide in me and my word abides in tou, ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you! John 15:7 NASB
Sandra, Anchorage, Alaska
Hebrews 10:35, NLT
So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you!
Job 6:24
Teach me, and I will be quiet;
Show me where I have been wrong.
NIV
West Des Moines, Iowa
Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than people. Colossians 3:23(NLT)
For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.
Philippians 2:13 NIV
Kiva, Irvine, CA
“I have learned how to be content in every circumstance, (satisfied to the point where I am not disturbed or disquieted) in whatever state I am in.”
Phil 4:11AMP
Duvall, WA
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. Psalm 19:1-2 NIV
Debra Taylor, Madison, MS
“Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” Hebrews 13:5. KJV
Lisa, McKinney,TX ““You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.””
Revelation 4:11 NIV
Thank you Amy for your good word! I need that verse too!
She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future.
Proverbs 31:25 NLT
The peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus . Phil. 4:7 niv
Judy-Marietta, Ga: Do not be afraid, stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today…The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still. Exodus 14:13-14 NIV
Fran Scott, Stafford TX James 1:17 ESV
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
Molly Petrey
Paris, KY
Psalm 62:8 (ESV)
Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us.
Britt Felix, Tucson, AZ
Romans 12:14-15 NIV
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.
Diane from Cypress,Tx
Psalm 124:8. NIV
“Our help is in the name of the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth”
Cristy, Monroe,OH
Be sober minded, be watchful, your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. 1Peter 5:8 ESV
Joanna Trauger. Greer South Carolina
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Colossians 3:12
“In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil.”
Ephesians 6:16 NLT
Dione H., Moore, OK. “Strength and dignity are her clothing,and she laughs at the time to come.” Proverbs 31:25 ESV
Brenda, Ottawa, Canada
The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knows those who trust in Him.
Nahum 1:7 NKJV
Whitney from Russellville, TN
Whoever gives thought to the word will discover good, and blessed is he who trusts in the Lord.
Proverbs 16:20. ESV
Jennifer Lane, Grand Rapids, MI
Hosea 10:12 NIV
“Sow righteousness for yourselves, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, until he comes and showers his righteousness on you.”
Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliuens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household.-Ephesian 2:19 (NIV)
Sarah, Kingwood, TX
“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”
Jeremiah 29:13 NIV
Lori Collins, Columbus GA
Psalm 46:10 KJV
Be still and know that I am GOD: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.
Lisa S. In Montgomery, TX
John 3:34B NIV
God gives the Spirit without limit.
Beth Lewis, Story City, Iowa
“that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height”
Ephesians 3:17-18, NKJ
Sharon, Barrington
“Then I will send rain on your land in its season both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and olive oil.” Deut 11:14 NIV
Karen, Christy, Cheryl A Cord of Three Strands Jay, OK
If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.
John 15: 6-8 NIV