GRACE & GRIT

Some truths I’ve learned in the last couple weeks:

-Nothing says ‘Lord please give me what I need’ quite like asking Him for motivation while aggressively doom scrolling at 11:47 PM.
-Freedom doesn’t come while sitting on my butt all day binge watching a show
-Health doesn’t happen when I’m taking supplements, and eating ice cream

Thank you Lord for your GRACE.
Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about grace and how I haven’t been taking hold of it as much as I know I should. Not the fluffy version of grace that says: “Everything’s fine. Don’t worry about it.” I mean the kind of grace we inherited because Christ was crucified on the cross. The kind that enables us. The kind that gives us strength when we have none left. The kind that steadies us when life feels heavy. The kind that whispers: “You don’t have to carry this alone anymore.”

This past year stretched me in ways I didn’t expect. Emotionally. Mentally. Physically. Spiritually. At times, I found myself exhausted from trying to fix myself. Fix my stress. Fix my health. Fix my nervous system. Fix my energy. Fix my schedule. Fix my habits. Fix my life. (Gosh, as I type that I am WORN out thinking of this huge to do list, that I will NEVER accomplish on my own.)

And honestly? Somewhere along the way, I realized I was trying to heal while secretly hating myself the entire process. That’s not healing. That’s survival mode with a wellness podcast playing in the background.

One of the songs that has deeply ministered to me lately is Stay by Zahriya Zachary. There’s a line in the song that says: “I’ll stay tethered to You.” That visual wrecks me every time. Because tethered things don’t drift far. I think so many of us are exhausted because we’ve untethered ourselves from the very source of strength and peace we’re searching for.

We want peace while living disconnected.
We want rest while constantly consuming noise.
We want healing while speaking hatred over ourselves.
We want freedom while staying chained to shame.

BUT GRACE PULLS US BACK. Grace reminds us that because of Jesus, we now have access to divine strength. Not perfection. Not striving. Not performance. Strength.

Grace is what allows a woman to fail and try again tomorrow.
Grace is what allows us to look at ourselves with compassion instead of condemnation.
Grace is what lets us stop spiraling every time we miss a goal or have an off week.

And oddly enough…grace has made me MORE consistent lately. Guess where the change happened? Not in taking more supplements (though, thank Goodness for God’s creation in a capsule). The change happened with showing up for myself, with GRACE by my side.

We need to stop punishing ourselves every time we mess up. Instead, Grace allows us to be more aware of what we actually need. We need to stop spiraling after a hard mental health day. Grace allows us to recover faster. We need to stop expecting healing overnight. Instead Grace allows us the mindset to create sustainable rhythms instead of temporary extremes.

GRACE . GIVES. US. GRIT !

Because while grace enables us…grit keeps us moving. I think this shows up for everyone differently. For me, It gives me the clarity I need to put my big girl pants on and show up for myself.

Do you ever find yourself praying for healing or peace…but ignore every invitation to actually participate in it? At some point we have to get gritty enough to show up for ourselves! MAKE THE APPOINTMENT, TAKE THE SUPPLEMENTS, GO ON THAT WALK, BREATHE, PUT THE PHONE DOWN, INVEST IN YOUR HEALING, TAKE THE BIG LEAP THAT ENDS WITH A BRIGHT AND JOYFUL FUTURE!

Not because we are trying to earn worth…but because we finally believe WE ARE WORTH IT!

That’s the difference. Grit isn’t hustle culture. Grit is brave stewardship. It is choosing to participate in the life God has called us into and RUNNING toward it.

Im here to tell you there is freedom here. Freedom is found when GRACE and GRIT shake hands.

Stay tethered friends.

Love, Meg

P.S. If you are unfamiliar with what this Grace thing is…I’d love to chat.