He Walks with Me

The past few months
I've been struggling with
depression and anxiety.
I've cried out in prayer for solace
and been given some amazing
experiences to remind me
to trust in God and to find
answers in the scriptures.

One scripture that has touched me
is the story of Peter walking on water.
Peter follows the Savior's invitation to "Come."
He walks on water towards Christ,
but then looks around and sees the
boisterous wind.
He gets scared and starts to sink.
He cries out to the Lord.
"And immediately Jesus stretched forth
his hand, and caught him, and
said unto him, O thou of little faith,
wherefore didst thou doubt?"
The next verse is my favorite part of this story!
"And when they were come into the ship,
the wind ceased."

The Lord DOESN'T stop the boisterous wind from blowing.
It kept blowing until AFTER they got to the ship!
The Lord DOES walk with Peter back to the ship.

This story has become a reality in my life.
I started doubting my worth and my purpose.
I was drowning in doubt, depression and anxiety.
I cried out asking the Lord to save me.
He stretched forth his hand that very moment
and gave me what I needed to walk again.
He didn't stop my storm.
I still am struggling with depression and anxiety,
but he has been walking with me.
He has been talking to me.
He has been leading me to the people
and things that I have needed to
build my faith in this season of my life.
I know He will continue to walk with
me through this storm!
He is my strength.
He is full of Grace!
He is the Only Way to find
lasting peace and happiness
even in the storms of life!

Cultivate

Isaiah 42:16

"And I will bring the blind by the way that they knew not; I will lead them to paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them."

I love this scripture because it is a good reminder 

that no matter where we are in life,

the Lord is leading us.

The last few weeks have been rough for me

for various reasons, and it's nice to know

that He'll lead me in the way I should go. 

Even if I don't know why I'm struggling,

it's part of my path and my growth. 

A month or so ago I got invited to be

 a member of Lara Casey's launch team 

for her new book

"Cultivate: A Grace Filled Guide to 

Growing an Intentional Life."

If you don't know being on a launch team

means that you get a copy of the book(usually and ebook),

and then you read it and spread the word about it to those you know.

Having read her first book, I was very excited to dig in to this one.

Life has a funny way of filling up when I'd rather spend my time

reading a book, so I didn't read it as quickly as I liked.

BUT little by little progress is still progress.

I finally finished it a week ago!

It is a well written book that is just 

like sitting down with Lara and having a conversation.

Her words of wisdom have blessed my life.

Heavenly Father has answered some prayers through

 the words in this book.

One of my favorite chapters was about embracing our season of life. 

I came across this gem and it hit me hard:

"Maybe you're in a season of transition, grief, conflict, illness, unanswered prayers, new challenges, or just trying to get by. Maybe you can't imagine how this particular season could be a blessing in disguise. I have a not-so-secret secret to share with you. Do you remember where seeds begin to sprout? In the dirt.  We dismiss the dirt and the mess as bad, trying to keep it off our hands and out of our homes. But dirt hods a certain magic, cradling new life. Your past mistakes, your heartache, your circumstances, and the tension you feel right now in your season--every bit of it is part of your growing ground" (pg. 49).

SO GOOD!

When I think back on the journey I've had the last six years,

I am amazed at how all the hard things have become 

the nourishing soil that as helped me to stretch and

grow and become this woman Heavenly Father 

created me to be.

Sometimes when we're in the thick of it,

it seems impossible that any good will

come out of it in the end,

but I have found in my life

that it all comes together to

help me learn and grow.

The quote above got me thinking about another
book I read called
"Aspire: Discovering Your Purpose
Through the Power of Words"
by Kevin Hall.
In it he talks about different words
and breaks down their roots to find their
meaning and he relates his experiences.
It's one of my favorite books.
One of the words he breaks down is Humility.
He says, The Origin of 'humility' is the
Latin word 'humus' meaning soil,
specifically rich, dark, organic soil.
When a see is planted in fertile soil,
it transforms into something far greater.
The acorn becomes the oak tree.
The smallest of seeds carefully planted
in the spring becomes the bounteous
harvest in the fall.
It all Starts with the nurturing quality of the soil--humus."

To get to the rich, dark, organic soil,
it has to be broken down to the basic
elements of the soil.
Sometimes when we are going through challenging times,
we may feel like we are being broken down.
And in a way we are.
We're being broken down so we
can have fertile ground to grow in.
It points us back to our faith in Jesus Christ.
If we didn't have these experiences we wouldn't grow
and become what He created us to be!

I'm so thankful for all the challenges
that have helped me find more humility
and in turn helped me to learn and grow.
I'm so grateful for where I am right now
in my wonderful beautiful life.
I spent so many years,
waiting and trying to have faith
that He was hearing my prayers.
And now I am living the life I always
asked for with an amazing husband and daughter.

There is so much more from Lara's book
that I could share with you,
but I'll leave it at this and let you
read it and discover what you
might need to hear to learn and
grow in your life!

Also, check out this quote from the book and this song.
The Lord loves us each individually!

"One by One" by Paul Cardall and David A Bednar

Spring Learnings

Here are some things I've learned this spring

that I've uncovered as I have been doing my summer 

refresh with my Powersheets!

1. Trust God's plan for my life.  It's always better than I could imagine.
2. I get to cultivate the JOY, not wait for it to happen.
3. Exercise is important!
4. I get to nourish myself so I can have what I need to help others.

Summer is here and I'm really excited!
I'm going to keep better track of
what I'm learning so I can
share more amazingness at the end.

What have you learned this spring?

What I Know For Sure

Today I opened my email inbox to find a newsletter from Emily P. Freeman.

She talked about how Oprah started thinking about what she knew for sure.

There was a day when Oprah was stressed and overwhelmed and 

had to write an article about what she knew for sure

for her magazine.

She wrote, " I'm feeling a little stressed and I know nothing."

I completely know how that feels!

So many times I think I know so much,

but then something shifts or changes

and I realize that I don't know much

"for sure".

There are two things that I know for sure:

1.  God is Love.

2. Change happens. All. The. Time.

Nine weeks ago I started a new 90 day goal

to treat my body like the temple it is.

I thought I knew for sure how to do it.

I've done it before.

This time.

This time has been very different.

I'm in a different season of life

than I was that first time six years ago.

I have a husband and a daughter and a house

to take care of each day.

I have two businesses and another I'm wanting to start.

So many days I feel stressed, depressed, and overwhelmed.

And I realize that I know nothing.

Nothing except that God is Love and change is always happening.

Emily finished her letter talking about how

the question "What do you know for sure?"

was a good one to consider because it

has intentionality built right in to it.

The "for sure" forces thoughtfulness.

She talks about how the things

she knew for sure when she was twenty

are different from the things she knows 

for sure at forty. 

We grow, life changes causing us

to shift and learn.

So instead of writing about what she knew for sure

she decided to keep a record of what she's learning.

(Click here to read what she is doing.)

I absolutely love that!

Those of you who know me, 

know that I love keeping a journal

about my experiences and what I'm learning

in this earth school we call life.

I haven't been as consistent in

writing in my journal since L was born.

I have just recently learned about bullet journaling.

I'm excited to give it a try and see how I feel about it.

I'll be making a list from this month about what 

I've learned and sharing it here!

Come back tomorrow night to see what 

I've learned in May!

Words Have Power--Joy

Words have been a love of mine

from a young age.

I love writing them,

reading them,

and collecting them.

They have inspired love

and kindness in me.

They have helped me

overcome fear and doubt.

They have helped me find

the strength I need to keep

pressing forward with faith.

As I've been reflecting this

new year on what to share 

here in this space,

I've been thinking about 

the power of words in my life.

I often struggle with the

negative, limiting words

that I think and say to myself.

In all the learning and growing

I've done in my life--

especially the last six years--

I've learned to replace those

limiting words and negative

thoughts and beliefs about myself

with positive words and beliefs.

It has been one of the biggest

ways (along with growing my faith)

that I have uncovered

strength to help make my life

more positive even--and especially--

when my life doesn't look

like I want it to look,

and I'm wading through

challenges and trials.

Words are a powerful force

in our lives.

Let's take a look

at powerful, life-giving words

together this year. 

To finish off this post,

I'd like to share with you my 

word for this current season

I'm in in my life.

JOY

Back in November

this word started popping

up everywhere I turned.

It called to me and helped

me look at my life,

and I realized that I hadn't

been doing much to 

cultivate joy in my life.

Last year started out 

really difficult for me,

and I feel like I spent a

good deal of time rising

up from what had happened.

I decided it was time

to work on cultivating

more joy in my life.

Now I'm not talking

about doing huge things

that would make me happy

(although I'm doing some

of those things).

And I'm not talking about

going out and buying things

that I think will bring me joy.

It's more of focusing on

and tending to 

all the little things that 

bring joy into my life.

Quiet conversations.

Playing with my daughter.

My family laughing together.

Finding life-giving words in

my scripture study.

Learning more of my Savior.

Growing my faith.

Time with friends.

Playing the piano.

Writing.

Going on little

adventures with

my husband and daughter.

That's what I'm working on

in this season of my life.

It hasn't happened all at once.

I've still had days where I 

haven't done much,

but it is in the little

by little progress

that is slowly adding up

to filling my home and my life

with life-giving joy.

I've done a lot of studying

in scriptures and talks,

looking for words

and goodness to help

me in my journey of

cultivating joy.

You can read one of my

favorite talks here.

It basically takes

most of the things I've

learned in my studying 

and summarizes it into

an amazing talk

where I found some

key points

in finding and cultivating

joy in my life. 

Here are some of them:

-remember the nature and purpose of our lives is to have joy

-Jesus Christ is JOY!

-look to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith

-give thanks

-keep covenants made

-nurture and guide our children

-nurture and encourage our spouse

There is even more golden

nuggets in this talk.

I highly suggest you read it!

One last quote that I love,

"Joy is powerful,

and focusing on joy

brings God's power

into our lives."

Oh how I would love

to have more of

God's power in my life!

Sometimes looking for the

joy in the trials and challenges

feels hard, but the truth is

that it's always there,

we just get to change our

perspective and see it!

*Just a little side note here. I've recently started 

working on something that brings me

joy, hand lettering! I'm excited to use

this new joy to share words with you.

Both here on the blog and on my

Instagram account.

Follow me at @uncoveringstrength

for more life-giving words!

Goal Setting Part 3

Today's steps for goal setting

are important, but I just

have to say that I always

have to remind myself 

not to get too hung up on them.

You'll see why:0)

Step 4

What is one thing I want to cultivate in the year ahead?

So I have had this answer since around Thanksgiving.

I want to cultivate JOY this year.

Last year was trying for me,

and I spent a good part of the year

just surviving and the other part

of the year trying to rise

up out of the darkness

I had found myself in.

I've done a lot of research

that I'll share in another post,

but JOY for me also has

to do with the connections

I have with other people.

So I also want to cultivate connections

with my husband, my daughter,

my family and my friends.

Step 5

Here's where I get to remember not 

to get hung up. 

It's okay to stop and 

feel the yucky feelings.

We need to feel those things,

but don't pack a bag and stay there.

I am an imperfect person.

I firmly believe that all the

hard things that happen to us

and all the mistakes we make

are learning opportunities.

(Wow, I needed that reminder today!)

What are the challenges you experienced in 2016?

-Depression. I only recently started to talk about this,

but the beginning of 2016 was full of this.

-I stressed out about my husband's job.

-I spent too much time watching TV and

being on my phone and social media.

-I didn't treat my body as the temple it is.

What lessons did you learn from the challenges?

Here are some lessons I've learned:

Now that I'm past all those challenges

I have been able to see the blessings in them.

God is good.

He has blessed me with

the strength I needed

through His Son,

My Savior.

How grateful I am!

Goal Setting Part 2

The last couple of weeks

I've been trying to 

work on finding a balance

that works better for my body

and working on my goals, 

so writing hasn't been a

recent priority for me,

but I'm back and ready to

share more of my goal setting.

Remember you can find more

tips and examples here

To read the first part of

my goal setting click here.

Step 3

 What good things happened in 2016?

When people think about writing goals,

they usually think about the future,

but I've found that looking back 

can help me uncover goals 

that are more meaningful to me.

Here are three good things from my 2016:

-I'm alive! Read that story here

-Starting Uncovering Strength and finishing my first 100 Day Project

-Being invited to Limitless

What lessons did you learn from the good things?

The number one thing that I learned/remembered again this last year is that Christ is the only way to find the strength I need. I can try all I want to do it myself (and I have), but in the end even my very best isn't enough.  I learned to trust in the Lord and rely on His goodness, His grace, His mercy. I learned that I am needed.  I have a message that He needs me to share. The Word of God is so important to study every day. It gave me strength. It gave me peace. It gave me answers. I get to trust myself to find the answers that I need. It was a year full of learning and remember to whom I should turn not just in my darkest hours, but always. He is the only way I found the strength to do all I did.

That's all I've got for tonight.

Until next time!

Let's Get Going 2017!

In the month leading up to the end of 2016, I saw so many posts on facebook about how horrible 2016 was to people. I am pleased to say that 2016 was actually a good year for me! Yes it started out hard (read that story here), but in the end I was blessed with the strength to get through the hard times and trust the God's got a plan for me and he'll help me find it.

I started off with my word of the year being "simplify," but it never felt quite right. By April I had picked myself up and climbed out of the dark hole I had stepped into and realized that my new word for the year needed to be "Arise." Arise I did! Although still having hard days, I pushed forward with faith, uncovering strength along the way, and accomplished some pretty great things!

Every month I had a plan and worked little by little to accomplish big things! I wrote more on my blog this year than ever before with the 100 Day Project. I started writing a book again. I worked on going through boxes and downsizing a lot of my stuff. I kept my daughter alive. I kept myself alive. I cultivated relationships and reconnected with old friends. I worked on being more grateful for all I have. I had a huge belief breakthrough and now know that I am precious! 

I have a feeling that 2017 is going to be an amazing year as well! Every year for the past 4 years I have had an amazing tool called Powersheets to plan and work on my goals.  Last year was amazing as I completed 9 out of 10 goals from the beginning of the year and made progress on the last goal. This is such cause to celebrate for me! It has been my pattern in the past to set goals and not really accomplish them, but as I've been using the Powersheets, I've been able to uncover goals that really matter to me and do them! 

Guess what? You don't need Powersheets to do this. You can choose to make what matters happen anytime. Lara Casey the creator of Powersheets has a five part blog series that goes through some goal-setting steps that can help you uncover goals that matter to you. You can find them here. I'm going to be sharing my answers to the different steps over the next week or two.  You can do it too! Grab a pen, pencil or other writing utensil and a piece of paper (yes an old bill envelope works too!) and let's get uncovering some meaningful goals!

Step 1: How are you?

I love this step because it's not just a "How are you?" from someone who is just saying it and not listening.  This is a "How are you really doing, friend?" What are you worried about? Scared about? What to do's are taking up space in your head and heart. What are you excited about? Hopeful about? What do you want? Download your thoughts onto paper. Get them out of your head so you can have a clear mind and heart while doing this process.

I am really tired right now. I already am tired from medication I take, but then add having a cold and not being able to sleep very well. I feel exhausted most of the time. I worry that I'm not doing enough in most areas of my life and that I'll give in to the exhaustion every day and do nothing but lay around and watch Netflix. I worry about not being good enough. I love that I have been able to learn about belief breakthrough the last five years, so I can work on my limiting beliefs about myself and the world and start believing in myself and creating new limitless beliefs! I'm hopeful that I am getting started and that I can work step by little step to create amazing things in my life! I want to get busy setting up new routines in my life so I can get back on track with my health and my environment. I feel so excited for the things I have planned this year! It's going to be amazing!

Also, rate each of these areas of your life 1 to 10. One being that you are not satisfied with it and 10 being you are very satisfied and happy with that area. My answers follow each area.

-Health -5- I haven't been treating my body very well since I had L, but I am healthy as in I'm not sick all the time.

-Friends -8- 2016 was a great year for me in reconnecting with old friends and having fun with my friends!

-Family (including your significant other) -8- I have the most amazing family.  We love and support each other. I want to spend more time building up my family members this year.

-Finances -6- I worry about this a lot.  I've definitely got some limiting beliefs I'd like to breakthrough this year.

-Spiritual -8- Immersing myself in the Word of God this last year has been an awe inspiring experience this last year.  I also worked on making my prayers more meaningful.  It has totally been an amazing experience.  This year I want to work on better serving others and being an example of the believers. 

-Work -6- My job as a mom is going pretty well.  L is learning and growing.  I want to start working on putting down my phone and turning off the television so I can spend quality time with her.

-Recreation -8- This has also been fun the last year.  We've been able to do so many things that we love to do this year. I'm determined to still do things even though we've got a child now.

-Environment -7- I started at the end of the year with a goal of getting some cleaning routines going in our house.  It went well until I got busy during the holidays and then I got out of the habits I had sort of created.  This is one of the things I'm planning on getting back to as a clean home helps us all be happier and welcomes the Spirit into our home.

Step 2: What are you chasing?

Watch this video. Chasing Perfect

I definitely struggle with chasing perfect. I want my day to perfectly follow my plan and I get everything done that I "should" do. Enter my toddler and most days I don't get much done...I want to have things be just perfectly like I want them.  I want to have complete control so things go perfectly. But it's just like the ladies in the video say, it's exhausting. You never feel like enough. I struggle with this almost daily, but I am lucky to have the knowledge of a Redeemer.  I know that when I'm not perfect and I make mistakes, I can repent.  I like to remind myself that I am always in my perfect growth process and that usually means my life is messy and imperfect, but it is helping me to learn and grow and become what I was created to be!