Not Ashamed

Hi y’all! I realize it has been about a week since my last post. Truth be told, last week I was detoxing from all the travel and then this week, I’ve had such a rough and discouraging start to the week…to say the least. It started with a Monday full of parental discouragement when my whole day was spent either arguing with Addisyn, or trying to discipline (yet desperately failing) Kellan. Yesterday didn’t get much better when it seemed as though things were just crumbling around me, with my business at the forefront of the crappy day. Have you ever had one of those weeks?

I was reminded this morning of some advice I received last year from another photographer.  She told me to be who I am unapologetically and to not be ashamed of who God made me. I guess she could sense I was holding back and lacking confidence in many areas in life. So today is going to be one of the days that I just put myself out there – unfiltered and unashamed.

One of the things that defines me is my faith in Jesus. I try very hard to not just say that, but to live it without fear of how the world will view it. I try hard to share that side of me because I really think the works of Jesus are so awesome that they should be shared far and wide. But, if I am being honest, I don’t think I do that often enough. Then there was yesterday.  Yesterday was so bad that I hit a breaking point. By 3:00pm in the afternoon I was angry, discouraged, and hopeless and I literally cursed God. It took the whole night to try to come back around again. Even after asking God for forgiveness and having a really good conversation with Steve, I was really nervous about today because I thought it may be a repeat of yesterday. And then I woke up with these words in my head, “This is the day that the Lord hath made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.” After getting out of the shower I wanted to make sure I started the day out rejoicing God for giving me this day so I went straight downstairs, started my coffee, and opened the Bible to read a verse I read the other day which is so very applicable to my week so far. I decided I would boldly go forward and put this out there in hopes that someone else will be encouraged by it. In the end, I’m not ashamed that I had a bad day. I’m not ashamed that I need to turn to God in a real and vulnerable way, and in full assurance that He is my King, my friend, and my counselor. He hears my struggles and pain.

Hebrews 4:14-16

14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. 16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

He encourages us to approach His throne of grace “with confidence.” We can be real with Him. We don’t have to fear to ask Him to meet our needs and we don’t have to be ashamed of our bad days. We don’t have to be afraid because we know He has lived in this world and empathizes with us. He experienced it all and overcame it all for us. Do not be ashamed and turn to Him.

xo, stacy