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Life is a tricky journey. It’s a roller coaster ride that we all wish would be a fun, blessed and easy one. But life isn’t always easy. We have many highs that feel amazing with joyous celebrations and blessings, and the lows are stomach churning and hard. We sometimes get sick with how fast those highs and lows can change. It’s in our nature to search for things that we can rely on and that give us that 100% guarantee. But, nothing in life is guaranteed 100%.  We want the highs to last for as long possible. Whether it’s relationships, material possessions, jobs, income, etc., we want the good things to last forever. We apply this to material things as well.  When looking for new appliances, I always do my research. I compare the pros and cons of each item, check their warrantees, and look into the company’s reputation for fixing or replacing those items it they should break down. I also make sure that the brand of item I am getting has a reputation for lasting and working better than the other brands. I want to know that the large amount of money I am about to shell out for this item is going to be well worth it. I wouldn’t buy something if I knew it was going to be a lemon. Just like you wouldn’t purchase a car knowing it was through multiple accidents and wont start- you test drive it and check it out first. When my husband and I purchased our first home we had to make sure that we had the house checked out thoroughly. We actually looked at over 30 houses in a very short span of time as we only had a few days to look at and purchase a home. We had to pick the house that needed the least amount of work, was “move-in ready”, and fit the needs of our family for safety and space. We walked throughout each of the homes ourselves to see what we liked and disliked, made a list of items or projects that would need to be completed, and considered all the pros and cons each dwelling had to offer. To be completely sure we were getting a place that didn’t have a ton of issues, we hired a home inspector. He could see things that we were not trained to look for that needed fixing to prevent surprises after we had moved in. Of course, there were things that needed to be fixed and we worked with the seller to have those few items corrected before we closed on the house and began living in it. However, things don’t always go as planned. Life likes to throw curve balls and while we were the top of the roller coaster with joy and elation at purchasing our first home, we quickly nose dived to the bottom. Our third day after moving in, I walked into our downstairs half bath to find water everywhere. Now, no one had used this bathroom yet. The toilet had not been used and flushed and no one had washed their hands in this sink yet. Upon inspection, the toilet broke. Not know what we were doing and wanting to make sure it was just the toilet that needed to be replaced, we called in a plumber. $150 later, we found out that it was indeed the toilet that broke and all was well with the other plumbing. He quoted us $500 to replace the toilet. Now, we didn’t expect to have to pay so much for a plumber to just tell us that the toilet was the issue and now we were being told that in order for him to replace said toilet, he wanted half of a thousand dollars. I don’t know about you but I am the type of person who would rather save a buck and do it myself than pay someone gobs of money to do something that should be rather easy to do. So, to you tube we went. We watched several videos, went to Home Depot, purchased a new toilet and all the parts needed, and replaced the toilet ourselves. Now, we were climbing back to the top or our roller coaster ride because we did something on our own that we had never done before. We were pretty proud of ourselves. To some replacing a toilet may not be a big thing, but to us it was huge. First time home owners and we had a crash course on replacing something within our home. There were many other problems that arose and we had to learn about as well but, again, nothing is guaranteed. We weren’t guaranteed that our home wouldn’t have problems. We even purchased a home warranty to help with problems that arise. Although, this home warranty was a waste of money to us as they didn’t help cover any of the problems that we encountered, it was nice to have for our peace of mind. Now, where am I going with this? I say all that to say this- there is no guarantees in life. No warranties you can purchase or insurance you can get that will assure you that when bad things come, your covered. Except through Jesus. Jesus is the only guarantee in life we need. He created you, set your life up and He knows your future. He said in His Word that he will never leave you nor forsake you. Deuteronomy 31:8 –“The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” He is a relationship that will never fail. His strength endures us and brings us through those low points. He protects us and guides us in the way we need to go. When you are experiencing hard times, He is there. Jeremiah 33:3- “Call to me and I will answer you, and tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know and understand and cannot distinguish”. You may not always feel him. You may think you are praying or talking to the wind, but I assure you He is always listening. He walks with you and many times he is carrying you. He fights battles for you that you have no clue are going on around you. Jeremiah 1:19-“They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, declares the Lord, to deliver you”.  Isaiah 41:10-“So do not fear for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Why does he do all this? Why fight for, listen to and create a mere human who has no power? He does this because He loves you. He loves you with a love that is far beyond our comprehension. He is our guarantee in life. While we can’t guarantee that the appliance, we just bought won’t break a year after purchasing it, or that the car you just took out a loan for wasn’t in an accident; we can be guaranteed that God is always with us. We don’t have to take out a warrantee on his love like we do on our homes or appliances to ensure that if something goes wrong, we are covered. He already did that for us. He used His own blood to cover us. He bought and paid for our souls with his blood on a terrible cross. He was beaten and bruised for our inequities. He paid a price for our sins that we could never pay and in all honesty, we could never repay him for what he did. All he asks in return is your love and giving of your life to serve him. He in turn will bless you, comfort you, strengthen you, guide you, protect you and give you power through his son Jesus who will dwell on the inside of you when you receive him. It’s a gift he is giving you that no one on this earth could ever replicate, promise or take away. Romans 6:23- “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our LORD”. When you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, He will be with you always. His love is a 100% guarantee. Even when you do wrong, he won’t leave you. He doesn’t shame you or hold against you your sins. Once you have repented and accepted him, you are covered. Your sins are washed away and you will be renewed and redeemed.  Romans :23-24- “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet, God in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty of our sins.” He has redeemed us with his blood and it’s a gift of eternal life that he wants to give each and every person. He is our heavenly father and just as we as parents love our children no matter what, He loves us far beyond what we could imagine. He corrects us when we do wrong, he is our conscience, he is our light in the darkness and He is forever our deliverer. I implore you today to just talk to him. When life’s roller coaster gets too stomach churning with all the quick ups and downs, his love is there for us to lean into. Christ is life’s only positive guarantee. The only other guarantee life can offer is death. But death without Christ is a horrible thing. I would rather live my life with Christ and die knowing that when this body breaks down and goes back to the earth, I will wake up in heaven with a new body and live forever with my creator, my savior, my love. Romans 8:18- “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” “The Lord bless you and keep you; the lord makes his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the lord turns his face toward you and give you peace.” Numbers 6:24-26

Sweaty palms. Racing heart. Heavy breathing. I feel like I’m about to pass out. Panic sets in as I question what’s happening to me. Am I having a heart attack? I check my left arm. It’s not numb. Fear grips me as my breathing grows heavier. With my mind racing I try to control my body. I remember the breathing technique the therapist taught me. I began to count and breathe. I steady my mind on my favorite Bible verse and repeat it to myself over and over. I can feel my pulse beginning to steady and my breathing evening out. The worst is over and I resume my day. Anxiety. The one thing I hate so much about myself. It’s this allowance of fear and irrational, overwhelming stress that consumes me and causes me to shy away from events or certain opportunities in life. I wish I could just shut it all off and be normal with no care at all. But the more people I get to know and the more I research anxiety, the more I have come to realize there is no such thing as normal and more people suffer from anxiety than I had originally thought. According to a Forbes article from October of 2023, nearly 40 million people in the U.S. (that’s 19.1% of the population) have an anxiety disorder. Honestly though, can you blame them? Our current world is dealing with so many issues. From our health, financial strain and work to our governmental problems and rumors of war, it’s no wonder that people are so stressed and in fear. The media spews their propaganda daily with fear and false reports. There’s a new variant of COVID or some dangerous virus strain going around. Instagram is filled with preppers telling you that you shouldn’t use these certain products because they are filled with chemicals that can kill you or cause cancer. Reports and recalls of parasites and other harmful things are being found in our foods and we are now being told that we won’t know what foods are even lab grown because they aren’t properly labeled. We should eat organic but not all organic foods are actually organic. We shouldn’t drink bottled water or tap water but not all of the filters are good and the best ones are too expensive for the average American to afford. We want to protect our families so we purchase a gun but if we use that gun to protect ourselves during a robbery, the intruder is the victim and you are arrested. It goes on and on with information that contradicts itself and challenges every bit of fact and truth we have been told. It’s all so confusing and overwhelming. How do we know what’s true and what we should do? Now, please don’t think I’m against prepping and gaining info on items and other things to avoid certain dangers. I try not to be ignorant of the world around me and the truths that have been hidden or are being revealed. I definitely want to know if something is harmful for me and my family and how to avoid it. I myself am all for holistic ways and prepping for the worst. However, we can’t let fear change everything about us and what we do. In all honesty I was guilty of this. I even find myself at times avoiding certain things out of fear because of something I read or heard. Once we let this fear creep into our minds, it’s hard to get it to leave. I know first-hand how fear and anxiety can alter your life and make things so much harder for you. My family watched me go through such an extremely tough season of life as I struggled to get a hold on my anxiety. I was in and out of hospitals and urgent cares, on and off certain medications and even speaking to multiple therapists. There were many days when I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t eat, go out or even watch tv. I had let anxiety take over my life. My kids probably thought I was coocoo for cocoa puffs but they and my husband were so supportive and understanding. I had a great support system at home and at church and it really made a difference. I dug into the Bible and clung to God and His promises. I spoke with a couple therapists and used medication to help control some of the symptoms. Eventually, I began to feel normal again. I still get anxiety, but I use what I learned and rely on those I trust and it helps me get through it. Why am I telling you this? Because I want to help you through your tough times.  I want to share what I have learned about anxiety, treatment and what God says about it. I am by no means a Dr. or therapist. I am only sharing from experience and through what I have learned. In the next few posts, I will be sharing techniques, products and scriptures that I used to help me overcome the worst anxiety season I have ever been through. I will share with you the symptoms and thoughts I had and maybe you will resonate. I created She’s Bible Inspired to share my experiences and what I learned through them to help others. I want people to see the Bible in a different light. Maybe my perspective of God’s word and my view of life as of now will help change your mindset about certain situations or even about how God views those circumstances.  You may ask how I know what God says on these subjects or what he thinks about specific life experiences. Well, He tells us in His word. He still speaks to His children today. he speaks to us through the Bible, dreams, friends and family, and through that still small voice. We need only to listen. “The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.” Numbers 6:24-26

Love. We all want to be loved. We all want to be accepted, to belong and to be loved unconditionally and without judgement or shame. We want a love that makes us feel secure and at peace. A love that we are proud of and that there is no doubt of cheating, malice or manipulation. In today’s world people look for love in every place imaginable. They search for it in false gods, in each other, in the same sex, in themselves and even in their pets. They yearn for someone to validate them and their feelings, their opinions and their beliefs. We all want someone to encourage us and to help us up when we are down. We need that security and trust that comes with unconditional love. But, in our world, there is no such thing as unconditional love. Humans are inherently sinful and within every place you find love, it will fail. It’s made to. It’s in our nature to love, but also to sin. We as humans fail each other and ourselves daily. We lie, steal, cheat, destroy and manipulate. We lack the love we try to find in our partners or our parents. The examples of what love is supposed to be we long to see in our parents or receive from our parents but more times than not, we never receive it. The more we sin, the less we see of love. The darkness of sin and the filthiness that the sin creates muddies the pureness and cleanliness of what love is and does. Love heals, it restores and it provides. Love doesn’t boast, envy, manipulate, cheat, murder, steal, shame, or destroy. It’s a pure and authentic desire. “Love is patient. Love is kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance."  1 Corinthians 13:4-7 This is what love is. We can search far and wide for someone to give us that type of love and we will never find it in this world; this sinful and broken world. So, where do we go to find this pure and authentic love we all so strongly desire? Growing up I thought I knew what love was. I was loved by my parents, those around me and when I got married I knew my husband loved me. All of those things are still true today except a few people who have showed that their love wasn’t authentic for me. My view of love was skewed and manipulated by a few people to where I thought that the love being expressed to me was the real deal but in fact, it was flawed. Maybe there was real love somewhere behind the manipulation and the unspoken words, but it’s hard to tell with how the love was expressed. Have you ever heard the phrase “actions speak louder than words”? In the case of love, this speaks volumes. How we express our love shows our love. One day we might wake up to realize that the love being expressed to us was in fact not love at all and we were being changed into whatever the person wanted us to be. This leaves a cut and a hurt that takes years to heal from and even when you do heal from that wound you have to then learn how to love all over again. It makes us fearful to open our hearts to someone and let them in-in the off chance that their love is void of any true emotional and physical pureness. So again, I pose the question. Where do we go to find this pure and authentic love we all so strongly desire? My friends, when I tell you I found a love that is so unconditional that I have no fear that it will change or suddenly go away, I cry. I cry at how amazing and healing this love is. I speak of the love of God. I grew up hearing that Jesus loves me and died for me. But, it wasn’t until a few years ago that I hit a low point in my life. I was going through so much anxiety and fear that it gripped every part of me. I was dealing with one of those eye opening situations that cuts deep. It had caused a deep canyon of hurt and pain and to be honest, I am still healing from it. I had love all around me. My husband, who is an amazing man and has shown me that he truly loves me; my children and other family and friends have rallied around me expressing their love and encouragement during this low point. It was in this valley of despair that I found the true meaning of “Jesus Loves You”. God met me when I was at my lowest and now whenever I speak about the unconditional love of Jesus, I cry. I get extremely emotional because I feel overwhelmed with a sudden rush of love from the Father. It’s as if He is saying I will never again have to wonder if He loves me, because I feel it. "No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us." 1 John 4:12 When He showed me His love for me I began to understand what unconditional meant. The Bible stories I grew up with changed. The cartoon image of a baby being born in a stable by a virgin and then growing up and dying on a cross for my sins suddenly became a real life event. Now, I knew this was a true story, but the way my mind played out each scene instantly became so vivid and details that I had missed in these stories were now appearing to me. This only deepened my understanding of the love that Jesus has for us. The love that God has been trying to express to his children since the beginning of time has been written in the pages of His word and expressed in His actions; not just back then but still being expressed and fulfilled today. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have ever lasting life." John 3:16 Yes we are in a fallen and sinful world. It is bleak and dark and seems hopeless. We get in these situations where there seems to be no hope and we feel so unloved and unwanted. I want to tell you today that the enemy is trying to destroy you. He is trying to make you think that no one loves you and that even God is mad at you. But, my friends that is just not true. God knew that man was sinful and needed a savior. He knew that we needed to be shown His love and so He expressed that love in a way that nobody in all history or time could or ever would. He sent His son to die on a cross for our sins. He was beaten and bruised, mocked and ridiculed and then died and was separated from God for a time. He loves you with a love that cannot be matched, recreated or even changed. My life is so much richer and fuller since I felt the love of God. My heart has more peace and joy because He dwells there. Yes, my husband loves me with a love that I have not experienced or seen from another person; but he will never be able to give me the love that my Savior has. The love between parents and children and married spouses are supposed to mirror the love of God but they are also different. Our goal is to show the love of Christ to others so that they will experience this love as well. This is how we are to love one another, just as Christ loves us. Maybe you haven't felt like you belong or fit in anywhere. Maybe you've felt like no one cares about or loves you. I want you to know that just isn't true. I love you and I don't even know you. I care about you and your eternity. So does God. He loves you with a love that surpasses all understanding. It never changes, it never diminishes, it never grows bigger and it never cherry-picks who it loves. God loves you. No matter what you have done in life, know that God will forgive you and help you if you only ask. Jesus loves you. You need only call out to Him. He's listening and waiting for you with open arms. "The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face towards you and give you peace." Numbers 6:24-26