Perfectionism, Law, Grace

I realized something profound yesterday as I came home from an exhausting midterm that left me frustrated. I studied so hard for this midterm, wrote out the essay's beforehand and even tried to memorize key points I would write about in each essay. But I still did not finish my midterm on time nor did I allow myself any wiggle room for creative thinking during the test. Needless to say I was sad, somewhat angry at myself and oh so frustrated with my answers!

I got home, kneeled down by my bed and tried not to let the tears of disappointment (failure even) flow down my cheeks. Yet they came anyways and so did the realization in prayer that I was a perfectionist. My broken ego wanted to scream that it was so unfair and I tried so hard and studied so long! But that still small Voice interrupted my pity party to say "let go."

Let go of the control, let go of that need to be perfect! Do you really think that a possible C (or even a D) on a test will affect who you are as a person?

This only made me cry even more! You see I was so concerned with the results that I failed to see that not matter what grade I got, I tried! I gave it my best and I studied hard. But I didn't need to worry about whether or not the grade is a B or even a C. As Derek Prince once said...

"God is more concerned with our character than with our achievements. Achievements have importance only in the realm of time, character is eternal. It determines what we will be through eternity."

It was this quote hanging on my mirror that spoke to me loud and clear.

"Let go of perfectionism!"

I've been trying to really live out the verse I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The
life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God,
Galatians 2:20

Jesus never strived for an A in a literature course and He certainly didn't even have time to take a course in literature. No! He lived for God's Kingdom and helped others with compassion and love. So while I finish my education I know that a B or a C won't actually mean anything other than an achievement that matters in the realm of time. Also I've learned that perfectionism is another illusion. (Something I've been saying over and over again; I just needed more time to truly understand that it pertains to perfectionism as well.) Don't get ne wrong, education and good grades are amazing things! It's when we take those things to the extreme and believe the lie that we need to be perfect and be ahead of everybody else in order to be somebody that it turns into not so good and amazing things.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in
all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Provers 3:5-6

Trying hard and being perfect are two very different things. I'm still learning this and need that still small Voice to remind me but I know that with God all things are possible! Matthew 19:26

Perfectionism is the law and I don't want to live in the law; I want Christ to live in me and I praise God that each day I see Him working and living in me by grace! When I allow Jesus Christ to live in my imperfection and brokenness, then and only then will I find true joy, peace and love through His grace and not the law! Let's continue to allow God to use our imperfections for His good purpose. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

None of us are perfect, only Jesus Christ and the Lord our God is completely perfect and our imperfectionism is exactly what they are looking to use to glorify our loving Father! So in a way I'm actually glad I didn't buy into the illusion yesterday because if not for my own failure I would not have noticed Christ's amazing accomplishment already given to me (to all of us) by grace!

May God bless you all!
~Gretchen

Article on Unity

The posts have been lacking lately due to classes and events but I will be posting again soon. For now I wanted to share with you an article I enjoyed that I read on the blog/online ministry Visionary Womanhood.

Finding Unity in Submission

I hope you enjoy the article; please let me know what you think of it!

May God bless you all!
~Gretchen

key ingredient to beating anxiety... three

...to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. Isaiah 61:3

crown of beauty...

oil of joy...

garment of praise...

Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise His holy name.

The next key ingredient to beating anxiety is praise! Praising the Lord is a unique and powerful way that can bring about happiness and peace. Praising God is something that King David always did; Paul also wrote to the churches and encouraged believers to give thanks or pray for the the Lord always.

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Philippians 4:6

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. Colossians 3:17

We see Paul exhort believers to rejoice, give thanks, praise and sing songs to God. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 we see Paul repeat himself to rejoice. Other verses where Paul tells us to rejoice include (and are not limited to) Ephesians 5:19-20, 2 Corinthians 13:12, and Philippians 4:8.

First and foremost we are to praise God because it is showing our love and service to Him. We are able to let Him know how amazing He is and how thankful we are for His compassion, kindness and love for us. But I also believe that praising God chases away all of our worries. When we praise God our minds are focused on praise and not worry. In fact the enemy and evil flee at the sound of rejoicing. It is a way to resist the evil one and pursue God wholeheartedly. (James 4:7)

God can also speak to us during praise. How amazing is it that God chooses to speak to us while we are praising Him!

So remember to praise God; even when our natural inclination is to grumble or complain, choose instead to praise. If you replace praising God every time you feel like complaining or worrying then only good things can come. It's not always easy and it may seem to have no effect at first; but its more effective than we can fathom! It's a way to give our thanks to Father God.

May God bless you all!
~Gretchen

Visionary Womanhood: E-book review

I recently had the privilege of reading Natalie Klejwa’s e-book “Visionary Womanhood Gatherings A Family Strengthening Mentorship Tool for Women and Maidens” and was so excited with the vision she writes about!

Mrs. Klejwa runs Visionary Womanhood website over at VisionaryWomanhood.com. This website is full of visionary articles, resources, and information on how to see life from God’s perspective and what women can do to live a life with vision!

Her e-book could not have come soon enough because as Mrs. Klejwa explains, our culture suffers from nearsightedness and can’t see past the cultural norm that is not in line with God’s vision. This is a book that really helps women get a view of what we can do for not only ourselves, but how to help the future generations become better Christians. It helps us to become people who live selfless lives and give love, joy and help to those who need it. It also helped me to look at my own perspective and if there were any changes I needed to make.

I know people who wear glasses when they need to see far away because they are nearsighted. I too am nearsighted. Because of nearsighted vision I have to drive with my glasses on and read signs with my glasses on. Without them my vision is a little blurry when trying to see things far away. I run the risk of not seeing a very important sign on the road when driving if I don’t wear my glasses. So whenever I drive to new places I make sure to put them on, however I have gotten kind of lazy when I’m driving to places that I know how to get to. But being lazy and not seeing things clearly can cause wrong turns, failure to see a stop sign, or even a crash. This type of blurred vision is not just something that I suffer from, but something that our culture currently suffers from. We need to do something different, we need a vision! Mrs. Klejwa makes this very clear in her book.

In the book I loved the references to the Wemmicks: little wooden people who live in Wemmickville and were created by the Woodcarver. (The author Max Lucado created these wooden Wemmicks to help create a vision of what our world could possibly look like to God.) We like the Wemmicks live in our own little world without ever thinking about God, or the Woodcarver. How many times do we stop and get a perspective that is in line with our Creator? Unfortunately in today’s culture we don’t stop often enough to see His perspective.

Visionary Womanhood teaches women how to take back the vision from our near sighted culture and spread this vision through fellowship, love, and getting in tune with the Creator, God!

I too have suffered from a lack of God’s vision and this book was such a blessing to me that I knew I could no longer be lazy and not put on my glasses while driving. There are pot holes, traffic jams, and faulty stop lights in this world and if we rely on our own faulty vision we will end up crashing.

Thankfully though, Mrs. Klejwa has put together an amazing book to get us back on track with how God sees things. God is much bigger, wiser, and clear sighted, than any of us can ever be. And if we take the time to stop, consider His perspective, and listen to His Words then He can and will prevent us from going down a one way street, running through a stop sign and in the end stop a crash that can hurt us.

Visionary Womanhood has all the resources we need to see clearly, to see the Creators perspective. I encourage you to head on over to Visionary Womanhood and pick up Natalie Klejwa’s book.

I want to thank Mrs. Klejwa for taking the time to help us all get our vision back on track with our heavenly Father’s! I also wanted to personally thank her for letting me review her book; I was so blessed by the book and I pray that she continues to pursue and understand God’s vision. It certainly is something we need today and something that will benefit the generations to come.

Let’s be real women of God, women who love others, give back and pray for the future; let’s be women with a vision!

I am able to give one book as a free give away thanks to Mrs. Klejwa! The first one to leave a comment will be able to receive a copy for free. Please send me your email address and I will be sure to give it to Mrs. Klejwa. You will receive the book soon!

Note: For this week only Natalie Klejwa’s e-book is on sale! From the Sept 19-23 anyone can purchase her book for $2.99; just remember to enter the code LAUNCHWEEK at the checkout. Head on over to the link below to purchase your copy of Visionary Womanhood.You can also download the first chapter for free at the link below (or you can click the icon below) and if you share a tweet or facebook status update about the book.

Click here to order Visionary Womanhood

Don’t forget that the first commenter will be able to get a free copy thanks to Natalie Klejwa! And thank you again Mrs. Klejwa for your amazing book and for sharing your vision from God!




May God bless you all!
~Gretchen

An Amazing Man of God

I apologize for my lack of updates recently. Classes are back in session and things were a little busy. But now I have settled in and the posts should be back to the way they were.

Until then I wanted to share with you a clip of an amazing man of God, his ministry and God's amazing power and love displayed through Nick Vujicic.



May God bless you all!
~Gretchen

children of God, part two

We are all His precious children and God loves to wrap us up in His arms and whisper His love for us in our ears. How many of you used to love to climb into your father or mother’s lap and sit with them? Do you remember what that felt like? I certainly remember being a little girl and wanting to just sit in the lap of my own parents. It didn’t matter if they were sitting talking to someone else, watching TV or reading a book; I just wanted to sit with them. I really loved feeling like daddy’s little princess and hearing my own father (and mother) whisper words of love to me. I feel very blessed to have a dad on earth who could display the same qualities that God, my heavenly Daddy, has and I am extremely grateful to have those memories.

Now I understand that some girls did not get this chance with their own biological fathers and I cannot even imagine the loss that they feel. They may have never gotten the chance to sit in their father’s laps or other circumstances may have not allowed this to happen. But there is good news! God, your heavenly Father longs to do the same thing that your father on earth did not (or did) do. He wants you have child-like faith, so like children you can sit in His lap, listen to His words, and feel His peace and love. Allow Him to show you your true worth! My prayer for these women is this, to sit in your Father’s lap and be the true princess you are. To feel God embrace you with the love and peace that we cannot even fathom! Yes, He loves you that much! You are a princess!

Recently I read a book called “Satisfy My Thirsty Soul: For I am Desperate For Your Presence” by Linda Dillow. In this specific chapter she was describing ways to worship God. Now there are many forms of worship but this type of worship really struck a chord with me because it showed child-like awe and wonder by being in God’s presence. Here is a quote Linda used in her book to describe crawling into our Father’s lap as a form of worship:

"Ultimate worship takes place when we, like children, find ourselves climbing into the lap of our heavenly Father with the desire just to be with Him. At that moment there is no agenda other than to sit in His presence, to love Him, to whisper in His ear our gratitude, to feel His face, to hear His heart, to rest in His embrace, to enjoy the moment, and to understand more fully the God who yearns to enjoy us.” (Satisfy My Thirsty Soul: For I am Desperate For Your Presence)

How true and beautiful is that quote?! I find that God loves it when we humble ourselves like children and climb into His lap just to be with Him. It’s His longing and desire to treat you like the princess you are!

And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18:3


Children have many qualities that I personally believe Jesus was talking about when He says to become like children. Humble, sweet, faithful, trusting, innocent, and full of life are just some of the many qualities children have. They also love to be loved and look up to others with wonder, awe and fascination.

Let’s become more like children today and climb into our heavenly Father’s lap and adore Him with our child-like wonder, trust, love and faith. God is faithful! He wants to hold you close and whisper words of love to you right now!

May God bless you all!
~Gretchen

Women of God update

Hi all! I just wanted to post an update about my Women of God post back in July.

I currently did switch my major to a Liberal Arts degree so that I could focus more on some English Studies. I also realized that there is too much that I don't agree with in Women's Studies that I probably just needed to switch. Anyways, I still have a concentration in that field because of the many courses I took, but I am glad to have taken those courses. It shows me just how much we, as women of God, need to help the feminists return to true femininity and offer compassion and love to them. (Not to their teaching, but to them as individuals.) So my stance is still the same when I say that they are not the true enemies.

Thank you for all of your amazing comments on the issue at hand and I encourage you all to step out in faith and offer some truth, love and kindness to those who have been decieved by feminism.

May God bless you all!
~Gretchen