Growth for Life ~ Page 15 of 17 ~ Jolene Underwood

Choose to Believe

Oct 5, 2015 | Growth for Life | 8 comments

Today is a new day. His mercies are new every, single day. Oh God, thank you for this! And guess what, tomorrow is a new day too. Yes, you can dance now. Laugh. Smile. Rejoice. Yippee! Whether the days are hard or easy, and whether they fly past or drag on, each and...

Lord, I Believe – Help My Unbelief {A Prayer}

Oct 4, 2015 | Growth for Life | 8 comments

Lord, I come to you like the father with his son whom the demons were tormenting. {Mark 9: 14-29} I cry out, Lord I believe. Help my unbelief. I want to stand firm on the belief that you are able to do the hard things. Not only able, but beyond able. Your power is...

The Choices We Make From What We Believe

Oct 3, 2015 | Growth for Life | 3 comments

Every day we make choices based on what we believe. We choose how to respond to others. We may respond harshly or kindly to our children, our spouses, our friends and even that driver who cut us off last week. We may think it’s good to respond kindly to others,...

When You Want to Believe the Lies

Oct 1, 2015 | Growth for Life | 7 comments

I originally planned a different post for this first day of #31DaystoBelieve. Because, really, starting off with wanting to believe lies? Not my idea of the way to begin an encouraging series. Maybe I’ll post what I wrote tomorrow, I don’t know. What I do know is that...

Whispers of Faith After Date Rape

Sep 22, 2015 | Growth for Life | 2 comments

Broken, I sat in my one-bedroom apartment, which I couldn’t afford. Wondering what would become of us. My debts maxed out well beyond anything I could attempt to earn in one year. My job was temporary but my baby was not. I sought God in desperation with no money to...

The Silent Screams of Date Rape

Sep 15, 2015 | Growth for Life | 1 comment

{This story picks up where this post left off; I Said No, He said No Problem.} As soon as he fell asleep, I snuck out of the room. Somehow, I had to get me and my boy home. The tears would have to wait. So would the mental processing of what just happened. Before me...

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When Trying Harder Isn't Helping & You're Tired of Hurting

No matter how hard you try to do the "right" and "good" things, especially as a Christian, sometimes the hard things never end.

It's frustrating and depleting.

You may wonder how to make it through. And why isn't God doing the things you thought he'd do?

Perhaps you're in a season of transition.

You realize you're not the person you thought you'd be. You're not experiencing the "abundant" life you thought you should have by now.

You may look back at your life and wonder, "How did it get this way?" "What happened?" "Why haven't I been able to do (or not do) the things I want to do? Or act the way I want to act with other people?"

You may be feeling exhausted, confused, hurt, and disappointed.

But dealing with all those messy thoughts & feelings seems like too much.

What can you do? Could it ever be different?

It can.

After years of over-serving, people-pleasing, and trying to be a "good" Christian, I bottomed out. In deep pain & utter exhaustion I cried out to God asking for healing, not just for the recent trauma & extreme stress I'd endured, but for the years of fears that held me back from being who I sensed I was designed to be.

It was a scary prayer, so I asked God for courage to face the steps of growth that would be difficult.

Since then, I've experienced a tremendous amount of healing & pursued a lifelong journey of growth.

Today, I feel more fully alive as the person God designed me to be. The journey that began with a prayer in 2013 continues today

If you're ready to dig into a journey of growth & healing too, I'd love to support you through the content I share &/or the groups I lead.

When you subscribe to email updates, you'll receive a couple of messages from me. I'd love it if you replied to say, "HI" and let me know you're ready to experience...

Growth for LIFE.