welcome to pray. train. grow.
first off, if you’re reading along, i’m so glad you’re here. it is such a gift to welcome you to a space that - in a lot of ways - feels like my heart itself. if you’ve been in our corner for a while, you know that writing is one of my outlets. it serves as a way to process + pray. it connects me to you. writing - to me - quickly becomes a space in which i recognize the big + small, silent + not so silent ways God continues to work in our lives.
last year, i knew it was time to “change courses” but didn’t necessarily know what that looked like. i’d still be doing the same things - writing, coaching, and speaking - but for the first time in my life, really - i felt God nudging me to simply sit still.
it was this wild paradox. God pointed out the direction we would be traveling, but simultaneously said, “not yet.”
so as i sat in silence doing seemingly nothing, i felt lost in many ways. i knew in my core what to do, how to do it, and where the journey would lead - but sat in silence with Him instead. [sometimes patiently, most times not 🙃 ]
the last blog i wrote was March of last year. so it’s been 11 months of sitting. waiting. praying. silence. + lots of space to process.
and in that time - in the stillness - God revealed a lot that i wasn’t necessarily willing to sit still enough to truly see…
the past 8 years of life have been a mix of law school, marriage, motherhood, miscarriage, deciding whether or not we’d stay here in CO, marriage counseling, an endometriosis diagnosis, secondary infertility, working my Zyia Active biz, being certified as a Trainer + Nutrition Coach, and starting my own business. it’s been… a lot.
it’s been go-go-go for 8 years. trying to do all of the things all of the time and be “successful” and check off to-do lists and climb the ladders, etc. etc. etc. + it’s a pace that many of us are very familiar with…the pace of the world…
yet for the first time last March, it’s almost as if God took all of the words out of me, looked me in the eye, and told me to sit down and R E S T.
“REST?!” i yelled in my head. how can i rest when there’s everything to do?! and in the silence of my heart, He reassured me that even while i rested, He was still at work.
pray. train. grow was born out of that time of rest. it was born from the realization that without God as my shelter, the last 8 years of my life would have led life to look drastically different than it does now. our God is not a God of rushing, but a God of steady grace in each moment. pray. train. grow. was born from the realization that in some way, shape or form, every circumstance in our lives is an opportunity He’s given us to train for eternity. pray. train. grow was born from the truth that wherever we find ourselves in life - whether it’s on the way OR in the hallway - His desire for us is to g r o w. even amidst the hard. even amidst the struggle. even amidst the unknown. amidst it all. growth always awaits if we are willing to pause long enough to sit down + lean in.
i’ve learned over the past 11 months that God asks us to rest in many ways. sometimes it’s physically. sometimes it’s mentally. sometimes it’s emotionally. and it’s always spiritually.
so the past 11 months have held a lot rest in all of those ways. and that rest has brought me here: to a new beginning. a desire to share what He’s been up to. the healing He’s brought about as a result of a lot of sitting, silence + r e s t .
welcome to pray. train. grow.
my hope + prayer is that this space serves as a place of rest, encouragement, Truth, + lots of hope. my hope + prayer for this space is that you, too, will be able to see more clearly the ways in which He’s asking you to pray. train. + grow in ways that are uniquely your own. my hope + prayer is that this space reminds you that even while you are sitting. even while you are standing in the hallway. even in your struggle, challenge, heartaches + heartbreaks :: He is working tirelessly to redeem it all.
here’s to this new chapter. this new journey. this beautiful new blooming season that is here only because i finally sat long enough to actually r e s t, heal + take the time to more fully understand who He is, what He is about, and how He makes all things new, always.
“For I am full of words, the spirit within me constrains me. Behold, my heart is like wine that has no vent; like new wineskins, it is ready to burst.” Job 32: 18-19.