Shaken: Discovering Your True Identity in the Midst of Life's Storms

But the more you make the choice to live above your feelings, to trust God instead of what you may feel like doing, the stronger your faith becomes. It’s not about being perfect. We will always been on a journey of growing closer to God.

What God knows about us is more important than what others think.

You never know how the tough times you are going through today will inspire someone else tomorrow.

We were created by Love, in love, and for love.

When who you are is grounded in whose you are, you realize it doesn’t matter what life throws your way.

And while I may get hurt, disappointed, or frustrated […], my foundation doesn’t have to change.

It’s important to take God’s love personally, though it may not be an easy thing to do. Sure, God loves the world, but he also loves each one of us individually.

When we are willing to let God shape our identity, He will take whatever we have to offer and multiply it in ways and for a purpose that we cannot even begin to imagine.

Regardless of how your life will impact others and what that will look like, I just know that when your identity is grounded in God, when you trust in Him, you become part of a bigger picture. And you begin to live out this wonderful poem He has written for your life. This is the truth when life is smooth sailing, and this is the truth when storms come.

AN UNLIKELY VICTORY Cut to the battlefield. When David steps out into the valley, his country’s army cheering him on while simultaneously thinking he

You know what I’ve learned in the process? How important it is not to allow either the highs or the lows in life to determine who you are.

Continue to fight. Continue to hope. Continue to have faith. I promise you, it’s worth it.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.

What we do in life echoes in eternity.

How important it is not to allow either the highs or the lows in life dictate who you are.

Be yourself, and let God be God.

Tell someone how much you appreciate him or her.

When is the last time you did something different? Something beyond your comfort zone?

Sometimes we just need, even for a minute, to stop. Step outside of ourselves. Pay attention to the world around us. And do something, no matter how small, to lighten someone’s load. It’s about perspective.

He designed us to live in relationship with Him first and foremost, and then with others.

While it makes you feel good to please people, it makes you feel fulfilled to please God.

I try to choose courage time and time again to believe that God’s got everything under control.

When you want to be the most powerful or the strongest, always choose love over fear. “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18).

If people like me, I will strive to know whose I am. If people don’t like me, I will still strive to know whose I am. If I play football, I will strive to know whose I am. If I never play again, I’ll still strive to know whose I am. Whether I’m praised or criticized, popular or outcast, rich or poor, I will always strive to remember that I belong. That I am loved. That I am a child of God.

Martin Luther wrote, “This life is not righteousness, but growth in righteousness. It is not healthy, but healing; not being, but becoming; not rest, but exercise. We are not yet what we shall be, but we are growing toward it. This is not the end, but it is the road.

If you are always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be. —MAYA ANGELOU

Hard truth can sting, but it’s better to deal with a bruised ego than a lifetime of regret.