Money or God?

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As many of you know, I always try to be as transparent as I can when I share anything. However, there’s one topic in my life I don’t share about too often because the war with it has been long and intense at times.

You see I’ve been wagging war with money for a while now. It’s been this constant dance of, “Who will Amanda foundationaly worship and praise: Money or God?”

And I get it… Social media makes things look like I have it all together in this area; however, what if I told you my life constantly asks that I take a gamble with God every single day for provision? What if I told you that I don’t have the promise of a paycheck, but that I completely trust He is going to provide what I need when I need it? What if I told you I’ve learned I don’t need more than half of the things my culture keeps telling me I need?

Then what would you think?

You see I’ve come to a place in life where my cost of living is low. Money doesn’t move me with excitement or fear the way it used to. And the idea of living large is so unappealing. Actually living large at the cost of my doing sounds more like a prison than a palace. It sounds like an endless lifestyle of death and destruction… Something that gives a false illusion of power, based around the way I choose to hustle in life.

But then there’s this other path… This path to prosperity. And when I say prosperity, I mean having more than what I need. Which doesn’t include 6 cars, 2 boats and 3 houses. It more so means having more than enough in a simple setting… Like two shades of lipstick to choose from over one. Or, three beverage options in my fridge over two.

And I don’t know if you get where I’m coming from at all… But I do believe if we are ever going to truly allow God to be the foundation, security and focal point of our lives, then we have to let go of this idea of having money as a savior, lover or intimate friend. We have to be willing to constantly live around our needs, rather than our dire wants. And, most importantly, we have to be willing to trust Him when He says, “I will provide. Just create, live and cultivate life to the best of your ability.” šŸŒ± #cultivatelife #justlive

 

Dethronement

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I see a throne… Itā€™s high and mighty… But Iā€™m struggling with itā€™s dethronement. Why? Well because I like the kingdom of lies my imagination has cultivated inside of my head.

Actually, Iā€™ve become so good at creating and buying false images that I sometimes get confused over whatā€™s real and whatā€™s false.

You see when I begin to feel really insecure, afraid or alone, I find myself desperately wanting to block those feelings. So, I use my imagination as a tool to place myself somewhere that makes me feel more comfortable than the present moment does. Itā€™s like a place of refuge and security for me when life seems insecure and unknown. I find it comforting to create an untrue scenario that settles any shame, pain, fear or anxiety I feel. I create, and my reality seems to fade a way for a moment.

Thereā€™s a huge let down to telling myself lies though… Nothing Iā€™ve told myself is real, but then Iā€™ve created the story so many times that I begin to believe itā€™s real. And so my soul is trapped in a web of deception and manipulation.

So how do I get out? How do I become free from the mess Iā€™ve created? Well, its taken time, but the Holy Spirit has revealed so much truth to me. Heā€™s shown me that itā€™s really unhealthy to use our imaginations to create false worlds. Heā€™s also shown me that I exalt my imagination higher than anything else in my life. But, I donā€™t see how much I worship and praise my imagination because I donā€™t see itā€™s true harm. My lies have blocked me from the truth.

However, the amount of disappointment I keep encountering in my life has kind of become a sign thatā€™s helped me look deeper. Itā€™s kind of caused me to start questioning God about a lot of things that I think and believe. I almost feel like Iā€™m standing in front of a brick wall, but I canā€™t see the wall because Iā€™ve painted a picture on top of it instead. And the picture is just too beautiful to be false. But then when I try to enter the image, I keep running into a wall of disappointment. I keep feeling hurt, let down and deceived. And so I now know that the wall cannot fall until I admit itā€™s a wall, not a fanatical image.

But, I do believe, on the other side of this wall is a path that will continue to lead me into the purposes and promises Godā€™s intended for my life. And so, Iā€™ve asked Holy Spirit to continue to help me remove the false images and the wall, one lie at a time. šŸŒ± #cultivatelife #justlive

Kingdom of Lies

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Lies… Deception… Manipulation… Layers upon layers rest upon my soul. And so my soul feels confused.

But then, my soul doesnā€™t want a fragment of falseness. My soul wants truth. My heart and spirit crave truth too. But then my mind fears the truth because the lies sound so good and feel so powerful and strong. The lies have been given so much weight and support with my thoughts and my words. Iā€™ve helped cultivate this kingdom of lies.

But the fruit… It isnā€™t good. The fruit just causes more pain, heartache and disappointment. And even when I try to believe the pain is for a purpose, I find myself more manipulated and deceived than I was before. Constantly pacing in mental hell as I scream, ā€œWhy?!!!ā€

But I hear God. I hear Him clearly when He says, ā€œWhy would I lead you down a path of deception and manipulation? Why would I bring pain and confusion to your soul? I want you healthy and whole. So let go.ā€

And so… I let go. šŸŒ± #cultivatelife #justlive

One Present Moment

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Can I be honest?… I think about life and death A LOT!

Seriously though… I think about the reality of mortality and what it means to be fully alive on the inside constantly.

Now, recently the Holy Spirit said, “Just live this summer Amanda. Take the next three months and really focus your attention on living.” Of course I needed to know what He meant… So I asked, and this is what He said…

“When you focus your attention on the past, you’re focusing on death. When you focus your attention on the future, you’re too focused on life. I’m asking you to focus your attention… To focus all of who you are on living. And to focus yourself on living is to focus on just being. I know it’s a lot to ask… Especially with your culture, and the anticipation it has to be in tomorrow. But I just need you to do this. I need you to continue to cultivate this habit until it becomes your lifestyle.”

And I don’t really know how this will shift who I am; however; I’ve already begun to realize how stupid I am for ignoring the present.

You see if you’re anything like me then you’ll understand what it feels like to be miserably obsessed with getting to tomorrow. It’s a constant state of not allowing today to be enough because we’ve been taught to fear being content with the present. It’s almost like it’s taboo to say, “I’m choosing to be fully present today.”

But you know… If I can’t get my mind off of tomorrow and I’m constantly thinking about what it will produce, well then I think I’ll wake up one day in my 70s and realize I’ve wasted my life away by being too concerned about tomorrow. I’ll miss the opportunity life gave me to just live and be fully alive from the inside out.

And I’m not saying choosing to just live means I’m going to become lazy or inactive… But what I am saying is I’m trying to make a better attempt at fully leaving the past in the past and allowing the future to unfold one present moment at a time. šŸŒ± #cultivatelife #justlive

The Most Accurate

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Truth be told Iā€™m not the best at being selfless… If I hadnā€™t moved home 2 1/2 years ago to help my mom move forward in life, I donā€™t think Iā€™d be able to be in this moment right now… A moment where Iā€™ve been able to totally lay down everything I want in life to help manage my sisterā€™s art as she follows her dreams in New York City.

And I know this chapter wonā€™t last forever, but lately Iā€™ve found myself wanting to be selfish. A moment happened the other day that forced me to say, ā€œThereā€™s no ā€˜MEā€™ involved anymore. Where I am is a result of following the Holy Spiritā€™s lead, and so a life of selflessness is whatā€™s been cultivated in my heart.ā€

You see Iā€™ve come to learn and truly believe that selflessness is the most accurate measure of loving someone. Because when we can let go and lay down all of our self to be there for another, well it kind of kills off our ego, pride, envy, jealousy, anger, bitterness and hatred. Selflessness canā€™t coexist with any of those things because real, true love canā€™t coexist with any of those things.

And I donā€™t know if Iā€™m making sense… And I also donā€™t know what will come from my choices over the past 2 1/2 years, but I truly hope that following Him has led me into a lifestyle that makes helping others cultivate life that much simpler.

šŸŒ± #cultivatelife #justlive

Year Five

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Five years ago today I watched my dad take his last breath. All in one moment the reality of death made his appearance in my life.

You see it was evidently clear that I was starring at my dad, but then at the same time I wasn’t.

Every part of him (the smile, the jokes, the instigation I couldn’t stand, the love, the brilliant gifting that made him unique)… It was gone. His essence… His soul… His spirit… The aura that filled his body was gone. And so he was gone.

And so that was the moment… The moment I realized life… Life really, truly is temporal. And our bodies…. Our bodies really are nothing more than the vessel we use to travel in while we’re here on earth.

So now you might be thinking, “Amanda, why are you sharing this?” Well… To be completely honest with you, I just really care about the health of people. Actually, let me rephrase that…. I care about the inner health of people. I care that we are alive on the inside. I care that we thrive on the inside. I care that we find grace, love, forgiveness and healing; and then that we maintain that healing long after our moment of transformation.

You see in today’s culture I believe it’s so easy to get caught up in our outer appearance, race, sexual orientation, religion and political background… But don’t forget, before any of that can matter, we are all intangible on the inside first and foremost. We’re all created with some type of God-spark that makes us eternal and immortal.

And so I guess that’s why I’m writing this…. Because I want to remind you and encourage you to look past the surface of what you can see and shift your focus to what you can spiritually feel. Because the health of that “thing” inside of you, that “thing” we all so casually overlook, is what is truly alive in life. šŸŒ± #cultivatelife

Inception

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One of my favorite movies is about a man hired to use a dream machine to plant an idea into the mind of another man… Itā€™s called Inception.

In one scene you find Leonardo DiCaprio (heā€™s the one hired to plant the idea) and his colleagues in a room full of sleeping people who are using the dream machine. One of the men looks at the sleepers, turns to the other men and says, ā€œThey come here every day to sleep?ā€ Another man replies, ā€œNo. They come to be woken up. The dream has become their reality.ā€

ā€œThe dream has become their realityā€… Ironic as it sounds, as I look around at our sleepy culture, I canā€™t help but think about that line.

You see I believe we, as a whole, are becoming more and more like the sleepers in that room. Weā€™ve convinced ourselves we need the internet and devices to survive. Itā€™s not enough anymore to go through life just being. Weā€™ve found a way to convince ourselves that we need to live in an altered, artificial reality. I canā€™t share a photo anymore without thinking, ā€œDo I look good enough?ā€ Because I know there are at least a million other women my age using an artificial app to make them look ā€œthinner, thicker, tanner, toner, younger and more flawlessly perfectā€ than they truly are.

We are living in a dream state. Itā€™s constantly before us every time we pick up these devices to be ā€œsocial.ā€ And itā€™s growing to the point that people feel so down on the way their lives really are that theyā€™re physically altering their appearances.

Okay, so Iā€™m not here to talk down on society, but I am here to be honest. Iā€™m here to say we need to WAKE UP! Life… You know, real, actual life is around us. Itā€™s flawed and full of chaos and it might seem unworthy, but itā€™s REAL and meant to be experienced without the box we all carry in our hands.

And though I donā€™t know how to help our society wake up and see the truth… I do hope we can find the self-discipline and willpower to put down our mind-altering devices, connect to the supernatural and just live life the way it was originally intended to be. šŸŒ± #cultivatelife #justlive

(Side note: These photos are what I actually look like. No editing in the posting šŸ™ƒ)