Heart-to-Heart Encouragement

[Nannette]

Let’s start with what matters most: you’re loved. I don’t know why it’s so hard for us to deeply, wholly believe that’s true. I’ve heard again and again the whispers of doubt. Can I be a different voice, a louder voice, in your life today?

You really are loved.
Just as you are.
More than you know.

There’s nothing that can change that in your life. Not a bad day, not a mistake, not all the ways you may sometimes worry you fall short. Nothing. So close your eyes, take a deep breath, and let the words wrap themselves around your heart.

I am loved.
It’s wonderfully true.

That means you don’t ever have to prove yourself. You don’t have to strive to earn the affection your heart most longs for. You can be free from continually pursuing more and yet never feeling like enough.

You’re loved in a way that is secure forever. The God who spoke the universe into being has said these words to you: “I love you.” And what he says can never be altered. In a world where so much may change, you can trust that his love will always stay the same. Your heart is truly safe with him.

Now. Tomorrow. Always.


Nannette

For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great are His mercy and loving-kindness toward those who reverently and worshipfully fear Him.
12 As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us
Ps 103:11–12.

For I am persuaded beyond doubt (am sure) that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor things impending and threatening nor things to come, nor powers, 39 Nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:38–39

We love Him, because He first loved us.
1 John 4:19


Heart-to-Heart Encouragement

 

[Nannette]

You’re Beyond Compare


Dear Sister in Christ,

We all compare ourselves to others at times. We look at other women and ask ourselves, “Why can’t I be more like her?” So let me lean across the table and tell you today that you are exactly who you’re created to be.

Before you took your first breath, God placed gifts within you. He wove you together with strengths, abilities, and that smile of yours that lights up a room. He made you irreplaceable.

There’s one thing no other person in the world can do better than you, and that’s simply being you.
You are made in the image of God, and there’s a part of who he is that only shows up in this world through you. You may feel ordinary, but you’re anything but that, sweet girl. You are a masterpiece. A bit of the divine. Extraordinary.

When you let your heart receive that, believe it, live it, then you’re simply agreeing with God. That’s not pride. It’s actually the greatest humility to say, “Yes, God, I affirm that all you made is good—and that includes me too.”
And not only did he form you before you were born, but he also made you a new creation when you gave your life to Jesus. Not simply a new person—a new creation.

In other words, a completely unique being. Here’s why that matters: if there’s only one of something, it can’t be compared. You’re not compared by God to anyone else, and that means you don’t have to compare yourself to others either. You’re accepted, cherished, and even celebrated just as you are.

Will you simply offer this world the gift of you today?

Nanette


Heart-to-Heart Encouragement

 

[Nannette]

You Don’t Have to Try So Hard

Dear Sister in Christ,

You don’t have to try so hard. I know sometimes you think you do. There’s a place inside that worries that if you let up for even just a little while, it may all fall apart—you may fall apart. But here’s the secret: you don’t have to hold yourself, your life, this world together. That’s far too much for any of us.

Instead of holding it all together, can you let yourself be held by the One who loves you? He’s the One who told the weary to come to him. He’s the One who tells us it’s okay to lay our burdens down. He’s the One who invites us to a life not of perfectionism but of peace.

He doesn’t require as much of you as you believe. It feels like he does because so many people have told you it’s true. But our God is not a taskmaster. Instead he’s a loving Father, and he wants his children to rest. Children are not meant to worry and work all the time. They’re meant to receive.

What do you need from God right now? Slow down for a moment and tell him. Whisper the tiredness you feel. Tell him about your frustration. Put words to your suspicion that it’s all too much and you’re not enough.

Then listen for God’s voice in return. Let him reassure you that he’s got you and he’s never letting go. Let him share with you that you are not responsible for results, only obedience. Let him free you from what weighs you down and instead lift you up with love.

You don’t have to try so hard, get so far, run so fast. You only have to reach up to the One who promises to carry you like a daughter in his arms. All the way home.

XOXO
Someone Who Loves You


Heart-to-Heart Encouragement

 

[Nannette]

You’re Beautiful

Dear Sister in Christ,

I wish I could hold a mirror in front of your face and your heart today. I imagine you would be quick to point out what you might call “flaws.” You’d tell me what you’d like to change or how this or that could be a bit better. You’d look at me, expecting me to nod in agreement, but instead I’d smile and shake my head.

Because that’s not how I see you. When I look at you, I see beauty. I see eyes that look out with love. I see a smile that curves with kindness. I see hairs numbered by the One who crafted every last detail of you.

I see the same beauty in your heart too. I delight in the ways you bring joy to others. I cheer for the strength you show and the ways you’re growing. I’m astonished by the ways you’re becoming even more of who you’ve been created to be all along.
We live in a world that tries to define beauty. But I don’t believe beauty is meant to be defined.
Instead it’s meant to be found.

And it can be, if only we have the eyes to see it. Next time you go to the mirror, will you do me a favor? Instead of looking with eyes that are critical and comparing, look with eyes of love and grace.

Then go out and do the same for your sisters. Look into their eyes and tell them that they are beautiful. Look into their hearts and encourage all that is lovely and true. Ask God to help you see this world and those in it from his perspective.
Instead of looking into mirrors to see what we wish could be different, let’s become mirrors for others that reflect God’s love and grace.
You’re truly beautiful.

XOXO
Someone Who Loves You


Heart-to-Heart Encouragement

 

[Nannette]

You’re Brave

Dear Sister in Christ,

I’m not sure you realize how brave you are. We tend to define courage in specific ways in our culture. We look at it as bold and loud. But I think most courage is quieter than we realize.

It’s the “yes” we say in our hearts when God asks us to obey.
It’s the silent arms we wrap around the shoulders of someone we love.
It’s the hardly heard step we take outside our comfort zone.

I can almost imagine you now, maybe waving a hand through the air to dismiss those words, a half smile forming on your face. “Oh, that’s nothing,” you’d probably say. But listen here, girl. It’s not nothing.

Those “little” things are what change the world. And they never happen on their own. Each one requires someone to be brave. It’s easy to be courageous for a lifetime and never realize how much it matters.

So pause right now and let yourself acknowledge that you are courageous. It’s okay to do so. Share a moment with Jesus and think about what you two have done together.

Now turn to face the future and just keep doing what you’re doing. Even when it feels small. Even when you wonder if it’s enough. Even when you’re not sure anyone notices. (There’s One who always notices.)

Yes, you’re braver than you know. That shows through who you are, how you live, and the ways you love. The word courage comes from the word heart. Perhaps a woman like you inspired it. I’d like to think so.

XOXO
Someone Who Loves You



Heart-to-Heart Encouragement

 

[Nannette]

You’re Not Alone

Dear Sister in Christ,

We all have moments when we feel alone. In a world where everyone seems to be connected, it seems ironic that studies show we’re more isolated than ever before. That sense of separateness can create cracks that let lies slip into our hearts.

Lies that say, “Everyone has more friends than you.”
Lies that taunt, “Maybe you don’t really belong here.”
Lies that even accuse, “If anyone really knew you, you wouldn’t be loved the same.”

Can we shudder together at the ugliness of those words? And then can we say as sisters that we won’t listen to them anymore?
You are not alone. I am not alone. Even in the moments when we feel like we are.
You do belong. You are wanted. You add value in ways no one else can.

That’s the way God created it to be. In the beginning, he said it wasn’t good for man to be alone, and so he made this world in a way so that never needed to happen again. He created relationships with other human beings. He also promised that he would personally always be with us.

Here’s the catch: we still have the power to shut our hearts. We can say, “I feel alone sometimes, so there must be something wrong with me. So I will hide away until I can become perfect. Then I will reveal who I really am.” We can go through a lifetime of church and work and parties this way—showing up but never really showing who we are.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. Instead we can courageously say, “Here I am, imperfect and messy and broken. We all are. So let’s be that way together.”

Is this hard? Oh yes. Is it risky? Love always is. Yet it’s also the only way to dissolve the illusion that we’re alone, and to help others do the same. We’re better, stronger, more fully alive together.
I need you. You need me. We need each other.

XOXO
Someone Who Loves You

Heart-to-Heart Encouragement

 

[Nannette]

You Can Lay That Down

Dear Sister in Christ,

We all have moments like this, my friend, when our trouble feels big and our faith feels so small.
I think of the story in the Gospels when a man who couldn’t walk was lowered through the roof by his friends and placed at the feet of Jesus. We all get to the point sometimes when we can’t take another step. There’s no shame in that, and you don’t have to pretend to be strong.
Let those who love you carry you. Tell them what you need. Ask for help. See that as an act of courage—not of weakness. Because that’s what it is.

And your part? Simply being willing to be laid before Jesus. You can come to him with your questions, your fears, your hurts. He is still there. He still cares. He has not forgotten you. And he never will.

You don’t need to be stronger. You don’t need to have more faith. You don’t need to pretend everything is okay.
You only need one thing: to be willing.

Jesus can take it from there. He will find a way for you to be carried as far as you need to go. Then he will look at you with eyes of love and heal your heart, your life, in the ways only he can. Be still, friend, and wait. He’s even closer than you realize—he always has been.

XOXO
Someone Who Loves You


Heart-to-Heart Encouragement

 

[Nannette]

You’re Growing

Dear Sister in Christ,

Wow. Just when I think I’ve seen the best of you, you surprise me with something new. Another side of you. Another way you’re a blessing. Another reason to thank God for making wonderful you.

That’s the way it is when we belong to Jesus, because we never stop growing. Moment by moment, day by day, year by year, we become more like him. And here’s the interesting part: we hardly ever notice it. Picture a child with her back to a growth chart, grinning ear to ear as she hears that, yes, she is taller than last month! “How did that happen,” she wonders, “when I was just playing and eating and sleeping and living?”

It’s the same with you. You’re just going about your life, and all the time there are big, important things happening in your heart. Let’s pause for a moment and recognize that together. You’re a bit stronger, more resilient, more loving than you were yesterday. And the same will be true tomorrow.

Here’s the beautiful thing: like that child, you don’t have to strive for it. Growth is not something you can make happen. It comes instead from simply living in relationship with the One who makes all things grow. He promises to complete the process in your life. Your part is simply to be a daughter who lives like she knows how much she’s loved.

Ask him to keep growing you up, sending you out, turning you into all he wants you to be. That’s a prayer he always answers with joy. You are his daughter and he delights in seeing your heart, your life, your story continue to become more beautiful. Even on the days you can’t see it, God does. And those who love you do too.

XOXO
Someone Who Loves You


Heart-to-Heart Encouragement

 

[Nannette]

You Can Stand Tall

Dear Sister in Christ,

I see the way you sometimes duck your head, the quiet questions that fill your eyes, the subtle step you take back from the crowd. You’re thinking, “I’m not enough to be here.” So let me chase your heart for a moment to that corner where you’re hiding and tell you the truth instead. “Oh, yes, you are enough. . . . You are even more than enough.”

You might shake your head at me in a soft protest. “You don’t understand,” you might say. “You don’t know my faults and failures. You don’t know my past or the problems that chase me.”

I’d nod, agreeing, and say, “You’re right. I don’t. But I know something even more important—I know who you belong to, and that changes everything.”

The reality is, none of us are enough on our own. We’re all weak and fallen, broken and helpless, sinners in need of a Savior. But our story doesn’t stop there. We do have a Savior. And he trades our nothing for his everything, our brokenness for his wholeness, our inadequacy for his identity.

Are you perfect? No, ma’am. Neither am I. Nor is anyone else.

But are you enough? Yes, ma’am. I am too. So is everyone who belongs to him.
We are enough because Jesus is enough in us.

You are made in the image of God. Isn’t that miraculous? So when you want to go to the corner, dare to step into the center of his will instead. When you want to shrink back in fear, go forward in faith. When the whispers and lies get loud, listen to the voice within your heart that can silence them all.

You are not meant for hiding. You are meant for highlighting the One who created you, calls you by name, and invites you out of the shadows and into the light of his love.

XOXO
Someone Who Loves You

(Ps. 3:3; Matt. 5:14–16; Gal. 2:20)

Heart-to-Heart Encouragement

 

[Nannette]

You’re a Child of God


Dear Sister in Christ,

You feel the weight of so much responsibility sometimes. It’s like the world is sitting on your shoulders. I watch it bend you over, bit by bit, and even though you try to be brave, I know there are moments when you feel you might be crushed.

Will you listen close for a moment? You don’t have to carry so much. I know you feel like that’s what love requires. I know you believe it’s expected of you. And in a world where so many are selfish, I admire that you’re willing even to try. That is rare and beautiful. Yet this is not your burden to hold. You can’t sustain it. Deep down inside you know this is true.

When you get ready to lay it down, fear taunts you. You worry about what will happen to those you love and this great, big world. Listen, friend, your shoulders are not broad enough for all of this. The only shoulders wide enough are the ones that stretched across the wooden beams of a cross.

You belong to the Jesus who died so you wouldn’t have to carry all this weight. You belong to the God who spoke the world into being. You belong to the Spirit who dwells in every heart and knows each person’s thoughts. You are invited to join in the divine purposes of the kingdom of God, to be a partner in his great and glorious work, but you are not responsible for it.

Asking you to take responsibility for this world would be like asking a toddler to take charge of his father’s house. No loving parent would expect that from his child. And your heavenly Father doesn’t ask it of you. What does he ask? What any parent does: love and obedience.

You are a child, and life is not meant to be so full of burdens that you can’t enjoy what your heavenly Father wants to give you. When your arms and heart and life are so full, how can you receive from him? Let some of it go. Just lay it down.

You’re not meant to live feeling so weighed down. Instead, you’re created to be lifted up by the heavenly Father who cherishes you more than you can even know.

XOXO
Someone Who Loves You

(Isa. 53:5; Matt. 11:28; Matt. 18:1–5)

Heart-to-Heart Encouragement

 

[Nannette]

You’re Celebrated

Dear Sister in Christ,

Sometimes you just need to be celebrated. Not only on your birthday, but on ordinary days like this one. Days when you’re just going about your business, doing what you need to do, being who you are, and thinking all of that is nothing really special.

But it is, because you were created by a God who is a master of design. Each part of you, from the top of your head to the bottom of your feet, is a miracle. When you look in the mirror and wish the reflection could be different, he looks at who he’s made you to be and declares that it is good.
The same goes for all that’s inside of you too. Your strengths, your gifts, your abilities—all of those are handpicked and lovingly placed within you. You look across the room and wish you could be more like someone else. God looks at who you are and sees the ways he wants to use you to make a difference in his kingdom.

Can you dare to find joy in who you are today? I know it seems scandalous. But by recognizing who you are, the wonder of who God has made you, you give him glory. It’s the same as when you praise him as you see a stunning sunset, a wave crashing onto the beach, a bird taking flight on a spring morning. The difference is, with you it’s even more of an act of faith to praise him because it requires silencing the lies, looking past the flaws, and choosing to believe what God says about you rather than what the enemy wants to declare.

Say it, sister, in the quietness of your heart and then eventually out loud: “I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Thank you, God.”
Simple. Powerful. True.

Those words can change the world.
And repeated every day, they’ll surely change you.

XOXO
Someone Who Loves You


Heart-to-Heart Encouragement