Transformation Guest Post Series: Ruth from Valued Mom

Welcome to the Fifth Guest Post in Faith In Every Day's Transformation Series! Where other bloggers are sharing their transformations: Mind, Body and Soul in Christ! It has been such an inspiration and encouragement to hear these ladies stories! 

If this is your first time reading this series make sure you check out the other transformation posts: 

Krista from Growing In Grace and Beauty 

Amanda from His Passion, Our Fashion

Dawn from Journeys In Grace 

Tesha from Kick Hell Out 

This final guest post is Ruth from Valued Mom. 

Though I have never fasted I can definitely see the amazing clarity from God that can come from it! I mean if they do it in the Bible to hear from God, we should too! 

Take a few minutes to read the inspirational post Ruth wrote about how God transformed her life! 

You Make Me Brave

It was January 2013.  A new year, a new opportunity, a renewal of energy and ambition.  

My church planned to do a Daniel Fast.  A Daniel Fast is where you eat nothing but fruits, vegetables, and whole grains for a period of time.  Some people do the Daniel Fast in order to lose weight.  Our church does the Daniel Fast because, with all the newness that a year brings, it’s important to us that we seek God first and pray about what His will is for our life as we go through the year.  

The Daniel Fast is based out of a scripture in the Bible in the book of Daniel, Chapter 10.  In this scripture, Daniel fasts for three weeks in order to get a Word from God.  After those three weeks, Daniel is visited by an angel, hears from God, and God gives Daniel a vision.  

Likewise, we do the Daniel Fast seeking a Word from the Lord about various circumstances in our life and the lives of others that we care for.  It’s a time to completely devote ourselves to God and show God that nothing is more important than Him – not even our desire for yummy, delicious food.  

In place of eating our regular food, we eat according to the Daniel Fast guidelines (fruits, vegetables, and whole grains) and every time our stomach growls for something else or the temptation to sneak in a cookie at the work place comes along, we pray to God for strength.  In our house, we not only pray during the day at each meal and every time temptation comes along, but we also have family Bible Study every night and we spend individual time with God every night instead of watching tv.

The truth of the matter is that I don’t like the Daniel Fast.  Not because of the time devoted to God.  I am a “prayer-er” and I pray throughout the day.  BUT… I am a “sugaraholic”.  I’m addicted to sugar.  To go three weeks without sugar is dreadful for me. 

I couldn’t fully participate in 2012 because I was pregnant. I did what I could and fasted from television for the three weeks as my husband watched what he ate and followed the Daniel Fast guidelines. I knew that the next time we did the Daniel Fast I wanted to fully participate. In 2012, God had opened so many doors for us and blessed every situation we prayed and fasted over. When the time came around again in 2013, I was pretty excited to participate. I knew I had some things I needed God to work out for me.

First and foremost, I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. I felt like God was calling me to leave my business but I just wasn’t quite sure.  After all, when you pour sweat, tears, and blood into something, it’s hard to just let it go. I was at a place where I couldn’t do it alone.  Even though I thought I could, I couldn’t.  I couldn’t make huge decisions about my career without first seeking God and I needed to hear from God Himself.

As I went through the three weeks of fasting, I prayed that God would give me a clear sense of direction with what I should be doing with my life – either become a Stay-at-Home Mom or continue to own my business.  God brought me to several scriptures that became my cornerstone for the decision I ultimately made.  

The first story that He brought me back to over and over again was the story of the Israelites leaving Egypt in Exodus.  That story became my map for what to do.  I knew that God was going to take me to a promised place, a place of milk and honey, but I needed to make sure I was being obedient to Him so I didn’t get stuck in my own wilderness for 40 years!  

The second scripture that God pointed out to me directly was in Nehemiah, Nehemiah 6:3 to be exact.  Part of the verse says “I am doing a great work so that I cannot come down.”  I felt like God was telling me that it was time to do a great work and despite the temptations of the world – ego, pride, accolades, financial success, career success, etc – I needed to continue to be obedient to God and not allow anything to distract me.  With that, I decided to walk away from my business. 

Becoming a Stay-at-Home Mom was never my “career plan” or even in the realm of possibilities for me.  I have always been an overachiever in school and in my career so to become “just a mom” and not doing “anything” was really not something that I was looking forward to.  God, however, has shown me that motherhood is my calling and raising my children and being a supportive wife are my ministries.  This was His plan for my life, not my own. 

It took a lot of courage to walk away from it all and to focus on the priorities that God has laid out for me… God, my spouse, my children, and then everything else.  My life was prioritized much differently prior to becoming a Stay-at-Home Mom.  My life revolved around ME and what made ME feel good and what I thought was best for ME.  In fact, my husband has often said publicly that becoming a Stay-at-Home Mom saved our marriage.

Being brave in God transformed my life completely.  It saved my marriage, it has helped me become a better parent, and it has enriched my life in a way that work, education, and money never could.  Making huge changes in life such as career changes or relocation or parenting can be terrifying!  But when God calls you to it, trust and believe that He has it worked out for your good.  He sees the long-term plan.  And when you’re scared, as you will be, allow God to make you brave.

About Ruth:

Ruth is a new stay at home mom to three boys including one brand new baby! She writes over at Valued Mom  in order to encourage, challenge, inspire and support stay at home moms. She knows that stay at home mom receive some negative messages so Valued Mom is a place to go to get a breath of fresh encouraging and positive air. She started Valued Mom because of her own difficult transition from working mom to stay at home mom.

Get Connected with Ruth at ValuedMom! 

Thank you so much Ruth for taking the time to share with us God's plan for your life! I know all too well how hard it is to walk away from something you put all of your efforts into but Gods plan is definitely worth it as you mentioned!! 

Transformation Guest Post Series: Tesha Fritz from Kick Hell Out

Welcome to the Fourth Guest Post in Faith In Every Day's Transformation Series! Where other bloggers are sharing their transformations: Mind, Body and Soul in Christ! It has been such an inspiration and encouragement to hear these ladies stories! 

If this is your first time reading this series make sure you check out the other transformation posts: 

Krista from Growing In Grace and Beauty 

Amanda from His Passion, Our Fashion

Dawn from Journeys In Grace 

Now let me introduce Tesha who blogs over at Kick Hell Out, which is a web based ministry helping people to embrace the hope of Jesus Christ. Kicking Hell out and inviting heaven in! 

Tesha's transformation is something that I related to so much and I believe that you will too! 

Transformed Identity

The truth is I have suffered from an identity crisis.

I lost myself in relationships, in choices, in friendships, in depression, and in thoughts that were not in any way shape or form indicative of the person I really am. Sometimes I cringe to think that I may be characterized to some by those things that I did while I was taking on a fake persona.

Looking back on that time in my life, the friends I had were not friends at all. They were miserable nomads, who wanted entertainment or more misery both at my expense. When I look back on the relationships that I pursued, my own well-being, interests, feelings and emotions were relentlessly played with, stepped on, beat down and abused. Yet in the delusions of my crisis, I felt that this was exactly what I deserved.

My relationship with God was skewed. I took advantage of His grace repetitively and knowingly thinking that He probably didn’t love me anymore. I was convinced that what others said about me, what I thought about me, the way people treated me was much closer to the truth than anything I had ever read in a Bible.

Thinking back on things, at that time I didn’t know one scripture. The clichés that came to mind when I thought about God were not even scripture, and in times of intense crisis they certainly didn’t offer much comfort. I had no clue what God thought about me, and I didn’t even know that I had any value at all. My actions reflected my thoughts, “There is no way I could be on God’s radar.”
Ignorance.

Ignorance robbed me of my identity. The crisis that I suffered was even worse because I was blind to God’s speaking. I had no idea that I was following a road to a fool’s paradise. I had become so masterful at disguising my emotional pain that I was known by many as happy and cheerful. I attended church every Sunday, and very rarely did anything minister to me in my sinister state. I was lost with the map in my hand.

Sinking deeper and deeper into a depressive state, I wholeheartedly believed lies about myself: that I had no value, that I was stupid, that I would never be anything, that I was a coward, that I couldn’t possibly amount to anything to be proud of, that I was unloved, unwanted, and that my time on earth should be done.

Lies! All lies! But in my crisis I believed every single one of them.

So I went into my little room, sat there alone for a while. I located the bottle of pills that I would use to end it all. I decided that day would be the day! That in the next moments I would do the irreversible. In my mind I would be doing everyone a favor.

I sat down on the floor with the bottle. I threw myself down right in front of the couch, and for the first time in my life – I conversed with the Almighty God.

Only His grace could have even lead me to talk to Him. I had never truly prayed this way before, or talked in unrehearsed, non-memorized ways to Him.

Tears covered my face, as I panicked. I asked in hushed whispers between sobs, “What do You want from me?” I cried out “What do You want me to do?”

The answer I received clearer than anything I had ever experienced in prayer. He said, “Live for me!” I was surprised to hear Him in my heart. At that point I had no more desire for questions, no more desires to die, no more desires to follow anyone but Him.

I simply said “Yes!” I invited Jesus into my heart that day, sitting on the brown shag carpet. I said yes! And I meant it! I cried in His presence for a while. I sat there with nothing left to say, but with a decision firmly made in my heart.

I was no longer ignorant. I had heard from Him.

For the first time in my life I felt safe and sure about my existence. I was filled with a sense that I had purpose. And even today I am brought to tears at the thought of His grace toward me! He preserved my life for a reason.

I have no idea how long I was down there on that floor, but I got up. I didn’t have all the answers; I didn’t have all the questions. I couldn’t explain it all, but the difference was evident. I had tapped into God’s desires for my life and knew that I would never let go of what I had discovered about God and myself that day.

I had suffered from an identity crisis, but through it I came to know simply who God is. Because I came to know Him, I have discovered so much about who I am – my worth – my value. I found the key to my true identity.

As I walked closer with Him, He unlocked joy and peace and hope through His Word and His presence.

Many people suffer from an identity crisis. It manifests itself in different ways, but all from the same source, not knowing Jesus Christ as personal Lord and savior. Ignorance of identity is dangerous and deadly!

Perhaps this is you today.

No matter where you are or what you are going through – know that He longs to hear from you. Don’t mask it. Don’t cover it up. Don’t hide it. When you get real with God, then He can be real for you. Today will be your day when you invite Him into your situation, and what once seemed hopeless becomes the key to hope!

He did it for me. He can do it for you! The day I accepted Christ was the day that my life was forever changed! 

Is today your day? Let Him in!

About Tesha:

Tesha Fritz is a wife to Tony and mommy to two amazing children.  She and her husband serve as speakers and presenters at various ministry gatherings.  They also facilitate small groups and love to encourage others.   Tesha is author of the forthcoming book, “Kicking the Hell Out of Your Pain:  30 Days to Unlocking Victorious Living.”  Tesha loves blogging on www.kickhellout.com/blog and connecting with readers on various other social media venues. 

Connect With Tesha On The Web

 www.kickhellout.com/blog

Twitter: @TeshaFritz

Facebook: Tesha Fritz

Pinterest: Tesha Fritz

Thank you so much Tesha for sharing your story with Faith In Every Day! Make sure you all check out her coming book, "Kicking the Hell Out of Your Pain: 30 Days to Unlocking Victorious Living."