Courageous and Full of Love

“Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”  John 13:35

Love is such a universal word.  Everyone understands the word love, the need to be loved, the importance to love, but not everyone takes the actions to genuinely love.

Jesus gives his disciples a command as he gets ready to exit our world and enter into his glory. He commands his disciples to love each other. (John 15:17)  He knew these men would be facing an insane amount of persecution and hatred from the world.  He knew the love they shared and the genuine actions of love would encourage, inspire and strengthen them.

Our world is no different than the world that existed 2,000 years ago.  It is still full of negative thoughts, hatred, and persecution, so when you see one woman courageously stand up to make a difference, it inspires you.  She is a woman who decides to live out love each and every day selflessly encouraging other women to realize their beauty both inside and out.  A woman who encourages women to understand their worth. Their true worth in the eyes of the Lord.

Carisa Rasmussen, you are this courageous woman. 

Carisa is a wife, mom, founder and owner of Clean and Lean, a personal trainer and mentor for the Miss Minnesota America Organization, a Fox 9 morning show contributor, a motivational speaker locally and nationally, and was recently nominated for MN's business woman of the year for Minneapolis St. Paul Magazine.

whoa… a lot right?!

But in all that she does, her mission is clear; to change the body from the inside out, to encourage women to love themselves the way they were created, to help them understand their value, and how beautiful, loved and treasured they are.  She transforms them spiritually and physically.   She creates a community of women that helps support and love one another, while being encouraged to live a healthy lifestyle.  She holds a strength and character building classes that raise up women to understand their true potential.  She transforms their inner beauty to match their outer beauty to where they can define themselves by their heart.  

Inspiring, right?!

Here is what I love…Her business might not be Christian based or scream Jesus from the rooftops, and to be honest she doesn’t talk about Jesus.  But talk with her just once one-on-one and you’ll realize God lives within every being of her, and He is using this child of His to reach so many women in an industry that can be all about one’s self.  One’s body.   

But, life hasn’t always been easy for Carisa.  She has had her ups and downs in the journey God has her on in encouraging women and to love as He loved. Her greatest spiritual gift is serving, she gives of herself constantly but genuinely loves doing it.  Because of her generosity, she has experienced being taken advantage of and used.  She has stories, that my naive self didn’t know actually existed.   She has gotten knocked down, even by those “closest” to her, but she courageously keeps getting back up, determined to not let the evil one conquer her.  She steps out in courage and fights back with more love. 

“Don’t let evil conquer you, conquer evil by doing good”  Romans 12:21

Out of everything… her leadership roles in helping women find their inner beauty, her contributions to health and wellness, and perseverance in the face of adversity… Here is what I find most inspiring about Carisa. In all she does (and it’s quite a lot) Carisa (and her husband’s) main focus is to raise up their daughter to know the Lord.  Molly is a large part of why Carisa does what she does.  She wants Molly to understand she is loved by the Lord and her self-esteem is found in the Lord alone.  Molly, like all young girls, will enter into a stage of life where self-doubt creeps in, but knowing she is rooted in His word, His love,  knowing her value is not of this world, will make all the difference for her. 

The true essence of Carisa’s greatness is that she lives a very ‘busy’ life… which we all love to identify with.  The busier we are, the more value we find in ourselves it seems.  But Carisa doesn’t carve out time just for God… God is a lens over everything that she does.  So she doesn’t define herself by her busy schedule… she makes sure she defines herself by a child of Christ by serving God in everything she does.

So I thank you Carisa for being a woman who lives out God’s love in all that you do.  Thank you for creating a community where others can be welcomed, inspired and strengthened. Thank you for selflessly giving of yourself so we can truly understand that we are beautiful, loved and treasured. Thank you for reminding us all that our worth is found only in the eyes of the Lord. 

Thank you for transforming us from the inside out.

... and for having the most contagious laugh.

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I've always wanted more for my shirts. I wanted them to inspire, to encourage, to bring God's word to life.  So much hope can be found in this Book, yet so often we don't take the time to open it up and seek him. My hope with these scripture tanks and tees is to inspire the one who wears and the ones who see.  Your fashion, your dress has the ability to say who or whose you are.  Be a person of grace.  Be one who lives courageously.  Be the person who does more than just speaks truth... show truth.  Be the stranger, the friend that is humble, gentle, patient.  Be the good.

And know you are beautiful, loved, and treasured.  You are His. 

shop here.

You Are His

Many of us, especially women, forget our worth.  We forget how truly beautiful we are.  Instead, we focus on what we may call flaws like gray hairs, wrinkles,  or stretch marks, but what if we focused on the beauty of wisdom within those gray hairs, or the years of joy that lie in the wrinkles, or the beautiful children that God miraculously formed in our womb?  What if we simply started to focus on our inner and outer beauty in the eyes of the Lord rather than just our outer beauty according to the world.

Song of Solomon is a wonderful book in the Bible that centers around God's love for his people. This book may make you blush a few times when you read it, but as you read, you'll start to fully grasp your worth.   I especially love this verse and how God hones into exactly what we need to hear.

"You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you."  Song of Solomon 4:7

We know from the story of creation that God created all things perfect and out of His image.  We know God created each and every one of us.  So when he tells us we are beautiful and we have no flaws, take it to heart and acknowledge and even begin to understand your true beauty.

So often we need to be reminded of this truth, so I partnered with SHINE.  SHINE is a woman's event held at Five Oaks Church in Woodbury, MN that is dedicated to encouraging Christian women to define their beauty, inside and out, according to the word of God.  Its vision is to inspire beautiful hearts.  We created this shirt to remind you of your inner and outer beauty in the eyes of the Lord.  He beautifully created each and every one of us in His image.  We are loved so dearly, and you, dear child of God, are his perfect and treasured creation.  So rest and be at peace knowing you belong to our Heavenly Father.  

you are beautiful, you are loved, you are treasured.  you are His.

The SHINE event will be held, Friday, February 26th in the evening.  All proceeds from this style shirt will go to this event and helping fulfill its mission to inspire women to fully realize their worth.  To fully understand their beauty according to God's word.

I encourage you to shop this shirt and attend the event and allow yourself to be transformed.

 

Courageous Beyond Words

"So be truly glad.  There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold-though your faith is more precious than mere gold.  So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world." 1 Peter 1:6-7

This verse.... Is this woman.

She has been tested, she is still being tested, but she is conquering and bringing glory to our Father.

But here is the most beautiful part of her journey. She doesn't just allow God to lead, she earnestly seeks and desires his leading.  She openly cries out to God to deliver her and lead her on a path where she can bring others closer to God.  She desires to be used to further his kingdom. She opened her heart to the Lord in one of her darkest moments and said. "Okay Lord. Use me. Lead me. Guide me in this fight."

Melissa Borner... You are courageous. 

Several years ago, Melissa's husband lost his job and it was hard. She was also battling infertility.  Then in the midst of all of that God rocked their world and she was diagnosed with Breast Cancer.  This is about the time that I'd curl up in a ball on the couch with a blanket smothering me in a pool of tears...  

But Melissa courageously stood, took a deep breath, nodded and said okay God. Lead me and use me.  And he certainly did. 

She blogged about her journey and inspired everyone with her faith and trust in the Lord.  She continued to lead a small group of girls in the church youth group and developed a true faith in God. She stepped up in the midst of battling cancer and took over women's ministry seeking to deepen and revive. She continued to live and lead her family with grace and love. This girl fought and she fought hard. She was not going to be taken down.  She decided on that day that she would step out in faith... in courage...and grab hold of God, lean on him, and to impact those around her on this journey. 

Her journey was hard, it had its ups and downs, it set backs, moments she wondered why me, but in these moments God was refining and purifying her faith. A faith that brought praise, glory and honor to his name.  A faith that lead her through the hard fight and into place of remission. A place where her body is cancer free! A place where she now stands and reflects on how God was at work within her and how he continues to be. 

Many have a fight. A battle. Many are called out to be strong and courageous, to not be afraid or discouraged. But my prayer is that the many who battle can hold on to the promise, the truth as Melissa did. The truth that there is a power far greater on our side and he will lead us through. God is good and he is sovereign. He alone is our hope. Let him guide you. 

Thank you Melissa for inspiring so many to be courageous and to hold onto the Lord. Thank you for being an example to so many on how to seek the Lord and hold onto his promise, and when we do, he will do great things within us. Your genuine faith is being praised in the Heavens right now.  

I loved following you around with the ever so talented Sarah Marie Photography and capturing your courageous moments in leading the beautiful group of women at Five Oaks Church.  You are rooted and you are loved and I feel so honored that you rocked out our Courageous tee during the "photoshoot."   Thank you for being you and the perfect creation he made you to be.

 

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I always wanted more for my shirts. I wanted them to inspire, to encourage, to bring God's word to life.  So much hope can be found in this Book, yet so often we don't take the time to open it up and seek him. My hope with these scripture tanks and tees is to inspire the one who wears and the ones who see.  Your fashion, your dress says who you are.  Be a person of grace.  Be one who lives courageously.  Be the person who does more than just speaks truth... show truth.  Be the stranger, the friend that is humble, gentle, patient.  Be the good. 

shop here.