If you are reading this on the day this post went live, it is the last day of April. If not, it could already be May. Yikes! I don’t know about you but time has a way of getting away from me.

The saying “April showers bring May flowers” came true around here. We did have some scattered days of sunshine with warm temperatures, but rain was the order of most days.

During the month of April, we finished our walk to the cross and celebrated Easter. Lent was a time of deep reflection and awakening and I loved sharing what I was learning.

I loved diving deeper into Jesus’ walk to the cross as we matched our footsteps with His. We started with creation.

Creation’s journey to the cross began when God designed the world and all that’s in it. It was a foreshadowing of what is to come. God lovingly laid this foundation as a way for us to see Him in everything.

Next, we steered toward The Fall and how the walk into darkness still resulted in living in the light.

The path to the cross not only begins with creation, but continues to where Adam and Eve embraced darkness, mistakenly believing it would lead them to the Light.

Redemption entered in and I contemplated how …

Knowing a handful of seeds can grow deep roots and produce such beautiful goodness on the other side .

And finally, last week, I shared my slow awakening. Find that post HERE. You all were so tender with my words. I am grateful for each of you and how you rally around the members of Tell His Story.

Kayla, Baby Jack, and Daniel

I learned so much on this journey we took together to the cross. The chance to walk it out and allow God to teach me became a beautiful lesson of how God never stops pursuing or inviting me to join Him.

I learned again of the deep love the Father has for me. How walking with Jesus is better than any other walk I have experienced. That the journey to the cross is a lifelong process that grows me with every step. And that Lent was such a deep time of pruning but on the other side is the light of new life.

Nick and Alli

I loved having all of you with me for this journey. You are my people when I share my struggles as well as my joy. What a gift it is to know this community is by my side.

And I am leaning into the rebirth of Spring. The restoration of my own personal darkness into light and the hope that comes when the promises of God are realized.

Just as you are struggling to find the light, a new month dawns and what was becomes an echo of the past. Join me for April musings. #TellHisStory #linkup Share on X
Baby Jack

Throughout this post are some of my favorite photos from the month of April. It was hard to choose just a few. I am also adding a summary of the book, Chosen Not Cheated by Koki Oyuke, a member of the Tell His Story community. You can find her website HERE.

“Every heart longs for meaning. We all want to know that our being here, that our lives, small as they seem at the moment, bear deep significance. But we live in a fallen world, one that shines a light on the popular and successful. So our hearts thin a little each day as the sting of rejection burrows deep into our homes, schools and workplaces. And our lives go unnoticed. We wonder, “Is this it? Is there more to my life? Is God even here with me or will I only find Him at the peak of the mountain called success?”

Chosen Not Cheated seeks to answer these questions and more. It’s a book for those of us who’ve lived most of our lives feeling ripped off; an offering for those of us who feel cheated, unseen and behind in life while everyone else’s seems to be on course.

Through a mix of wit, candour and biblical story, Koki invites us to look back at our lives to see all the ways we have been chosen by God especially when we feel cheated. We tend to think chosen means easy, and big, and great, and definitely without challenges, but that’s the lie that sinks our dreams. We will seldom leave this life without a few bruises or the stink of death. But right there, in the mess, is where we find the sparks of chosen, the everyday holy, the God with us through it all.

Our lives may seem like they’re on pause but such is the quiet building of the Lord. This is a story about becoming in the in-between, thin and hard places we find ourselves in life. It’s about scars—yours and mine—and the journeys that led to them. It’s about discovering the stars that have been lighting our paths all along. Because we’re chosen, not cheated.” 



Link to buy on Amazon: Click HERE

Take a look and cheer on Koki in this brave endeavor of hers.

Blessings as we begin May and shake off the things that hold us back from the Light!

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Each week we gather here as storytellers, word weavers, and encouragers to make His name known. Our story is God’s story and this small corner of the blogging world, where we come together each Tuesday, needs you. This is a place where poetry, snapshots, prayers, and stories find a safe spot to nod in agreement that what we have to say matters.
 
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