IMG_0532.JPG
 

“emmanuel”

out now

 

Follow Me On Instagram @Savannah_Locke

When you die, nobody will talk about your salary or car or house or hair or makeup or body. ⠀ Like, not one person. ⠀ Yet many of us spend the majority of our time and energy creating tiny kingdoms with our names on it, hoping our hunger for meaning will be satisfied with excess. ⠀ Where you invest your focus, you invest your precious life; life that comes and goes like drops of dew on a blade of grass. It’s good to celebrate another person’s success, but it’s even better to celebrate her character. Her kindness. The way she sacrifices for her family. The hours she works diligently when nobody’s watching. The words she shares that lift up the heads of weary folks in her community. Her loyalty as a friend. Her LOVE. Her humility. Her servanthood. ⠀ Those qualities don’t fade with time. ⠀ In the words of my favorite poet, Benjamin Haggerty (aka Macklemore 😂😂😂😂): “Things are just things, they don't make you who you are. Can't pack up a U-Haul and take it with you when you're gone.” ⠀ Things are fine, but they will literally end up in a garbage dump in thirty years. Your face is GOING to get wrinkly. Your boobs WILL sag. Your hair WILL grey. Your money doesn’t make the trek with you into eternity. But when you get old and irrelevant on social media, you’ll be stuck with your own soul. ⠀ What then? Where is your value? Where is your identity? ⠀ Soul-health is less celebrated on social media, but eternally more valuable. Soul health will take you to the finish line. Soul health not only helps YOU flourish, but creates space for people around you to thrive as well. ⠀ Cheering you on in your journey today! ✨💕
On a recent flight, I experienced some anxiety. If you think I write decent stories on Instagram, imagine the amazing ones I tell in my head 😂. Waiting at the gate, I created the storyboard: the plane’s wing (whichever is closest to my window) would break in two and fling to the earth as oxygen masks fell from the ceiling. We’d brace for impact and plummet to our deaths while leaving voicemails for our loved ones so they’d have one last message to cling to. ⠀ I scanned my ticket and grabbed a seat in the 30th row or so. I noticed how tight my chest was. My head hurt. My hands were clammy. ⠀ ....all before the plane even moved! ⠀ I experienced physical and mental anxiety, not about a real, CURRENT threat but a future, extreeeeemely unlikely, and made-up threat! ⠀ In a prophecy about Jesus, Isaiah describes him as the Prince of Peace. Later on in the Bible, Paul describes peace as evidence of the Holy Spirit in your life. Oftentimes I think of peace on a macro-level, like the absence of war, violence and injustice. But peace is also a personal by-product of being in alignment with God. ⠀ Peace is forfeited in the blink of an eye. One minute you’re enjoying an amazing night with family or friends, grateful for the life God gave you. The next minute you glance at your phone and see photos of a vacation you’re jealous of and your peace is GONE. From gratitude to jealousy, from love to fear, from peace to anxiety in a single second. ⠀ Peace is easily stolen when we time travel, too. That’s what happened on my flight. Sitting at my gate with a dirty chai and awesome podcast in my ears, heading for my very first show, I had a million things to be grateful for. But when I started creating stories of my impending death, I gave up the present moment with Peace for a fictional future with fear. ⠀ “I Am.” ⠀ That’s how God described himself to Moses in Exodus. That’s how God has been describing himself to me lately, too. I Am With You In The Present Moment! And where I Am, there is Peace. ⠀ If you feel yourself traveling time and memories, and find yourself full of anxiety, remember I Am— the Prince of Peace. Pull yourself back to the present moment. God is there (here).
When Albert Einstein graduated college, he became an insurance salesman because no one else would hire him. ⠀ THE Albert Einstein couldn’t get a job. ⠀ Imagine if he gave up! Imagine if his theories and thoughts weren’t given space to come alive! ⠀ How different would our world be? ⠀ - ⠀ When Oprah was 19 she got a dream job on TV, propelling her into being a co-anchor on the news by the age of 22. ⠀ Soon after, she was demoted for being too emotionally invested in her stories. ⠀ Read: Oprah was demoted for the very reason we now LOVE her. ⠀ Imagine if she changed to fit the mold? Imagine if she decided to be LESS emotionally invested, LESS caring, LESS concerned with the heart? ⠀ How different would our world be? ⠀ - ⠀ When Emily Dickinson died, she only had 12 published poems to her name, and those poems were often altered for being too far outside the lines. After her death, over 1,500 unpublished poems were discovered then published, and are now revered as forward-thinking and stunning pieces of art. ⠀ Imagine if she stopped writing because nobody understood her? ⠀ Imagine if we’d never heard the phrase, “Forever is composed of nows” ⠀ or ⠀ “Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul- and sings the tunes without the words- and never stops at all.” ⠀ Imagine if she stopped creating because she wasn’t successful? ⠀ How different would our world be? ⠀ - ⠀ How about you? You have worlds and worlds of creative goodness, scientific thought and business endeavors inside you. ⠀ And honestly? ⠀ It doesn’t matter if people see it or not. What matters is knowing God sees it, all the potential. ⠀ He made you to make things. It’s a perk of being designed in his image. ⠀ What matters is you keep going, knowing every failure is not a Stop Sign, but a jolt forward! ⠀ Failure is not an enemy to fruitfulness! It is a friend! ⠀ It develops grit and humility. If you let it, failure develops a soft heart. ⠀ What matters is you keep creating, dreaming, thinking, growing, and wondering about our world. ⠀ Because without you, how different would our world be? ⠀ Very.
The holidays can be difficult for single people that want to be married. Lots of engagements, weddings, and happy couples kissing under the mistletoe while you’re sitting alone in onesie pajamas watching The Chrstmas Prince 2 for the hundredth time 😂 ⠀ Lots of people shame women (and men!) for feeling lonely during the holidays, saying, “A husband doesn’t make you complete! SINGLENESS IS A GIFT! BE HAPPY!” and you’re like, “I get it, Debbie, but I’m STILL FEELING LONELY so....” ⠀ I’m not about that life. Everyone has heard the one-liners in church, but at the end of the day, being in pain hurts. ⠀ If you’re feeling lonely and sad, I’m sorry. It sucks. It’s true that a spouse doesn’t make you suddenly whole, but marriage *is* an awesome gift and I’m sorry you’re waiting. ⠀ I don’t know why some people get married at 18 and others at 55. I don’t know God’s plan for your life. But I want to remind you God sees you and his heart towards you is kind. He really, really, really loves you. He’s with you in the waiting. He’s with you in loss. He’s with you in disappointment and steadfastness and fulfillment. ⠀ That’s what Christmas is about! Emmanuel. His refusal to leave you alone in your pain. ⠀ Sending every bit of love your way as 2018 comes to a close! You are a treasured child of Love!
I read an article about the physical effect words have on our brains. Did you know a couple scientists put someone in an fMRI scanner and flashed the word “NO” in front of their eyes for less than one second, and instantly, dozens of stress-producing hormones/neurotransmitters were released? Those stress hormones interrupt your brain’s normal ability to be reasonable, implement logic and communicate well. ⠀ With prolonged exposure to negative words (not even negative words ABOUT the person, just negative words in general), listeners experienced anxiety, irritability, and increased prejudice towards others. Negativity breaches trust between human beings. ⠀ Ummmm... imagine how much MORE intensely our brains react with words specifically about us?! ⠀ Our brains respond instantaneously to negative words in order to survive (think Stop Signs and Caution tape). Our brains respond significantly slower to positive words because they aren’t as vital to our immediate survival. ⠀ This is why positive reinforcement- repetitively encouraging each other and ourselves is SO important. The tongue holds the power of life and death, as Proverbs says, and it’s true. You are able to drastically shift your worldview with words! You can also contribute to someone else’s BRAIN health through encouraging words. ⠀ For every negative word, our brain needs 3 positive ones to recover. I have seen at least 500 negative words TODAY, and its only 4pm. That means loading up on positive words (whether it be the Bible, devotionals, a positive IG user, chatting with a friend) is 1000000% necessary for the renewal of our minds. The negative is easy to find. Positive is difficult. ⠀ Here’s the deal. It’s a Monday and everyone needs a little pick-me-up. ⠀ ✨Think of a friend you want to encourage. Tag her below and say a word, sentence or something that sows LIFE into her! When you do it, know you are contributing a positive that can ultimately overcome a negative in her life. ⠀ Your words have the power to affect another person’s wellbeing! This might be a good, small place to start!
Yesterday I gave a plate of fresh cookies to some friends. They invited me inside to chat and I spent the majority of time talking to their daughter. She lost her newborn son this year and it was traumatic and unfair. She and I get along because she’s not afraid to tell the truth: “God and I are taking a break from our relationship because I’m pissed off.” ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀ I smiled and nodded. ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀ I get that feeling....where you look around and wonder why life is working out for EVERYONE else except you. She said, “Even if you gave me one million dollars, it wouldn’t make me happy. I feel myself going back into a depression and I hate it.” ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀ A few tears slipped down her cheeks and she gazed into the kitchen. ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀ I know that gaze. I had that gaze for two years when I addressed a decade’s worth of suppressed trauma from childhood sexual abuse. I saw that gaze in my friend’s eyes as she walked through an overwhelming divorce. I saw it in an old manager’s eyes as he talked about leaving a church he helped build. ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀ That gaze reveals how unkind life can be; how desperate and lonely and sad a human heart can feel. ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀ Then there’s Christmas. The most *wonderful* time of the year for some. For others, every nostalgic song might as well be salt in their deepest wound. Maybe that’s you this year. Maybe that’s been you for the last five years. ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀ I can’t fix anything, but hear this: it’s okay to be sad when everyone else seems happy. Lots of them are sad, too, they’re just not yet brave enough to tell the truth. You’re not crazy or a buzzkill. Like I told my friend, you’re doing the best you can and you’re going to make it. Don’t be afraid to show up this season, even if it makes other people uncomfortable. ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀ Jesus is not uncomfortable because of you, and he’s not afraid of you “ruining” the Christmas season. It’s impossible to ruin the real Christmas because it’s not about glee- it’s about God being with us through hell and high water. If you’re willing to open your heart to real pain and deep sadness, experiencing the nearness of God, you’ll find yourself closer to the spirit of Christmas than Saint Nick ever could be. You’ll be in the presence of God.
The world held its breath, Heaven seemed silent. ⠀ Centuries of Waiting, wondering If you’d ever come. ⠀ A cry in the night— The stillness was broken! ⠀ Born in a field, The King among us Promised One. ⠀ Emmanuel God in our midst. Hovering all around us, You surround us Even now. ⠀ Emmanuel, God who is for us. You are not passive, You’re alive and active Even now. ⠀ You intervene. You never abandon. ⠀ Constantly waking Dead and sleeping Souls to life. ⠀ So we won’t lose heart. Nothing is hopeless. ⠀ The purpose of God The power of hell Cannot defy. ⠀ Emmanuel God in our midst. Hovering all around us, You surround us Even now. ⠀ Emmanuel, God who is for us. You are not passive, You’re alive and active Even now. ⠀ You did not Reveal yourself 2,000 years ago Just to be silent, Just to be silent. ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ You can check out my new song, Emmanuel, on Spotify now! ✨💕
Shame turns your mind from a glass castle to a haunted house, phantoms at your door waiting to pounce when you stumble, kick you when you’re down, whispering lies that turn into echoes that turn into beliefs about yourself, about God. ⠀ Hmmm, God. ⠀ How much has that name been distorted in haunting and darkness? ⠀ From love to hate, from open arms on a tree to pointed finger on a throne judging everyone in sight. From Be Free From Your Suffering to I Will Make You Suffer. From Joy to apathy, from Father to abuser, from King to politician, from Savior to referee. ⠀ Shame warps God. ⠀ God. Jehova Ori. The Lord, My Light. ⠀ God is Light. ⠀ God brings us into light, draws us to himself, weaves us together. ⠀ It seems too good to be true, I know, that God does not carry light but IS light and the closer you get to him, the more naked and unashamed you become... but this IS the gospel! ⠀ That shame’s grip loosens and haunted houses are flung open by Light. ⠀ That shame does not have authority to define God, but God has every authority to dispel shame. ⠀ That you can walk in Light right now! ⠀ Really(!!!) ⠀ Take the first step! ⠀ Tell Shame to go to Hell, where phantoms and ghosts belong. ⠀ Ask God to wake you up, to jolt your soul into the kingdom of light. ⠀ Not too shabby a step to take on this ordinary Friday, if you ask me. 💕
This Truth will bend your mind, offend your ego and heal your heart: ⠀ Jesus loves you, not for a single thing you’ve done, or a single thing you’ve yet to do. ⠀ Not for accepting him into your heart. ⠀ Not for waiting to have sex until you were married. ⠀ Not for voting with your right wing or left hand. ⠀ Not for being straight, theologically conservative, or socially liberal. ⠀ Jesus loves you because he loves you cause he loves you cause he loves you cause he loves you cause he loves you. ⠀ This Truth will bend your mind, offend your ego and heal your heart: ⠀ Jesus loves them, too. ⠀ Yep. The whole lot of ‘em. ⠀ He loves 45. He loves Muslims. He loves the person on Instagram who annoys you with every. single. post. He loves Jonathan van Ness, Oprah, Ellen and John Piper. ⠀ He loves because He IS love. ⠀ So pressure’s off to pick and choose where that love goes. ⠀ It reaches beyond Space, stretches further than Time, deep into the soul of Humankind. ⠀ If you find yourself wiggling in your seat, justifying lines you’ve drawn in dirt separating yourself from them, you’re probably inching up to the real thing. ⠀ The closer you get, the more you’ll change. The more lines you’ll erase. ⠀ The more you’ll embrace these gospel words from John: God did not send Jesus into the world to condemn, but to save. ⠀ Because he loves cause he loves cause he loves cause he loves.
When you look in the mirror What do you see? A body with one million problems Or a house of glory? ⠀ Oh the standards are crushing, Like a disease. Distorting your eyes till you’re blinded To your own beauty. ⠀ Take a look in the mirror. What do you see? A carrier of holy presence, A crown of glory? ⠀ Every line, each expression Tells a story. Don’t turn back time or erase it— Embrace the beauty.

Powered by Squarespace

Cart (0)