Set Apart SPOTLIGHT ft. Courtney Stewart

I'm a huge advocate of real talk, so let me be real with you all for a minute: I hate cliche's. 

I've. Heard. It. All.

"Guys are intimidated by your independence!"

"They must be intimidated by your height." (I'm just under 6 feet tall)

"Guys are intimidated by women in ministry."

"As soon as you stop looking, you'll find him!"

"You need to be more extroverted to snag a man...put yourself out there!"

"It's all in God's timing, don't try and go outside of His plan. Be patient!"

"You're way too mature for the guys around here."

"I just don't understand while you're single...you're so GREAT!"

"Maybe if you prayed more...you know?"

And so on. And so forth.

I'm sure you ladies can relate to me when I say that these conversations are neither soul-filling or encouraging. 

3 Reasons To Put Your Trust In God

Is it hard for you to trust in God?

If I were to answer honestly, I’d say, “Yes!”

In the deepest corner of our hearts, there is a part of us that has a hard time trusting Him. Maybe it’s because we can’t see Him or see what He’s doing behind the scenes of our lives. Maybe it’s because we’ve been hurt by too many people we have trusted in that it spills over.

But the Bible is full of reasons why we should place our confident trust in God:

1.  He will guide your way.  Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”

With websites like MapQuest or having GPS on our smartphones, we can become pretty dependent on these electronic resources to get us where we’re going. But they’re not always right. Have you ever put in an address only to get completely lost?

Single Under Pressure

Valentine’s Day has finally passed, and for some of you that probably comes as a great relief. Seeing couples together may not ordinarily be an issue for you, but there’s something about Valentine’s Day that can only be described as sickeningly sweet. Your Facebook wall is flooded with friends showing off how much their boyfriend or husband splurged on them, your co-workers get flowers and teddy bears and display them in the most prominent location on their desks, and your best friend’s boyfriend chose the most elaborate way to propose to her. 

Get ready for a rant

For some single folks, Valentine’s Day can be rough. They do their best to simply grin and bear it, but that doesn’t change the reality of what’s happening in their heart. Maybe they feel frustrated because it seems like everyone is pitying or looking down on them or maybe they wish they had a relationship so they could feel loved and desired. Truthfully, even for me as a married woman, I wish I could crawl into a hole the
entire “holiday” and only resurface the following day to hoard all discounted candy I can find. If there’s any day designed to make a woman become covetous, single or married, it’s Valentine’s… but I digress.

Set Apart SPOTLIGHT ft. Neeta Manohar

My Life never turned out as I expected it to. And boy, am I glad that it didn’t. To many today  I come across as a person who don’t know what it is to feel pain, to feel broken , to feel unworthy or to feel alone , I guess the constant smile on my face gives me away! (Praise God for the smile today)

As I look back at my life, I feel God’s hand on it to turn every plan of mine into a purpose to help me get closer to Him. I was a person to have it all planned. I was blessed to be a natural at tennis and be good at it, so I planned to play in the Wimbledon one day. That was more than a plan, it was a dream , a desire I worked toward . Unfortunately, it didn’t work out because God had bigger plans for me.

I learned that when I saw God using me in my friends lives and using me as a vessel.  I went to college and studied , something that wouldn’t happen if I played tennis professionally. I would not be able to attend college regularly and miss out on life’s teachings that enabled me to be the person I am today.