Dear Little Girl…Protect Your Peace

Dear Little Girl,

There will be moments when you look around and wonder if everyone else is ahead of you.

Someone else's marriage will look easier.
Someone else's family will seem more peaceful.
Someone else's success will feel louder.
Someone else's life will look more certain.

And before you realize it, your heart will start measuring.

Am I behind?
Did I miss something?
Why does their life seem easier than mine?

But comparison is a thief that quietly steals your peace.

God never asked you to carry someone else’s story.

You were never meant to live someone else's calling, marriage, timeline, or path.

You were created for your life.

The one with its twists.
Its healing.
Its slow growth.
Its unexpected beauty.

When you fix your eyes on what someone else has, you begin to lose sight of what God is doing in you.

Peace doesn’t grow in comparison.

Peace grows in trust.

Trust that God knows your story.
Trust that your timing is not a mistake.
Trust that the life you are living is the one He is shaping.

So when the noise of comparison gets loud…

Come back to stillness.
Come back to gratitude.
Come back to the quiet truth that God is writing a story in you that no one else could live.

And that story is enough.

Love,
Amy

Worthy Heart

A Monday Morning Reflection

Yesterday in church our pastor talked about the cost and the benefit of following Jesus.

At first, the cost looked like early mornings.

But somewhere along the way those early mornings became my favorite part of the day.

Those quiet moments with Jesus are where these Dear Little Girl letters are born.
And maybe, just maybe, they are reaching someone who needs them.

Sometimes I catch myself wishing it all moved faster.

More readers.
More responses.
Speaking opportunities.
The book written already.

But today I realized something.

I am actually at peace with where I am.

The last two weeks have been incredibly busy at the studio. My life is full of dance, MELT, kids, and family. Six years ago I never could have imagined this life.

Back then I thought my future looked completely different.

But God knew better.

When I look around, comparison still tries to sneak in.

I see marriages that look easier.
Couples sharing wine at dinner.
People traveling more.
New cars.
Beautiful homes.

And if I’m not careful, my heart starts measuring again.

But the truth is…

I don’t know the cost of someone else’s life.

And when I stop comparing and start counting my blessings, I see something entirely different.

Will is thriving and knows the Lord.
JP is finding his way in New York and just landed his first gig.
Graeme, even when he gives me a run for the money, has the sweetest heart.

And yesterday, as I watched the children in our show — some with special needs — I was reminded again how much we have to be grateful for.

My life may not look like what I once imagined.

But it is so good.

Or maybe the better word is and.

It is different and it is good.

Yesterday our pastor shared a quote by Dallas Willard that stuck with me:

"Discipleship to Jesus is the greatest opportunity we will ever have in life."

The truth is, following Jesus changes everything.

Getting to know Him slowly transforms the way you see your life, your struggles, your relationships, and even your dreams.

And those quiet mornings with Him?

They are like treasure hidden in a field.

They are like oil under the surface in Texas.

More valuable than anything else I own.

Because in those moments Jesus gives me something the world cannot give:

Peace in the middle of pain.
Joy in the middle of uncertainty.
Love even when I feel alone.

That is the real benefit of walking with Him.

And that is how we protect our peace.

Not by having a perfect life.

But by choosing to meet with Jesus every day and trusting that the story He is writing in us is exactly the one we are meant to live.

Prayer

Jesus,

Thank you for these quiet mornings.

Thank you for the mornings when I am grateful.
And the mornings when I am angry and you calm my heart.
The mornings when I am afraid and you help me breathe.
The mornings when I am so sad all I can do is cry and you simply sit with me.
And the mornings when my thoughts bounce everywhere like a ping-pong ball and you gently bring me back to peace.

Thank you for loving me.

Thank you for loving my family.

Thank you for the story you are writing in my life — even when I cannot see where it is going.

Help me keep my eyes on you and not on comparison.

Remind me that your timing is never a mistake.

And help every person reading this remember that you are writing a beautiful story in their life too.

Amen.

Dear Little Girl, You Don't Need a Formula to Be Loved by God: Why real faith isn’t built on quiet time culture — it’s built on relationship.

Dear Little Girl,

Somewhere along the way, you started to wonder if you were doing it “right.”

Right way to pray.
Right way to believe.
Right way to meet with God.
Right way to grow spiritually.

You heard words like quiet time, discipline, consistency, structure — and instead of feeling invited, you felt a little evaluated.

Like there was a checklist.
Like God was keeping score.
Like intimacy with Him had a format.

But here’s the truth you’re allowed to remember:

God is not impressed by your methods.
He is moved by your presence.

Sometimes your time with Him looks like a Bible open and a warm cup of coffee before the house wakes up.

And sometimes it looks like:
“Hey God… it’s me again. I’m tired. I’m scared. I don’t know what to do.”

Both count.
Both matter.
Both are prayer.

You don’t need a perfect routine to be close to God.
You need a real relationship.

The kind where you show up messy.
The kind where you argue, doubt, cry, ramble, vent, thank Him, forget about Him, and then come back again.

Because that’s what love looks like.

Not a formula.
Not a performance.
Not a spiritual productivity plan.

Just presence.

Some days your connection will be deep and reflective.
Some days it will be five minutes in the car.
Some days it will be a song that cracks your heart open.
Some days it will be a journal entry that starts with:
“God, where are you?”

And none of those days disqualify you.

Spiritual growth isn’t built on intensity.
It’s built on honesty.

Not how early you wake up.
Not how many chapters you read.
Not how eloquent your prayers sound.

But how often you come back.

Again and again and again.

Even when you’re angry.
Even when you’re confused.
Even when you’re exhausted.
Even when you don’t feel anything at all.

Especially then.

So if you’ve ever felt like you were failing at faith because you couldn’t keep up with someone else’s version of it…

Let this be the reframe:

You are not behind.
You are not doing it wrong.
You are not disappointing God.

You are building a relationship the only way relationships are built:

By showing up as yourself.

And whispering,
“Hey God… it’s me again.”

That’s not weak faith.
That’s real faith.

And it’s more than enough.

Love,
The woman who learned God doesn’t want her perfection —
He wants her heart. 🤍

Twenty-Five Years: What the Tide Taught Me About Love

Author’s Note:
This reflection was written from a place of gratitude and growth—not crisis. It shares lessons from the past, not a moment of urgency in the present.

Twenty-Five Years.

That sentence still takes my breath away.

If I’m honest, it feels nothing short of a miracle. Trey and I have shared beautiful memories over the past twenty-five years — moments of laughter, deep love, and joy. We have also walked through seasons that were painful, heavy, and far more real than I ever imagined when we said I do.

Did we always like each other?
That answer is a hard no.

But I do believe we have always loved each other. At least, I know I have loved him — even in the ugliest seasons. And I think that may be the quiet truth of long marriages: you won’t always like each other, but if there is even a mustard seed of love, there is hope.

This year, we celebrated our anniversary in Punta Cana. When we landed, it was pouring rain — the kind that makes you pause and wonder if the universe is trying to tell you something. It brought me back to our honeymoon twenty-five years ago, when I realized one of the tiny diamonds in my wedding band was missing. I thought that was an omen too.

Now I see those moments differently.

Sometimes things go missing.
Sometimes it rains when you hoped for sunshine.
And still — the sun rises again.

What matters most is what we do in those moments.

Over the years, I’ve learned to turn not to the world for guidance, but to God. The world often means well, but when something isn’t His will, the rain seems to linger. When I turn to Him, eventually the clouds move.

And they did.

We woke up the next morning to sunshine — soft and warm.

Strength, Trust, and Learning Again

On this trip, we decided to start a new tradition together: lifting weights.

Anyone who knows me knows I hate weights. Trey knows this very well. But strength matters at this stage of life, so we showed up together — awkward at first, unsure, then slowly finding a rhythm.

It felt like a mirror of our marriage.

We didn’t start strong. We didn’t know what we were doing. And I had to learn — again — how to trust. When trust is broken, rebuilding it takes time. But slowly, steadily, we are.

We spent quiet days by the pool and long walks on the beach. We swam with sharks — terrifying and exhilarating — and I held a stingray, slimy and strange, thinking how familiar fear and courage can feel. At one point, we floated in the middle of the ocean on a platform, receiving massages with nothing but water and sky around us.

I remember thinking, How lucky am I?

And also feeling heavy.

Both were true.

What I’m Proud of After Twenty-Five Years

I am proud of myself for staying.

Not blindly.
Not silently.
But with boundaries.

When we married, we promised for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health. And we have lived every one of those words.

I want to say this clearly: if there is physical abuse, you leave. Period. That is a line I will never blur.

What I learned is that boundaries are not punishment — they are protection. They are fences that keep the bad out so the good has a chance to survive inside. Without them, harm grows quietly. With them, even when life isn’t perfect, there can be safety.

Boundaries gave me my voice.
They gave me back me.
They gave me my worth.

I stayed because I finally had myself — not because I lost myself.

Trust Lives in the Body

For many years, I didn’t trust my inner voice. I explained discomfort away. I tried to make everything feel okay so tension would disappear.

It didn’t.

What I’m learning now is that trust lives in the body. When my body doesn’t feel safe, I’m allowed to get quiet — not to disappear, but to listen.

That quiet isn’t shutting down anymore.
It’s discernment.

Healing isn’t linear, and love doesn’t always feel light. Sometimes it feels sober. Sometimes it feels tender and unsure. And sometimes it feels like grief — grief for who I thought I was, who I thought we were, and what I imagined marriage would look like.

But there is also gratitude.

I don’t miss the mean.
I don’t miss the numb.
I don’t miss the version of myself without a voice.

What the Tide Taught Me

On our last morning, I stood at the edge of the ocean and noticed the boundary where water meets land. The tide rolled in and out — never the same, always moving.

That’s what our marriage feels like now.

It rises.
It falls.
It changes.

And the boundary — where water meets land — is beautiful. Necessary. Sacred.

I stopped asking for signs and started asking for trust. God is the truth, the way, and the light. Not every storm is a message. Sometimes it’s just weather passing through.

And it does.

Coming Home, Hope Intact

It rained again as we packed to leave. By the time we drove away, the sun was shining. Our flight home was easy. The flight attendants toasted us with champagne for twenty-five years. I left a gift behind for the woman who cleaned our room, hoping it might bless her.

We came home to a broken dishwasher.

I laughed.

Life, in all its irony.

Good and bad. Joy and frustration. Love and grief — all living together.

We are not promised sunshine and rainbows every day this side of heaven.

But we are promised presence.
We are promised growth.
And we are promised that love, when tended with truth and boundaries, can deepen instead of disappear.

After twenty-five years, I don’t have all the answers.

But I have my voice.
I have my faith.
And I have hope — steady, honest, and still standing.

And for now, that is more than enough.

Let Freedom Ring

Happy Fourth of July!!!!!

The Fourth of July is always a good time! Amen?! Parades, hot dogs, watermelons, swimming, fireworks, barbecues, just to name a few things that happen every fourth.

Our little community always has the sweetest parade with popsicles, watermelon eating contest, and fun for all!

The question is…

Every Fourth, do we really grasp what the Fourth of July really is about? Or do we just say, “Whoo Hoo! We are FREE! We are independent! We are America!”

I looked it up and here is what google has to say about the Fourth:

On July 4th, the Continental Congress formally adopted the Declaration of Independence, which had been written largely by Jefferson. Though the vote for actual independence took place on July 2nd, from then on the 4th became the day that was celebrated as the birth of American independence.

American Independence!

Independence we know means a state of being independent, but to go deeper it means: freedom from the control, influence, support, aid, or the like, of others.

We became a FREE country! When I look at that personally I see good and I see bad….Good because yes we are FREE, but bad because some could and (I would argue do) abuse that. Which is why we need rules. However, I personally think if we could buy into what God has to say about Freedom, our country would be a much better place today! Just my two cents.

What am I referring to?

Galatians 5:13

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.

So many good things there…humble and serving to point out a few things!!!!!

To break it down in Worthy terms here is what I think God is trying to say:

There is freedom that comes with faith in Jesus Christ.

What faith do we need to have in Jesus? Well, for starters we need to believe that Jesus bought our salvation through his blood. He literally died for our freedom, for our salvation, because of His blood we are freed from the slavery to our own sinfulness.

Next thought is what would keep one from sinning if all you have to do is say, “I believe Jesus died for me and I am forgiven, I am free?” Why wouldn’t we just indulge in whatever we want, sex, drugs, rock and roll, stomping on others to get what we want and think we deserve, indulging in too much of something…what keeps a person from doing this if all we have to do is believe?

That is where this verse comes in and Paul, the writer of Galatians, is clearly saying, “Don’t use your freedom in Christ as an opportunity to do whatever, whenever you want, with whoever you want, just because it feels good.” In other words don’t use Christ as an opportunity to selfishly serve your flesh because it feels good to you, because you can, because you want to, because you think you deserve it, because whatever….And he backs that up with…serve one another humbly and in love. BOOF!

When was the last time you served someone humbly and in love?

When I think about this idea I think of all the men and women who have fought and died for you and for me…all so we can be free. Their service to our country is a gift that we do not deserve. We surely do not deserve the gift of forgiveness for all our sins from Jesus… and when I think of all the strangers who have gone to war for you, for me, for this country, and died…. I think WOW! Did they deserve death? No, absolutely not, yet they paid the ultimate price.. and one could argue those of us sitting at home eating our hotdogs and sipping on our beer do not deserve their service. Talk about humbling.

So this Fourth of July….when you think of your freedom, remember those who paid the ultimate price and remember the freedom you are living in through Christ’s blood and remember this….God loves you! So much! So look for His love and strive to serve one another with that same love. If we could all do that….well this world would be a better place. In my humble opinion.

Happy Fourth Friends!!!!

XOXOX,

Amy

aka~Worthy

PS….this Fourth of July remember: The reason we celebrate the Fourth of July is because of our fallen and serving soldiers. These soldiers have fought in the past and many more are still fighting for our country, lives, and freedom so that we can all live in peace. So Peace Be with You!!!! And Happy Fourth!!!!!

Happy Fourth from our Family to Yours!!!!!!