echohislove.com

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Hi Girls,    
  First,  I want to say THANK YOU to all the readers for your support this far! You all have been a true encouragement and a blessing to me.
     Second, I am excited to tell you that because Echo is quickly growing,  we are moving this blog to a website! It will be much easier for y'all to view the posts, especially on your mobile devices! I will be posting the same weekly blogs on the website instead of on blogspot.com! To view our new website all you have to do is go to echohislove.com!  From there you can choose to view our home page to learn more about our photographer Kimberly, view our blog, and also get in contact with me through our contact page!
I am so excited for y'all to be able to use this website! I think it will make it easier for everyone! Thank you again to each of you, I am so grateful for the time you take to read the posts every week. I truly appreciate your support and am excited about this new change! As always, feel free to contact me at anytime with questions, comments, or prayer requests. I love getting to know each of you as we walk together in the Lord! I pray each of you have a blessed day!
April Wynn

Seeking Him

"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."  Matthew 6:33     

     Daughters of Christ, I want to ask you, How well do you know your Father? It is easy to claim His love and forgiveness when we need them, but are we putting in the time to truly build a relationship? I know there are a million different things demanding your time and attention, but I promise you none of them are more important than spending time with your Father. Be honest with yourself. Are you the type of daughter that hardly speaks to God, unless she finds her self in tough situation? Are you someone that has every intention of spending time with God, but no matter how hard you try something always gets in the way? Or do you truly spend time every day getting to know the God that gave His life for you? 

      No matter what stage you are in consider these verses from 1 Corinthians 3: 1-2 Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly- mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it.  I love how Paul compares our spiritual life to the process of human life. Without growth we will remain infants.  I love babies, but I would hate to have lived my entire life and still be considered a infant in the eyes of Christ. Our physical bodies are always growing and aging, but what about our Spiritual relationship with Christ. Are we missing out on God's blessings because we can not handle His "solid food"?

     As we grow older the world begins pulling on us in more and more directions. Our responsibilities, and relationships grow and demand more time and effort, making it harder to set a aside time.  If we aren' t intentional about shutting the world out for a few minutes, it will consume all of our time. Satan would love nothing more than to catch our eye with a text message or a notification on our phone to interrupt our time with God. Satan knows we are easily distracted, and he knows our weaknesses. This means we have to be even more determined not to let anything distract us from that sacred time with God.

        We often are quick to ask God for his help when we need Him, but are we seeking Him ever day? We are told to  "Seek ye first the kingdom of God." How many times do we seek other things (boys, friends, beauty...etc)  instead of Christ? Trust me I am just as guilty as anyone else, but I can also tell you what a difference it makes when I set aside daily time with Christ. Spending time everyday empowers you with the strength to handle the day ahead of you.  In order to "Echo" His love we have to make time to hear His voice.

     Start today! Set aside just a few minutes of your day, turn off the TV, silence your phone, and give your Father a few minutes of time. Before this summer ends, develop a habit that will bless the rest of your life!



Photography by Kimberly Wynn

Masks of Perfection

Psalm 139: 16

 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

Mascara, Foundation, Eye Shadow, Blush, Straighteners, Curling Irons, Manicures, Pedicures, Teeth Whiteners.... the list could go on forever!

       Lets be honest, as much as we love our beauty products, sometimes being a girl is exhausting! Don't get me wrong I love getting dressed up for a date with my husband or a fun night with family and friends, and there is nothing wrong with playing with make up and fashion. Yet, the unrealistic standard of beauty in our culture puts an incredible amount of pressure on us to look and feel perfect every time we leave the house. Sometimes the pressure alone is enough to make us feel unworthy of beauty.
      Along with physical expectations, we are conditioned to wear emotional masks and hide how we are feeling inside. We have learned to project a filtered image to the world, while keeping our true selves hidden. Sometimes we hide behind masks to conform, or because we fear hurt, embarrassment or rejection. Unfortunately, most of the time we hide because it is easier to throw on a smile and show the world our beautifully painted mask then our fragile hearts.

     One of the many things that I love about God is that He knows the real us. This means you can take a deep breath, and relax, because you never have to wear a mask with Him. When you come to Him in prayer your hair can be curly, straight, wet, or dry. He is not concerned with whether or not your teeth are white or if your mascara is clumpy. He does not judge you by how much weight you have gained or lost over the past month. He sees straight through the masks the world pressures us to wear, and desires for us to be honest with Him about our thoughts and feelings.
      Sometimes the idea of letting someone see us unmasked can be terrifying; however, God is your creator. He knew "your unformed body" and "all the days" of your life. He knows you better than you know yourself. What a relief it is to think that He sees every imperfection, sin, weakness, and embarrassment of our lives and loves us anyway!
      This week I invite you to take off your masks of perfection and be vulnerable to Christ's unconditional love.  Let Him show you this week how much he loves you!  He longs for you to let down your guard and form an intimate relationship with Him. Enjoy the relief of not having to be perfect in the world's eyes, because you are already made perfect in His!

Photography by Kimberly Wynn

Defining Right and Wrong.

       Psalm 119: 2-5  Joyful are people of integrity, who follow the instructions of the Lord. Joyful are those who obey his laws and search for him with all their hearts. They do not compromise with evil, and they walk only in his paths. You have charged us to keep your commandments carefully.

           Happy Fourth of July weekend everyone! Lately I  have had many discussions about living your life to the fullest in God’s eyes vs the world's eyes.  Our culture is constantly challenging the boundaries right and wrong. Somehow we have started believing the lie that we hold the power to define these two words in our own lives.  Growing up in our tolerant society, we are taught that as long as we feel that what we do is right, then we will never be wrong. We are challenged by pop culture to "Do you" whatever that may be, and that  "you only live once" so we need to define our boundaries and create our own path in life.

             However, as Christians we do not have the power to make these decisions. Even though the world will say that you can do whatever you want to with your life, God tells us that we are to follow His guidelines. Sometimes as Christians, we compromise these standards to accommodate everyone because we are afraid of being accused of being judgemental. However, we cannot accept the world's definitions of right and wrong, because we have to hold ourselves accountable to God’s standards. Please understand, I firmly believe God accepts any and everyone that chooses to follow Him and we should do the same. However, we can not accept the sins of the world into our own lives.  Living your life to the fullest through the world's eyes means creating our own version of right and wrong; however, living life to the fullest through God's eyes means living by His definitions. Ultimately he will hold us accountable to His standard not our own.
                As you make decisions in your life make sure you are measuring your thoughts and actions against God’s definitions of right and wrong not your own. 

 

The Little Things

Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

       Since about the age of 7, I have loved journaling my thoughts! As a young girl my journals were classic "Dear Diary" entries filled with emotional roller coasters of crushes, best friends, and family stories. As I grew up so did my entries (thank goodness)! In middle school my mom challenged me to begin writing down my prayers, and soon my journals were filled with thoughts, questions about life, and many prayer requests! This is when the incredible power of prayer became real to me. Sure, I had heard people say that before and I knew prayer was important, I just didn't realize how much my life could be changed through prayer. 

     As I started writing, I could physically see documented answers to the prayer requests I had written days and even months before. During my last few years of college I wrote very specific prayers for the beginning of life on my own, and over the last few years I continue to see those prayers answered in ways that I could never have thought of just a few years before. The entries have allowed me to see how far back God was piecing my life  together for my future. 

   My journals have always offered me the reassurance that God has his hand on my life and is constantly at work. However, they  have also shown the hesitations in my prayer life. Mentioning requests concerning cancer, death and salvation have always been a part of my prayers; but what I was excluding was the tiny details of my life. I used to feel that many things were too small to mention. God had so many other huge issues to deal with, I felt selfish mentioning the little things I was worried about.  However, when we read Philippians 4:6 again it says in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving present your requests to God.  Philippians does not say, only present your biggest issues to God because God already has a lot on His plate. Instead, it says present EVERYTHING to Him details included. One of the beautiful things about our God, is that he can handle the biggest of situations and the smallest. He really does want us to come to Him with all that is worrying us. He cares about the details even if the world may consider them unimportant.

        The power of prayer is a very rea, awe inspiring gift. We have the ability to speak with God whenever and wherever we want no 4G LTE required. I wonder how many of us actually recognize the beautiful gift that we have. How many old testament characters would have loved to enter the Holy of Hollies and talk to our God whenever they wanted? I challenge you to fully embrace the ability we have to communicate with our God. Do not let Satan cause you to doubt God's ability to handle the even the smallest issues in your life.  Sometimes it is in the small details that we feel God work the most. I love this quote by Pastor Rick Warren,  "Satan tries to limit your prayers, because he knows your prayers will limit him." 

     Throughout your day take advantage of this incredible opportunity to PRAY about anything. Allow Him to show you that He is listening. It doesn't matter when or where, our God has made himself available to us at all times. He is listening and He cares about the details of your life, as well as the storms that are shaking the world. I will never understand how He can listen and answer every request  brought to Him, but that is why He is God and I am not! Isn't it amazing to know that the Ruler of the Heavens and Earth keeps the world spinning while also listening to the details of your life! 

Psalm 116:2 Because he bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath! 

"Comparison Kills Contenment"

Philippians 4:11 Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances

    If you came to visit my apartment about a year ago, you would have seen "Comparison kills Contentment" written on my bathroom mirror. I am sure my husband loves my "dry erase marker on our mirror" habit, but it was formed years ago by my wonderful mother! I usually change the verse out about every week; however, this quote from Karen Hunt stayed up on the mirror for almost 6 months, because I found it was something that I constantly needed to be reminded of each and every day.
       If we are honest, most of us have struggled with a comparison at some point in our lives.  It is one of the most difficult things to control, because most of the time we do not intend to compare ourselves to others, it just happens. Whether it is a magazine cover, a post on social media, or even a stranger in the mall, our mind does a quick comparison with just one glance. Before we realize what we are doing, we can identify all the things "she" has that we are missing.
       Comparison is a dangerous spiral to fall into because, we are either tearing ourselves down by wishing for something else, or we are tearing someone else down to boost our confidence. It doesn't matter which category you fall into, comparison is a mind battle that results in hurt and discontentment. If we long to be like or even look like someone else, then our focus is on that other person. If we pick apart someone else's flaws to make ourselves feel better, then we and have placed our focus on ourselves. In both of these situations our focus of life has shifted, even if only for a few moments, it has moved from God to someone else. How can we live for Christ when we shift our focus from Him?
      A few years ago someone told me that "Contentment isn't having what you want, it is wanting what you have." At the time, I wrote those words down because I liked the idea of wanting what I had. I thought that if  I could learn to always want the things I had, then maybe I would never fall into the trap of comparison again. However, I am learning now, that even though wanting what I have is a great thing, it still requires my focus to be on myself. Although, we should always be thankful for the blessings God has given us, He still longs for our focus and desire in life to be on Him and only Him! The key to true satisfaction in our lives is to focus on God.
     Don't waste your beautiful life comparing it to a friend's or even a celebrities life. Nothing they have will make you happy, or fill that longing for contentment. Instead shift your focus off of everything else and place it back on God. He has blessed you with your life and desires for you to spend it focusing on Him.  Find your peace in God, because searching elsewhere for contentment will only lead to a life of exhausting measurements and comparisons. Ask God to help you guard your mind from comparison, and shift your focus back on Him!

Photography by Kimberly Wynn

What choice will you make?

      Mark 14: 72  Immediately the rooster crowed the second time. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows twice you will disown me three times.”And he broke down and wept.      

       I can not imagine the betrayal Jesus felt as He was denied by one of his closest friends. Being rejected by anyone hurts, but if you have ever felt betrayed by a family member or best friend, you know that the pain cuts deep.  
        When I read this story in Mark 14, I always find myself wondering how I would have handled Peter's situation.  Some days, I feel that I would be able to stand up for Christ. Other times when I truly put myself in Peter's place, I wonder if I would have also succumb to the fear of death and torture. Would I have caused Jesus that same pain? Thankfully, most of us living in the United States have not been pressed with this same life or death situation. However, we are all still faced with the choice to acknowledge or deny Christ.
         We are often asked the same question Peter was given; however it is masked in different forms. Like Peter, we have to option to identify with Christ, or choose to ignore that we know Him. Sometimes, the question is disguised as choosing to participate in underage drinking at a party.  Sometimes it comes in the form of a guy or even a boyfriend who wants to go a little too far. Other times the choice is a decision about what kind of language to use, or even what picture to post on Instagram. In each of these life situations we are asked the same question Peter was given, and we have a choice to deny Christ or to acknowledge Him. Even though we are not always giving a verbal answer, our actions answer just as loudly. 
     Think of the ways today that you are choosing to acknowledge or deny Christ in your own life. If the mask of the situation is taken off, what answer are your actions giving? Do you choose to acknowledge Christ? Or do you deny Him? Are you somewhere in between, acknowledging Him on Sundays and denying Him on Friday night? Do you reflect Him in your social media accounts, or does your Instagram look like the rest of the world's? It is easy to judge Peter in this passage of Scripture, because he was given a direct question, but if we are honest, we each face Peter's test in our own lives, and we too have the choice to either acknowledge or deny Christ. 
      Just like the servant girl was watching Peter, you are also being watched by those around you. They may not be directly asking you if you know Christ, but you can be sure that they are taking note of your actions. Be careful how you are living your life, and the choices you are making. They say more about you than know. You have a choice today and everyday to acknowledge Christ or Deny Him. What choice will you make? 


Photography by Sophie Brendle