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.