ABOUT

Hi there! So glad you dropped by!

A few things about me...I love hiking + new adventures! Cooking + reading are some of my favourite things to do! I love a good game night with my peeps. My relationship with Jesus is everything to me + it’s something I strive to grow in daily.

But on top of all of this, I have always loved to help people. People are my passion after all. So why not use that passion to help people in multiple ways from anywhere in the world, at anytime, all from the convenience of my phone. NOT a type of service that is based on consumption + greed, but value + giving! This is where MONAT comes in!!! I currently am working on leading, mentoring + building a team to have the same opportunity as myself! Want to learn more? Click on the link below to discover more!

In the meantime, I hope you have a fantastic day! I can’t wait to hear from you!

Dolly 😊

Reflections —

A small collection of some of the reflections I’ve had over the years

Psalm 91:1

Recently I was privileged with the opportunity to share a short devotional on one of my favourite passages. This passage has been so near and dear to me for so many reasons, but the way it became so near to me was due to a book. This book, “Uninvited” by Lysa Terkeurst, brought me to a deep place of realizing the beauty of being “Uninvited.”

To be completely honest, I don’t remember much about the book. It’s been several years since I read it. But the one chapter that never left my memory was the chapter called “Moving Through the Desperate In-Between.” When I read this chapter, I was moving into an in-between stage. I was just about to quit my old job and move into the one I am currently at. It was an extremely trying and hard time for me as the uncertainty of what lay ahead was looming right at the other side of a few days. I was worried about if I was making the right choice. Would it work out? Was it too soon? Should I stay? It was so difficult. Yet, God walked me through this beautiful chapter and brought me to this one right then.

This Psalm brought so much peace and hope moving through this season that I have yet to forget it and pray I never do. I was challenged (from whom or where I can’t recall) to put my name into the spots where it is talking about the person. Not God, the person. For example, in verse 1, it says “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.” So it would look like this, “Dolly who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.” I continued this on into the rest of the Psalm and it came alive for me. It still does to this day.

During the short devotional I shared these short thoughts from the chapter of “Uninvited” along with the beautiful message verse one holds from Psalm 91. I hope it blesses your soul as it did (and is still.)

Psalm 91:1 – “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.”

We all need shelter from something, someone or somewhere. What is something that you are needing shelter from today? While you ponder on this thought, this verse looks like it is repeating itself, the repetition actually brings out a deeper meaning as each line continues on.

First, what does it mean to dwell? To dwell means to remain for a time, keep the attention directed to or on.

Second, what does shelter look like to you and why do you need it, look for it or want it? A shelter is a covering or a hiding place. It is something that covers, affords protection or even provides food or shelter.

Thirdly, what does it mean to abide? How do you think it is different from dwelling? To abide means to lodge, pass (stay) the night. It means to bear patiently, wait for, endure without yielding and accept without objection.

Finally, why do we abide in a shadow? What can shadows provide for us? A shadow is an inseparable companion or follower. It is an area near an object. It provides relief from the heat and can be a pervasive and dominant influence.

So how does all this apply to verse one? So many days we are wanting shelter or relief from something. Sometimes we want to hide from things in us, around us or even just going outside of us! I know I do. As the days go by, I am learning that running from these things never fixes anything. Yet the devil lies about the pain these things can sometimes inflict and how facing this pain will hurt more than heal.

In a lot of ways, this is true. It is true that the pain does hurt more than heal when we try to “fix” our problems on our own. And that’s what the devil wants us to do, believe and live in. A problem that can be “fixed” by things this world was never meant to heal.

We are pain ridden people. In this Psalm, David is looking for relief from something. That’s why he is running to God. In our world, pain touches everything. This pain is called and caused by sin. Try and think of one thing that pain and sin don’t and can’t touch.

We look to many things to “fix” this pain and problem but more often than not, this pain is numbed. It could be numbed by even good things such as music, entertainment, books, school, people, travelling, work and more! What are some of the things that you have and are turning to to numb out?

The reality is, we were never meant to fix, bury, numb or even try and run from the pain. None of these will work. Trust me. I’ve tried and failed. So many others have tried and failed.

We were designed to find hope and relief and peace from our pain by turning that pain over to someone else who could not only fix the pain but get to the root of it all and heal it. Healing is where the relief begins. Healing isn’t pain free, but it is an ultimate fix to the wound.

“Pain is the invitation for God to move in and replace our faltering strength with His.” Lysa Terkeurst

So, how do we allow this healing process to begin? To take place? How do we practice it daily?

Psalm 91.

Go back to those definitions I gave you for verse 1, how would you go about applying this to knowing how to find healing from the pain you experience?

This psalm is packed with so much hope and restoration but focus here on what we MUST do to even enter into a space of being able to start the healing process. What sticks out to you?

Here’s what stood out to me:

· We have to first approach a place to dwell. This means we have to first approach God to dwell. Dwelling doesn’t happen without approaching that shelter to dwell in.
· This approach, especially when it is in God’s presence, MUST be a humbled one. We can’t approach God with all our pride and stuck up-ness! It just won’t and doesn’t work. It won’t allow Him to work on anything because the whole time WE will be in the way of God doing what He can do best. And that is healing us from the inside out.
· So, how do we approach humbly? We acknowledge a need. A need we can no longer handle on our own and we were never meant to handle. We approach with brokenness to a powerful God who loves u so much even though He is the MOST HIGH!
· What makes you afraid to approach the Most High or be humbled?
· When we approach in humility, brokenness and acknowledging a need, we are found to not only dwell, but abiding in that shadow that will provide relief.

I need to be remaining for a time in in the hiding place that affords protection with my attention directed on the Most High. And then I do that I will be able to stay there in this protected space longer, bear with greater patience, wait in a new way, endure without giving up and accepting His plans without objection. All of this is only found when I become an inseparable follower of Jesus Christ. To become an inseparable follower, I need to first humbly approach this dwelling place. This hiding place and admit my need for the protection my soul longs for and craves. And when I do this, I find these beautiful gifts of abiding in the shadow of the Almighty. To find the relief that the heat of the world pours out and this Shadow becomes this beautiful dominant influence in my life. An influence that teaches me to never stop, always persevere, wait, accept and trust deeper. A true follower will love deeper, serve harder and surrender more willingly.

This is the beauty of Psalm 91:1.

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