Category: Amie

Amie, {Faith}

{Faith} Penny for a Prayer

UYM

Written by: Amie Comber

Have you ever found a penny on the ground?  What was your first thought when you picked up that shiny, or dingy little cent?  I always thought of good or bad luck based on which way that coin was facing, until someone taught me something that changed the way I forever saw a simple penny.

Many years ago I was involved in karate, you know, the really cool activity where you wear white baggy clothes and break boards with your feet?  Yes, that one.  The most amazing karate instructor in the world taught me.  His mission was to teach karate and God’s truths at the same time.  When I walked into class one day, he looked at me and asked if I had seen them.  Confused at what I had missed, he pointed to the doorway where he had scattered pennies on the floor.  I had completely walked over them.  At the start of this class he asked us what we thought of when we saw a penny on the ground.  Echoing the culture around me, I told him that it was a fun way to think of good and bad luck.  He smiled and crouched to the floor and told me that when we see a penny on the ground, it’s a reminder to pray for someone.  He explained further that he viewed a penny as a little gift from God.  When God gave him a penny, he was reminded to send up prayers for those that he would be around and pass by that day.

I now keep a penny in the pocket of every pair of jeans I own. I have faith that God has this day ahead of me already planned out.  I trust that the people I pass by and encounter are the ones that were meant to be there.  This simple penny has been a conversation starter around many a coffee table since the time that my karate instructor introduced this to me.  Right now is a good time to pray.  I guarantee you someone needs it.  At this moment, close your eyes and ask whom God would want you to pray for.  I think you’ll be surprised how easily someone will come to your heart and mind.  Pray for them.  God remembers every conversation you have with Him.  I like to imagine prayers as past coffee dates He’s had with me.

As simple of a reminder as a penny is, it has truly helped me to keep prayer at the forefront of my mind.  Culture has faith, whether big amounts or small, in their fate of luck for that day when they find a penny on the ground.  How much more faith can we have, in the God of the Universe, that He will listen to you when you pray?  Not only listen to you, but also respond to the unique circumstances that your life is in.  Let me remind you, sweet girl, that He always loves, is always there, and is always trustworthy.

Isn’t it amazing that our God is so personal in His communication with us?  He loves you uniquely and has a relationship with you unlike anyone else.  He knows your good days and your bad ones.  So the next time you see a penny, heads or tails, know that God loves you, and loves to hear from His children.

Until next time,

Amie Comber

 

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Amie, {Worth}

{Worth} Snapshot

UYM

Written by: Amie Comber

Have you ever seen a picture wall?  More than simply seeing one, have you ever made one?  Be proud of me, I put on my creative hat and forced myself to do something artsy one afternoon.  My picture wall was the product of that endeavour.

Each picture on that wall holds some special memory for me.  A local coffee shop, a place I’ve travelled to, even multicoloured balloons that I bought a darling friend for her birthday.  To anyone else, it would just be a collage of pictures on a wall, something to gaze at for a moment, but forgotten in the next.  But to me, they are irreplaceable, as they pair an image with a memory and a feeling.  I like to imagine that God has a picture wall, and that each one of His children has a wall dedicated to them.  From the moment you began your relationship with Him, He has snapshots from His favourite moments with you.  Maybe they’re moments that were just a part of an ordinary day to you, but to God, that memory made it up onto His wall and He glances at it everyday and thinks of you.

I like to think of worth much like I think of my picture wall.  The world looks at my wall from a different angle: how much does it cost, they ask, and how does it look?  That’s how the world would describe worth.  But right now, as the creator of this wall, I’m looking at it, and I feel beyond loved, remembering all the people that show up in those photos, and excited that my life looks colourful and dynamic.  I’m taken back to quesadillas in Texas, and picnics with cookie dough in Tennessee.  Sweet girl, the world looks at you from an angle much like it does with my simple picture wall.  It asks what you can do, how you look, and how much money you have, just to name a few of their categories.  But when God looks at you?  His heart swells with joy, because He knows that you are His and He is yours.  He remembers all the little moments, and all the prayers.  He knows the dark nights and the heartaches, and He knows the sunny days with ice cream and sprinkles.  You are irreplaceable to Him.

Everyone has an opinion, darling girl.  My question to you would be, who’s opinion are you going to believe?  Are you going to believe the world’s, which marvels at your beauty and achievements for a moment and disregards you in the next?  Or will you find your worth from the God who not only remembers you, but also proudly displays His love for you?  The God who has your picture on His wall and makes space for more memories down the road.  You are worth more than you could possibly imagine in His eyes.  Opinions change and are swayed in our world.  One minute you can have popularity and the next feel alone and rejected.  You know what?  I know you’ve heard it before but I’m going to say it again here, God does not change.  His opinion and worth He projects on you have been the same all these years.  You can trust Him, sweet girl.  He moved the world just so that you could know Him.  To Him, you are worth dying for.

Take a moment to ponder from where you are looking for your worth.  Are you looking for it through the eyes of another human?  Or are you seeking it through the eyes of your peers or the world?  What if you looked at it through His?  The minute you do, you’ll see yourself in a brand new light.  I dare to say… I believe when you do, that’s a moment that will end up on His picture wall for you, because that was a moment that He will treasure forever.

Until next time,
~Amie 

Amie, {Worth}

{Worth} Your Story

UYM

Written by: Amie Comber

How do you measure your worth?  Honestly now. Is it your jean size?  Is it your appearance?  Where you live?  What kind of car you drive?  How about what music you listen to?  Or how much you make at your job?  Is it how popular you are?  Or how many likes you get on your social media?

We live in a world of comparison.  It’s the world where a certain test score will either make you “smart” in the eyes of the world, or just an “average Jo.”  Your social status depends less on how genuine and kind you are as a person, but more what car you drive, what brand of watch is on your wrist, and what social media reach you have… I’ve seen it.  I think we live in a world where the colours and marketing on the outside of the books lining a bookshelf almost means more than the story hidden inside the covers.  Just today I told someone, “If someone can’t even create a good cover for a book, why would I read the story inside.”  I’m embarrassed that I have said that, and it’s wrong… but honestly, how many times have we thought that way?  Is that truly what gives the book worth?  If so, then my favourite Bible, the plain leather bound book with scratches on the cover from long travel, and tear stains along the pages from hard days, that book, it wouldn’t be worth much, which is not the case whatsoever.

I want you to think of yourself for a moment as a story.  You are a book lining one of God’s bookshelves.  Your story is being written even while you read this, the kind of day you had, the thoughts you harboured, and the people you reached all plays into one giant story.  There is hidden meaning between your lines, maybe a smudge or two here and there, but the book is beautiful and unique because God is writing it.  I think we should start measuring our worth based on the story in our hearts rather than what other people, or even we, think of our “covers.”  If we were to truly ask where worth comes from it would lead us back to the God who made the entire universe and said, “It is good.”  Since HE is the one giving worth, the main desire of our hearts should be to please and honour Him.  Sweet girl, let me tell you that He treasures you so much.  Do you want to hear God speak to you?  Open up His word and read it out loud.  Spend extra time in prayer today; even stay silent with your heart wide open to spend quality time with the God that gives you more worth than you can comprehend.

Take a moment and smile, precious girl.  You are loved, you are valuable, and you are MADE in the image of the Almighty God.  Your story is being handcrafted and made by the God that created love itself.  Let the worries of what others think of you wash right off.  When the colours fade on your front cover, wrinkles appear from all the laughter, and you can’t move around at the fast pace that you can now, at the end of the day, it won’t matter what anyone else thinks.  Your story is valuable and worth so much because of the God who is writing it.

When you see the other stories lining the shelf, don’t compare yours with them.  God doesn’t want to write a million copies of the same story.  He wants to write yours in a unique way, and He is the best Author I know.  Beautiful girl, your story is worth so much.  YOU are worth SO much because GOD made you.

Until next time,

~Amie

Amie, {Beauty}

{Beauty} The Little Flower

UYM

Written by: Amie Comber

“Beautiful things don’t ask for attention.” –James Thurber

There’s a clearing in a small wood that has a rocky patch on the ground.  The sunlight streams through the trees and iridescent light touches the floor at geometric angles.  It’s the kind of place where no plants grow, and yet in the middle of that small patch of rocky earth, there is a single delicate flower bursting from the ground.  It was so beautiful, yet so simple.  It’s hidden from everyday hustle and bustle, but those who are lucky enough to find it see the beauty that it has to offer.

It may be a strange comparison, but I would like to be beautiful like this flower.  It doesn’t beg for attention, yet it shines with all of its might.  A flower doesn’t boast of strength, yet anyone that took a moment to see it would realize the strength it took for it to grow in the place it had, and with the adversity surrounding it.  It isn’t there for the accolades of others, it is purely there because some Gardner had faith in it and lovingly tended to it as it grew.  This flower turns its face towards the source of light and takes small steps of growth everyday.

I want to turn my face towards the source of my life and live my life for HIS glory and not for the world around me.  My goal is that when someone sees me, they see HIS love through me.  When they hear my voice talking, they hear HIS truth pouring through the words I’m stringing together.  When someone sees a storm that crashes in on my life, they see joy shine the brightest on a dark night.  I want to take small steps to grow everyday.  I want small goals to bloom a little more, to take another step at deepening my relationship with my Saviour, and to beat the adversity that surrounds me and threatens to thwart my growth.

Sweet girl, know that you were planted where you were for a reason.  Your beauty shines because of the ONE shining through you.  Turn your face and heart towards the One who tends to your heart.  Keep growing a little every single day, and shine with all of your might not because of anyone else, but because of the honest beauty inside your soul.  It’s pleasing to the Gardener when we bloom to our fullest potential.

I like to think that the ones to search for something beautiful will find it.  The flower wasn’t asking for attention, I was just looking for something beautiful that special day.  Do you see the beauty around you?  It’s there… sometimes you just have to take the time to look.

Until next time,

~Amie

Amie, {Life}

{Life} Not Today

UYM

Written by: Amie Comber

Life.  Just that simple word makes me think of a million moments.  Moments like driving down a freshly paved road as the black pavement darkly contrasts against the stark yellow lines swerving back and forth into the horizon.  Or feeling the rough stones beneath my fingertips as I search for a handhold to climb one step higher to reach the top of the rock wall.  I think of hearing the splashes of millions of raindrops hitting the leaves on the row of bushes in my front yard, and taking warm and gooey chocolate chip cookies out of the oven.  Life.  My life is made up of so many moments.  From my very first breath in a foreign world, to this very moment as I try to vaguely grasp a few beautiful moments that make me think of my unique life.  Every moment has grown me in some way.

In this world that I woke up in many years ago, I have spent most of my beautiful moments smiling and laughing.  But I have also spent time fretting over fleeting problems, and battling many hard moments that make up the storms in our lives.  I’ve come to believe that every young lady has a list of specific lies.  They’re the lies that she will believe easily and they’re the most hurtful when they’re thrown at her heart.  Satan knows exactly what they are, and when she is at her weakest he whispers them into her ear over and over.  When I formulated this mental image of the enemy attacking me with a personal lie concocted just for me, it changed how I viewed my life.

Life.  My life is a battle.  It’s a spiritual battle between light and dark.  Every moment has choices, emotions, and either truth or a lie wrapped up into it.  God is a God of truth, love, and light, which means that Satan is the opposite with: lies, hate, and darkness.  God ALWAYS tells us the truth, and Satan will ALWAYS counter that truth with a lie.  When I feel a storm coming on, I realize that it’s not just simply a bad day, but I take a step back to evaluate what lies are behind the emotion or turmoil I feel like I’m facing.  When I find that lie behind a moment I shut it down.

Sweet girl, you do not have to be prey to falling and fleeting emotions.  You do not have to let the enemy knock you down time after time with a lie.  No.  Truth always wins.  Love always wins.  Light always shuts out the darkness.  The Holy Spirit living inside of you is stronger than any lie that could ever be thrown at you.  

That’s when I started saying two words.  

NOT TODAY.  

Sometimes I whisper it when I feel the tears about to spill over as I feel rejected, and sometimes I shout it and hear it echo off the empty walls as I battle the invisible words telling me “I’m not good enough,” that course through my mind.  Is a lie yelling at you?  Then SCREAM back the truth.  I promise you, the truth of God’s Word and God’s love will ALWAYS be stronger than that lie.  Do I have to feel alone?  NOT TODAY- because my God tells me He is always with me.  Do I have to feel like I’m not good enough?  NOT TODAY- He MADE me and cherishes me.  Those lies do not have to touch me today.  Repeat after me. “I AM LOVED. I AM HIS. NOT TODAY SATAN. NOT TODAY.”

Say that phrase as many times as you need to throughout your day.  You were given this beautiful day as a gift and you don’t need to let a lie steal precious moments away from you.  I have a challenge for you.  Right now, take out a whiteboard marker or a pen and paper and write in big bold letters, NOT TODAY.  Write it in a place where you can see it often.  I wrote mine on my bathroom mirror.  It’s the first thing I see in the morning as the sun reflects off of it, and it’s the last thing I see before I turn off my light.

Take everyday given to you, sweet girl, and live it to the fullest.  Every single day is filled with so many moments that are unique and should be treasured.  Remember your new phrase, and throw it back at the enemy when the lies creep in to take away what could be another beautiful moment.  NOT TODAY.  Today will be Yours, Lord.  Today will be beautiful.

Driving down the freshly paved road I whisper “not today” as I feel like fretting over the thought of not looking right for the people awaiting me at my destination.  Climbing one handhold at a time on the rock wall I think “not today” as the lie creeps in that I’m not strong enough to make it to the top.  As I walk out into a stormy day with the rain whipping my hair wildly about I answer the storm back, “NOT TODAY” as I feel the frustration about to creep in and sour my spirit.  Today is the Lord’s.  Live like it, sweet girl.

Until next time,
~ Amie  

Amie, Cheyenne's Posts, Joceline's Posts, Kerrington's Posts, Lanissa's Posts, Melissa's Posts, OBS, {Beauty}, {Faith}, {Life}, {Love}, {Worth}

UYM turns 8 Months! 

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Today is the day!! We turn 8 months!!! Wow! What a journey it has been, walking in full-time ministry with The UYM Team! We are so amazed by how faithful God has been to our ministry. The thousands of lives that have been changed, touched and restored…brings tears to our eyes.

Thank YOU dear friends and family, for your support and encouragement! Uniquely Yours Ministries, wouldn’t be the same without you ❤️ We love y’all and we can’t wait to see what God has in store in the future! Happy 8 months!!!! 

Much love! Until Next Time,

~The UYM Team

Amie, {Faith}

{Faith} The Race

UYM

faith

Written By: Amie Comber

“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” –Hebrews 11:1

My feet pounded the pavement.  My breaths were steady as I inhaled and exhaled the crisp morning air to the beat of my steps.  I was running.  Shivering from the cold, I listened to the other runners around me; to the chatter, and the laughter.  Everything was in motion: the people, the scenery, and the water on the lake.  It felt in that moment that the only thing that was steady was my mind, and my determination to hit the finish line.

What no one else knew on that half marathon race morning was that I was injured.  I had visited the Doctor a few weeks prior to see if I still had hope of running this race I had prepared months for.  I had faith I could do it.  I was put on heavy pain medicine, and he told me I could go for it.  So there I was, pushing away the doubt, and having faith in the training I had had before the injury to propel me to the finish line 13.1 miles later.  I had faith in the medicine.  I had faith in my determination.  I also told God at the start of the race that I had faith in His plan, and that I surrendered the outcome to Him.

Four miles in I stopped.  Knee throbbing, heart pounding, and spirits down to my shoes, I watched through downcast eyes, as the other runners sprint past me.  “I’ll be fine in a moment,” I said to myself.  My head kept telling me to walk it off.  So I walked.  I walked for a mile, and another mile, and yet another one.  I was at mile 8 out of 13.1 when I started to panic.  My time was running out, I was all alone, and I wouldn’t be able to finish.  The other runners had long since passed me up, and there I was, a girl who looked like there was nothing wrong with her, slightly limping, and trying to hide the fact from the pedestrians walking faster than me on the trail, that I was a part of a big race that day.  It was in that moment that I decided God wanted to talk to me about something.  I felt hurt.  I had done everything I could do to train.  My training told me I was ready, my doctor told me I was ready, and my heart told me I could do it.  I felt like I had been cheated out of something.  God and I talked a lot along that wooded trail.  We talked until the last person passed me.  What started as grumbling and complaining, turned into a beautiful conversation as the miles passed and my heart softened and let go, once again, of my will, and put my faith back into HIS.

Just because I have faith that something will happen doesn’t mean it will.  This was not a demonstration about how much “faith I had,” but more a surrendering of my will and plans to the plans of God.  I had faith in a lot that morning, and everything fell through.  I also had faith that God’s plan would be best for me, and it was.  It was nothing like I had planned, and it hurt so much going through it, but through that small test I see the world differently, and like to think that my talk with God grew me in ways that wouldn’t have happened if I had been able to run the entirety of the race.  God wants me to have faith in Him: in His love for me, His plan for my life, and His truth.  I can choose to put my faith into whatever I’d like, but when I build my faith upon the Rock it will stand.

I walked until mile 10.  God provided a helper along the race that offered to give me a lift, and I humbly limped through the finish line.  I came away with a medal, but what I truly walked away from that race with was a heart filled with much more humility, some precious moments spent alone with God, and a better understanding of His will and faith.  HIS plan is always best, sweet girl.  Put your faith in HIS plans, not your own.  Sometimes you have to have those long talks alone with God along a wooded trail to get to where He truly wants you to be.

Until next time,
~Amie

Amie, Uncategorized, {Beauty}

{Beauty} A Beautiful Ripple. 

UYM

Written By: Amie Comber

  

It was a windy day.  The kind of day that’s sprinkled with sunshine and puffy clouds that look like boats jumping along the horizon line.  I was in line in a busy café waiting for some coffee and delectable, yet overpriced, dessert.  As I looked up, some bubbly lady caught my attention.  Her eyes held mine and we exchanged smiles.  She came right up to me, gave me a small hug and told me that I had the most beautiful smile she had seen, then she left to go onto whatever her day had in front of her.  It was so simple.  It took almost no effort.  Yet that simple interaction has stuck with me since the day it happened over 10 months ago.  I remember my heart feeling so light, and my smile burst forth to a few more people than normal that day because I felt so beautiful and noticed.

Often, I think of beauty as something that I want to achieve.  Beauty is a personal adjective that I strive for outwardly, inwardly, and all around.  Striving to be beautiful through a joyful complexion, gracefulness, kindness, and in my heart are not bad pursuits whatsoever.  Today, sweet girl, I would like you to try something new.  I want you to temporarily set aside your thoughts of personal beauty and focus that energy on how you could make someone around you feel beautiful.  How can you pass along beauty to another sweet soul?  What small gesture or words of affirmation can be hand-picked and lovingly delivered to change someone’s day, just like that lady changed mine.

I think of the phrase, “a beautiful ripple.”  When I cast a stone into a sparkling pond it plops through the surface of the water and gurgles to the sand waiting to catch it at the bottom.  I don’t see how far it sinks down, but I do see the affect of that stone upon the surface.  Let’s say that your efforts to help another young lady feel beautiful represent that stone.  It may sink a foot deep into a pond, or it may travel the depths of the ocean into her heart.  But no matter how deep that act of kindness sinks into someone’s heart, there is always a ripple on the surface.  Whether it’s a small one like a simple smile and a thank you, or if she in turn goes to 5 other ladies to pass along the kindness… you are starting something.  You are starting “a beautiful ripple.”

There were many beautiful ladies in that café that day.  Looking back, I thought the bubbly lady was the most beautiful because she was brave enough to cast her stone.  She didn’t know where it would land, and she didn’t know how I would receive it.  Her stone sank so deep into my heart and I’ve treasured it, and her ripple is still going as this blog post is now rippling it’s way to you.  Your beauty shines the most when you make those around you feel beautiful.

Until next time,

~Amie

P.S. Feel free to comment below a story of how someone took the time to make you feel beautiful, and the ripple that became of it. xoxo

Amie, Uncategorized, {Love}

{Love} Love’s meaning in Hebrew

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love in hebrew

Written By: Amie Comber

In our world, we throw around the word “love” as if it means to “like something.”  I can love my taco, love my coffee, while also loving my friends and my family.  We say “love” to the girl we have just met, and to the Grandfather that is taking his last breaths.  Love ranges from loving an outfit, to loving our Heavenly Father.  I wanted to take a minute to look at the word “love” a little closer.

The Hebrew language is unlike our own in a million ways.  This past year I have had the unique opportunity to study some of it and have loved seeing the ancient writing grace my pages.  In our alphabet, the letter “A” simply means a sound.  But in the Hebrew alphabet, each letter is almost like a character in a story.  A capital letter carries with it a deeper meaning, and the lower case letter also has another story that goes along with the shape/ picture the letter creates.

When looking at the word “love”, it translates to “Ahava” in the Hebrew language.  When written in Hebrew, it looks like this אהבה (and is read right to left).  The sequence of the letters has the root meaning of “to give,” and the first letter (an aleph) modifies “to give” to be “I give.”  So, in the Hebrew language “love” means, “I give.”

If we apply that deeper meaning from the Hebrew language to the way we use the word love today, I believe that changes it quite a bit.  Loving my family and friends means that I’m giving something to them.  I’m not “loving” the girl I just met because I’m not giving anything to her (except maybe an overused phrase).  The next time you find yourself saying, “I love” today, think of placing the words “I give” into that same phrase and see if it changes anything or enhances it more.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 (NIV)

God loved the world… and He GAVE.  God is love.  God also demonstrates His love for us through giving His Son, giving us eternal life, and giving us forgiveness.  Take a moment today and think how you can give love to someone else.

How will you love someone today?

Until next time,
~Amie