Lauren's Story

A lot of us don’t even know the things that hang over us. The things that weigh us down and steal our Joy. Many of us are carrying burdens we were never meant to carry. We are held captive by things we don’t recognize because they have become so much a part of who we are. Instead of becoming more like the image of God we are becoming more like the burdens we carry and the lies we believe. 

My burden was death, and the lie I believed was that I couldn’t really live. God had forgotten me.

At our last Awaken Retreat, I found freedom from the lie I believed and the burden I carried!

I lost my Dad at the age of twelve, and a part of me died when my dad died. He was the best daddy a girl could ask for. After he died I wasn’t sure who could love me more. I wasn’t sure who would protect me and take care of me. I shut down. 

As a young girl I wasn’t fully able to process my Dads death and grieve in a healthy way. Instead a part of me died. 

For years I bottled up pain and grief and for years I was caring a spirit of death. Because of this burden I was not able to live life to the fullest. I wasn’t able to see how much the Father truly loved me. 

That I was not forgotten but seen. 

Seen by my Jesus. 

He saw my great need for a daddy. 

At our last retreat I felt the Lord say to me “ rise up little girl for you are not dead but alive”. In order for me to truly hear this and believe it I had to realize that my God is not dead and my dad is not dead. My God is alive and because He is my dad is alive. My dad has been in heaven all these years interceding on my behalf. Jesus came to this earth so that one day I will be reunited with my daddy. 

I’m free to laugh and dance and sing. 

Free to be the little girl God intended me to be. A little girl with no burdens. 

A little girl full of life and joy. 

From my heart to yours-

Lauren