Hi friends, Abby here! Long time no see. 🖤 A new decade is here! So much life has happened in the 2010’s for me! I wanted to kick this decade off by sharing a little recap with all of you as well as a bit of encouragement as we step into 2020! 2010 - My sophomore year of high school. I worked (again) at Cooperstown Bible Camp & began leading worship at youth group. I felt called by God to pursue music & ministry & be who He made me to be. 2011 - I began studying voice with Maria Williams & performed as a singer for the first time. To overcome my stage fright I sang at any event I could possibly find. I also began writing songs this year! 2012 - I graduated high school & performed in my final dance recital, orchestra & jazz band concerts, etc & held a senior piano & voice recital. That fall I started college at UND. Rocco became my 1st boyfriend & I knew I had found my husband! 2013 - I declared my major, became a worship leader for Chi Alpha, & joined UND’s Concert Choir. & was crowned Miss Grand Forks, a dream come true! 2014 - I placed top 3 at Miss North Dakota, my first state pageant! I started teaching Zumba classes at UND’s Wellness Center. I was also crowned Miss Kittsona & created my ministry platform, Born To Shine. Rocco began his pro hockey career. 2015 - I recorded my debut EP, “You Are Free.” WE GOT ENGAGED! 2016 - I student taught & graduated with a Music Education degree. I became Mrs Grimaldi, honeymooned in the Bahamas, & then we moved to LA, Denver, & San Antonio. I recorded my Christmas album, “Christmas Time Is Here” & taught fitness classes at LifeTime Fitness. 2017 - We moved 3 more times. I battled through a terrible year, but it developed my faith & character. I sang at my first NBA & AHL games, & Rocco & I went on an amazing trip to Italy! 2018 - The start of this year was the darkest, most hopeless time in my life, but it really picked up! We started our new life (in a hotel) in Nashville! The wonderful team & fanbase embraced us as we entered into a new season of life, one we were so grateful for after many years of patience & perseverance. 2019 - We moved out of the hotel after 5 months & into an apartment in Nashville. I watched my husband become a full-time NHL player. I wrote the best music of my life & started a YouTube channel. Rocco re-signed with Nashville & we moved into our 1st (rented town)home... & finally bought furniture! I finished my first official cover-to-cover Bible read-through. My beloved Grandfather James Mattson went to Heaven & I grieved his loss with many tears. Still do, but he is forever in my heart & memory. Rocco & I went to Dallas for the NHL Winter Classic game. Oh, & I finally saw the Jonas Brothers!!! Best night of my life, Rocco is an amazing husband. Hahaha So much has happened in the past decade! I changed last names. I started singing & writing songs after about 15 years of refusing to. I lightened my hair color thanks to some highlights & grew my hair out about a foot & a half longer! I became a doting auntie of 4. I discovered my greatest passions in life. I became extremely close to my family. I experienced my highest highs & lowest lows. I learned how to become my own Miss America. I learned how to tap into my true soul & write music that matters. I became a hockey girlfriend, fiancé, & wife to an amazing Christian man, an unexpected dream-come-true for the girl who thought she would marry a pastor, but has also always just really loved watching hockey! & finally, I became an adult... but will always be a kid at heart, obviously! So much life has happened over this past decade, I’m sure you all feel the same way! One thing I am proud of & genuinely surprised by are all the important lessons I’ve learned since 2010. I learned that our personality may be something we are born with & develop through life experiences, but it’s our spiritual responsibility to channel that in a Godly & mature way. I learned that it’s ok to feel hopeless, depressed, & angry from time to time as long as I don’t allow myself to camp in those feelings for too long. Sometimes you will walk through a dark season of life, & that is ok - but you have to keep walking though it. Speaking of seasons, I experienced many different spiritual seasons in this decade, & each of them have shaped who I am today. In the dark seasons I learned what hopelessness looks like - & how to walk through it by finding my sole hope in Christ. I also learned how to praise God through my pain in these times! In the mountaintop seasons I learned how to thank God for absolutely every blessing. Through blood, sweat, & tears, I grew in each of these seasons. & with each passing year & season, my understanding of God grew exponentially. This is the most valuable thing I gained from the 2010’s... other than my husband. He is my top blessing from my 2010’s! At one point in this decade I was shattered & then re-built. Because of this I learned what it actually meant to place my trust in Jesus when earthly security was nonexistent. To lay all of my desires & dreams at His feet in surrender & allow Him to author the story of my life! I was humbled & I was broken at times, but God meant all of that for my good & for the good of my future ministry for others. I warred through many lengthy spiritual battles, but God gave me the perseverance to walk through each of them with bold faith & a hopeful heart. The 2010’s were a time of broken dreams & unexpected setbacks. But these years were also a time of renewed hope, new dreams, & unexpected blessing! I discovered my deep passion for encouraging others, inspiring the church to rise up in faith, & touching souls with the power of music. I became more like myself; my true self. Happy, free, funny, & a little dorky. Motivated, ambitious, & passionate. Friendly, empathetic, & hopeful. A new decade means the same Abby, but I know she will experience even more life in this decade & continue to grow & change! She will become an even better wife, friend, & daughter. She will shake the world with the God inside of her & she will face the 20’s with the Holy Spirit in her heart & Rocco by her side. At this “turn of the decades,” I want to wish each of you a Happy 2020. I don’t consider this catchy number to be a magical prophecy of great things, but what I do consider it to be is another year of new opportunities & the start of another decade in which we will all, if we choose to & are able to, continue to live on this side of Heaven living for the God who perfectly & completely loves us. Never underestimate the gift of one day. One week. One year. With God anything is possible, & with a little bit of time & a little bit of trust, He can do immeasurable things. Tell me, will you put your trust in Jesus this decade? Will you live for Him? Will you wake up everyday, refreshed with purpose & potential because of the living, breathing God you serve? Will you charge through the good & the bad, knowing that through Christ you are strong & courageous? Will you care enough about others to share Jesus with this broken world? Will you give your attention to the things that actually matter? Will you trust God with your dreams this decade? Will you lay your desires at His feet & trust Him with them? Will you leave time & space in your life for Him to do what He wants to do? What will become of your 2020’s will heavily rely on the measure to which you trust God with this time. I know we are incapable of perfection, but I can’t help but ask myself these questions. I hope you ask them to yourselves as well. Without direction, we could walk in circles for another 10 years. But with direction, intention, & action... wow. Imagine all the incredible things we will see happen in our own lives this decade. & the ripple effect that will have on everyone else in our lives. Yes, eternity is at stake for those around us. This is a big deal. So today & everyday of the 2020’s, God, help me to be who You need me to be & do what You need me to do. I am willing. Are you? 2020’s, here we come! Abby Grimaldi Follow me on social media for more #BornToShine content, spiritual inspiration, music, hockey wife adventures, Nashville fun, etc! Instagram & Twitter: @abbygrimaldi23 Facebook & YouTube: Abby Grimaldi Spotify & iTunes: Abby Grimaldi
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It’s that time of year when we look back on the year we’ve had. I hope your’s was nice. Mine was.... well a lot of things, so keep reading if this interests you. Haha. Honestly, I’ve been thinking about how I might wrap up this year for months now. The year I’ve had can hardly be summarized. It was one I will surely never forget.
Frankly, I don’t like to think about how this year began. Just looking back to the first half of 2018 makes me grimace. After 2 long years of trial and disappointment, by January of 2018 my hope had been virtually crushed to nothing. I caught a sickness that lasted 40 days (including a nasty flu in the middle of it that made me miss Rocco’s All-Star game. *Tears*) I was on the couch for weeks; it was like my body felt the way my spirit did! A number of other heartbreaking things happened in the following months, starting 2018 as the lowest year of my life - by far. Many tears were shed as I saw God take away any sliver of earthly hope & security we had, one thing after another. It was BRUTAL! A real rock-bottom season in life. We had been in a faith valley for 2 years already, but it just kept getting worse, & we couldn’t understand why God needed us to face so many consecutive trials. It was truly mystifying. Nearly every night I would unintentionally wake Rocco up in the middle of the night with some anxious dream that would have me yelling, crying, frantically searching for something. Talk about a crazy time... We were truly at the end of ourselves. But in the eye of the storm, my husband & I fought side by side. The hard times pulled us closer together and we relied on God (and each other) in such desperate and important ways. There was no room for fighting of any kind - life was hard enough! We were a team, but at our core we still really did have faith in God. The walls of our life burned down, but the ashes remained. & I am still believing to this day that God is reshaping those ashes into something IN.CRED.I.BLE. The setbacks and disappointments have been so unwanted, I have literally begged God to change so many things in the past. But He chose the steep path for us, & though I may have fought our destiny one or two hundred times, I now receive it with a deeper gratitude that is far too intense to explain. I always say “you don’t know what you don’t know - until you know what you didn’t know.” God reveals things to us in one step at a time for a reason. But don’t think He’s a slow God... I said God reveals things to us one step at a time, not does things one step at a time. He could be setting a thousand treasures in your path right now & you’re just finding them one at a time. Simply put, you can trust His sovereignty. I’m sure you’ve heard this before, but it’s in the valleys that we seek Him to our fullest potential. And the lessons are much more profound in the dark. Trust me, I know from years of experience - It’s like I’ve earned an involuntary degree in “Walking By Faith” or “Overcoming Agressive Spirtual Battles.” Is there a university for that? Should be... LOL. Hear me loud and clear: The beauty in following Jesus is that there is purpose in the pain and beauty in the scars. Nothing is wasted. Isn’t that comforting to read? We never asked for any of our trials... I didn’t ask God to bring me to the absolute end of myself... my sanity... my hope... etc. But He made it happen. For profound, often mysterious reasons. Truthfully, it took me months to feel hopeful again - to dream again. Living in a makeshift apartment with no job/career opportunities had been so hard on me, but you better believe I worked every day to combat the sadness I was feeling in this valley. I sang every single day, always hit the gym, & started making myself leave the apartment more. ANYTHING to get me out of that little living room where I was sick on the couch for over a month! Oh, the tear stains that rental couch must have! (Yes, we can laugh at my past pain now! Haha.) I rode out the storm, understanding there was absolutely nothing I could do to stop the waves; no prayer that could save me. But God was IN the storm. And finally, around July, I sensed a new hope rising us from the ashes of our situation. As many of you know, (against all odds) for the majority of the past four months Rocco has been playing for a great new team in a wonderful city. The people are kind and the atmosphere is lively and fun. We are living day-to-day in a hotel, but looking back at how terrible 2018 began, I couldn’t be more thankful for where 2018 is ending. My 2018 began as a devastating, hopeless, miserable year... but is ending on a contrasting note: Healing. Hopeful. and Happy. Never give up on the path. You just never know what could be a mile away. With the greatest sincerity, I am praying for each of you to grow in profound ways in 2019! I pray that you become more like the people God has really made you to be, & I pray you will boldly trust Him in the paths you find yourselves on. Never give up on yourselves & never give up on the God who loves you and has total control over even the greatest of giants. With love, Abby Grimaldi #BornToShine Ministries Sometimes I notice myself feeling desensitized to Jesus. I've known Him for so long that I can forget just how significant He is, particularly how significant His birth and death are. The best way for me to keep my beliefs fresh is 1. for me to spend time studying the Bible deeper to understand the cultural context in which these events occurred. And 2. for me to spend time reflecting on them. But why is any of this worth my time? I'll give you a hint: It shouldn't be to impress people or make them think you're some brilliant Christian... It SHOULD be to maximize your impact as a believer. I know from experience that when the gospel is fresh in my life, that's what will flow out of me. When it's dry and distant in my mind, I forfeit the daily opportunities to evangelize by simply being mindful of Jesus in everything. So I hope this scripture and reflection will help you bring the focus back to where it should be. It is Christmas week, after all!
“For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say ‘no’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, & to live self-controlled, upright & godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope - the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a people that are His very own, eager to do what is good.” Titus 1:11-14 People waited a very long time for Jesus to come. We're talking many, many generations. Prior to His arrival on earth, there was no once-&-for-all way to cover our sins & be totally forgiven for good. They used to have to find spotless lambs & kill them, using their sacrificial blood as a covering for their sins... & then they’d sin again & have to go through the process over & over. There was such a great distance between God and man. That distance is also called “our sin.” The promise of a Messiah coming one day to save God's people was the hope they clung to. That's something we tend to forget about in our era... the great anticipation of the Savior's arrival & the deep desperation many must have felt. This may be a memory lane lesson taking you back to 3rd grade Sunday school, but stick with me: We didn’t deserve it, but God’s love for humanity is so deep & limitless that He sent His beloved Son to enter this earth as a helpless baby. Unlike the lavish king people expected Him to be, Jesus was raised by a simple carpenter & a young, surely nervous mother. Have you ever thought about how strange it is that the "King of the Jews" had a life that looked nothing like that of a royal? He had no throne, no title, no glamorous image. At 30 he (finally) was prompted by God to begin HIs ministry. He spent three years performing miracles & ministering to people. Some believed His true identity, Messiah & Son of God, and LOVED Him. Others did not; especially the religious leaders. They HATED Him. He led a sinless life & performed the most amazing, life-changing miracles, yet his fate was to be brutally beaten and crucified by the very people He came to save. The Bible tells us He did not WANT to be beaten & crucified... He was fully God, but He was still fully human too! But He knew He was our only hope, so He didn’t fight the people who viciously beat and killed Him. He knew WHO He was sent to this earth for: Us. & He knew WHAT He was sent to the earth for... to endure all of that, just so we (sinners) could be in close relationship with God forever. And don't forget that many will choose to reject that invitation anyway! The extent of God's love is much greater than we can understand. We must never forget that. For Jesus it’s completely unfair. Totally unjust. Disturbingly cruel. Entirely undeserved. It makes me stop and grieve sometimes... thinking about all He went through for me... how sad God must have been watching His Son suffer. But it’s NOT a tragedy to Him. And it shouldn’t be to us. Yes, we should feel deeply thankful when we reflect on all of that. BUT, it’s the most joyful news we will ever receive! Why? Because Jesus’s life and death had (and have) PURPOSE. Without Jesus coming to die for our sins - and without Jesus raising from the dead... sin and death would still have the final say. We would all be separate from God forever and on a speeding train to Hell. Satan would win. Thank God that doesn’t have to be our fate! Because of Jesus’s complete blood sacrifice on the cross, we can be fully forgiven for ALL of our sins - past, present, future. ALL. OF. THEM. We deserve Hell, but God loves us too much to give up on us without a fight. The thought of His precious children spending eternity away from Him in misery is NOT His desire! After all, He made us in His image to have close relationship with Him. It's just that our sin gets in the way. So He sent Jesus to be the one & ONLY WAY. Yes, there is only one way to Heaven, and His Name is Jesus. The good news is, it's all quite simple from here. When we accept Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross, believing He died for our sin & rose from the dead for our eternal life, we can be SAVED from the terrible fate we deserve as sinners. All we need to do is acknowledge that we are sinners in need of God’s Grace... believe that Jesus died and rose again for us... & confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord... and BOOM. If you were sincere, you have just been totally forgiven. “My sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow” describes salvation perfectly. “It’s really that simple? I grew up in a church where it seemed so much harder than that...” Yes, it’s really that simple. And to my friends who are already walking with the Lord: It’s time we all work up the courage to share this good news with someone that God loves. Spoiler Alert: God loves all of us - so it shouldn't be hard to find someone! Please promise me you will try your very best to not become desensitized to the Good News. God calls us to SHARE it because we all NEED it! So today I challenge you to ask God who He wants you to share the Good News with. Eternity is at stake. I hope you feel urgency! I know I do. It’s hard to be bold, but it’s the most loving thing you can be in this situation. And to my questioning/new believing friends, feel free to reach out to me if you are wondering what you should do next after you’ve heard the Good News. I am a safe person that you can ask any spiritual question to! In closing, have a a wonderful Christmas week everyone! Allow yourself the chance to remember just how meaningful the Reason for the Season is! Merry Christmas! Love, Abby Grimaldi #BornToShine I LOVE being a hockey wife (look at his cute new Preds gear!), but it’s no secret that it can be really hard sometimes. As we approach move #8 (yep, EIGHT in 2 years!), I feel some nerves, but mostly excitement! We move to Nashville next week, & I am trying to prepare myself for what’s to come! While I LOVE the thought of hockey season coming up so fast, I’m also a little nervous: I’ve had my heart ripped out enough times to leave me a little scared. I am super optimistic, but it is definitely okay to be honest!
There are so many variables in this type of life, & I am trying very hard to get my head in the right place. All of the highs & lows have really “grown me up” over the years - but I would really love for things to calm down every now & then. (Ha! We’ll see.) I have never felt so powerless over my own world than when I entered into this hockey wife life. It’s crazy to make plans - then have them all change at the strike of a phone call... many, many, MANY times. Oh, the stories I could tell! It’s definitely an “along for the ride” lifestyle. Thankfully, my husband is intensely supportive & encourages me to chase my dreams, even as we move around so much! We are definitely in this together. All this being said, I have had to learn how to walk {through} the waves - rather than be afraid of them & just stop moving. Believe me, if I could smooth-sail all the time, I would. But right now that is NOT my situation! Honestly, it might not ever be. & that’s ok. My life is full of uncertainty, but I am finally in a place where I know how to thrive in it. God has taken all those big (intense, hard, unwanted, scary, etc...) waves of my past & purposed them to condition me for the future. Amen, am I right? We serve a God who doesn’t waste a thing. He’s crafty. I tell you the honest truth: My faith has been tested aggressively for 2 years - yet it is stronger than ever. My hope has been robbed time & time again - yet it is restored in me once more. So yes, entering another uncertain hockey season leaves me real nervous when I let myself sit & worry about it. But at my core, I don’t fear this new set of waves before me. I receive them, because they represent the opportunity for my husband & I to move forward. And hey, maybe even see a dream or two come true! The bottom line is this: My hope is stronger than my fear, so I write to you today, ready to step out in faith next week as we pack the car for Nashville. But to combat that fear, I will tell myself this everyday: “When I step into the waves, I will not be afraid.” -@abbygrimaldi23 What are the waves before you? Are you too afraid of them to move forward? What would be the worst thing that the waves could do to you? If you stepped off the shore & into what God really wants you to do, would it make braving the waves worth it? If you’re correctly following God’s nudges to brave the waves, you bet it would! Consider this your push to get stepping. Love, Abby Grimaldi #BornToShine Ministries Thank you for reading! Let’s connect on social media: Instagram: @abbygrimaldi23 Facebook: Abby Grimaldi Twitter: @abbygrimaldi23 “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.” Isaiah 43:18
It’s been an intense couple of years on the “spiritual development” front for me. Trial after trial, it’s been very challenging to keep believing God knows best. I’ve had to CHOOSE faith (really for the first time) in the midst of it all. My spirit has been stretched well beyond its limit so many times, I’m thankful my faith is still intact! The truth is, the disappointments have been relentless for a long enough time that they’ve begun to change the way I think. Unfortunate. But fortunately, I’m aware of it. It’s one thing to not know you’ve become jaded - it’s another to know you’ve become jaded & stay that way. Thankfully, if you’re aware of your jadedness, you have the chance to fight off those feelings. Jaded (adj.) tired, bored, or lacking enthusiasm, typically after having too much of something. Think about it for yourself: Have lengthy trials or habitual disappointments left you feeling jaded? If so, would you like to be free from your jadedness? God has been very effective in setting me free from my jadedness, & today you can find that freedom too. Let’s get down to it. 1. Cut the victim mentality NOW. My “victimized” self says this: “I feel jaded by the let-downs I’ve experienced the past few years. I fear the future, & I wrestle with trusting God moving forward because I am too wrapped up in the scars of my past. But it’s not my fault that I should feel this way, so I’ll just sit in my sorrows. I am a victim to these trials & always will be. I’ll forever feel jaded as a believer. ” My “resilient, expectant” self says this: “I intentionally choose optimism everyday, becasue I will not let trials of the past linger any longer than they must. To let victimized feelings linger would inhibit my ministry potential & quality of life moving forward. I ask God to help me to not be jaded, & He chips away at the negativity day by day until my jadedness is far away. I cling to God instead of pushing Him away, because I understand that even though I saw many trials in the past, I can continue to trust Him moving forward.” 2. Stop dwelling on the past - MOVE FORWARD. Somedays I can get SO down thinking back on my recent trials. One thought leads to the next, & before I know it... I fear the future! Now, I know that the more attention I give my struggles of the past, the more I train my brain to expect struggles of a similar nature to continue forever. It sounds doomsday-esque, because it is: You will wreck your present life by thinking that way. There comes a time when you NEED to stop dwelling on your past. Take what you can from the hard times, & run far away from the bad memories. Distance yourself from those trials. Ask God to heal the wounds of your past. You can bring them up again as a testimony, but only when celebrating the way you overcame them through Jesus. That’s it. Complaining will kill your spirit. Moving on will give you a fresh start. For me, it’s looked like this: I try not to bring up the sad/frustrating details of my trials, & I only bring them up if they will be punctuated with hope for the future. Example: “Last year was so hard for this reason, BUT it taught me A, B, & C, and I am so expectant for how God will use what I’ve learned in the future.” I didn’t deny that the past was hard, but I made a point to validate its purpose in my life & way it could be useful in the future. The purpose may still seem unclear, but you’d be surprised how God will redeem your past trials if you’re open to it. God is the Great Author, after all. 3. Discover & understand God’s promises. God has promised many wonderful things to those who walk with Him, but He hasn’t promised them a life free from difficulty. Very clearly, the Bible says we should expect to face trials of many kinds. (James 1:2) So how should we expect our lives to turn out as believers? What should we expect & what should be NOT expect? • We should expect trials & discipline at the hand of our Good Father. (Hebrews 12:6) • We should also expect provision of all our needs - or opportunities to meet them ourselves. (Philippians 4:19) • We should expect HOPE for our future days knowing that God will be WITH us regardless of the cards we are dealt. (Hebrews 6:19) • We should expect the amazing - the miraculous - the impossible... endless WOW moments in which God shows up in small ways that are big to us, & big ways that are small to Him. (Psalm 77: 14) • We should NOT expect that God is out to get us - because He’s not. (Psalm 13:6) • We should NOT expect God to make our every wish & dream come true like a genie - especially the selfish or vain desires which would do nothing to advance the Kingdom. (Philippians 2:3-4) • We should NOT expect God to leave us in the dark - He may lead us into some dark places, but he will never leave us or foresake us. (Deuteronomy 31:6) • We should NOT expect God to give up on us when we mess up (again & again); instead we should EXPECT Him to forgive us time & time again when we confess & repent of our sins. (Matthew 18:21-22) I’ve given you a start, now go study the Bible for yourself to find more truth! God’s promises are never broken & His words are never untrue. These are promises you can cling to - especially if you are trying to ditch the disappointments of your past! Move forward by filling your soul with the Truth. You must counteract the lies of the enemy with God’s words, because no other words are strong enough to. 4. Resolve that you WILL hope & trust in God again (especially if your faith has faltered for a while). Once you’ve spent some times reminding yourself of God’s promises, you are ready to light that fire of hope again! You’ve refreshed your weary soul with the truth of God’s Word, & now you can start building up the hope & expectancy you once had, or are maybe finding for the first time. God loves childlike faith, & I recently found myself missing mine. My circumstances had left me feeling caloussed toward God’s plans, & I had missed the unafraid faith I once possessed. I had let my hurt feelings get in the way of how I trusted God. Have you done the same? If you have, please listen to me: It is never right to harden our hearts to God. Tragedies happen left & right in this fallen world, but we should never harden our hearts to God. Instead, we should resolve to hope & trust in Him always, especially after we’ve gone through a trial that’s left our faith faltering. It’s time to get back on the horse. And now, the choice is yours to make. I’ve given you a short list of ways to move forward & not dwell in the past. At this point, the choice is yours! I hope you will choose to seek God & move forward in His leading for your life. Satan wants to sidetrack each of us by spewing a bunch of lies regarding our past trials - but his time is UP! The time is NOW for you & me to rise up out of the ashes of our past pains & believe again! To expect & hope again! To receive God’s promises & be free again! There’s nothing scarier than getting your hopes up again & again (been there many times), but it’s something successful people must do. They reach their success because of what they keep doing; what they’ve been doing all along. • Imagine if Thomas Edison stopped at his 1000th try at the light bulb because the disappointment had left him too jaded to try again. (Google it!) • Imagine if Paul stopped writing letters to the churches because he was in prison. • Imagine if Jesus gave up on His mission before He reached the beating - or the cross - or the tomb. Imagine. God didn’t create people to be hopeless quitters. He created them to bear His image & serve Him here on earth in astounding ways! So we serve Him with our utmost best, & we place all our hope into His hands. To trust Him with our future again & again, even after deavastating blows, because we know that He’s the Author of our stories & the only sovereign force holding our universe together. We read His Word, & we know Who He is. We know we can have hope that won’t be foresaken. And once we’ve realized all of this - we are no longer jaded by our past. Full speed ahead, here we come. The future is bright because the Light is the World is leading the charge. “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up, do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness & streams in the wasteland.” Isaiah 43:19 Much love, Abby Grimaldi #BornToShine Ministries Today we remember a sinless Man who took the place of all sinful people. The very Son of God, infinitely more worthy of glory then any one of us. The true ruler of God’s people. God in human form. The spotless Lamb of God, who came to seek & save the lost. To be the good shepherd. To walk a life free from sin despite encountering temptation of every kind.
Only to have the world He came to save... despise & reject Him. “He’s not the real Messiah! He doesn’t look or act like our kings do! There’s no way He’s the one! Crucify Him!” they proclaimed. Jesus truly led in a new way. With justice & compassion. He led RIGHTEOUSLY. The religious leaders at the time were too blinded by their legalistic practices to see Jesus for who He really was, the Son of God. And so He was sentenced to death by crucifixion. He had committed no crimes & deserved no punishment. You know that He could have escaped at any time, right? Because He could have, & was tempted to but did not give in. So there He hung. On a cross. Nails pierced through His hands. Body beaten beyond recognition. Mocked & ridiculed. Treated like the scum of the earth, the Savior is the World hung on that wooden cross with a crown of thorns upon His head. John 19:30 • So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit. And in that moment, the spotless Lamb of God had fully paid the price for all of our sins, forever. The Lamb was slain, & the sacrifice was complete. Because Jesus paid the price for my sin, I can be FULLY forgiven & set free from the bondage & eternal consequences of my sin. I can now come before the Lord, with the blood of the Lamb covering my sins. I can be seen as spotless in the eyes of God. He can look upon me as a beloved child. And one day, I can go to Heaven. All because God sent His Son, Jesus to take on human flesh, live a perfect life, & die on the cross for you & for me. Do you know your Savior? Will you accept Him today? John 15:13 • Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. *Happy* Good Friday, Abby Grimaldi My number one piece of marriage advice is this: Don’t ever withhold love or support from your spouse.
When dating, there are certain things you need to withhold from them as a way of guarding your heart... But once you’re married, you get to be all-in for LIFE. You are safe. Sometimes society paints marriage to be this undesirable thing; like it’s such a downer to “settle down.” Or it’s just “doing what you should be doing by a certain age.” But the truth is, marriage is the greatest union God ever made. It’s not an “I’ll do this for you if you return the favor” thing. It’s a lifetime of a husband & wife unconditionally saying “I’m going to give you my all.” People are so into independence these days, & that’s fine in some ways. But it should never be an idol or something that keeps us from meaningful relationships, especially in our marriages. We all need people. What could be sweeter than building a life with someone who will protect & provide for you, ladies? Yes, go build your dreams & provide as well, but know that your husband is happy to care for you however you need him to. Men, what could be sweeter than knowing you have a faithful woman who will love you unconditionally & never stop believing in you? When someone loves you like this, you’re free to bloom. Their love makes you a better person. If you are married, don’t be afraid to really LOVE your spouse. Hug them. Make their favorite meal. Care about the things they love. Take interest in their dreams. Look for all the reasons why they are God’s gift to you. Notice all the differences that make you better in contrast. Tell your spouse why you’re proud to be their’s. Go to Target & make stupid little videos. Laugh at life’s funny moments. Spend as much time together as possible. Travel & make memories. Laugh & dream together. LOVE your spouse. Every day. You will never regret it! I hope this word blesses your marriage. If you are single & desiring marriage someday, I hope this gives you a positive image of what a Godly marriage can be! No marriage is perfect, but by God’s grace, each marriage can be a safe, lifelong, life-giving union! Much Love, Abby Grimaldi #BornToShine Ministry Hey friends, Abby here. This is the most important post I could ever write. It may save your life. As I fight through the hardest couple years of my life, I share these words with you:
Ephesians 2:8 ”For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith. & this is not from yourselves, it is a gift from God.” If you think you’re too bad to be saved, you’re wrong. The truth is, you are a unique creation of God. He loves as a father loves his child. You are priceless to Him. Beautiful. You were made in His image, & He takes delight in you. He knows every detail of your life. He cares that much. He knows the number of hairs on your head - surely He doesn’t miss a thing. He sees your shining moments of kindness & your sinful moments of weakness. He sees the way you parade your sin around. He also sees the way you sit in shame thinking of your sin & imperfections. Never feeling good enough. He sees all of it. For thousands of years, He’s seen his beloved children mess up. God’s laid out good from bad in the Bible because He knows that walking the right path will keep us from harm. But tempted by satan, not a single one of us has been strong enough to withstand every temptation. It breaks God’s heart. He hates to see the way we hurt each other & the way our own sins hurt us. Our sin separates us from Him because He is sinless & we are not. This is the great equalizer. The humanitarian & the killer, the rich woman & the poor man, the teenager & the senior citizen - we have all sinned. None of us are blameless in God’s sight. Not one. Only those without blame can enter Heaven when they die. No amount of good deeds or money could buy a person’s way in. In Old Testament days, God’s people needed a spotless, sacrificial lamb to take their place. We still need a sacrifice for our sins today, as we are still sinful people. The blood of a spotless sacrifice must be shed to cover our sins. But who could pay the price? None of us are spotless. God saw that there was no once-for-all sacrifice, & it broke His heart. How could He let all of His children be taken by the enemy’s tactics & sent to Hell? These are His children. He loves them even if they do sin. So God made a way. God created the perfect sacrificial lamb: Jesus, Son of God, yet fully man. You heard me right. God sent His beloved Son, Jesus to die for all of your sins. All of them - past, present, & future. When He died on that cross, he took our place & paid the price for the sins of man. Understand that He was our ONLY hope. He was the only perfect man to walk the earth. No other god or religion can do. We all deserve punishment for our sins, but He did not. He deserved no punishment, yet he CHOSE to take all of our sins & place them upon Himself. He bore all of my sin on the cross the day He died & all of yours too. A gruesome death on the cross. Let that sink in... After Jesus died on the cross, He was placed in a tomb. His mother Mary and other loved ones/ followers of His ministry wept. What if this was the end? Their Savior has died - as prophesied - but what if He was never coming back? He needed to rise from the dead in order to fully fulfill the prophecy & truly conquer sin AND death. This would prove He was the foretold Messiah. Before Jesus even came to Earth, prophets prophesied of the One who would walk a perfect life, die as our sin’s final atonement, & rise from the dead. God’s people waited in GREAT anticipation, because they knew the world needed Him so desperately. In his time on earth. Jesus declared that He was the Son of God, the Messiah, the fulfillment of the prophecies - yet the religious leaders at the time did not believe Him & put Him to death... which is what God had planned all along. *See how God can use resistance from others to make His will be done? WOW. Don’t underestimate the inner workings of our God.* Jesus spent 3 days dead in the tomb. I can’t imagine the fears & doubts His believers were wrestling with. “‘Maybe He wasn’t really the Savior.” ”Were WE wrong? Could His doubters have been right?” ”I placed all my hope in Him. Please don’t let me down, Jesus.” What a dark time. So dark that a great darkness filled the land all day long. And then some women found that His heavily guarded tomb was OPEN... and EMPTY! Jesus rose back to life! This is why we celebrate Easter: Not only did He conquer our sin, but He also conquered death. He defeated them right then & there. Our Hero. Our Savior. The victory over sin & death is The Lord’s! PRAISE GOD! As stated earlier, there used to be no way for imperfect people like us to go to Heaven when we died... but now there IS! We can be SURE. We can be FULLY FORGIVEN FOREVER. Now Jesus reigns forever in Heaven & wants to see us believe & receive His salvation. He paid the price for each of us, & it would be the worst shame of all for any of us to miss out on the only thing that really matters in our lives - our salvation. The day you die can be the day you enter eternal joy & peace in the presence of God if you accept & believe Jesus’ sacrifice for your salvation. The striking beauty in all of this is that He literally owed us nothing that day on the cross. He still owes us nothing. Yet He loves & saves us anyway. Every day God makes the conscious CHOICE to love us! Many people still despise & reject Jesus... yet He DIED for them & still LOVES them. Expecting nothing in return, but hoping that as many as possible will accept this gift & seek a relationship with Him. Before, our sin held us back from God. But now, when we are covered by Jesus’ sinless blood, we can approach the Father without shame. Without fear of rejection. We can boldly come to Him. We can spend time with Him. We can get to know God closely & serve Him until we finally meet Him in Heaven! Real Christianity is so deeply rooted in grace. It’s not a bunch of things that we “have” to do, but an endless list of things that we “get” to do. We will never begin to deserve the unconditional love, grace, peace, hope, & joy that our Father God gives us, but we can receive it every day. If you have never heard this Good News before that Christians call the gospel, thank you for reading. God has placed this in front of you on purpose. It’s His way of saying, “I love you so much & died for you. I love you so much that I had this random girl write this post with plans of YOU seeing it. Will you believe what you’ve been told today? Will you receive My salvation & love? Will you be My child? There’s no time to waste.” If your answer is yes, I invite you to speak this prayer out loud as a declaration of your faith in Jesus. Receive God’s salvation today. Dear God, I know that I am a sinner. I have done wrong & I know that I don’t deserve Your perfect love. But today I have faith in Your grace. I believe that You sent Your perfect Son, Jesus to die on the cross for my sin. I believe that He rose from the dead giving me a way to be in Heaven with You someday. From this day forward, I commit my life to You. Today I believe. Today I receive salvation by Your grace. Help me to move forward in this relationship with You. Amen. Did you just accept Jesus into your life for the first time? Yes? WOW! Welcome to the family of God! Message me immediately via Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, & I will help you take the next steps in your faith walk. You just made the most important decision of your life. I could cry. Praise God. To my fellow believers, I hope this reminded you of God’s grace in your life. We need to keep coming back to this miraculous story as Christians. It will keep up on the right path. Please share with your loved ones or even people you don’t know. We all need the gospel because we all fall short & need the saving grace of Jesus. With love, Abby Grimaldi #BornToShine Ministry I can't believe this is my life. The good, the bad, all of it. More importantly, I can't believe God has taught me the things I am about to share with you. The more trials God has taken me though, the more I've changed. I never wanted to face so much adversity. But I have. & it’s changed me in ways I never expected. It’s made me realize things I never would have understood had I never gone through such trials. I went from being a hopeful Jesus-loving high schooler > to a broken-hearted Christian lost in the waves of life, afraid to trust God > to a hopeful messenger, just praying the right people read this. Here's my story. *Disclaimer: This isn't a pity party post. I have many blessings in this life, & I am very thankful. I always have been & always will be. What I've been through pales in comparison to what many others have faced, but it doesn't degrade the difficult times I've done through. We each have a unique life experience, & today I honor that. This is my experience with the storms of life.* Ever been through something so tough that you read the Bible differently? I started reading the Bible in high school. I became a sold-out believer & definitely faced some adversity... but very little compared to what I have faced in the past few years. Back then I would read verses like Jeremiah 17:7, smile, & share them without a second thought. Example of 2011 Abby: "and blessed is he who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him." What a great verse! I pray your confidence is in Him! (insert smiley faces) “What a relevant verse,” I thought... “so quotable!” So I would share them with a bunch of smiley faces & expect people to appreciate them. (And a lot of people did!) Lots of older Christians were SO proud of me for openly seeking God as a high schooler. It was a pretty radical thing to do, & I couldn’t keep quiet about God’s love for all of us. The words were so pure & hopeful to me. My faith was committed, but it was about to get so much deeper. Little did I know how much more those words would mean to me in the future than they already did. Don't get me wrong, my intentions were genuine; My heart was committed to God; I sought His will; I served others using the gifts He gave me; I faithfully tried my best to do what you’re “supposed” to do. I took words like “the Lord has promised good to me” very seriously. I expected great things in my future (as we all should), & I followed God as wholeheartedly as I could (as we also all should). It was a very sweet period of time in my walk with God. It was foundational in my undying belief in God & His sovereignty over everything. But then, all of a sudden, a lot of spiritually crushing things happened. Things that made me weep. Things that made me beg the questions: "GOD, DO YOU SEE ME? CAN YOU HEAR ME? WHAT IS GOING ON?" For probably the first time in my life, I saw how following Jesus and having things go your way did NOT correlate. Sure, I had seen other believers face heartache before. Things hadn't always gone my way either, but with the magnitude of these trials, this was the first time it really hit me. The questions flooded my mind. Could I really trust God now? What was the point of doing all the right things if the people who didn't even acknowledge Jesus got preferential treatment? How was I supposed to trust God with my future anything? I knew life was hard, but I never thought it could be this tough to be a Christian. I knew to be SO humbly thankful that I lived in a free country, had a roof over my head, had never been abused or stolen from or anything like that... but these trails were the beginning of a deeply difficult spiritual season, and it was a rude awakening to me. Maybe you've been there too. At first I took all these awful waves as a sign that life was hopeless, even as a Christian - Just being honest. I felt like a kid who just found out that their favorite superhero was a phony. That it was just a guy in a costume all along. The house of cards came falling down, I woke up from the dream, etc. Don't get me wrong here, I never once doubted the existence of God, His undying love for me, or His ability to control all things. I had hidden those truths in my soul for 20 years... they weren't going anywhere. (Thanks, people who built me up as a kid!) What I did wrestle with is this: How in the world am I supposed to make sense of all the hardships I'm facing. I know the truth about God. So why could I be facing all of this? Wasn't I the one who would crack open their Bible in the cafeteria even when people teased me? Wasn't I the one stayed away from all the things God told me to stay away from? Wasn't I the one who prayed for those who blew me off, excluded me, made fun of me, hated me, etc? Yes. I was. I was the girl who did all of those things. Because God told me to be that girl, I was that girl. And though I did it all out of love for God & others, I think a selfish part of me always kind of assumed that if I walked the walk in my daily life - that God would honor me with a really great life... And He did in so many ways. He definitely did. He brought me the greatest husband & kept me from any type of relationship baggage in the past. He gave me a close family & some really amazing friends. He gave me opportunities to find my gifts, grow them, and use them in meaningful ways. God has given me a lot of amazing things in this life. They are somewhat due to the positive choices I made while obeying Jesus, but they are all ultimately because of His grace in my life. Even when I've been selfish or impatient or whiny, He's given me good things, day after day after day. But He's also given me heartaches so deep I thought my spirit was dying. So I've wondered: How can such good things and such bad things come from the heart of the same loving Father? I feel God tell me this: "It's not about the good and bad, Abby. It's about the BEST." What does that mean? After years of dramatic highs and lows (that I'm definitely still going through today), I think I'm starting to understand. Can I help you understand? Hear me out if you will. In high school, the more I sought God, the more compelled I felt to pursue music & ministry as a career. There's been no denying it. I feel so passionate about those things, it's hard to contain sometimes. I want it so badly. God sees that, and He says, "I'm excited for you. Let's get you ready." So He surrounds me with blessings for the journey, He supplies me with: - Family & friends to support me when I get desperately exhausted - Gifts that I can still use even as I'm training them - The stability of food/shelter/whatever God thinks I need to keep me afloat as God leads me forward in life toward my calling, AKA the things He plans to use me for And then He brings the waves. Some of us are quick to blame Satan for all of the bad things that happen to us, like God would really let Satan have THAT much power to put us through THAT much purposeless misery. No... I believe the waves are God's doing most of the time. Look at every major prophet, missionary, preacher, etc in the Bible. God allowed so many waves, and they only strengthened their testimony. And that's where many of us stand today. In the waves. With just enough time between each one to catch our breath & hang on for dear life. Calling our mom, crying out for hope, begging God for an answer, basically just "getting by"... And then the next wave comes. "WHAT IS GOING ON, GOD? DO YOU SEE ME?" And after a while, we get frustrated, maybe even mad. It all seems so impossible. we are trapped & miserable. Begging God for an escape. We feel so lost and wounded. This is where it ends. The wounds turn into scars... But the scars start to remind us of all the waves we've already survived. And suddenly, in the midst of the storm, we begin to see things we never saw before. We see how God has kept us afloat when we honestly thought we were done for. We see how God has positioned us within the storm but not allowed it to overtake us. We see how all those people around us were sent by God to help us make it through. We see that God was there all along. AND we see that none of it killed us. We actually started learning how to thrive in the chaos. Unfortunate as it may seem, it became our new normal, & once we accepted that, we began moving forward. Still stuck in the storm, but finally feeling some sense of hope. We finally saw God. In the waves. In the weeping. In the anger. In the frustration. In the doubt. In the impatience. We saw HIM in all of it. & suddenly a great hope arose from within us, because maybe just maybe, this storm was exactly where God wanted us to be. And that was a really incredible thing to realize: Because if God wanted us to be there, then that was where we were SUPPOSED to be. And if God intentionally put us there, suddenly all of that misery had PURPOSE. The purpose was probably still unknown. But even if you never came to recognize it, God had always known the purpose. & if you would just keep trusting God, He would see you through all of it, even in the midst of all the insanity you'd lived through. You'd walked through the fire. For such a long time. But it never consumed you. Ever. Not once did it completely overtake you. It all had purpose, & that made it okay to move forward > trusting God, confidence in Him. I'd call that DISCIPLINE or REFINING... but that is just too brief a way to describe seasons so difficult to bear, so I got more thorough. Maybe God's been turning you into a diamond all along & you didn't even know it yet. Maybe now you know. I write all of this to you, because it is so fresh in my life. Sometimes, I wish I wasn't always in the waves these days, but if I wasn't, I wouldn't be getting all of this understanding. We learn the most in our trials, & that's another reason why they're worth the hardship. We gain more than we lost in these times. They make us who we are - Who God really made us to be - Wiser, Better, Tougher, Stronger. I wonder how many of you have been needing to hear all of this. There are 2 types of people that need this. 1. Those of you who are in the waves right now wondering if there's any purpose to the madness. 2. Those of you who are headed for greater missions in which you will need preparation for the storms ahead of you. Don't be afraid of them, just be aware of what's going on & why so you can weather them better than I did at first. I want you to be wiser than I was! Keep in mind, I wish none of this upon any of you. I hope your dreams come true and your path is straight. I hope nothing hurts you along the way. But that's just so unrealistic. The more we press into who God has created us to be & what He wants us to accomplish, the more waves we will have to withstand. With great calling comes great responsibility. I hope this meets you where you're at & gives you some peace, because honestly once you realize that the storms of life are purposeful, whether God ordained them or not, you can learn to really take the most out of all of this. To my high school self, posting happy little verses about hope in trials, I'm proud of you for sharing your faith, but someday those verses will hit you much harder. When they do, you will actually be thankful to be maturing in your faith. It's not that you weren't a real Christian before. It's just that now, you are gaining more spiritual credibility so you can reach more people someday. You will never look at the Bible the same. It will continue to become more and more real to you as you grow through the trials and joys of life. Don't be afraid of this change, embrace every scar as a reminder of just how far God has taken you & how much farther He has for you to go. Buckle up. From, Future Abby! But back to Jeremiah 17:7 "...blessed is he who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him," ... At first it was a sweet verse about trusting God. Then, setback after setback, it became a verse that hurt to read. It was hard to read, because you had a hard time trusting God as you weathered the endless waves with no hope in sight. Then, after some miraculous realization, you got it. The waves were still coming, but you began to see God in them. Actually you began to see God in all of it. & in one miraculous realization, your whole life turned around. None of the circumstances had even changed yet, but your heart had. Your whole life had caved in before your very eyes. Dreams died & people walked away. Your life had turned to dust. & in that stage of desperation, you remembered the truth: God performs miracles from the dust. He raises people up from the ashes everyday. He heals scars, & makes the afflicted one's ministry all the more effective. And in those truths, you rise up and believe again. You read these verses again & believe these verses again. But with a depth of belief & expectation that you never anticipated. And you wouldn't change a thing. Written with love, Abby Grimaldi #BornToShine I am not afraid. I was made for this. #BornToShine Hey, it's Abby! One time my biggest dream didn't come true. I was so crushed, I seriously wondered if I'd ever be able to dream again. I was so scared to get my hopes up again. But God slowly gave me the strength & wisdom I desperately needed to dream again. It's time you join me. Let's dream again! #BornToShine is all about finding our dreams & chasing them wholeheartedly. But that's always easier said than done! Chasing a dream is thrilling, but also very difficult to do! Personally, I think the hardest thing about having a dream is allowing yourself to actually GO for it. It can be really scary to invest... & work... & pray for something that’s not guaranteed. As much as we wish for certainty, we're just not going to get it most of the time. If all great things in life were guaranteed, they wouldn't be so special to achieve or attain! My favorite skater is Gracie Gold. #RealLifeElsa I've actually met her a couple times because she trained at the same facility as Rocco in LA! Talk about a celeb sighting! She was so nice & let me get a fan-girl pic with her. Haha. She's won the US Women's National Gold Medal 2 times & even won a Bronze medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics! A couple days ago, I was watching a bunch of her past performances. I absolutely LOVE watching triumphant skates like hers! I've noticed that the general reaction when a skater nails their routine is to... 1. Strike their final pose 2. Start crying 3. Cover their face with their hands in shock 4. Wave their arms in the air like they just conquered the world I LOVE IT! It's just so sweet to see someone's dream come true before your very eyes. My favorite victory reaction of Gracie's was after her final skate at the 2016 US Nationals. She won two years before that but didn't snag the gold medal in 2015. I bet there were so many long days where she wondered if she would ever taste the sweetness of triumph like that again. She jumped up & down after her final score was announced at the 2016 competition, & it was really the picture of a dream come true! *As a pro hockey wife, I admit that I get overly attached to athlete's personal stories & triumphs... I can't help it! LOL* These skaters put their whole lives on the line (in so many ways!) to chase a dream. I think that's why their reactions are SO intense after they nail a routine. Their dream-defining moment definitely wasn't guaranteed. All they could do was give it their all (day after day for most of their life) & hope that they would eventually taste the sweetness of victory. This kind of risk makes the reward so much sweeter. It just means so much more at that point. Since so much can go wrong in a skate (or at a game, or in an audition, or during a test, or at a job interview, etc.), basically no dream is guaranteed. I'm convinced that this is why SO many of us are afraid to dream. "HONESTLY... What if I put YEARS of my life into a dream that NEVER comes true. How will I ever cope with that?" Let me just tell you: Been there, done that! You will survive. I promise. Numerous times I have invested my heart & SOUL into a dream I believed God placed in my heart because it was going to come true. Sometimes these dreams have come true. Other times they have not. In college, I spent several years preparing for my greatest dream to date at the time: becoming Miss North Dakota & competing at Miss America! I dreamt of what that crowning moment would feel like every day. I hoped & prayed. I created so many speeches for the groups I wanted to talk with. I practiced & prepared SO thoroughly for every area of competition. I spent my weekends developing my platform. I spent my free time at appearances. I thought through onstage questions & studied politics. I practiced doing my hair & makeup. I worked out & ate with my goals in full focus. Day after day, I joyfully & tirelessly chased this dream. I left no stone unturned in terms of preparation. I was ready. It was my sport, & I LOVED it! I won local titles, scholarships, competition categories, preliminary high scores, etc But the big dream... it never came true for me. It hit me like a pile of bricks. What a rough night. Ever been there? For a while I felt so confused. I was just so afraid to dream again. it was a lot to take in. Maybe you've had a conversation like this with God too: "Could I have been wrong about all of this?" God - No, it just seems like it. "Did You really allow me to work towards this... only to experience the absolute death of a dream? One that was deep within my soul?" God -Yes. This is how it needed to be. It's for the best. "Why, God? Why?" God -In time you'll see it wasn't all for waste, I promise. Trust me! And it wasn't. I knew it wouldn't be. I always knew God had my best interest at heart, I just had to get past that shock phase in order to MOVE FORWARD. As time passed by, I reflected on the reasons why God placed this dream in my spirit. I reached probably thousands of people as a titleholder. That's the most important thing. But on top of that, I did so much work on myself, my skills, my style, finding myself, etc. I also created #BornToShine Ministry in that time! That's just the short list. It took a while to get over that devastating loss of a dream, but ultimately I gained more from the process of chasing that dream than I ever lost by not seeing the dream come true. Listen to me: God doesn't waste anything! Don't be afraid to dream! Long story short, I believe that when we are walking closely with God, He places divine dreams inside of each of us - some that will come true & some that won’t. For the dreams that don’t come true: God will repurpose all the time & energy you’ve invested & give you something even more remarkable. Since that experience, I've refocused my energy & time toward doing... a lot more of what I was doing while preparing for pageants! Writing music, performing, writing, speaking, exercising, eating healthy, etc. I've learned to treat each prior experience in my life as a launching pad toward something greater in the future. I encourage you to do the same. Sometimes my present life seems so insignificant, but as soon as I start viewing my day-to-day life as a dress rehearsal for something greater, I feel so rejuvenated! Staying inspired is up to you, but I'm going to do everything in my power to help you out with that! Everyone needs a good pep talk, so that's what you can expect from these #BornToShine posts! To anyone hopeful that 2018 will be the year they finally realize a dream or even just see a glimmer of hope: Keep believing! Keep going! Victory (regardless of circumstance) is a choice we make every day. On days when I was moving forward past a shattered dream, I had to actively choose to live in victory - not defeat. So wherever you're at on your dream-chasing journey, let's get after it together! I wish I could sit down with each of you & hear about your biggest dreams. I would LOVE to cheer you on in 2018. Shoot me a comment or message if you’re on Team #BornToShine with me this year, & make sure to follow me on Facebook, Instagram & Twitter & say HI. LOVE YOU GUYS! THANKS FOR READING! -Abby Grimaldi #BornToShine |
AuthorChristian Singer-Songwriter, Writer, Hockey Wife, & Fitness Fanatic. Nomad with North Dakota roots. Archives
January 2020
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