Coty Terry

Anxiety comes from expecting bad things to happen.  Hope come from expecting good things to happen.  I’ve struggled with anxiety most of my life, many times without even realizing it. But I don’t want to be anxious anymore. I want to hope and leave it at that. The Bible says that hope will remain (1 Corinthians 13:13). It doesn’t say that anxiety will. The Bible says that love hopes all things (1 Corinthians 13:7). It doesn’t say that it fears all things. The Bible says that faith is the substance of things hoped for (Hebrews 11:1), not what we’re worried about. And it also says that without faith, we cannot please God (Hebrews 11:6).  “Why worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow has enough trouble of its own” (Jesus, Matthew 6:34).  Why do I worry about tomorrow? Because I’m afraid of being hurt. I’m afraid of the pain I’d feel if things don’t go the way I’d want them to. The problem is, why do I believe that my way is the only good way? And why do I believe I’ll feel ...

I met my husband on a dating app. At the time, I was disgusted by dating apps. I thought it was full of men who just wanted to hook up or creepy men who couldn’t get a date in real life. It sounds harsh, but this truly was my mindset.  I was trying to stay pure, meet the right, Spirit-filled, Christian man, and I thought there’d be no way I’d meet him on a dating app. But when I asked God how I could possibly start dating in the middle of a pandemic when everything was shut down, He told me, “Meet people you wouldn’t normally associate yourself with.” I was shocked, offended, curious. Who could that be? Anyone from college? An alumni group? I thought I’d want to meet anyone and everyone. I loved people. Who would I not want to associate with? I didn’t know what He meant, but I remembered what He said.  Since God encouraged me to start being open to the idea of dating again after a heartbreak, I started looking up marriage testimonies on YouTube. You want to know what I found? ...

You know, it’s tough climbing a mountain. You need to take multiple breaks but still have the endurance to keep going and reach the top. Whether it’s hiking a mountain or rock-climbing a wall, the way up is the hardest. But once you reach it the top, the views are breathtaking and you recognize that it was worth the climb.  Right now I’m climbing a mountain (metaphorically), but I realized that I haven’t been taking breaks. Any athlete/hiker/climber knows you have to take rests in order to endure to the end. I also realized I paced myself faster than I could yet endure. Any runner would know that you have to pace yourself as your endurance builds, and as it builds, that’s when you can get faster and faster. This realization, though, has made me excited because I don’t feel bad cutting back anymore. God helped me realize that setting periodic rests is important and having an achievable pace is what will help me cross the finish line.  I’m such a “go-getter” - if you want to say...

Have you ever tried to do too many things at once? Has it ever overwhelmed you?  It has me. I keep telling myself that I can do it, I can figure out how to make it possible To do all the things that I want to do, That I believe I will do, Until it becomes too much, And I want to quit everything. The next phase of the cycle is sadness, When I lose hope and motivation Because I’m no longer doing the things I love Because I quit everything. And then I talk to God, Tell him what happened. He reminds me that He is there, That I need to go back to doing the things He’s called me to do, That I enjoy, And He tells me which to pick back up and which to leave out.  But it seems like a cycle, Because I add more things and wonder why I’m worn out, Or I stop using my planner and precious time gets wasted That would have allowed me to go to bed on time. What’s difficult is when I don’t know what I’ve added To cause such a ruffle in my life, To cause the stress or late nights. What’s difficu...