Hey Friends,

I hope you are all doing well! I just wanted to share something that the Lord has really been placing on my heart! Over the last month or so I have been in several situations where women keep talking about weight that the need to lose and different parts of their body that they are unhappy about. This breaks my heart because I think as women it can be soo easy to get in the trap of comparing ourselves to other women and constantly focusing on our outward appearance.  The truth is, are bodies are always changing and our fleshly thoughts about our body are going to go up and down.  The other part is that when we talk about that kind of stuff in a group it causes other women to compare themselves or feel like they don’t measure up.  We don’t know what other people are walking through and what kind of eating/weight struggles they are facing.  Our words have such power.  Also, we are insulting God when we are constantly talking about our imperfections.  

Psalm 139 talks about how we are fearfully and wonderfully made and God knew each part before it came to be! Proverbs 31:30 says “Charm is deceptive, and beauty DOES NOT last, but a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised.”  God has created each one of us uniquely and with a specific purpose! 

Please hear my heart on this and know that this is something that I have struggled with and continually need to give over to the Lord and find my worth in Him and not in my outward appearance. I’m just very passionate about it because I know how other people’s words have affected me and I’ve worked with a lot of teen girls who have struggled with eating disorders/self esteem issues.  

Something the Lord has really been challenging me with is to think of inward qualities that I see in the people he has placed in my life and to compliment that! Let’s go after God this week and really ask Him to change us from the inside out and to use us for his Glory and to encourage those around us!!! 

Love you guys! Corrie

Hey Friends,

I hope everyone is doing well! I just wanted to share some things that the Lord has really been putting on my heart and dealing with me on.  I think all of us have a desire to feel accepted and to feel like we’re worth something, but where are we finding that worth? If I was giving a christian answer I would say Jesus, but if I was really honest with where my worth comes a lot of days I would have to say from facebook, instagram and twitter.  

While I think that it’s really awesome to use social media, I think that it can also do a lot of harm to our self esteem if we are not careful.  Today I was reminded how ugly my flesh can be and how I need to be constantly fixing my eyes on Jesus.  I was looking through an instagram of a good friend and saw that they were not following me, but they were following everyone else in my group of friends.  Immediately I jumped to conclusions and felt like I was worthless and there must be something wrong with me since they weren’t following me.  It was like those feelings you get in jr. high when you are the only person not invited to a party.  I was also reminded of a lot of different times where I’ve been guilty of posting pictures or statuses of different people I was hanging out with and I’m sure I made other people who weren’t included feel excluded.  

While I think it’s really fun to post different pictures and statuses I think we always need to be checking our motives and also be thinking about others and how they are going to feel.  I think it can become sooo easy to have a false connectedness on facebook and run to that to feel like we are worth something, instead of running to God.  I have been soo guilty of that. There have been many times that I have felt lonely and instead of running to God I have run to facebook to feel connected or so many times I have seen posts about people hanging out without me and let it make me feel worthless or second guess myself.  

But the truth is if we are putting our worth in what others say or think about us we are never gonna be happy because there will be people who don’t like us, and there will be times people will hurt us or exclude us.  If we are being really honest with ourselves there are many times that we have hurt others or excluded them.  If we focus on God we will not be disappointed because his view of us NEVER changes.  He loves us unconditionally and he is always waiting for us to run to Him.  

Something else God has really shown me through this is my selfishness.  When my focus is on me I’m not thinking about others and how I can be a friend to someone that no one else talks to, or how I can reach out to someone who needs to hear about Jesus or just be a friend or encouragement to someone.  I love what Hebrews 12:1-3 says: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up.  And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.  We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.  Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame.  Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.  Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up.”  

I love this because it is so specific about stripping off EVERY weight that slows us down and EVERY sin that trips us up.  God has an amazing and specific purpose set out for each of us and we complete that by keeping our eyes focused only on HIM and not on ourselves.  Satan would love for us to get tangled up in lies or sin and not be living our calling.  Let’s live out our purpose and calling this week. 

Love you guys!!!

Hey Friends,

Hope you have all been enjoying your summer, I know I have! I can’t believe summer is almost over! I have enjoyed the beautiful weather and long summer nights! Just wanted to share with you guys about the amazing tour I was able to be a part of this summer! The tour was called, “The Extreme Tour” and I went out for about 3 weeks. We were in a city for about 2 days and then went to a new city! In each city we spent the first night going out on the streets and playing music and reaching out to people who need Jesus so badly! The second night we would do a festival style concert in a park nearby! It was amazing to see how many of the people we had ministered to the night before would come out to the concert! It was amazing to see so many people come to Christ and many people who were healed or freed from addictions! There are soo many stories I could share, but one in particular stands out in my mind! One night we were at an apartment complex playing music outside for a group of people, and there was a lady there who was so incredibly drunk she was yelling uncontrollably! The Holy Spirit nudged me to go and talk with her.  Through chatting with her, I could see how incredibly lost she was and I was able to give her my c.d. and connect with her! I still keep in contact with her and I know that seeds were planted and that God is working on her heart! 

There are soo many people that need Jesus so badly and who are lost and hopeless and going to Hell. It can be so easy to get caught up in our Christian bubble and not reach out, or not reach out to people that many churches look down upon.  Through this tour I was able to really see how caught up I had gotten in my own christian bubble and how much I need to be reaching out! Let’s live our life on purpose and ask the Lord to give us divine appointments with people that need Him everyday! I am excited to be going back out with the Extreme Tour in Oct. I will be in California and will post dates very soon! Love you guys, Corrie

Luke 15:3-7 Then Jesus told them this parable: ” Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them.  Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?  And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home.  Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’  I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.”

Hope your summer’s going well!  I wanted to take a moment to share with you about an awesome opportunity I have this summer to be part of a ministry / music tour called the Extreme Tour (www.theExtremeTour.com).

The tour is made up of a number of bands and artists traveling to 100 cities over 5 months’ time, with the purpose of serving communities in need and sharing hope through the universal language of music.  Being I am passionate about recording and performing pop/rock music to encourage, challenge and bring hope to teens, I was naturally excited by the invitation to bring my band and play on the tour throughout the second half of July (7/13-7/27) in Florida, Kentucky, and Indiana, and I have seen God confirm in many ways (let me know if you want to hear more) that I should take part in this.

Stopping in each city for a couple days, we will be spending time on the streets, getting to know and loving people who don’t know Jesus.  We will also be holding festivals in each city showcasing extreme sports and a night of live music.  During these festivals, we will be able to connect with the people that come and most importantly share the love of Jesus with them!

We are called to be the hands and feet of Jesus to all those who don’t know him, and I have already seen the Lord confirm in so many ways that he is calling me to this specific tour / ministry opportunity. As there are a lot of travel expenses that come along with this and I am not getting paid to do these shows, I am trusting God to provide the rest of the resources we will need to make the tour possible.  I still need to raise about $2000.00 and I would absolutely welcome and appreciate any amount of financial partnership you feel led to provide. But whether or not you can help in that way, I would really appreciate your prayers for every aspect of the tour.

Please make any contributions securely over the web by clicking the donate link at the top of www.corriecarlson.com or by mailing a check made out to Corrie Carlson to PO BOX 3502, Brentwood, TN 37024.

Thanks so much & God bless,

Corrie

Hey Friends,

I’m gonna be going to the studio very soon to record a very personal song! Some of you have already heard me perform it live. I am going to give you a sneak peak of the lyrics! I will keep you posted on the progress of the recording! This song means a lot to me because I wrote it about my struggle with self image and feeling like I had to measure up to what the magazines and movies say beauty is. The truth is that we are all fearfully and wonderfully made and worth sooo much to God! I pray this song speaks to you! It’s called “What You See.”

Tears are falling from these eyes, my heart feels cold.  Standing here beneath these lights, I feel alone.  Everywhere I turn I see a face, reminding me of all I’m not, who they say I should be.  Oh.

Cause I’ve got images around me, movies and magazines.  Things that girl that’s in the mirror I know could never be.  Father show me beauty that’s hiding underneath.  When I look at my reflection ,show me what you see in me.  oh. In me.

Standing here in this dark with my insecurities.  Whether real or just imagined, they’re holding on to me.  I’m running out of reasons to believe, that I’m alright.  God I need you, to give me your peace.

Cause I’ve got images around me, movies and magazines.  Things that girl that’s in the mirror I know could never be.  Father show me beauty that’s hiding underneath.  When I look at my reflection, show me what you see in me.  

Is it beautiful, what you see.  What your doing in my heart.  Lord help me to believe.

Hey Friends,

I hope you’ve all had an awesome week and had a great Easter last weekend!! I just want to be real with you for a min. and share some things that God has been teaching me this week! This has been one of those weeks where Satan has been throwing lies at me.  Lies that I don’t fit in with anyone, I’m not good enough, there’s something wrong with my personality, and the biggest one was that people were gonna reject me because I wasn’t worthy of having people like me.  I think we all have faced a time in our lives where we have had thoughts like that or just felt like we didn’t measure up.  God really convicted me that I was allowing those lies to make me feel bad about myself and that is wrong.  The TRUTH about who we are is in God’s word! God says we are his child, we are accepted, and that he will NEVER leave us or forsake us.  He says we are fearfully and wonderfully made. When our focus is on ourselves or on what other people think of us, we are going to be disappointed.  I want to live my life for an audience of 1 and to serve people well no matter what the sacrifice.  I just want to encourage you guys today to meditate on God’s word when you have thoughts that are untrue.  Our feelings will go up and down, but God’s word is always true and that’s what we should be focusing on.  He loves us unconditionally and each one of us was made with a specific purpose! If this is something you find yourself struggling with, I just encourage you to go to God and find verses that you can claim and say out loud when those thoughts come.  God’s word has soooo much power!  Phil. 4:8-9 says “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable.  Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.  Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me-everything you heard from me and saw me doing.  Then the God of peace will be with you.” This verse is my prayer for myself and for you guys in the coming week! Let’s live our lives with purpose this week! Love you all, Corrie

Hey Friends,

I know it has been a while since I have last blogged! Just wanted to share some things that the Lord has been doing in my life and teaching me:-) I hope all of you are doing well!! I was talking with a friend this past weekend about the importance of being real.  I know I have been guilty so many times of feeling like I have to have it all together and say the right things or people will judge me or think differently of me.  The truth is we are all messy, broken, sinners who were saved by a God who loves us no matter what we’ve done! Church should be a place where we can bring in our messiness and brokenness and surrender it to God, who is the ONLY one who can give us freedom from it.  God wants us to be real with each other and share in each other’s burdens and point each other to Jesus! I know for myself I can really fall into the trap of being a people pleaser and wanting to say the right things and wanting people to like me.  The past month the Lord has really been breaking me of that! We should live our lives for an audience of 1 and not for the approval of everyone around us! I know that is soo much easier said then done! It’s something I have to surrender to the Lord daily, and sometimes every five min.:-) I don’t know where you find yourself today, but I just encourage you to be yourself and to have people in your life that you can be real with and more importantly lets be real with God! He loves us unconditionally and wants us to go to him with everything, even on the days that we come to him mad.  2. cor.12:9 a says: But he said to me,”My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” We don’t have to come to God having it all together, it’s in our brokenness that He can make us strong!!!  That is my prayer for all of us today!! We serve a God who loves us unconditionally!!! I don’t know about you, but I’m soo thankful for that! I hope you all have a great weekend and are enjoying this beautiful spring weather! Love in Him, Corrie