t w e n t y - s e v e n + h e a l e d.

Happiest of Hump Days to you! 

Why am I so joyous?
Because today marks another year for me,
its my birthday! 

I am celebrating 27 years of life!
Oh, it has definitely been an adventure...

I've had my share of good times and hard times, bad boys (hence the shirt) and good guys, happy-fests and sad moments. But through it all God has kept me, and I am so thankful to see another year of life.

Yesterday, I ran across a pretty cool link-up, "Hello, my name is.." over at Kerrie's space, Life on a mission. The purpose of the link-up is to rid ourselves of the labels we get in today's world and replace them with who God says we are to Him.

Today the label I am tossing out is broken and I am reclaiming what God says I am. 

Hello, my name is healed. 

Can I tell you an amazing testimony? 

10 years ago my father almost lost his life. He was so close to death, it was so scary. He was a pretty big man at the time, weighing in at over 300lbs. Then, he started dropping weight suddenly. I remember, I was a junior in high school and one night after dinner I was talking to him and his words didn't make sense. The fact that he was talking about things that I couldn't understand, made me so scared. I told my mom and I could see the worry in her eyes. I remember going into my room and crying because I didn't understand what was going on with him. His mind was starting to leave him. But my dad has always been a man of faith in Jesus. He held onto God's word no matter what it looked like to us. We made him go to the hospital, and you would not believe what we were told... 

If you know anything about blood sugar, then you may know what a normal reading is. We were told a normal reading should stay under 200. My father had a blood glucose reading of 1400. Yes, you read right. The doctors were astonished that he was not in a coma or dead. His body even started to shut down. Through it all my father held on to his faith in God's word. He continued to quote, "I shall live and not die." (Ps 118:17) And a miracle happened, over the next few days they were able to lower his levels safely, his body started to began functioning normal, and my father survived death. It was a medical mystery. The doctors could not believe what had happened right before their eyes. It would have been 10 years that my father would have been dead, but my Jesus said not so.

The past 8 years I have been told that my body doesn't work properly. That it doesn't produce blood cells that it is supposed to produce, that the fatigue, aches, and pains, inflammation, blood tests, MRI's, scans, and medicine will always be apart of my identity. That Lupus is here to stay. 

But, again God says not so.

"But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.
 All we like sheep have gone astray;We have turned, every one, to his own way;And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all."

-Isaiah:53:5-6

White - "I love bad boys tank" - H&M

Printed Pants - Len

Gold Bracelet - Thrifted

Black/Gold Bag - Thrifted

Black/tan sandals - I can't remember (bought these a few years ago)

I know that it is God's will for me to be healthy and whole. I praise the Lord and thank Him for healing all of me - the physical, spiritual, and mental parts of me. Only with Him, can I be whole!
The gift of life is so amazing and I am beyond excited to have another year that God has graced me to see. I am excited for what this new year and journey will encompass and know that by faith all things are possible!

Hope you have a great day!

Linked up: Hello, My Name is, Funday Monday, Creative Monday, Monday Bloom, Style Sessions , Trend Spin, I feel pretty, What I Wore, Tucker Up, Your Whims Weds,  Totally Posted Tuesday,, Three for Thursday, Fav Fashion Friday, Look what I got, Tre Chic, Working Girl Working Style,, *All about you, Simply Lulu Style, Weekend Wind Down, Weekend Blog Hop, Stylish Saturday, Mix it Mondays, Monday Musthaves,I am Mrs K;Her & Nicole, Hump Day, Whit Nic James, Manic Monday, Manic Monday, Stylish Tuesdays, Transatlantic Blonde, Fashion Informant, What I wore to work, Stylin in St Louis,Sunday Style, Lena B, transatlantic blonde, Stylish Saturday