hey everyone! today you'll be hearing from my beautiful friend Tiffany. I've had the pleasure of knowing Tiff for years. She has the most beautiful soul. Her heart for people is so huge and she is a constant inspiration to me! Take it away Tiff...

Hello my name is Tiffany. I am a wife, a worship leader, a nurse, a coffee snob, and I love to encourage smiles! I am two years married to my rock of a husband Roman and it just keeps getting better. I love to worship God by singing, and dabbling on guitar. I love my church of Glad Tidings & Adore and the work that God is doing in the hearts of His people there. Laura is a fantastic friend and inspirational leader one of my fav people so thanks Laura for having me share on your beauty of a blog!

Getting married was the second best decision of my life. Although challenging at times I love it. Our first year had a lot of bumps, think about it, two very different yet similar people, two schedules, two jobs and only one car, 2 opinions, and the list goes on. BUT we are wonderfully in love with each other and we want to walk through our differences and challenges because of this love and the example of true love that God laid down for us.

One benefit of all this is that your hubby is your ultimate accountability person. So as things come out of your mouth, sometimes in an endless stream, they can, stand with you and verbally acknowledge your feelings and then lovingly admit to you the things that you might miss yourself.

Roman, my best friend; has helped me to notice the negative or ungodly things trying to creep into my life, the old ways or habits and the new. He doesn’t point fingers at my weakness and furrow his brow. He sits beside me, hears my story, and walks with me in my struggle. He secures a trust and in it he shares honestly what he is hearing. He doesn’t do it to strike me down, but to love me more. So yeah sometimes I am wrong HA! Hard to swallow but it’s the truth! Thank goodness Roman is who he is or I may not take it like I have.

Ro talked me through a near explosion on a family vacation last summer where I was ready to run and give up. He held me by my arms, stared into my eyes and said “This isn’t who you are!” He speaks up to protect and defend me from myself and others. He validates my feelings and when I cry he wraps His arms around me even if I don’t make sense and he comforts me. Ro is a listener sometimes he speaks and sometimes he doesn’t which can drive you nuts at times but you know his heart! What is even more beautiful about all of this is that when he does these things, I feel God in our relationship. I feel God’s love, His strength and hope holding us up even when we feel we have failed GOD IS WITH US.

I am thankful and blessed.

God is with us. He believes in us that we can get through all things with Him, especially the dirty and hard things. So my one word for 2014 is PURIFY. My prayer to God in January was asking God, as I am, to PURIFY my heart to help me to become more aware of the things trying to creep in and discourage. I asked God to scrape from my mouth any hint of gossip and to say no to fear of what people may think of my decisions. For God knows my heart. I asked God to remove any bitterness from my heart that has been building up from judgment or hurt feelings. God forgives, God forgive me and I will forgive others.

The last two months I have been experiencing God purifying my heart. I won't lie, it isn’t easy and sometimes it really hurts, but end result Eternity with Christ and Him using this life to love, so worth it.

A friend gave me a new concept for the word purify, we used to sing that worship song “Purify my heart.” Beautiful song, but I don’t think as a young’n I really thought about the REFINERS FIRE! Ha! Sometimes it burns and hurts when you are being remolded or sanded ouch! We’re asking God to make, us sinners, like Christ. It’s a big job.

It might be nice to say once I became a Christian that was it, no pain, ta da, but I am even more glad to say that through my walk with Christ I have hit road blocks, messed up sometimes, but God was with me nudging at me, guiding me. At times it was hard because I fought with what I wanted and His plan. I still do! I am so over joyed to have chosen God’s plan and I have seen great reward and blessing in walking with Him, and have myself molded into the woman He sees me to be.

God’s way is always better