Lara Casey Quotes

Waiting on God can refine us and build our faith. Some of the best things in life come with patient waiting and a period of growth. Friend, this season of waiting might be your time of ripening.

Over time the impossible standards we set for ourselves become the measuring stick for our worth. We start to believe that if we don’t measure up, we aren’t enough. We begin to feel worthless.

She believed she couldn't, so God did.

God doesn’t call us to comfort; He calls us to follow him.

Do one thing at a time. Do it well. Or just get it done. Done is better than perfect, and doing one thing well is better than doing a thousand mediocre things.

Am I acting on faith or feelings?

It’s okay to grow slowly.

Busy is the enemy of peace. Busy takes us away from our purpose. Busy is not truly productive in the big picture. Busy means life’s joys and surprises can’t find a way into our lives because we’re moving too fast to see and experience them. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to move so fast that I miss my life.

Nurturing a plant takes a commitment to gradual, daily care. You can’t grow something by soaking it in a bucket of water all at once. In the same way, you can’t work hard on a goal, giving it your all for one day out of your life, and then forget about it come January 2. Commit to daily tending. Our lives will bloom through daily decisions and habits—daily tending, nurturing, and pruning—not just the giant leaps made once in a while.

your past and your mistakes—no matter how heavy or confusing or deep they run—do not define you. No matter what you have done or experienced, you can receive God’s grace. His forgiveness is bigger than your mistakes. His power is bigger than your past or your present.

When we work heartily for the Lord, the mundane becomes meaningful, and the bigger tasks are given greater energy and focus.

Leaps of faith mean giving something up for the sake of something better, letting something die in order for something new to be able to grow.

We make things happen when we make the choice to shift from denying of the unknown to starting.

People often ask me how I stay so motivated and energized. I could tell you I try to eat healthy foods and sleep well at night, but the real answer is grace.

In fact, it’s in the imperfect—the dirt—where things grow. Not despite the mess and tension, but right smack in the middle of it.

What if ending the chase and living on purpose means intentionally leaning in to what might feel imperfect?

The seasons teach us how to do life well, revealing a life-giving rhythm: we flourish through intentional periods of stillness, growth, hard work, and rest.

Throughout the Bible, God chose ordinary and imperfect people—fishermen, shepherds, and farmers—to do astounding things. Even though we are ordinary, God can make the impossible possible when we humble ourselves and surrender our fears to Him. God does not need you to be a superhero in order to use you for His great purposes. He just needs your humble, willing heart.

The enemy of taking action is the false belief in "someday." Do the good you know you ought to do-and start now. Do it knowing that you might not have as much time as you think. The alternative is to do nothing, and that does, well, nothing. Don't wait to live.

You have a unique assignment here on this earth, and your pain, grief, and challenges might be the very things that open your heart to be able to live out that assignment. A seed doesn’t burst through the earth and decide to hop to another spot because it looks better, easier, or more comfortable in someone else’s garden. It grows right in the dirt where it has been planted.

I wanted to feel alive. I wanted to be on the right path, but I couldn’t get the self-defeating thoughts to stop. Then I read these words: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Cor. 5:17). I so badly wanted to be made completely new. Little by little over the next decade, God helped me replace the lies I had believed with truths.

When life feels undone and plans seem unclear, we say, God, I trust You. When we’re in the wait, we say, Your will be done. When we feel lost or alone, we say, God, You are in this place. When the world presses in on us, we say, Lord, You are mighty. And when we’re feeling weak and defeated, and tempted to offer words of ingratitude for the season we’re in, we say, God, You are good. All the time. You are good.

In Matthew 7:7, Jesus told us, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Ask. Seek. Knock. Whatever leap of faith has been on your heart, ask God for it. Then, wait on His reply and, whether it is a yes or a no, trust in His perfect plan.

When we cultivate an intentional life, we have plenty to share. We learn to share, not out of our excess but to purposefully grow things to bless others.

Oh, the joys we miss when dismissing what appears imperfect or unfamiliar!

Cultivating an intentional life is about serving the Lord for His purposes and growing what matters with Him.

Let all that I am praise the LORD; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name. Let all that I am praise the LORD; may I never forget the good things he does for me. (Psalm 103:1–2 NLT)

Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. —ISAIAH 43:18–19 NIV

Margot’s off shopping for new boots with her friend Casey, Daddy’s at work, and Kitty and I are lazing about watching TV when my phone buzzes next to me. It’s a text from Peter. "Movie tonight?" I text back yes, exclamation point. Then I delete the exclamation point for sounding too eager. Though without the exclamation point, the yes seems completely unenthused. I settle on a smiley face and press send before I can obsess over it further.

am fighting tears as I type this, because I needed someone to pray for me during those uncultivated days. I felt alone. I didn’t know how to ask for prayer or where to start. My faith felt broken and distant and imperfect. I needed something bigger than I am to help untangle the mess and give me a fresh start. I needed a way to sift through all the things to get to the only thing that matters: His truth.

computer, I heard

You don’t have to do it all. If unrushing your life feels overwhelming or impossible, consider that it is impossible for you. That’s why we need God. Where you can’t, He already has.

Write what I want you to write. Day by day, word by word, trust Me. Write My story in your life. I have a plan. All of this pain and failure led you to Me. Your past does not define you anymore; I do. Walk into the dead places of your life, and give them to Me. I will make them new.

The Proverbs 31 woman is hardworking, a savvy businesswoman, a loving homemaker, a wise mother, and praised by her husband and children. It’s easy to read the first twenty-nine verses and think, I will never measure up to that! Read verse 30, though, and you see the truth: “Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.” The reason the Proverbs 31 woman was able to develop these characteristics over the course of her lifetime was because her strength was not her own. The only thing that was perfect about her was God’s transformative power.

I don’t have to do it all. Done is better than perfect, and good enough is good.

You don’t have to make it all happen. You just have to take one step forward in faith and let Him do the rest. Where you can’t, God already has.

Unrushing our lives is a risk, though, isn’t it? It means we may have to give up something—or a lot of things—in order to slow down. And often we don’t like the idea of slowing down, because it sounds unproductive. But we risk missing something far more valuable than our productivity in keeping at a hurried pace: life. Real life.

I don’t want to live in the lies of lack—focusing so much on what I don’t have that I miss all that I do have.

If we saturate our hearts with comparison, we are feeding ourselves poison.

When we let God’s grace lead us, instead of perfection, good things get cultivated, right where we are.

Making a mess doesn’t mean you become one.

I thought changing the direction of my life would take a monumental effort on my part, like a grand strike of lightning, but for me it was a surprisingly small spark that illuminated a new path.

a flourishing life is possible, no perfection required. In fact, it’s in the imperfect—the dirt—where things grow. Not despite the mess and tension, but right smack in the middle of

Try this. Simply tell God what is on your heart and ask Him to help you. Prayer doesn’t have to be complicated.