create in me a clean heart.

when i started {beauty in humble places}, i wanted a place to share my thoughts, photography, life, and ultimately: my heart for Jesus. somewhere along the way, i lost focus. instead of writing to glorify the Lord, i started blogging to glorify myself. i became obsessed with how i could get more readers, more comments, more pageviews. more, more, more.

one day last month, i scrolled through my blog. it was like God had taken the veil off my eyes and revealed a blog that should be titled {beauty in prideful places}. whoa. where did i go wrong? what am i doing? i prayed right then and told God to take this blog -- my words -- and make it His.

pride is destructive. you give it one glance and suddenly it has invaded every part of your life. i can't tell you how many times i've prayed, "God, please take my pride and crush it. crumble every last bit. and if that means i crumble with it, i know You can turn ashes into beauty."

i love blogging. i love the blogging community. i have met some wonderful women who challenge and inspire me. my hope is that i will be hidden behind the cross and Jesus will shine. i want to make Him famous, not amber. the pageviews, the comments, the amount of readers... they're just numbers. what matters is #1: Jesus.


"create in me a clean heart, O God. renew a loyal spirit within me." psalm 51:10.