gracious strength, grace in strength, strength in grace, strong grace, and me.

the title of this blog is pretty obvious, but why? grace in strength means a lot more to me than a freaking awesome blog title (if I do say so myself). I actually came to it because of my name. in my first blog post I revealed that my full name is haley grace strong. now I had never paid much mind to the beauty of my name, because I was too focused on wallowing in sad, self-pity at how common my first name was and how common that made me. however, recently I realized the power of my name. my name is God to me. Grace and strength are what God is to me. He is strong. Strong enough to save me. Strong enough to love me despite my faults. Strong enough to decide that I was worth the death of his son. He is merciful. Merciful enough to give me a life I don't deserve. Merciful enough to continuously heal my broken heart. Merciful enough to forgive me of my many mistakes. Merciful enough to pull me out of all my dark moments.

but where does this leave me?
well, typically in a sad heap on the floor because I can't wrap my head around that. but most of the time it leaves me imperfect. and that's the thing. God's grace and his strength doesn't make me perfect. I still feel guilty, I still think my feelings are the truth, I still do stupid stuff, I still give people my heart even if they don't deserve it, I still cry everyday, I still don't know how to cope with the truth, I still resent criticism, I still battle anxiety, I still withdraw my heart when I get hurt, I still, I still, I still....
But God still looks at me and sees a perfect creation. His grace and his strength make me whole in his eyes. He completes me. He covers me with his mercy because of his strength. He fills me with his strength because of his mercy. He is everything and anything.

Alright time to further embarrass myself and over reveal on the internet-
my favorite animal is a whale and to me they are the craziest and coolest things on planet earth and in so many ways remind me of the majesty, power, and mercy of God.

but i mean how sick is that? humans are nothing compared to them

also my favorite flower is a hydrangea if anyone is wondering ;)