By Misty Strieff Prine But by the grace of God. “People who wonder if the glass is half empty or half full miss the point. The glass is refillable.” – Unknown. I know my cup has been full, overflowing even, felt half empty and felt as though as though it’s been on the verge of feeling completely empty I’ve been so worn down. But by the grace of God, He’s never let that happen. I may have “felt” that way but praise the Lord that He constantly stands ready to fill

By Misty Strieff Prine “God understands the cries of our hearts, even when they’re too deep for words.” There are so many people grieving the loss of loved ones in our local community today and over the past few weeks and I’m sure many others that you may know as well. There are also things that may be on your heart that are honestly just hard to put into words in a prayer. God’s word tells us in Romans 8:26, “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not

By Misty Strieff Prine “Every next level of your life will demand a different version of you.” – Unknown I thought about whether to do this one for a little while and it finally hit me why my attention kept being drawn back to it. Our lives are kind of like onion layers. (Ha...got that from Shrek!) Each layer of our lives will demand different versions of ourselves. Some layers are made of sadness, vulnerability, regret and frustration. However, there will be times where our

By Misty Strieff Prine “Sometimes walking away has nothing to do with weakness, and everything to do with strength.” – Unknown. The thought of walking away from something, in my mind, used to always mean defeat. I have struggled with many decisions in my life that ultimately took far too long to make and got even more hurt in the process, just because I didn’t want to look as though I was giving up without a fight. Have you ever been in this same predicament? Well, let me t

By Misty Strieff Prine “Remember that just because you hit bottom doesn’t mean you have to stay there.” – Robert Downey, Jr. I want you to do a little exercise. If you were asked today to name one of the darkest moments of your life, what would it be? Looking back on that time, do you see how far you've come? Ok, now think about where you are in your life right now. God is great, isn't He? You see, the darkness is not what you should remember. Instead, you should

By Misty Strieff Prine “There isn’t a person you wouldn’t love if you could read their story.” – Unknown So many times, people fail to see beyond the exterior of a person to what situations they have faced in their lives. So many have hardened their hearts because of things they have experienced along their journey They shut out any remote possibility of positivity entering their lives. That is why it is SO important to have eyes that see past that ha

By Misty Strieff Prine “Someone in your life needs to hear that they matter. That they are loved. That they have a future. Be the one to tell them.” - Unknown. Be that person! I’m telling you today that YOU matter, YOU are loved and YOU, my friend, have an incredible purpose and future in Christ. Know that He gave His life for YOU. Everyone has messed up in their lives. There is not one person that He cannot save and He cannot use! Don’t ever think that you are beyond the poi

By Misty Strieff Prine “In Christ ALONE, my hope is found!” I’m sure we’ve all, at some point in our lives, heard a version or cover of the song, “In Christ Alone.” I love the cover of the song that was made by Lauren Daigle. This song serves as a great reminder of WHO and WHERE our strength, hope and peace are and will ALWAYS, ultimately be found. He is our Cornerstone and He is our solid Ground when we are all too often on shaky ground with no sense of directi

By Misty Strieff Prine “If you don’t see the greatness of God, then all things that money can buy become very exciting. If you can’t see the sun, you will be impressed with a streetlight. If you’ve never felt thunder and lightning, you’ll be impressed with fireworks. And if you turn your back on the greatness and majesty of God, you’ll fall in love with a world of shadows and short-lived pleasures.” – John Piper Take the time to truly appreciate the greatness and

By Misty Strieff Prine “Nobody every talks about this part…You know, the part where you’re no longer a caterpillar and not yet a butterfly. You don’t know who you are, and you don’t know where you’re going. All you know is that every fiber of your being is calling for transformation. For disruption. For a revolution of the spirit. So, surrender. Breakdown. This is not the death of you. This is the dying of who you once were. This is your rebirth, darling. And these are called

By Misty Strieff Prine “Wherever a beautiful soul has been, there is a trail of beautiful memories.” Ronald Reagan. I know of so many today that have lost loved ones in our community and surrounding areas. Grief doesn’t just apply to the recent but lingers through the years. Losing someone you love leaves an emptiness that cannot be filled. We are human beings and to grieve is normal. Everyone processes grief in their own way. We need to be mindful of that

by Misty Strieff Prine “There is no pillow so soft as a clear conscience.” – Unknown Let me ask you a question today. Do you have a clear conscience, or do you have a cluttered one? Do you have regrets or are you at peace? If you have a heavy conscience or are burdened with regrets today, you must clean that up. Life is too short to lay your head on a pillow of hurt and regret. Think about it for a second. Are you going to get a more peaceful sleep on a brick or on a feathe

By Misty Strieff Prine “God rebuilds you right in front of people who broke you. Trust me, you don’t need revenge, you need faith.” – Unknown.+ Trust me when I say, this is one of God’s BIGGEST ways to not only draw you closer to Him but for you to truly see God’s ability to turn complete brokenness into something beautiful. I am a living, breathing, walking testament of this more times than I can count. In many ways, being hurt by the very people that are su

By Misty Strieff Prine “How you treat people IS a ministry.” – Unknown I wrote this the other night on my devotional page, The Upward Way, on Facebook and I just felt the impulsive need to share it with as many as I could. Why? Because I feel like it is the one thing that we could all not only work on but LEARN from. I think it is the number one overlooked ministry tool in today’s time. This is 100% a ministry in and of itself. People may forget what y

By: Misty Strieff Prine “THE KEY IS THIS. Meet today’s problems with today’s strength. Don’t start tackling tomorrow’s problems until tomorrow. You do not have tomorrow’s strength yet. You simply have enough for today.” – Unknown. Wow! I’ve never thought of it this way but what an amazing way to look at it. We’ve all heard of taking one day at a time because, not only do we not know what tomorrow holds yet, but not one of us are promised it. Here, it reminds u

By Misty Strieff Prine Last week, we had some terrible weather that came through a neighboring county to us, Lincoln County, and it was just horrible. It made me really realize how scary a storm can be and how it can bring about such a fear of the unknown, especially at nighttime, in the darkness. I also so the outpouring of community as all the First Responders from Copiah County and beyond caravanned down to Lincoln County, my husband being one of them, and

By: Misty Strieff Prine “My story is filled with bad choices, broken pieces and a lot of hurt. It’s also filled with a major comeback, freedom in my life, peace in my soul and a Savior that restored everything.” – Unknown For those who follow my page, The Upward Way on Facebook and Instagram, I wrote this several nights ago. The Lord laid this on my heart so deeply that I wanted to share with this audience as well. I know many of you don’t do social media so I wanted to make

By Misty Strieff Prine “Some people are going to reject you because you shine too bright for them. That’s okay. They don’t pay your light bill. Keep shining!” – Unknown. I have learned this in such a BIG way in my life, even as of late. There’s always going to be someone within your inner circle that just simply doesn’t like your…” brightness”. They don’t like the attention your kindness attracts, the happiness that it ignites like a spark arou

Misty Strieff Prine A simple, whispered prayer can move even the biggest mountain. So many today are grieving over the loss of loved ones, have loved ones in the hospital, dealing with unanswered questions or are simply fighting battles that just seem almost too much to bear. I’ve been amid trials in my life before where I forgot to pray because my earthly body and strength were just too weak to see past the hurt or pain. However, it is in those times when the Lord says to dr

By Misty Strieff Prine Now just sit back and think about the magnitude of that question for a second. Wow. So how about it? Would you like you if you met you? Would you come across as humble and kind or as one of those people who thinks they are above others and are selfish and self-centered? You see, we all need to step back and ask ourselves this question because it will, or at least should, help us to see the importance of our behavior when it comes to those around us. Whe