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+ encouragement, photography

Our Soul Craves Rest

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Back in December, I was determined to start the new year on fire, with determination, going full blast into my goals, to start the month off with all my goals planned out, but as I took time off for the holidays, the slower pace was so amazing that I felt led to keep that slow pace for the whole month of January. When I did that, so many other things lined up without me striving for them. I had pushed so hard before the holidays with a new paint collection and holiday collection, teaching painting classes, all while recovering from surgery.

I was to take time to rest and spend more intentional time with God. I was to lean in and listen to what he was speaking. While, I still did some work, I really embraced that rest.

Over the years, I have learned that rest is extremely important. We can see in the book of Genesis, that God himself rested. We can see Jesus an his disciples rested after teaching and traveling a lot. They needed to be replenished and refreshed. We can see that Jesus said,

“Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden
(weighted down with or as if with a heavy burden : OPPRESSED, BURDENED)
and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11:28 – 30 ESV

So, here is the dilemma we have: we feel always feel there is so much to do and no time to rest. We are wives, moms, sisters, daughters, have businesses, work full time, going to school, etc. We feel we gotta go, go, go…

But ⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️
– We are tired/exhausted
– We many times are unfulfilled
– We lack direction
– We feel heavy with weight
– We have trouble sleeping
– We don’t have energy
– We feel depleted
– Our minds are cluttered
– We have no peace
– We crave time with God
– We want to grow spiritually
– We feel that there is not enough time in the day
– We want our dreams and visions to come to life
– We face burnout

So we end up distracted, unfocused, not accomplishing all that matters anyhow feeling like we are spinning our wheels AND haven’t been able to connect the dots to what our soul is really craving.

REST.

True REST.

We decide “I’VE got this” and continue approaching life in our own strength. We gotta realize that through REST in the Father, is where we find refreshment, replenishment, restoration, direction, and so much more. We are not physically or mentally capable of doing everything, God comes in and completes us.

So if we can shift our thinking and stand on the truth that in order to accomplish his will for our life, we need rest. We need to sit with him and slow down. We need space to think and dream and be. Our souls long to be in partnership with its creator. Our hearts long to be connected to the Father.

We can CHOOSE to give ourselves permission to rest. Its a choice we have to consistently make and then take note of how we feel when we do rest.We will be so glad we did.

Soul rest looks different from sleeping or falling on the couch after a long day. Soul rest isn’t about what you do, its a “place” you go. Try meditating on that, asking God to go deeper with you and give you deeper revelation of what soul rest looks like. Ask him to help you in this area. Sure, its about being, and slowing down, but when you are able to truly go after God for him to fill you up, strengthen you, give you hope, awaken you, you show up in life a whole lot better.

We are REAL AMAZING WOMEN and in order to continue going and serving, we gotta enter into soul rest. We can’t give from an empty cup. In order to continue doing what God calls us to, we gotta go to him to rest our souls.

“Jesus told his disciples, “I leave the gift of peace with you—my peace.
Not the kind of fragile peace given by the world, but my perfect peace.
Don’t yield to fear or be troubled in your hearts—instead, be courageous!”
John 14:27 TPT


This world can not give us peace. When we can come to a place to understand that, we will know The Truth. Peace and calmness in our spirit comes from resting in God.

Resting with God.

Casting our cares upon him as we surrender things out of our control. When we rest with him we begin to understand what trusting him feels like. He is able to speak to us, lead us, give us new revelation, open us up to things we can’t do on our own and so much more.

He gives us peace.

His LOVE is peace.

His Love and peace allows our soul to rest and we begin to crave those moments with him because we will know and understand that coming out of this place, is where we operate the best. When I get out my rhythm of resting in him, my soul longs for Him, my spirit craves it, I feel scattered, I feel like I’m missing my absolute best friend, I feel a bit lost, I feel disconnected.

I even get grumpy or frustrated at times. But when I enter back into it, there is this breath of fresh air that sweeps over me, comforts me, overwhelms me, fills me, speaks to me, loves me, and so much more. I encourage you to keep seeking him and enter into that place. Nothing in this world can fill us like Him ❤

Much Love,

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+ photography

Staying Grounded In The Midst Of It All

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These times we are living in can wear on your soul and leave you feeling empty, alone, lost, feeling like you are not doing enough, and so much more. It will be easy to follow what everyone else is doing, but I firmly believe that we are not to follow everyone. We are to partner with God to see what He wants us to do. We have not all been called to the same things. We are unique, right?

So, if we are unique, then how come we get so wrapped up in the world with chaos, discouragement, anxiety, confusion, and so much more in our spirit? How can we get to our best when we are uncertain about everything or feel as though we are no one unless we are engaging and showing up in life just like those around us. We gotta show up in life like US. I gotta show up in life like ME. You gotta show up in life like YOU. When we are not fully grounded its so hard to know which way to go.


For me, I love the comfort, peace and freedom I experience on a daily basis. Life has not always felt that way, but I know now that this feels so much better. I make a decision to always stay grounded and near the source where all my truth, guidance, peace and everything comes from, so I want to share a bit of what I do to stay grounded.

1. I start each day with gratitude. I always want to experience joy and have peace, so in order for that to happen, I must give thanks. To be eternally grateful for all that I have been given. Food, a home, I try to wake up with joy in my spirit with excitement and gratitude for a brand new day. I believe each day we have been given is a gift.

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
Thessalonians 5:16-18

2. I spend time with God. I call it my quiet time. Early morning, I grab my bible, a cup of coffee, my pen bag that is filled with colorful markers and pens, a journal, and sometimes a book then head out to the front porch without my phone to unplug. I sit, read the bible, listen, pray, wait for strategies and downloads then write them down. If I had a dream, I would jot that down in my journal as well.

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.
Mark 1:35

3. I turn on worship music. I plug my ears almost on a daily basis with my headphones to have sounds of worship around me as I work and paint. It helps to drown out false narratives that try to slip into my mind, it helps me focus, and reminds me of truth throughout the day.

Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs
Psalm 100:2

4. I partner with Holy Spirit. I believe I must walk in truth and believe God for everything He says. I want to be everything that Jesus called me to be. I must follow Jesus himself and not man. Jesus is THE truth and man’s hearts can be deceived.

When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
John 16:13‭-‬14 ESV

5. I think good thoughts. I have trained myself over the years to replace bad thoughts with the truth and that leaves me with peace and joy. I am able to believe what God says about me and not the opinions of others. My mind had to be transformed as I embraced the scripture to not be conformed to this world. I try to hold every thought captive as it comes into my mind.

We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.
2 Corinthians 10:5 ESV

I hope that encourages you to keep yourself grounded in the midst of everything going on around us so that you too can experience everlasting joy, peace, truth, comfort and freedom with a firm foundation to stand on.

Much Love,
Crystal Keefer

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+ Podcast, Vlog

Vlog: Podcast Interview with Jenny Bonilla

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“Podcast”, you might be asking yourself. Like how is she on Episode 07 when this is my first time “reading” about a podcast?

Well I completely forgot to blog about starting a podcast. Right after it launched the 1st week in July, I was heading out to Washington state to help a friend (we have been friends since kindergarten. Then I came back, caught a cold, then caught covid, and just about a week ago is when I fully felt like myself 100% again.

So I am catching you up. With Episode 07…

The podcast is called The Blessed Brokenness Podcast and its all about sharing truth, light and encouragement to uplift women around the world. Its also a place where women that have walked through brokenness and and said yes to freedom, can come to share their story to help bring other women through the valley. My hope is that every woman will begin to realize we are not “just broken” as we may have rehearsed over and over to ourselves, but that we are holy because we have been made holy and whole.

I had the pleasure of sitting with Jenny Bonilla recently and it was such a beautiful time. I got to hear how brokenness came knocking at the door, but after being nudged by Holy Spirit, even when she didn’t know what was happening, to make some radical decisions, God lead her to truth and freedom. We all love a story of redemption right? Take a listen!

You can also listen on your favorite podcast app including Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Just search Blessed Brokenness Podcast.

The part I forgot at the end was What was meant for evil, God will turn around for good. I pray that you are able to see the hope for your own life through Jenny’s story.

For scripture reference on the story of Rahab the Harlot (prostitute), refer to Joshua chapter 2, Chapter 6 verse 22, then in Matthew 1:5 we will see how she married the man she rescued in Joshua.

For the woman with issue of blood, is found in the Gospels Matthew, Mark, and Luke, but you can take a look at Luke 8:43-48.

I hope we begin to pick up our crowns and walk the journey back to our original design and The Truth.

Always remember sisters (and brothers), you are brave and so courageous! Grab a hold of the hope in front of you and hold on to it to begin taking that first hard step.

I am cheering for you and praying for you

Much Love,

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+ encouragement, Real Talk Tuesday

A Sacrifice We Make Is Only Temporary

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Do you find yourself struggling with obedience and saying yes to God?

Would you say it’s a trust and faith issue? For me, I believe it was a trust and faith issue. It was hard putting my trust in Him when I was pretty much living on my own plan for my life. That may can be the case for many of us. We have a hard time putting all our trust in something we don’t understand and can’t see. Its easier to put trust in ourselves vs releasing that to put all trust in the Father.

We definitely know when we can or can not do something, but when it’s something big, we usually automatically resort to “I can’t” and shut the door. We think it must not be meant to be because we can’t see past it actually being a possibility.

We tap out when it feels it will be too hard, right?

Let’s back up for a second. How do we even know when God is speaking to us? Well that takes to training to learn to be still enough to hear his small still voice, but in the midst of a busy life, He could be speaking through a multitude of things.

Have you ever had this nudging to do something, but it scared you, yet it felt like it was a good thing?

Have you ever had the same thing come up in your life around the same time and it just felt like it was a coincidence?

Have you ever had a idea pop up in your mind that seemed bigger than you?

Have you ever felt lead to give something special to you away, but it felt like an internal battle because you were attached to it?

Have you ever had someone tell you something positive over something you were doing and it encouraged you to go after more, but it seemed like new territory?

Have you ever been in church and it felt like the sermon was written for you?

Have you ever walked through nature and felt this overwhelming sense of something new or like you were coming alive with fresh revelation on something?

Have you ever felt this overwhelming sense of calmness in the midst of something extremely hard, like maybe something was being spoken to you, but you didn’t quite hear an audible voice?

There are so many more ways he speaks, but if you have experienced any of the above, that is usually God speaking, leading and nudging you.

But thinking back to a time where He may have been speaking to us, how many times have we missed out due to saying “No” out of fear of what could happen?

When we choose obedience, I gotta tell you it will come with opposition and challenges.

Obedience is not quite the easiest thing. Especially when opposition comes right after you say yes, to make you think, “Well its not meant to be”. Sometimes it may feel like you are being stretched and you are about ready to tap out, but you guys, stay in it and sit in it.

I have learned that is a time to push through that opposition. And it can seem to take all the faith you have when you decide to push.

It becomes a sacrifice. You are choosing God and His ways over your own will and your own plans.

A sacrifice we make is only temporary. Victory, breakthrough and deliverance is permanent. Allow yourself to be stretched for the sake of bringing someone else through the valley.

I am very passionate about bringing others through the valley of a challenging time in life. But even though I am passionate and it fires me up, it’s not always easy.

The question is what would we be willing to do when God nudges us to dive in with Him?

Will we say “Yes” or will we run for the hills and pretend we didn’t hear anything?

Sisters, I promise you, God will show up and do what only he can. He will use you as a vessel to carry out His will and His glory will be revealed. I can attest to letting go of my own plan and saying yes to His, has been an amazing journey. More than anything I could ever have done for myself or in myself.

Can I just encourage you to lean in and say “yes” to Him. He wants to do a work in you too through your obedience.

Much love

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+ encouragement, truth

The Way You Were Designed Originally Is Perfect

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Have you ever had a nudging in your spirit that there was something more to life than what you were dealing with at a particular moment? Maybe life was and had been tough for you for quite some time and you found yourself thinking “there has got to be more”.

Its like an itch to do something different. We begin to feel an itch for something more, but not everyone goes and investigates. Not everyone goes and opens the door. Not everyone goes to ask questions. Not everyone chooses that narrow path. Not everyone says yes.

Why is that? We want more, but we get a taste and then begin to shrink back to our area of comfort, right? Because it’s hard and we don’t believe enough in ourselves or the Father to get us through. I gotta be honest with you. YES it’s hard. It’s not easy being pruned, corrected, transformed. It’s not easy having “the world” plucked out of you when you thought that was truth all along.

I began to feel an itch quite a few years ago and it became my journey to truth. Years of transformation. Years of pruning. Years of discipline. To getting back to the place of my original design. You see when God created us, our original design was perfect, but some where along the way, we were fed some lies and ended up believing them.

We started looking around to the world for answers.

We began to think we were not good enough when we tried something one time.

We believed the harsh words of someone’s OPINION of us.

We began to think life was about money. The more you have, the better your life is.

We began to believe that WE didn’t have what it takes.

We allowed shame and condemnation to sit in our living rooms day in and day out.

We allowed things into our bodies that cause destruction over time.

We hustled our way through life being busier than busy and called it “the life” and it made us proud.

We began to shrink back from community because it’s hard to be in a room with people so different or because we were hurt at some point.

We allowed fear to be rooted in our front yard, growing in to a large thing that hovers over us everywhere we go.

We began to believe the person we look at in the mirror is Just who we are with all the worldly attachments – greed, lust, alcoholism, anger, attitude, lack, fear, depression, anxiety, materialism, and so much more.

Y’all I had anger, attitude, lack, depression, anxiety, and materialism attached to me like it was a sibling and part of my DNA and I thought that was just who I was. But the truth was that none of this was pure. It didn’t provide me with freedom. It kept me in this box with chains attached to me and I couldn’t get out. I was stuck constantly looking at my problems, living in fear, looking at the problems of people, looking at what I lacked, suppressed my personality, trying to fill a void and mold myself into what the world thought I should be like. I was carrying around some heart wounds and I even wanted to commit suicide.

Did a Father who LOVED his children intend for us to live this way? HECK NO!!!

You see God created us perfectly, but we believed the lie that we were not good. That we have nothing to offer. That our personalities were crappy. That we were too tall or too short. That our legs were too big. That our eyes need to be a different color. That our hair isnt straight enough or good. That we are too dark or too light. That we are too old for fun. That our natural is ugly.

You were created beautifully as a masterpiece!! Start to believe that truth before you take in another lie.

Believe that your personality is a gift and that you were not created like anyone else.

Believe that the person who you were before someone told your their opinion of you was so darn good that she didn’t need to be “fixed”. And forgive yourself when you tried to fix her.

The TRUTH of who you are (that has got to go beyond the surface) is Perfect. God is calling you back to her. That’s why life can be a struggle because we are trying to live outside of our original design living a life that is not God’s best.

You my love are so needed, so loved, so beautiful, so unique, so amazing, but I need you to begin to believe that.

Pick your head up as you speak words of truth over yourself. Hold your head up high, and pick up your crown. It got knocked off and for years you walked past it on the ground looking at it and believing you were not worthy. So you continued day in and day out just stepping over it.

PICK IT UP.

Pick up that crown and put it back on because you are the child of a KING! Walk in that and believe the TRUTH.

Much Love,

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