Prism Women | Nicole Cottrell

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Finding My Gift :: An Answer to Belonging

Nicole Cottrell 30.09.2016 Discover, Encouragement, Gifts, Identity, Maturity, Spiritual Gifts 1

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I remember a time when following Jesus felt impossible. I would wake up every day and think to myself, “This is just too hard. I can’t” What I didn't know at the time was how much I needed community and purpose. I desperately needed a spiritual family and for someone to tell me how I fit into that family. I needed to belong. I longed to find my purpose. Fast-forward many years later, through which God moved me forward and filled so many spaces I needed filled. I was standing outside on a dark street, the only light shining from one streetlamp,...

No One Said It Would Be Easy: My One Word

Nicole Cottrell 20.01.2016 Encouragement, Expectancy, Persevere, Purpose 22

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It’s not easy choosing to follow the Lord. If they told you it would be, they lied. It’ll break your heart. He’ll break your heart. They’ll break your heart. You’ll find yourself pleading with the God of the Universe for just one, small, crumb from His table… It’s not easy. It’s devastating, at times. Following Jesus leaves you bare, exposed, and open. But, it’s also romantic--the Creator of all things, holding each atom together in perfect harmony, is deeply, passionately, fervently in love with you. It’s poetic--a man, climbing upon a cross to die for his friends. Then offering them life eternal. It’s wild--life...

To The Woman Who Has It All Together

Nicole Cottrell 11.11.2015 Behavior, Belief, Community, Encouragement, Identity, Persevere 2

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[dropcaps type='normal' color='' background_color='' border_color='']S[/dropcaps]he came up to me after I was done speaking to the group of women that had gathered at Prism :: Overcome. She spoke encouragement and life over me. Then she referenced my talk--the bit where I had expressed some of my darkest fears--the fears that have, at times, dictated how I behaved and what I believed about the Lord. I had confessed to the women there that I believed from time to time that while God had absolutely wonderful, bountiful gifts for everyone else, I wasn’t sure if He had the same for me. Did God really love...

What To Do When You Don’t Know What to Do

Nicole Cottrell 23.09.2015 Belief, Encouragement, Hope, Identity, Persevere 0

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On the heels of one of the hardest years of my life, I naively assumed that this year would be easier--lighter--more bearable. I thought that certainly God would, at some critical point, swoop in and rescue me. He would save the day. I was sure of it. But, difficult days continued to be rolled out before me. I was hurting both physically and emotionally. I was spiritually anemic. I was holding on to a kernel of faith and on most days I was starving for hope, in any form. I honestly didn’t know what to do. I asked for prayer. Then I...

You Can’t Outrun Your Calling

Nicole Cottrell 21.08.2015 Belief, Discover, Dreams, Encouragement, Faith, Identity 0

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I think I’ve always been a bit of a rebel, perhaps not openly, but I can’t remember a time when I haven’t quietly pushed back against “norms,” or “traditions,” or the culture. Long before I knew Jesus, I balked at convention and questioned authority. None of that stopped after I met Him either. If anything, the questions grew larger, but so did my God. However, I quickly learned that the church, as a whole, has little room and virtually no tolerance for a “trouble maker,” let alone a young female one. You can be a zealot for Jesus, of course, but...

You Are Free to Do Nothing

Nicole Cottrell 07.05.2015 Encouragement, Faith, Hope 4

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In many Christian circles, we are only as good as the last conference or retreat we attended, class we took, or book we read. Our “goodness” and “Christ-likeness” are measured against our levels of involvement in church activities. We are often pressured to “do more,” “serve more,” and “give more.” We enter into the exhausting pursuit of "being a Christian." But pursuing Jesus is something altogether different. Pursuing Christ is actually a counter-intuitive, often uncomfortable, reversal of church life busyness. At the Prism :: Overcome event two weekends ago, I had the opportunity to talk and pray with a beautiful woman about her...

The Dangerous Pursuit of Hope

Nicole Cottrell 08.04.2015 Encouragement, Faith, Hope 0

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“Hope” is the thing with feathers— That perches in the soul— And sings the tune without the words— And never stops—at all— -Emily Dickinson Last year was one of the hardest years I have ever experienced. I achingly crawled through the year. Everything became hard—facing the day was hard, serving the Lord was hard, believing God was hard. I felt as if I was being forced into a corner where my past hurts, my daily physical pain, and my fragile emotional state were coming to a head. It was relentless. I remember saying to God at one point, “Can you please stop? I need to come...

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