About Me


Welcome to Holding onto Jesus! My name is Brenda, and I am so glad that you are here.

If you are looking for a place to come and find encouragement and hope; if you want to learn how and what to pray for; how to keep going when chronic illness brings you down. If you want to learn how to how to forgive yourself and accept the grace and love that Jesus is holding out to you, how to accept yourself as a daughter or son of the King then this is the place to be.
My goal is that my posts will lift you up, inspire you, show you how to fight with scripture, and use the power of prayer. I am hoping to instill in you the importance of a continual deepening of your relationship with God through the reading and studying of His word.
God has given me a passion for helping people, encouraging them, wanting them to feel loved and accepted. I want to see people grow in their prayer life, to really help them see all what needs praying for. I want you to come to realize what a powerful weapon praise is and not just spiritually but emotionally and even physically.
Having lived with multiple chronic illnesses for almost 40 years, I have been through both the highs and the lows, the continuous circle of side effects your meds can run around you. Feeling useless and worthless. I was first a wife with chronic illness and then a single mom with chronic illness. Talk about feeling like a failure! But God brought me through it all, and the journey isn’t over yet!
Then, a few years ago, I started another journey of finding what grace really meant. That journey has brought me to a new and fuller understanding of my worth through the eyes of God. What an amazing discovery that has been. I hope to share it with you.
A bit about myself. Four awesome people call me Mom, and I ‘m a grandma to four fast-growing girls. I have lived in the beautiful mountains of western Montana for more than 30 years, surrounded on all sides by God’s wondrous creation. I enjoy music, sewing, and crafts when my body allows, staying in touch with friends and family and wind chimes (you can never have too many!)

I share my home with two precocious cats, Matty and Silas. Matty drools when he’s happy and content. Silas loves to do his version of the side stroke across the carpet. They sure keep me smiling.
Once again, I thank you for stopping in. I pray I can be used to help you come to understand just how precious to God you are. How He wants so much to help you on this journey we call life. How He wants you to be able to live it with joy. And who knows where we will end up if we share this together. Won’t you join me?
Red Lantern Photo Credit: https://www.pexels.com/@candis-hidalgo-23771
Pine Needles Photo Credit: Photo by Micah Hallahan on Unsplash

13 comments

  6. Hello, my blogging friend! Just wanted to drop a note to see how you’re doing these days. I took a fairly long hiatus from WP, but started blogging (somewhat) again over the past few months and now I feel so out of touch. Anyway, I wanted to say hi and hopefully catch up with you. Hope all is well in your neck of the woods. Dee ♥

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Dee,
      Just saw this today. As you now know, I haven’t been blogging for a long time. I’m going to be working at getting back into action. Back in April, my mom had a heart attack, sepsis, and a whole lot of things attacking her body all at once. She ended up being in the hospital for almost 2 months. when she came home, she ended up needing 24/7 care. So that fell to my older sister and me as we both live near her ( walking distance).
      She has improved but we still take turns helping her. We stay for 3 days, then switch. Needless to say, it sure takes a lot out of you. My own health has been affected, just by adding on her care. My blog, bible study, and prayer time have suffered badly. I’m working at correcting things now, and I know the Lord has forgiven me, but it’s harder to forgive myself.
      Hope things are well with you.
      Brenda

      Like

      Reply

      • Hi Brenda! So good to hear back from you! I was so sorry to hear about your mom. It’s crazy how things in our lives can change on a dime. I know it has to be hard for her and for you and your sister, but I can’t help feeling grateful for her to have you two. What would she have done without you? It’s scary to even think about. I’m glad she’s improved and hopefully can care for herself a little bit. I know it’s important for our parents to feel like they have some measure of independence as they get older.

        As for your blog, bible study, and prayer time–I have no doubt God understands. His grace is so amazing toward us. You should see my blog right now.. it’s pathetic. I’ve gone through a period of time (actually, this entire past year, and a little bit even now) where I backed off from everything too. My reasons were different than yours, but God was and is so gracious toward me.

        As for me, I’ve struggled off and on with depression over the past 15 years or so and sometimes it consumes me. I chalk it up to a very early menopause which caused a chemical imbalance in me–which, thankfully, can be corrected through medication–but the medication has side effects that are difficult to live with; so I tend to stay on it only until I’m feeling back to normal, then I go off it for a few years before I feel the need to go back on. And right now, I’m feeling the need to revisit the doc. Hence my ghost town of a blog.

        All that to say, don’t feel bad. Just pick up where you left off and move forward with baby steps. God is not a taskmaster; he loves us and he meets us where we’re at. That’s something I need to hear right now too. I’ll be praying for you, sister. Please let me know how things are going with you. Love and hugs. ♥

        Liked by 1 person

Leave a reply to LFTBH Administrator Cancel reply