Podcast: Play in new window
Have you ever come to the end of a good HGTV episode in disbelief? It’s amazing how a team of people can take a home that looked completely useless and transform it to become better than new. It’s exactly what God does with our hearts. No matter how messy and broken the home of our hearts looks, He never stops working tirelessly on us. As He continues to change us, we become better than we could on our own. Our hearts are restored, and our true identity is revealed under the rubble and mess.Today, Kennesha Buycks, creative home designer and author of Restoration House, joins me to talk about her story. Kennesha is a woman whose life has been laced with the restorative pursuit of God. The realization of her identity in Christ has touched every part of her life. Through the demonstrative love of several people, God has revealed to Kennesha the essence of her truest self. “The more I see Him, the more I see me,” she states with conviction. This realization has positioned her to fight comparison, set boundaries, and hear the voice of God for herself.
Journey with us to the home of Kennesha’s heart, and hopefully, you’ll settle in and feel your own sense of homecoming. Restoring homes is more than an outward expression of creativity for Kennesha. To her, it directly relates to how Christ restores us as His children. He sets us right, reveals who we truly are, and always directs us to our truest home.
Highlights from Today’s Episode:
- Battling comparison
- Setting boundaries
- Hearing God speak
- Finding Identity
- How to ‘start’
Click to Tweet
- “Our lives cannot be contained by four-sided squares.” – Kennesha Poe-Buycks
- “I know what I need, and I can’t surround myself with people who are only draining but never giving.”- Kennesha Poe-Buycks
- “He’s looking for people who say ‘yes.’” – Chrystal Hurst
- “You get better at hearing the voice of God when you respond.” – Chrystal Hurst
- “The more I see Him, the more I see me.” – Kennesha Poe-Buycks
- “There’s something that He’s doing in your life that represents His unwavering, unfailing love for you.” – Chrystal Hurst
- “Go in the direction of what your heart needs.” – Kennesha Poe-Buycks
Resources From Today’s Show
- Connect with Kennesha on Instagram, Facebook, or on her website.
- Check out Kennesha’s book Restoration House
Other Stuff to Check Out
- Have you grabbed this month’s freebie? Click here to grab it!
- Did you know that my dad, Dr. Tony Evans, has a Bible Commentary available? Click here to check it out! If you want to know more about my dad’s ministry and the multitude of resources he has available to help you in your walk with God, go to Tony Evans.org
- If you missed Episode #235 with Susie Larson, Click here to listen!
- Did you catch the latest video I uploaded to my YouTube channel? I shared a message I gave recently at my church on the The Sword (The Word of God). Watch it by clicking HERE.
- My book, 28 Days of Prayer is on sale! Grab a copy and take some time to intentionally invest in your communication with God. Be sure and also check out my other books She’s Still There, Show Up For Your Life, Kingdom Woman!
- Get a chance to read my post about Cultivating Rhythms with God?
- Interested in supporting the content I create and enjoying special benefits? Learn about becoming a co-producer!
Let’s Talk!
After you’ve listened to the podcast, I’d love to continue the conversation. Be sure and leave a comment!
- In what ways have you felt the theme of God’s pursuit in your life? How has this realization shaped your identity?
- Do you constantly compare yourself to others, and if so why? How can you combat this bad habit?
- Are you going in the direction of what your heart needs? If not, why haven’t you been paying attention to what your heart needs?
Connect with me…
How to Listen to The Podcast
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You have been so great to join me on the journey here on the blog, I hope you jump right in and do the same on the podcast!
I constantly compare my life to my siblings because they’re not Christian believers&yet they thrive while I struggle continuously!!i must keep my eyes on the Lord
Thank you so much for sharing! It was so reassuring to hear Kennesha talk about how God has used her children and husband to bring restoration to her life. I am in a very similar place with a very similar story. God’s theme in my life has always been redemption. Through adverse childhood experiences, émotional neglect, surviving CSA, becoming a teen mom, etc. God has been so present. So much so that people literally do not believe someone like me lived through so much life. Sometimes I am struggle with shame, but I am now learning how to fully embrace God’s identity for me!
Hey Chrystal
This comment might be late by calendar days but this right on time for me. I listened to the podcast yesterday, and must say the tears and I had a fight. The tears won right when Kennesha and yourself mentioned the words “God’s relentless pursuit on her life”. That is my theme the word brought clarity to me. When did I realize while listening to this Podcast. Almost two years into the separation from my husband the only words I could use to describe was ” God wanted me to be set apart to him”, and this has been shaping the re-discovery of my identity. Understanding that I was not just a wife, mother, sister and colleague, that everything did not have to line up the way I envisioned. I remember saying these words in the early years of marriage, “if i never do anything else in my life, let me be a good mother” I had already decided that I was not going amount to much but I could do that.
I am still learning what does a good mother look like, most days I think I just wing it.LOL. I always compared myself, always felt that I was not as good as my siblings who seemed to get the academics much better than I did. At 43 year a mother of three girls ages 3-14 and almost divorced. I finally realized that I am just how I need to be right now and its getting clearer with time. Direction wise I can’t say for sure that I know what my heart needs right now, but I do know God is doing some repairs and that’s my posture right now, to just be the clay. I can honestly say I have not been paying attention to what my heart needs because I did want to let myself do so. Its October and once all things go well I will be a part of the Evans Family Live stream. Thank Chrystal
In what ways have you felt the theme of God’s pursuit in your life? How has this realization shaped your identity?
I’m still working on trying to identify the theme. The theme exists, I just need to clear my vision to see it. I get that. My identitiy is becoming clearer. Re watching Overcomer was good for me. Some things take a few tries to be absorbed.
Do you constantly compare yourself to others, and if so why? How can you combat this bad habit?
I have. I’m getting better at cacthing myself and reminding myself that this isn’t all there is. God knows what’s going on and tell myself that he is up to something and it gives me something to look forward to. Zara, Focus on today. Think of the folks who wish they were doing what I was doing. I will enjoy what I have now. Sometime I don’t curb it quickly enough and … watch out. Progressing ….
Are you going in the direction of what your heart needs? If not, why haven’t you been paying attention to what your heart needs.
I am now. I’ve come to realize that she’s still there and am learning what she loves, and who she is and what gets her going. It doesn’t look the way I fantsize about it, but it looks better than if I never go do the thing!! #Grateful
Exactly a year later and this is oooo good. I’m glad I could be part of the inner circle and the summit 🙂