I wanted to take a few minutes today to share my heart with you. I know how scary it can be to even think about trusting or being vulnerable to other women much less doing it. It’s likely that we have all been hurt by women at one time or another. Maybe a close friend, a sister in Christ, a co-worker, or perhaps even your very own mother. I’ve been there. I’ve shunned the idea of being in community with other women because of it. It doesn’t have to be that way.
I hope you will take time to watch the video. It expresses what I couldn’t attempt to write in a post.
I look forward to sharing my life and my experiences with you and I hope you will do the same. You are safe here. You are not alone. Let’s bloom together.
About Amy Bayliss
Hi Amy,
Thank you for your thoughts within the video. To be real and open in a community and there for each other as women is so wonderful and also something that the Lord has put on my heart. I especially took notice in the video when you said “give God permission to change your heart and He will.” Surrender is so beautiful!!
PS. I loved your toddler in the background playing with the dog bowl. It just does not get more real than that
Have a beautiful day
Thank you so much, Janet. I’m so glad you are here today!
You are a beautiful example of what saying “YES” to God looks like! Thank you for your ministry here.
Love,
Traci
Thank YOU, Traci! I’m so glad to be here among all of you.
Hi Amy, I’m Bree and it’s great to meet you! My prayer for the new year was that I would be more vulnerable and open in sharing with other women that I interact with. Even through my writing on my blog or when I’m talking with a friend.
So thank you for the invitation to share my heart. Life can be really, really hard sometimes and it’s a joyous blessing to me that I can come here and be encouraged and lifted up and then I can return the blessing to another sister that might need some love to.
Have a beautiful day and I look forward to more post from you. I’m gonna hop over to your blog and check it out!
Hi, Bree! I’m so excited to meet you too.
Life can be hard at times and that’s why I am so thankful for a place like this. We are all safe here.
This is what I have longed for. I have longed to be able to be transparent with others who will be transparent in return. I hurt, I ache I have sorrow and If I can’t share it with the body of Christ and they share with me, who can I share it with? Certainly not the world! I cried when I watched the video. I will be involved. Thankyou for following Gods call!
Oh, Ruth. (((BIG hug)))
You are safe here. Welcome. Hang out with us. We are thrilled to have you!
So cool to put a voice with the face Amy!! I’m blessed to be “blogging” with you. Thank you for sharing your heart with us!
I feel blessed to be here with all of you. I’m so excited to see what God has in store!
A wonderful video, Amy! It was a real blessing to hear your toddler in the background–to hear the dog bowl hit the floor, and to hear his dear little voice in the background made clear that you really ARE close by, even if your house is far away from mine. Bless you for your sweet spirit and for your desire to encourage other women. Thank you for sharing the story of how you followed the Spirit’s leading and made yourself vulnerable to other women. I hope many women will see your lovely face and be encouraged to follow your example.
Oh, girl. He was having a good ol’ time. He never gets to play with those bowls but wouldn’t you know it, first chance he gets when mom is occupied, the boy goes to town playing with them.
I am happy to be here with all of you. You girls bless my socks off!
Great video! I am so thankful for all the women God has brought into my life the past couple months through church and blogs! I want to share my morning routine with you! I wake up between 5 and 6, fix the hubby and I some breakfast and then hit the road to head over to my friends house who I babysit for 4-5 days a week. I used to hate mornings but now I live for them! Normally Indigo (the 8 month old baby I watch) is still sleeping when I get here and I get m time with God and my wonderful Christian blogs! I had a blooming moment with God at the altar this past Sunday and I feel like a new person because of it! I wrote out m testimony yesterday…here’s the link if you would like to read! I want to share it with the entire world!!!!!
http://keepingupwiththemorriss.blogspot.com/2012/02/my-hearts-desire.html
I have prayed for what God changed in me for so long and I never gave up, I never stopped asking him “What do I do?” He never gives up on us! We have to remember to keep the faith in him and he will fulfill our needs if it is his will and it will all be in his timing! Thank you for opening up this morning and sharing your story with us! So excited to read more each morning!!!
I’m so glad you are here today, Martha. I’m heading over to your blog to check it out.
I just love you, Amy!
I love you too, girlie!
Wonderful message to women Amy! You’re so right – being hurt by other women is something we have all experienced in one way or another and it’s tough to “get back out there” and allow women into your life and heart. But, thankfully, through His strength, grace, and love, it’s possible!
Thank you for testifying to this truth. So glad to be writing alongside you here at SIB!
I am so glad to be writing alongside all of you too. I am excited to watch God move here at SIB!
Such a beautiful welcome you have given – and love your encouragement to listen to God, and follow – and He will be so near to us as we do. Looking forward to the daily encouragement for women that will be found here at this place … and have loved the authenticity of each one who has written so far.
I am so glad you visited today, Cherry. I look forward to visiting with you in the near future!
Oh Amy I just loved this! It brought me back to Relevant when we got to connect in one of the session, I believe it was sharing hurts one with Amy Andrews, etc… Love your strength and the way you speak with authority that comes from God! So thankful to be writing with you and joining our hearts together on this journey that has only come from God! You go girl! Sending love your way!
Christina!!! (((BIG hug)))
I am so excited to be here with you all. I’m looking forward to what God does here. So glad to “see” you again!
You sure know how to make a grown girl cry! Your video message was so sweet and so real for every woman to hear. Thank you for sharing with all of us. I am blessed to call you friend. I can’t wait to see what God does here with all of us, and through the lives of the readers.
Love ya!
I just adore you!
Hi Amy,
I loved hearing your heart poured out through that message. I was, am still to an extent, the girl more comfortable with guy friends than girlfriends. But God has brought some beautiful women into my life to show me that it’s okay to open my heart and life to them. I appreciate your willingness to surrender to God’s will in your life and share that example with us today.
Hi Janet! I understand completely. It is hard to open up to women after being hurt by them. But, we need each other and I think understanding that we all have insecurities that prompt us to do certain things will help us to be more open. We have to love each other through the offenses sometimes.
I look forward to getting to know you!
Love the testimony of giving God permission to change your heart and what took root there when you did!
Beautiful Amy! I am loving getting to know you here!
(((BIG hug))) Stacey!
I loved every word of your message. Truly. That is my heart right now – and coming from a professed introvert, non-trusting-to-a-fault girl, you spoke to my heart. I want to be vulnerable as I believe God to take care of my heart. Thank you! Love, love this site.
I love this site too and I am so glad that you are here, Deidre. We can all learn together and lean on each other. I’m looking forward to it!
you are such a blessing! With God all things are possible….at times life can be difficult but God gives us a promise to never leave us nor forsake us. it’s taking one step at a time walking on His path hand in hand with Him. this group of ladies is such a blessings!
Amen, Ginger. Preach it, girl! You are a blessing!
Hey Amy!
I loved your video and thank you for sharing your heart. You’re right we are going to bloom together and I’m so thankful to be on this journey with you.
Blessings friend,
Cyndi
Awe, Cyndi! Yes! We are going to bloom together. I am thankful to be on this journey with you too!
I just want to hug you all over again!! This is such a beautiful birthing of what Denise was sharing with me at Relevant. I am so excited to see it come to fruition!!
Oh, hug me, girlfriend! (((hugs)))
You know I love ya!
Oh my heck, I think we are kindred spirits. I know what you mean about not trusting women. I was always the girl who hung out with the guys, because they weren’t catty and didn’t hurt my feelings. Not that all women are that way, but I had had some experiences in my youth. (Maybe it is just me and I am hyper sensitive. I don’t know…) Opening up to women has always been so much more difficult. You are so cute and so excited, that I am excited, too.
Yes, we are kindred. I don’t think you are hyper-sensitive at all. I think we’ve all been hurt (or did the hurting) at one time or another. It happens. We just need to press through and come out stronger. We can do that… together! So glad you are here, Lisa!
Oh girl, I just love you! I love your “real-ness” and I love your love for our Lord. I think we all, as women, feel (real or imagined) that we’ve been judged to death by other women. We are sensitive and can pick up even the slightest “look” from our fellow sisters. Girl, can I ever give you stories. But ya know what… we all have baggage. I’m thrilled about Sisters in Bloom, where we can meet each other, share a sense of community and be real. If we can’t let go of our baggage just yet, then maybe we can use it as a chair, sit on it (get the image? Putting it beneath us) and love on each other. That’s my call – just to love on women, and I think, once the walls come down, that’s in every woman’s heart. Love you, love the ministry, and the other gals here! Thanks for sharing!
Jeannette! Oh how I adore you! You are so right. I love your baggage analogy!!! You had me shoutin’ to my computer screen. Amen! And girl, I am still rockin’ that purse you sent me. It did go to Relevant this past year.
Amy,
I wanted to quickly comment about something you said, as related to my thought structure. I think that it wasn’t that I trusted guys more.. it was that I expected them to break my heart. Its hard to explain but its was like I put this tribe like expectation on women and felt ashamed that they should have known better than to hurt me or cause the distrust. I’m excited to have found my way here via a tweet. I hope for many great things to come out of finding my way here. *hugz* ~Heidi (@CarolinaDreamz)
You are right, Heidi. I am sure a lot of women feel that way. I think we do expect that from other women. And we all should be more aware of how we treat each other. I’m glad you found your way here too! I look forward to seeing you often!
Amy what a gift to see your face & hear your voice. Something so much more real about it when it’s more than a picture. I’m glad that God captured your heart and now it’s been captured to love other women. I imagine so many women shy away from relationships just like you mentioned, but I find that each of us are riddled with the insecurities & pain (yet we don’t always show it).
Blessings to you sweet sister.
Kamille, you are just too sweet! And yes, I do think we all have our own insecurities. They just present themselves in different ways. I hope that we can overcome some of them here. (((hugs)))
Wow, Amy! I love seeing and hearing your heart, your words… You are such a blessing and I am honored to call you sister!!
Kris, the honor is all mine. Much love, girl!
Hi Amy
What a wonderful video…love the background noise
Wow! This is an amazing confirmation for me…I’ve been praying for God to help me to reach out more and to open myself more because I felt that He was leading me that way. More and more I’m being led to places that are encouraging like this one! I am so happy to be here and to meet you all.
Thank you so much for being so warm and so real!
Lisa Marie, I am so glad you are here and so glad that God provided you with confirmation. I know we will all receive encouragement here. It is going to be such an amazing journey!
I’m visiting from Amy’s site “Joie de Vivre” Your site looks really interesting
I’ll follow it for awhile and see how it goes 
Love and hugs from the ocean shores of California, Heather 
Great to have you Heather. With the varied women & writers here, I’m sure you’ll find variety and definitely unique voices from each of us.
My husband and I are able to go to Southern California at the end of the month. I grew up & lived near those beautiful shores for a time. I just love it there!
So glad to see you here, Heather! (((hugs)))
Hi, Amy,
It’s great to meet you and hear you relate your experience. It really touched my heart when you gave permission to those who feel vulnerable to come to Sisters In Bloom and be renewed, to form friendships and to learn to trust in them, and to gain strength in each other and in our common faith in our Lord. Thanks so much for sharing, and I look forward to your future posts.
Erin
Thank you so much, Erin! You blessed my heart today. (((hugs)))
Amy, so nice to “meet” you. Looking forward to getting to know you better as Sisters In Bloom grows.
Blessings,
~Rosann
I look forward to getting to know you too, Rosann.
I love your video message, Amy! You have such a welcoming spirit and are always so gracious. I’m thankful for the opportunity to bloom with you, Sister!
Catching up in my reader…Amy , can I just say I love your heart? Thank you, thank you, thank you!