We are excited to introduce you all to our growing Life Lived Beautifully team! Amelia is our new shop assistant. She helps our shop manager, Whitney, package each order that goes out to our community of customers. We are grateful to have her as a part of the team. Grab a cup of coffee and meet Amelia!
Introduce yourself like we are having a cup of coffee together. What kind of coffee/tea would you drink?
Hi! My name is Amelia Granberg. I am a Christ-follower, wife to Garrett, and mommy to Mary Mason (20 months) and Ford, our sweet baby boy that we can’t wait to be reunited with in heaven. We live in Lawrenceville, Georgia and I have the best job ever of being a stay at home mom. Keeping up with a toddler takes up most of my time, but if I get a moment to myself, I enjoy reading, cooking, or going on a long run. Coffee is definitely one of my guilty pleasures and I like it black with stevia.
What does a normal day in your life look like?
My days usually start early. I try to wake up before my husband and daughter so I can spend some alone time in Word and reading or journaling. As any mama of a toddler knows, once Mary Mason is awake, it’s go, go, go. We start most days at the park with a run, but that’s where our scheduling stops. From there, it’s lots of playing kitchen, reading princess books, and trying to keep my house from being overrun with baby dolls and their accessories.
What is your definition of a “life lived beautifully?
A life lived beautifully is one that says not me, but Him. Not my strength, but His. Not my good works, but His boundless grace. Not my plans, but His purpose. It is a life that starts each morning recognizing that I am not enough, but Jesus is more than enough.
What are some verses you constantly cling to and bring life to your soul?
Lamentations 3:21-23, “Yet this I call to mind and therefore have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning, great is Your faithfulness.” This April, we unexpectedly and unexplainably lost our son at 37 weeks pregnant. It’s a loss that, had you discussed with me prior, I would have said I couldn’t possibly live through. This passage has been my lifeline because I’ve seen it fulfilled personally. I have it written on one of Mary Mason’s coloring pages next to our coffeemaker to remind me of the mercies the Lord has for me each new morning.
When did you start following Jesus?
I grew up in a Christian home and was taught about Jesus from a very young age. It wasn’t until middle school that I recognized the need for salvation from my sin and asked the Lord for forgiveness. At that time, I was very dedicated to learning and growing in my faith but as I neared the end of high school and went to college, I struggled with doubt and drifted in my relationship with Jesus. Over the last several years, the Lord has used several hardships to draw me nearer to Him and make Himself known to me. I enjoy being at a place in life where following Him feel less like a rule and more like a privilege, and I am excited to see the work He is doing.
What are some of your favorite books?
Reading, along with cooking, is one of my favorite pastimes but has fallen by the wayside in motherhood. I love everything from the great American writers, like William Faulkner and F. Scott Fitzgerald, to historical narratives to philosophy. I enjoy reading a wide variety of genres and think it gives such interesting perspective and background on the course of mankind and our many differences.
Lately, I have mainly read books that put words to my own experience with grief, faith, and grappling with God’s purpose. My favorite recent read is I Will Carry You by Angie Smith. Another mom reached out and recommended it after we lost Ford, and it took me a couple weeks to gather the courage to read it. After I picked it up, I finished it in hours, blown away by how perfectly she identified my own feelings and struggles in the wake of losing a child. I am currently reading On Milk and Honey: How God’s Goodness Shows up in Unexpected Places, which I think is going to resonate in the same way.
If you could tell every woman reading this blog one thing God has laid on your heart, what would it be?
I am the ultimate planner, organizer, and controller. I know so many other women and moms that are the same way. The Lord has wired many of us like this and in many aspects, it is a great thing. It keeps our homes tidy, our families fed, and our kids where they need to be on time. We can sometimes fill our entire days with planning and organization that we completely miss out on the Holy Spirit at work in our lives. When something unexpected throws a wrench in what we have planned, it can throw everything off kilter, cause frustration, and strain relationships. But nothing catches the Lord by surprise or throws off His purpose. From the small and mundane to the large and life changing events that we never would have chosen or planned for ourselves, He is working and He is faithful. This doesn’t minimize the pain or grief of those events, rather it puts things in perspective. It asks, “Do I really consider my lowly, short-sighted plan to be greater than that of the living God?” I don’t think any of us truly believe our plans to be greater than God’s, but we have a tendency to act that way in our day to day life. If we would more freely fall into and embrace what He has for us, I think our eyes would be opened to His great faithfulness and goodness.
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