Joanne Cortes

This week, I started my first unit of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE).

This is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. I love learning, growing, and challenging myself to keep becoming the person God is calling me to be.

My hope is that this experience will help me become not only a better pastor, but also a better human being.

I’m really enjoying it so far, and I’m excited to see how God will use this journey to continue shaping me. 🙏

Your peace is not something you find one day and keep forever. It’s something you choose. Every single day. 🤍
And some days that choice is hard.

It means walking away from the conversation going in circles.
It means unfollowing what makes you feel less than.
It means saying no to the thing that always leaves you depleted.
It means being honest about what you need even when that honesty makes someone else uncomfortable.

Peace is not passive.
It is actively protected.
On purpose.
Every day.
And you deserve to live in it.
Not just visit it occasionally.
Actually live in it.
Protect it like it matters.
Because it does. 🤍

You are worth it. Now live like it. 🤍

💬 Save this if you needed it. What’s one thing you’re removing from your life to protect your peace? Tell me below. 👇

Let me ask you something simple. 🤍
The patience you give to others when they mess up — are you giving that to yourself?
The grace you extend when someone falls short — are you extending that to yourself?
The encouragement you pour into the people you love — are you pouring that into yourself?

Because most of us give so freely to everyone around us. And then turn around and treat ourselves with a standard we would never apply to anyone else.

Today — give yourself what you keep giving everyone else.
Patience. Grace. Time. Encouragement. Love.
You have been worthy of it all along.
Receive it today. 🤍

You are worth it. Now live like it! 🤍

💬 Tell me — what are you giving yourself today that you usually give to everyone else?

The way you talk to yourself matters more than you know. 🤍
Think about it. You would never look at someone you love and say — you always mess up. You’re not good enough. What is wrong with you?
But you say it to yourself. Every day. Without even flinching.
And then wonder why you feel so small.

Here’s what I want you to try today. The next time you make a mistake — pause. Instead of tearing yourself apart — ask yourself what you would say to a friend in that same moment.
Then say that to yourself.

You are not your worst day.
You are not your biggest mistake.
You are not the harsh things you say to yourself when you fall short.
You are someone who is trying.
And trying deserves grace.
Not criticism. Grace. 🤍

You are enough. Now live like it!

💬 Save this if you needed it. Tell me below — what’s one thing you’re going to stop being hard on yourself about?

Can I tell you something? The things people said about you — the labels, the criticisms, the opinions you’ve been carrying for years — those were never the truth about you. 🤍

They were the truth about their comfort level.
Their limitations.
Their inability to hold space for someone like you.
Too much. Too sensitive. Too ambitious. Too different.

Those words were never yours to carry.
They were handed to you by people
who didn’t know what to do with someone like you.
And you believed them.
For longer than you should have.

But today — I want you to put them down.
Every single one.
You are not who they said you were.
You never were.

And it’s time to start living like you know that.

You are worth it! Now live like it! 🤍

Happy International Self Care Day. 🤍
And before you scroll past this — I want to ask you something.

When did you last truly take care of yourself? Not the surface stuff. Not the face mask while still answering emails. Not the walk you cut short because you felt guilty for taking time.
Real self care. The kind that fills you back up. The kind that says — I matter too.

Today is your reminder.
You give so much of yourself to everyone around you. Your time. Your energy. Your love. Your presence.
Today — give some of that back to yourself.

Rest without guilt.
Say no without explanation.
Do one thing today that is purely for you.
You deserve it.

Not just today.
Every single day. 🤍

You are enough! Now live like it!

💬 Tell me below — how are you taking care of yourself today? Drop it in the comments. 👇

Self-love sometimes shows up in the smallest things. 🤍

Drinking the water. Saying no to what drains you.
Moving your body because you deserve to feel alive in it. Saying one kind thing to yourself and actually meaning it.

We make self-love so complicated. Like it has to look a certain way. Cost a certain amount. Take a certain amount of time.

But it starts here. In the small moments. In the quiet decisions you make every single day that say — I matter. I’m worth taking care of. I choose me.

Today — pick just one.
One small act of love toward yourself.
And mean it. 🤍

You are enough. Now live like it.

💬 Save this for the days you forget. Which one of these do you need most right now? Drop it below.

You spend so much time waiting to become her. 🤍
The more confident her. The more healed her. The more put together her.

But what about the woman you are right now?
She woke up today carrying things nobody sees. She’s doing her best with what she has in a season that isn’t easy. And she still showed up.
That woman deserves your love.
Not later. Not when she’s further along.
Right now. Today.
Stop rushing past who you are to get to who you’re becoming.
Embrace her.
She’s doing better than you think.

You are enough. Now live like it. 🤍

*Share with a woman who needs to hear it 🤗

You’ve been chasing a version of yourself you think will finally feel worthy. 🤍
Thinner. Further along. More put together. Less complicated.
But that finish line keeps moving. Because worth was never at the finish line.
You are enough right now.
Not the future version of you.
Not the healed version.
Not the successful version.
You. Today. As you are.

And the moment you actually believe that — everything shifts. What you accept. What you walk away from. How you love yourself and how you let others love you.
You were always enough.
It’s time to live like it.

You are enough. Now live like it. 🤍

💬 Save this if you needed to hear it. Tag someone who needs this reminder today. 👇

Are you actually living your life — or just getting through it?
There’s a difference.

One looks like waiting for the right time. The perfect moment. The better version of yourself to show up first.
The other looks like deciding — today — that your life is worth showing up for right now. As it is. As you are.
You don’t get this day back.

Stop saving your life for later.

Actually live it.

You are enough. Now live like it. 🤍

💬 What’s one thing you’re saying yes to today? Drop it below. 👇