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avery strickland

@averyshurst

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| Jesus 1st 🤍 | Wifey 👰🏻‍♀️ | TN -> KS | BU & UT 🏀🎓 |

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I love being the documentarian of such beautiful love stories. Avery and Grant could not be more perfect for each other 🤍

#tennesseeweddings #lovestory #brideandgroom #gbo #chattanoogaweddings taken in Kingston, Tennessee by @averyshurst

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3 months ago

the best present came early this year!!!!!!

here’s to forever💍❤️ taken in Market Square, Knoxville by @averyshurst

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10 months ago

Looking back on the past 3.5 years, the Lord has shaped me in ways I could’ve never done on my own. I’ve always known right from wrong, but it wasn’t until the end of my freshman year that I truly accepted Christ and everything in my life started to shift.

This feels vulnerable to share, but it’s a real part of who I’ve become.

Before I lived for Him, I was honestly just lost. I cared way too much about what people thought. I dressed for attention because I wanted someone,anyone to notice me. I acted confident, but inside I needed constant validation.
I didn’t watch my words at all. I said things to seem tough or funny even when it wasn’t who I really was.

I compared myself to every girl around me. Their bodies, their clothes, their relationships, their confidence… everything. I was so obsessed with my weight and how I looked that it took up way too much of my mind. I never felt “enough,” no matter what I did.

Sports were my whole identity. If I played well, I felt good about myself. If I didn’t, I felt worthless. I let outside things decide my worth instead of God.

I told people I was one thing, but lived in a way that didn’t match at all. I was scared to have my own opinions because I didn’t want to offend people or make anyone think differently of me. I lived for people’s approval more than anything.

And behind all of that, I was dealing with so much anxiety. Real anxiety. Constant knots in my stomach. Overthinking everything. Panic attacks. Fear that I couldn’t even explain. I isolated myself because I didn’t want to be a burden or seem “dramatic.” I felt alone even when I was surrounded by people.

But even in all of that mess, Jesus never stopped pursuing me. He kept opening my eyes, softening my heart, and showing me that the life I was chasing wasn’t the life He had for me.

When I finally surrendered and chose Him, everything changed. The way I think. The way I see myself. The way I speak. The way I love people. The way I carry myself.

I’m not who I used to be and that’s entirely because of Him.

THAK YOU JESUS by @averyshurst

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9 months ago

3 months happily married to my favorite person🤍🤍🤍 by @averyshurst

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6 days ago

It’s Mrs.Hurst to you☺️ by @averyshurst

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a month ago

retirement postponed!

#hurstsinkc #thankslawyers by @averyshurst

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a month ago

Oh Honduras… all the many things I could say about you. 🤍🇭🇳

This trip was so unexpected. Grant and I had been home from our honeymoon for exactly three days before leaving to go to Honduras.

The timing? Not great. 😂 We had just gotten married, just gotten home, and were trying to settle into our new life together. At first, it honestly didn’t sound like a very good idea.

But we talked about it. We prayed about it. And the longer we sat with it, the more we felt like God was asking us to go.

I am so incredibly grateful for the yes God put on our hearts.

We got to serve kids and families, come alongside the local church, pray with people, laugh until our stomachs hurt, and watch God move in ways that are hard to put into words.

We went thinking we were going to Honduras to serve, but I think God knew how much we needed Honduras too.

The people we met became family. Watching them pursue God so wholeheartedly, regardless of their circumstances, changed me. There was a joy there that wasn’t dependent on comfort, possessions, or life going perfectly. It reminded me that there is a kind of joy only Jesus can give.

And selfishly, this may have been one of the greatest things we could have done at the beginning of our marriage. Our honeymoon was incredible, but Honduras was even better.

There is something special about beginning a marriage by serving, praying, getting uncomfortable, and watching God work together. We came home with an even clearer picture of the marriage we want to build one that says yes to God, even when His timing doesn’t make sense.

Thank you Jessica Brewster for the invitation and for giving us the opportunity to say yes.

And to all of our Tennessee friends the ones we met on campus and the ones we met on this trip your friendships mean more to Grant and me than you know. We are so grateful God placed each of you in our lives.

Thank you, Hope Through Him, for the work you are doing and for allowing us to be a small part of it.

Honduras, you changed us.

We thought we were saying yes to a mission trip. God knew we were saying yes to so much more. by @averyshurst

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2 months ago

Maybe the coolest thing an athlete can become is someone who knows who she is.

For my master’s capstone in Strategic Communication & Leadership, I was challenged to identify a gap… something I believed was needed in the world and create something that could help fill it.

For me, that answer became SUREFOOTED.

Because this isn’t just something I’ve studied. It’s something I’ve lived.

For a long time, it was hard to separate who I was from the athlete I was. When basketball was going well, I felt good about myself. When it wasn’t, it was easy to question everything. And the more I studied identity, communication, leadership, comparison, pressure, and the experiences of female athletes, the more I realized how many girls are trying to navigate the same thing.

So I created SUREFOOTED for her.

The girl who loves her sport and wants to be great at it.

She still competes at a high level.
She still wants to win.
She still challenges herself.
She still sets big goals and works like crazy to reach them.

She just knows her performance isn’t who she is.

Her worth doesn’t rise when she plays well or fall when she doesn’t. She can pursue excellence without spending every day trying to prove that she’s enough.

And that’s what I want this page to become.

A place where I can take everything I’ve studied, everything I’ve learned, and honestly, a lot of the things I wish I would’ve understood sooner and share them with the next girl.

I’m going to build SUREFOOTED over time. My hope is that it can play a small part in creating a new generation of female athletes who compete with confidence, use their voices, know their worth, and stand firmly in who they are, what they’re capable of, and who God says they are.

This is just the beginning. 🤍

SUREFOOTED.
Rooted. Free. Purposeful.

“The Sovereign Lord is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to tread on the heights.”
Habakkuk 3:19 by @averyshurst

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2 months ago

Costa Rica you were so good to the Hurst’s🍯🌛💛

@grant_hurst by @averyshurst

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3 months ago

The special night before, we love our people🩷🩷🩷

📸: @captured.bygrace.photo taken in Colonial 511 by @averyshurst

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3 months ago

we’ll build this love from the ground up

📸: @captured.bygrace.photo by @averyshurst

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4 months ago

in my bridal era🐚👰🏽‍♀️🤍 by @averyshurst

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4 months ago