My Week in Photos!

Hello all!

After that super serious post yesterday (which you should all go and read), here is a little photo history of my week for you!

1.  The bus trip to HS Winter Camp!  So much fun and God really worked!

2.  I bought honey in bulk...yay! =)

3. By Wednesday I still hadn't recovered from camp...so I splurged on coffee cause I didn't have time to make any.

4.  Making the ordinary things special...Mountain Dew and milk.  Can you guess which one was for mine and which was for Travis?

5.  Supreme Dark Chocolate!  It's super bitter...but I'm starting to REALLY like it.

6.  New memory verse inspired by this post from Mary in Marriedland!

7.  I made this hair clip back in December but just wore it for the first time.  What do you think?

8.  I tried to curl my hair like Janssen from Everyday Reading, and it worked!  Thank you, Janssen!

9.  AWESOME coffee date with my husband this morning!  I love how we are on the same page in life and even when we disagree, we are coming from the same belief system so our disagreements pretty easily come to agreement.  I love him so much and am soooo thankful for him!

10.  See?  Isn't he handsome!  I love my guy! (Okay, I'm done ranting about him now.)

11.  I added the buttons to my headband!

12.  Crafting!  I'm getting ready for my FIRST EVER GIVEAWAY! YAY!  Be back here in two weeks and three days...Sunday the 16th for my birthday giveaway!

Okay!  Take one for the day!  Enjoy!  Are you linking up your instagrams?  Have a cool post from your week?  Let me know and I'll try to check it out!

Linking Up!

Be blessed!

Thoughts: Can I Vent?

Can I vent for a minute?

Ladies...I love you all dearly.  I really truly do.  Often while posting a comment on another blog or reading a personal post, I offer up quick prayers for you.  I rejoice in your rejoicings and I mourn in your sadness.  I love you all and I love blogging....But I have a problem.

(Preface: In this post I will mainly be talking to other Christian bloggers.  If you are not a Christian, I am sorry that I'm not talking to you, but keep reading, you will learn stuff about me and may find it interesting.)

Many of us talk about God and glorifying Him.  We post pictures of the outfit we wore to church.  We post inspirational scriptures and thoughts.  Are these things bad?  No.

But is this our faith?  Is our faith really a bunch of inspirational quotes and verses? Is our faith really a place we attend each week?

My faith is not.  My faith is embodied in a person.  My faith is a relationship.  My faith is NOT about ME.

 So why do we write "christian" blog posts and never mention

that person?

That person is JESUS.

So why am I not talking about JESUS more?

This all stemmed from this question...

What is my purpose in life?

To love people? Sort of...

To be nice?  Not really...

To be a Christian? Kinda-sorta...

Look at Jesus' final prayer:

"And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was. And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was...I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world...And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: that they all may be one, as You, Father, [are] in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me."

John 17:3-23

I know this is a long section.  But look at what it says!  Ladies!  This is SO important!

Our purpose in life is...

TO KNOW GOD AND TO MAKE HIM KNOWN

Our whole purpose in this life, is to know God and to make our lives as LITTLE about us as possible and as MUCH about Him.  We are to BRING HIM GLORY in everything.

I know this isn't easy.  So often we fall into the trap of doing GOOD things because they give us purpose or make us happy.  That is NOT right!

I should be doing GOOD things

because

I LOVE GOD

for the purpose of

GLORIFYING HIM SO THAT 

OTHERS

MIGHT BE SAVED

I know that this is a long post with no pictures

(an "I'm just gonna skip this type post)

but I really hope you guys read this and take it to heart.

I know I am not perfect in this area.  My biggest struggle with blogging has been me trying to blog about my life without forgetting that it is not about me anyways.

I want my blog to be about bringing Jesus glory.  About making Him AWESOME in your eyes.  Through His Spirit is the only way this can happen.  I cannot do any of this on my own. But it is not about me anyways.

I want Jesus to be glorified in all I do.

I want HIM to be the 

ONLY GOAL

and the 

ONLY PURPOSE

in my whole

LIFE.

JUST HIM.  HIS GLORY.  THAT IS MY PURPOSE.

MY LIFE.

HE IS ALL.

If you read this or even skimmed it, please write me back and leave me your thoughts.  (or email me if you don't want others seeing what you write)

This issue is so real to me.  I see so many people calling themselves Christians and yet living for motives other than Jesus.  Is that you?

I don't want that to be me.

Be blessed.

The Girl Behind the Blog Vlog Link Up

Yikes!!! I just did my first Vlog...scary, scary, scary, scary....

I did one take and only watched the first 5 seconds to make sure the sound was working.  AHHHH!!!!

Why am I doing this?!?!?!

I know, I know...because I was SO disappointed that I forgot last time.

(I almost forgot this time too and so I did it at like 10 o'clock at night with HORRIBLE lighting and big dark circles under my eyes.)

Oh well, here it is and let's hope that next time I'm a little more on top of it.

Enjoy!

 (YIKES!!!)

Fun Snack

I have a dear friend who is allergic to yeast.  It sounds like no big deal, right?  Think again...no pizza, no sandwiches, no toast, bread french bread...and yeast is found in an amazing number of other food products (like certain brands of refried beans????).

So she made me lunch one time and we had crackers with cream cheese and lunch meat.

YUM!

I loved it!  So last week I made this for Travis and I as a light lunch...Cracker Sandwiches!

Layer:

Cracker

Cream Cheese

Sliced Ham

Sliced Cheddar Cheese (Tillamook only for me! =P )

Slice of Cucumber

And you have a delicious lunch.

 I like eating this as a lunch while working on something else because I can make one or two, eat them quickly while working, and then pause and make a few more.  Enjoy and let me know if you come up with any other delicious toppings!

Be blessed.

P.S.  Our retreat with the HS group was really good!  More to come on that.  =)

Off to the Mountains...

Over the hills and through the woods to Grandmother's house winter camp we go!

I am heading off TOMORROW for a high school winter retreat!

It should be a blast...and pretty snowy. =P  Ironically, I am not looking forward to the snow, but I am looking forward to the teaching and spending some quality time with my small group of girls.

I will only be gone Friday through Sunday, but if it takes me awhile to get back into posting, you will know why

(hint: because I will be unpacking, doing laundry, catching up on work, and SLEEPING)

Hope to connect with you all again soon!

Be blessed!

Hemmed!

Remember this photo I posted awhile ago?  I said that I was doing a cool project I couldn't wait to show you guys?  Well...it sorta took me forever to take pictures of.  But that's okay, because I LOVE my new dress and didn't mind wearing it over and over!

(And by the time we got around to pictures, it was sunny so we could take them outside!  Yay!)

Isn't it pretty!  Without a belt Travis says that I look pregnant....he's right.  It looks REALLY funny when it is not belted.  It looked even funnier before I cut 14 inches off!  =)  I really do like it though.  It's not super warm, so I'll definitely use it more as the sun is out more and more (hopefully).

And guess what I get to do with the bottom part since I kept it in a circle?  Use it as a light summer infinity scarf!  Two new clothing items for $7!  I love Goodwill! <3

Which do you like better?  The wide belt or the skinny belt?

Cardigan or not?

Comment and let me know!

Linking Up:

Be Blessed

Thoughts: Trust

Do you ever start writing a post, put it aside for a day or two and come back to find that you simply can't finish it?  That was me today.  I started writing this post about servanthood on Sunday.  I'm finally finishing it up today and the only thing I think about is how much I need to remember that God is all of the things this song says.  I need to KNOW that in my HEART.

 

My heart is so often anxious, tired, and sad.  Sometimes one little detail becomes so big in my life that I can't see past it.  But I KNOW that God is good. I HAVE seen His faithfulness in my life.  When my heart is crying and failing to trust, I must reason with my heart and recount the blessings of God.

How have I seem Jesus be each of these in my life in the past?  Do I really trust that He will be these in the future?

How often do we become "overwhelmed" with grace?

Think about it.

In my self-centered way I stress out over things that God is completely in control of.  I stubbornly grasp my life in my hands refusing to surrender it to it's Maker.  Worrying and wondering, I frantically try to make all the pieces fit in a puzzle when I don't even have all the pieces!

Yet, God is right there the whole time waiting for me to turn to Him.  He has all the pieces and if I will just let Him, He will create something beautiful from the mess I am making.

So often this struggle is seen only in my mind, yet it is still there.

Will I surrender to...

my Savior...?


song by New Life Worship - "Savior"

I'm sorry if this post tonight seemed odd.  It was more for me than for you anyways, but maybe, by some strange chance, God will use my struggles and wandering thoughts to encourage you.

Be blessed.

Blog Hop!!!

Instagram

travis and his best friend playing guitar together (it sounded good!) / veggie quinoa salad / we had snow!!! / my new headband-ear warmer / breakfast date with my hubby =) / starbucks peach raspberry yogurt parfait - yum!

Linking Up:

Warmers...

I've been seeing these ALL over the web, so as soon as I finished my crocheted afghan, I exactly what my next new projects would be!  My top two MUST MAKE projects were leg warmers and ear warmers.  

Here is some of my inspiration from Pinterest (click the link to see my Pinterest and find the original sources of these photos)

Leg Warmers

Ear Warmers

Well, as soon as that gorgeous afghan was finished I started on the leg warmers.  I don't know if you can see it from the pictures, but I did a raised, vertical stripe pattern.  If you look at the top center photo, you can sort of see that they are "mock" leg warmers.  I didn't want to use that much yarn and my boots are pretty tight fitting anyways.

My Leg Warmers

As soon as I finished the leg warmers I started on a headband/ear warmer.  It was so fast and easy to make!  (Except that I made it too big the first time so I had to pull it out and start over.)

Headband/Ear Warmer

With both these projects I designed my own patterns as I went.  It is more fun that way.  Even though neither turned out the way I had initially envisioned them, I was happy with the results.  They are unique and they are mine! =)  Love them both!

Linking Up:

Be blessed!

Thoughts: Prayer

I haven't done a "thoughts" post in awhile.  Not that God hasn't been working; He has.  I just haven't taken the time to sit down and write about it.

So what has He been doing?  He has been gently reminding me to pray.

(Don't you love His gentle reminders?  A tug on your heart.  A conversation with a friend or mentor.  Something simple.  Over and over and over again.  Always gentle and loving.)

I have felt this tug on my heart off and on for years, but it seems as thought God has been working this im my heart even more lately.

There were two key events involving other people that started this in my heart:

The first was 2 weeks ago when our dear friends (who moved to Florida last year) called.  They are in the city of Delray Beach and are in the process of starting a church.  Well when they called us, they asked us to hold weekly prayer meetings til Easter to pray for the Easter services they will be holding.

(Read more about their story here.)

Since then prayer has been on my heart even more.

The second event was with my high school english teacher.  She was giving me a bit of mentoring in the tutoring department when she said something like, "I know you have the same heart as me, wanting to grade fairly without overwhelming the kids and praying over papers before you grade them."  My mind stopped dead in it's tracks.  I had maybe prayed over papers once...or twice.  My heart and mind began to race, "What an incredible woman of God...she cares so much!  And I do too...don't I?  Then why don't I pray?"

Even with this encouragement and call to prayer from godly men and women in my life, I still forget.  I don't think about it.  Praise God for His gentle nudges and reminders.

Even while trying to find the words for this post, I felt Him saying, "Pray about it."  So I did.

What a freeing feeling to leave my cares, however slight they may be, in the sure and strong hands of my Maker.  I need to get better at truly leaving my cares there at His feet.  So often I pick them up again within a few second of murmuring "amen".  

It is my desire to spend my life growing ever closer to my Maker.  I love Him, but not as I should.  I am thrilled with this journey of prayer He is taking me on.  May my heart continue to seek God daily, hourly...every minute!  And may you, my friends (as I hope you will all continue to become), find your hearts drawn closer and closer to God daily.

May you pray!

What have your prayers been lately?  Can I pray for you?

Be blessed.

My Week Flew By...

I write the following post on Friday. Then I second guessed myself...I felt like I wrote a bunch of mishmash and I dud't even label my photos. So i never posted it. But when I looked back at it today, it wasn't as bad as I remember. It was my heart...is my heart. So although it's a few days late, here you go.
-------------------------------------------
Do you ever have those moments...those sitting still thinking moments....and suddenly your filled with a peace and joy from God that you can't explain?
That happened to me yesterday. I can truly say I love my Savior. his peace and joy are amazing. He DOES fill my life with good things. Even when there seems to be no particular reason in this life to be joyful, God is there filling us with his Spirit and bring us His peace.

IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER....
my current favorite teas / homemade iced coffee with icecream in it / the sun was shining (!!!!) / pancakes with peanut butter / tried a new hair style / a new refashioning project (more to come!) / an amazing calzone - artichoke, tomato, and mozzarella