Not Alone Series: Help!

Holycowit'sTuesday.Whew! Linking up with Morgan at Follow and Believe and Jen at Jumping in Puddles for this week's Not Alone Series.

What ways do you run to implore the Lord's help when you are struggling? Do you always spend time in Adoration? Do you dive into the Bible? Automatically go to Confession? Could you be better? How? And what about those times when things are good and you are joyous? Do you still give the Lord your time?

Yesterday... Monday from hell, friends. In the office and in my community, it was a horrendous day. Was I asking Jesus for help, wisdom, direction, peace? That would be a hell yes. Was I still frustrated and sad and hurt and angry? Another hell yes.

As much as I would have loved to sit down and pray quietly for several minutes {or days}, that wasn't an option. Work still has to be done, the world still turns, and sometimes your sister's car breaks down and you end up skipping Zumba to give her a ride. As Forrest Gump says about bad things in life, "It happens."

via

K now let's be really real. I have lots of room for improvement in the Scripture-reading and praying departments. My default exclamation is four letters long, which is too short for "Praise God!" My first thought when something goes wrong is "ugh," not "Jesus, help me." And when something goes right, it takes far too long for me to remember to thank God. 

Am I getting better? I hope so. Do I have an action plan? That will be one of my goals for 2015, but I am not going to wait 6 weeks to start adjusting my reactions. Help me out here, blogging friends - how do you change your defaults?

Not Alone Series: Discernment

It's Tuesday again! The link-up party is hosted by the ever-fabulous Jen at Jumping in Puddles and Morgan at Follow and Believe.

We all agree that discernment is challenging. Figuring out what the Lord is calling you to do with your life can be frustrating and exhausting. But, then add on lack of family support, cultural pressures, and your personal expectations... ugh. And, this isn't just in relation to vocational discernment, but general life discernment, too! How do you keep going? What helps you to push through? How can we encourage one another? What indicators have you experienced that lets you know you're going down the right path?

I think the best way to answer this is to review some Scriptures that talk about God and our plans:

The plans of the heart belong to man, 

but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.

Proverbs 16:1

For I know the plans I have for you, 

declares the Lord, 

plans for welfare and not for evil, 

to give you a future and a hope.

Jeremiah 29:11

God knows the plan for my life, because, uh, He came up with the plan. So God is directing my steps because He can see the end from the beginning {Revelation 22:13} and I can barely remember what I wore last week. 

So God knows where my life is headed, but how do I know? How do I go about living this life when I don't know where I'm going to end up? 

This question used to bug me... and by "bug me" I really mean keep me up all night worrying about Big Life Decisions. 

I would lie awake for hours thinking about all the things that I could see myself doing and wondering how to cram it all in to one life and wondering what degree I should get so that I could pursue as many career paths as possible and then I thought about meeting a man and naming our kids {at one point, I had a boy name and a girl name starting with every letter of the alphabet... just in case.} and worrying about how I would teach ballet and homeschool my children and travel the world and start an orphanage and live on a horse ranch and and and. On and on it went, and I would get more and more worked up each time I thought about Big Life Decisions.  

Then I got some sleep and realized that God is in control and that there is a very good reason for Him to be able to see beginning to end and for me to not be able to see past next week. I learned that I can trust Him, really truly trust Jesus with my life, and, like Mr. Incredible yells says, "We'll get there when we get there!"

via

That was a really roundabout way of getting to this part: when I'm faced with A Big Life Decision, it's ok. I already know that the outcome is going to be good because God is in control. I don't really want to start a free will vs predestination discussion, so I will simply say that I believe God is good, no matter what, and He works all things together for the good of those who love Him {Romans 8:28}.

Shall we get nitty-gritty for just a paragraph? When faced with A Big Life Decision, I pray. I consider my options. I ask my parents, my discipler, my friends {when appropriate}, for their opinions. I wait - no haste on Big Life Decisions! One of the things I specifically pray for is that my parents and discipler and I will all be in agreement, because that is really powerful. 

When I was considering going to Kentucky for the rest of my degree, I prayed that my parents and I would all hear the same answer, and we did and off I went. 

A few months ago, I was praying about a move, and my parents and I did not hear the same thing. I waited a bit longer, and suddenly things changed that made staying the right answer. 

Personally, the most important part of making A Big Life Decision is the peace that comes with an answer. Even when the answer doesn't make sense for there to be peace, like moving across the country to go to a random little school filled with Southern strangers, I was completely at peace in the way only Christ can provide. Sure, I was nervous as hell, but deeper, there was peace that surpassed understanding {Philippians 4:7}.

Whew, this is way longer than I anticipated. Like, way longer. If you are still reading, way to go! How do you discern God's will for your life? Join the conversation!

Not Alone Series: Modesty

It's Tuesday, which means Not Alone Series time! Linking up with Jen at Jumping in Puddles and Morgan at Follow and Believe.

Continuing our reflections about our make-up routines, let's chat about modesty! What does modesty mean to you? Does it just involve the clothes you wear and how you wear them? What about the things you say or do? In what ways can we improve our overall modesty?

Put on then, as God's chosen ones, 

holy and beloved, compassionate hearts,

 kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 

bearing with one another and, 

if one has a complaint against another,

 forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you,

 so you also must forgive.

 And above all these put on love,

 which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts,

 to which indeed you were called in one body.

 And be thankful.

Colossians 3:12-15

~

Clothe yourselves, all of you,

 with humility toward one another,

for “God opposes the proud 

but gives grace to the humble.”

1 Peter 5:5

Let's start with clothes. Clothing is important. I'm a big fan of clothes! When I think of dressing modestly, I think of honor and respect. Am I honoring God, myself, my family, the place I'm going, with my clothing? When I wear business-casual clothes to the office, I'm showing respect to my employers and my work. When I wear a little bit dressier of clothes to church, I'm honoring God with the effort. 

What about our attitudes? The above Scripture verses refer to several character qualities with which we should "clothe" ourselves. Modesty can be emulating these characteristics and pointing others to Christ with our words and actions. 

Obviously this is a very, very shallow look at an extremely complex issue, but hopefully we're are starting conversations. Thanks for hosting, Jen and Morgan, and see you next week!

Not Alone Series: Mary

It's Tuesday, which means I'm linking up with Jen from Jumping in Puddles and Morgan from Follow and Believe.

October is dedicated to the Holy Rosary, so we wanted to honor Mary and reflect on her help during this time of singleness. How have you called on her intercession before? What is your relationship with our Blessed Mother like? If you don't know much about Mary or the Rosary, is there something keeping you from getting to know her?

I'm going to tweak this post just a bit, because, um, #ProtestantProblems ;) But just because I don't say the rosary doesn't mean I can't learn from Mary, so let's start with her most well-known Scripture:

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called[b] the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.”

 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

Luke 1:26-38

I think my favorite part of this text is when Mary asks Gabriel how this whole conception and pregnancy thing is going to work, and the angel answers her so gently, which tells me that her question was not asked with sarcasm or disbelief. 

I'm pretty sure if an angel were to appear before me and tell me something as crazy and unbelievable as Mary's news, my response would be, "yeah, right!" But Mary trusts the Lord and simply asks how His plans are going to transpire. 

Also, I love how immediately Mary says yes to God. Gabriel tells her the what and the how, and Mary accepts it, totally and completely. Lord, let my trust in You grow to be like Mary's!

Book Review: "Interrupted" by Jen Hatmaker

{I know this is too late to add to the link-up, but I promised a review and here I am working on the delivery. Please go read Jen's own words and then everyone else's words, but more importantly, read the book.}

God has perfect timing, ya know? A year ago, I would have read this book, smiled, and put it aside. What a nice little book. But this year?

After my church has completely changed directions and styles and methods? After I've read Jesus Feminist by Sarah Bessey, which completely shifted my entire brain? After reading Jen's book 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess and having my world totally rocked? After watching so many tragedies take place around the world and at home... I'll say it again: God's timing is perfect. {And I apologize for not blogging about any of these subjects extensively/at all - some things are too tender for words.}

Interrupted is a cool glass of water that doesn't appear to be that appetizing until you start drinking and realize how gosh darn thirsty you actually are. For me, the second half of the book was better than the first. Jesus calls us to share the Good News {Matthew 25}, and that Good News is detailed in Isaiah 58:6-12.

Is not this the fast that I choose:

to loose the bonds of wickedness,

to undo the straps of the yoke,

to let the oppressed go free,

and to break every yoke?

Is it not to share your bread with the hungry

and bring the homeless poor into your house;

when you see the naked, to cover him,

and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?

Then shall your light break forth like the dawn,

and your healing shall spring up speedily;

your righteousness shall go before you;

the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.

Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;

you shall cry, and He will say, "Here I am."

If you take away the yoke from your midst,

the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,

if you pour yourself out for the hungry

and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,

then shall your light rise in the darkness

and your gloom be as the noonday.

And the Lord will guide you continually 

and satisfy your desire in scorched places

and make your bones strong;

and you shall be like a watered garden,

like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.

And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;

you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;

you shall be called the repairer of the breach,

the restorer of streets to dwell in.

{ESV}

Reviews are hard to write when you want to quote the whole book, so instead I will tell you that a) I will be re-reading this book again and again, and b) you should read this book, too. Jen is so real and authentic, and I know that she is writing out of real, broken, hard-earned revelation. I laughed, cried, and sat stunned all in the same chapter {and it happened almost every chapter}. Go read it - that's my review. 

Welcome, Natalie!

Today I'm excited to introduce Natalie of "Here I Am, the Handmaid of the Lord." A little while ago, Natalie posted about growing blogging relationships, and a few emails later, here we are, "interviewing" each other!

So here's how this works: Natalie and I each came up with five questions and we each answered all ten questions. My answers are all over on Natalie's blog and her answers are below. The first five questions are Natalie's and the last five are my questions. I've really enjoyed corresponding with Natalie over the past couple of weeks, and I hope you enjoy this interview!

1. Why did you start blogging?  I honestly started blogging on a whim.  I read so many blogs that it dawned on me, wait I can do that too.  And almost two years later, here I am still blogging.  (haha didn't even mean to have a pun on my blog name)

2.  Dog lover? Cat lover? Both?  Dog lover all the way.  I grew up with dogs and cats freak me out the way they stare at you.

3. What is your current favorite scripture verse? Psalm 90:14 "Satisfy us in the morning with thy steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days."

4. What is your favorite pair of shoes (picture encouraged)?  Now that the weather has warmed up, 85% of the time I will have my much loved rainbow flip-flops on.  If you haven't heard of these shoes yet they are leather flip flops that are constructed the same way they construct parachutes, so these shoes aren't falling apart.  I used to have a ton of sandals for summer, now I just have these, a pair of Birkenstock I picked up in Assisi and a pair of Chacos I got for a great deal on ebay and I wear for mission trips, hikes, playing outside and the like.

5.  If you could have any career where time being educated and pay didn't matter what would you do?  This is hard because I love being a nurse.  I think I would be a midwife right now rather than having to go back to school.   But if I were going to give you another career direction I would have to say event planner, caterer, or inspirational speaker.

6. Describe your family {big, small, loud, quiet, crazy, etc} I grew up in a family of four with my mom, dad, and brother who is four years younger than me.  I don't know if this has ever come up on the blog but I also have an older brother who was stillborn 19 months before I was born.  My mom was 39 weeks along when my parents lost my brother, Michael Stanley.  We like to play board games, spoil our two dogs, visit my grandma and enjoy dinners out.

7. If you had a whole day with no commitments or responsibilities, how would you spend that day?  First things first, I would enjoy my morning cup of coffee preferable on a deck or porch with scripture.  The rest of the day I would spend with friends, hanging out, Mass, hiking, creating meals, and hopefully a nap at some point.  It would include good conversation with deep roots.

8. What are your favorite books? If necessary, separate by genre.  I am not the kind of person who has a book they just can't get enough of.  If you want to look at some of the books I have read over the last year and a half check out the reads link on my blog.

9. What do you love most about blogging? What do you love the least?  I cannot get enough of the relationships I have formed through blogging.  They have brought more blessings to my life than I ever could have planned.  I also enjoy when someone informs me that something I wrote really inspired them, enriched their life and brought them closer in their relationship with the Lord.  It is because of those things that I keep going.  The things I dislike about blogging is the time it takes to actually write a post and when technology goes wrong.  I periodically reevaluate if I want to continue blogging and it is always at that time that one of those good things happen and I keep going and keep investing my time.  

10. If you could live in any location, where would you live and why?  Somewhere warm where I could have my flip-flops on all the time and not be cold.  This might be the lingering of the rough winter of 2014 talking but the idea of being outside in the warm sunshine with a breeze blowing is like pure bliss.

Thanks, Natalie! This was really fun, and I'm so glad that we got to do this. You can check out my answers to these questions on Natalie's blog. Thanks for joining!

P.S. In case you missed it, we are halfway done with Phase One of voting me to Rwanda! Please take just a moment and vote now! Thank you thank you thank you!

Finish This: Week Eleven

It's that special time of the week where prompts are given and responded to, laughs are had, and there is much general merriment. Wow, did I just advertise like a circus announcer? Maybe justabit.

Linking up with Jen at The Arizona Russums, Becky at The Java Mama, Lisa at Coastlined, and Nicole at Three 31.

When I need help with life's mysteries, I turn to Scripture, my parents, the bestie, my bosom friend, my sisters, and ye old Internet.

My next challenge is figuring out how to read two books with an average of 1200 pages each by the end of this calendar year. Oh yeah, plus twenty-two other books so that my 2014 goal will be complete. #firstworldproblems

I shake things up by painting my fingernails and my toenails different colors. Reading a lot {see above}. Cooking an actual meal instead of popcorn. Playing "Words with Friends" with both friends and strangers. Going to Zumba four times a week {with three different instructors}. Dyeing my hair whenever I'm with AJ.

High heels are something I don't worry about too often. For fancy occasions, I wear dress pumps. I have one pair of work pants that are a little too long {the challenge of having short legs} and so I wear ankle boots that have a 1.5 inch heel. Other than that, flats, please and thank you!

Thanks for joining the fun! Link your own blog on one of the hostesses' sites or leave your answers in the comments. Oh, and tune in a little later today to read a blog swap with my friend Yvonne!

Blog Every Day Feb: Day Seven - Encouragement

We're a week into Bailey Jean's February challenge, and it's not too late to join if that is your heart's desire.

Today's prompt is "a public encouragement," and so here is some encouragement from the ultimate Encourager.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

and do not lean on your own understanding.

In all your ways acknowledge Him,

and He will make your paths straight.

Proverbs 3:5-6

via

God has promised to take care of us, and if that's not encouraging, I don't know what is! Danica shared another amazing verse as encouragement, and of course the other linker-uppers all have beautiful posts. 

See you tomorrow!

Blog Every Day Feb: Day Three - Scared

Linking up with Bailey Jean for Blog Every Day in February!

Here are the prompts for both your benefit and mine. And because this fabulous shade of pink needs to be admired more.

Something that scares me... besides spiders hiding somewhere in my house???

When I was younger, I was petrified for skeletons. My family went put-put golfing at a pirate-themed course, and because there was a skeleton on the back wall, I didn't want to golf. At night, I was always imagining skeletons at the foot of my bed. Once, I got so scared of these skeletons that I slept in a crouching position on top of my pillow, which put me literally the farthest distance from the skeletons as possible. I told you I was petrified!

Nowadays, my fear of skeletons has calmed down to just a general dislike. I'm more afraid of accidentally burning my house down via cooking or leaving on the hair straightener. Also, I'm not terribly fond of crosswalks, and I'm pretty sure I'm justified in this concern.

Like Bailey, I struggle with being afraid of what others think of me. Some days aren't bad, but other days my every conversation is under the scrutiny of my insecurities and I want to hide in a cave and not let anyone know me.

I'm also afraid of missing God's will for my life. Some of this is a good, holy, fear-of-the-Lord kind of fear, and I'm glad to have that. But some of this is a selfish, me-based fear that doesn't believe God is good enough or that I'm good enough for Him or that He can use me whenever He wants.

How do I overcome these fears? The Word of God, the Blood papers, dialogue with my parents and close friends, and journaling and praying all help me get focused on the Truth. The truth is that I have nothing to fear, that God loves me so I don't have to worry what others think of me, that He is using me now in my flawed state, and that nothing I do can screw up God's plans.

Thank you, Bailey, for such a great prompt! If you would like to join the link-up, hop on over to Anchored in Love and share your story, what fires you up, and what scares you.

Not Alone Series: Another Engagement

Do you struggle with balancing the sting of hearing about yet another proposal with genuine excitement? What emotions come into play? What virtues do you enlist to deal with it all?

Am I happy for you and your TDH's {Tall, Dark and Handsome} engagement? Yes, absolutely.

Am I thrilled to bits for you and wish you the very best? Of course.

Will I help you in anyway you ask or need? What are friends for!

Is your ring the prettiest, sparkliest diamond ever? It's divine.

Does your TDH know how to bless you via the way he proposed? You are blessed, friend.



Do I wish that I was engaged? Or even dating? Hell yes!


I think the hardest part about responding to a friend's newly-announced engagement is recognizing that you may feel both genuinely happy for them and bummed for yourself. One emotion does not cancel out the other, and that is where my struggle lies. I wrongly believe that if I am happy for my friend, I won't feel any sadness for me, or vice versa.

I don't think that sadness for your own situation cancels out your joy for you friend. However, the Lord tells us not to envy {Exodus 20; 1 Corinthians 13} and He tells us to be content {Psalm 131:2; Matthew 5:5; Philippians 4:8-14}. Sometimes it feels like I am grieving what isn't {a relationship}, and while in the moment it may seem appropriate, it doesn't proclaim a trust in God.

We are all familiar with Jeremiah 29:11, Proverbs 3:5, and Psalm 23. I want these verses to go in me deeper than just recitation. I want my default to be trust in the Lord. I want to hear of a friend's engagement with joy for her and a trusting peace for myself.

I love the scripture that Natalie at Here I Am shared. In fact, I love it so much that I'm going to conclude this post with it. His thoughts are not my thoughts, and for that reason alone I trust Him to direct my life in ways that I could never see possible.

Isaiah 55:8-9 ~ "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways," declares the Lord. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts."

Linking up with Jen at Jumping In Puddles and Morgan at Follow and Believe. Join us!

The Message

I love the way the Message Bible puts things into phrases that most of us have never heard in Scripture. It feels like “street” Scripture to me, that any unchurched person off the streets could understand it. And I love that. As someone who has grown up in the Church, it’s refreshing to hear familiar verses in a new way, and to gain a deeper revelation from that same verse, just because it’s said in a different way.

All that being said, SheReadsTruth is going through Galatians. Here are a few of my favorite verses in the
Message translation.

2:16~ Convinced that no human being can please God by self-improvement, we believed the Jesus as the Messiah so that we might be set right before God by trusting in the Messiah, not by trying to be good.

2:19-21~ My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me.

3:11-12~ The person who lives in right relationship with God does it by embracing what God arranges for him.

Isn’t that great!? I heart the Message

It’s Always Darkest Before the Dawn

Well, yesterday felt pretty dark, eh? True that. But you know what? God is still good, and He’s still the One in control, so why fret? {ps I think that “fret” is probably one of my favorite words to use.}

I found this lovely image yesterday and it is now my desktop.



It’s from the Kim Walker song {called I Surrender –shocking, ain’t it} off the album Here Is My Song. Check it out. It’s amazing. In fact, it’s so amazing that I’ll include a link to the youtube version. Be sure to check out the Spontaneous Song that goes with this one… more incredible, if that’s even possible.

So, in terms of life and stuff….

I’ve emailed some people at Bound4Life & JHOP-DC, and am waiting to hear back from them. Ironically, or not, the #shereadstruth for today was about Psalm 27 and waiting on the Lord. Why yes, that does seem to be a theme for me! God is so cool and funny and witty, even. Go, God!

Another happy note: I have a phone date with AJ!!!!!!!! Woot woot! I was so excited when I woke up this morning, and I get to talk to her in less than an hour! With the time difference, we had to coordinate around nap time and my work time, but we’re gonna do it and talk on the phone, but for realz!!! Ah. So excited.
Because of that phone call, I need to get dressed. No, she won’t be able to see me when we talk, but I have to leave for work right after our conversation, so I need to get ready now. Capice? Good. Peace out!

#shereadstruth

I need to read the Word more. Let me be more explicit. I need to read the Word, period. And unfortunately, but hey, we’re gettin' real here, I think the best way for me to consistently get into the Word is by joining other people who are also getting into the Word. Some may say that’s accountability, but I look at my lack of motivation and think, something is wrong with my heart if I have to be able to instagram my Bible readings.

There’s nothing wrong with sharing your readings. Absolutely nothing wrong with that. But for me, that’s my motivation to read the Word, and that has my priorities messed up.

But still, a sermon comes to mind about this kind of thing. My pastor was speaking about worship and how sometimes we don’t  feel like worshiping, so we don’t. That’s disobedience, because the Lord commands us to worship Him, even when we don’t feel like it. Some would argue that “my heart’s not in it, so I shouldn't be fake,” but my pastor argues that the heart will follow; obedience is the immediate issue here. So my thought is to get on board with a daily reading plan, and yes, share journals and pictures, and yes, let the Word of God change my heart! Because obedience trumps motivation, even though it’s so so sad when my motivation is external. And selfish, because how lame am I, reading the Word so that my heart changes. That is a result of reading the Word, but that shouldn't be my motivation either! I need to read the Word because God tells me to!

This is where I’m at, friends. This is the honest state of Bek’s heart. And it’s ugly and shameful and gross, and you can now read all about it.

I’m not going to let pride get in the way of me encountering the Living God. So if I have to sign up for email reminders and post pictures on instagram to get me into the Word, then so be it, because I need God and nothing, not even my own stupid, circular arguments, is going to stand in my way.

whew.

So, on that note, I’ve joined #shereadstruth and if you follow me on the aforementioned instagram, you’ll begin to notice some hashtags.

And hopefully, no matter where we interact, you’ll also begin to notice some changes of heart. The Word of God has a tendency to do that…change lives and hearts.

Thoughts on Job

Some of my fellow bloggers have recently posted about their New Year’s Resolutions, many of which include reading more Scripture. One lady posted links to reading plans, and I have decided to read through the Bible in a year following the plan here. One of my favorite things is to get the reading for the day and then head over to biblegateway to hear the Scripture read aloud. It’s marvelous! You should try it if you haven’t already {yes, this is the same “nice man” who read to me and my roomie}.

Since this reading plan goes chronologically through the Bible, I’m now in the book of Job. As I listen to the nice man read Job and Company’s conversations, I am struck by two things: first, the importance we must place on finding and keeping godly friends, and second, the power our words have.

Job’s friends were there for him, yes, but not all of them were pointing him to keep his trust in the Lord. I was convicted to make sure that my closest friends, the ones to whom I would turn should calamity strike, are friends that speak life and would tell me “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away; blessed be the Name of the Lord.”

This leads me to the power of words. Proverbs 18:21 says that the tongue has the power of life and death. I want to be one who speaks life, and I want to be surrounded by others who speak life.

What are your thoughts, readers?

Whoa! Hello, two year anniversary!

This morning I logged into Blogger and read my BFF’s blog post from yesterday: it was her second anniversary of blogging! I thought, gee, I wonder when I started blogging, and lo and behold, it’s today! January 29th, 2009 saw my first post. Thanks, BFF, for inspiring me to start this!

I was cleaning my desk off a couple weeks ago, and I realized I have a ton of cards that people have sent me {I love mail, btw!} and all I was doing was keeping them in my drawer. I thought, that’s not how it should be!

So I took out my sticky tack {I love sticky tack, too!} and created a collage of sorts on my wall above my desk. It’s artsy and a bit chaotic, and I add to it whenever I get something in the mail. {author’s note: if you would like your letter on the wall, please send a letter to the author. If you do not know the author’s mailing address, please email her and she will remedy that situation. Thank you.}

I think it’s a better use for them, because I look at my beautiful collage thing and I know that I am loved and missed and making new friends.

I love lazy weekends! My roomie and I are catching up on Criminal Minds {I love Reid!} and doing homework in between… and we’re painting our nails during. Yup, it’s safe to say that this day is revolving around Criminal Minds. Woot!

So BibleGateway allows you to search different passages in the Bible, in basically any version, and I just connected some dots and realized that it will READ the passage to you if you so desire. I thought, well, listening to Scripture would allow me to (a) hear God’s Word, (b) accomplish the “read your Bible homework,” and (c) accomplish other mindless homework assignments {list-making really is mindless, Dad!}. So yesterday and today I have listened to Luke in chapter-size chunks. This nice gentleman reads the chapters; sometimes he sounds a bit robotic, and sometimes he gets really into it and sounds like he has a pretend British/American accent… it’s soothing, really!

Well, that’s my day in a nutshell. I’m about ready for one more episode of Criminal Minds!

So Blessed…

As I've been away from home, I've come to recognize to a greater degree how blessed I am. If you recall, I wrote about this earlier, but I cannot stop praising my God for His amazing blessings in my life. Check out this list!

I have several families who drive 40 minutes to pick me up from college on Friday evening or Saturday morning, and then drive me 40 minutes back to their home, and then drive me 40 minutes back to college on Sunday afternoon, and then return home themselves. What sacrificial love is that!

As just mentioned, I have families to stay with on the weekends! Not one, not two, but many families who love me, a total stranger, and welcome me into their home on a regular basis. I cannot describe how grateful I am to have a week-end family and a church family. They are praying for me, and I can tell, and I am full of gratitude for these amazing new family members.

My family {natural and church} at home MISS me! And they tell me! It is so nice to know that I am thought of and remembered… today, I got 2 birthday presents in the mail, one from my BFF and one from my parents. I am so loved- how does anything else compete?!

My God is so amazing, and I love His Word!!!!! The present from my parents is a Message translation of the Bible- I randomly {or not!} flipped to Psalm 51…ahhh, Jesus! Here it is:

“Generous in love- God, give grace! Huge in mercy- wipe out my bad record. Scrub away my guilt, soak out my sins in your laundry. I know how bad I've been, my sins are staring me down.

You’re the One I've violated, and you've seen it all, seen the full extent of my evil. You have all the facts before you; whatever you decide about me is fair. I've been out of step with you for a long time, in the wrong since before I was born. What you’re after is truth from the inside out. Enter me, then; conceive a new, true life.

Soak me in your laundry and I’ll come out clean; scrub me and I’ll have a snow-white life. Tune me in to foot-tapping songs, set these once-broken bones to dancing. Don’t look too close for blemishes, give me a clean bill of health. God, make a fresh start in me, shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life. Don’t throw me out with the trash, or fail to breathe holiness in me. Bring me back from gray exile, put a fresh wind in my sails! Give me a job teaching rebels your ways so the lost can find their way home. Commute my death sentence, God, my salvation God, and I’ll sing anthems to your life-giving ways. Unbutton my lips, dear God; I’ll let loose with your praise.

Going through the motions doesn’t please you, a flawless performance is nothing to you. I learned God-worship when my pride was shattered. Heart-shattered lives ready for love don’t for a moment escape God’s notice.

Make Zion the place you delight in, repair Jerusalem’s broken-down walls. Then you’ll get real worship from us, acts of worship small and large, including all the bulls they can heave onto your alter!”

Don’t you LOVE that!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!? I love it, and I love my God- He is full of abundant blessings!

The underlined sentence is my emphasis- Year of Overflow, anyone?
Be blessed!

I figured it out!

Yesterday I was watching The Young Victoria (for the third time!!!) and all of a sudden it hit me.

The movie opens with Victoria explaining that every girl wants to be a princess, and I agree with her. Then at the end of the movie, viewers see Victoria enter the room as the Queen of England, and I thought to myself, why do little girls grow up wanting to be a princess... but not a queen? And then I realized, because this is what Victoria also realized, that queens have a great responsibility and many pressures and pushes and pulls and duties, etc. Princesses, on the other hand, do not. Princesses have their daddy, the king, to bear the burden of all the ruling responsibilities. {"Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." ~ Matt 11:28-30, NIV}

This revelation struck me for a few reasons. First, when Daddy is on the throne taking care of all the "boring meetings" that a ruler must attend, a princess can play dress-up. She can be beautiful. You may say, why is this important? Read John and Stasi Eldredge's Captivating. Beauty is deep in the heart of a woman.

Secondly, King Daddy can train His princess and give her some responsibilities and duties, but if she makes a mistake, He can always fix it. There is no shame, because Daddy rules over shame.

Thirdly, and related to the second, princesses don't rule...the King does. And isn't that how reality is? Our amazing Father King rules, but gives us authority. Princesses are royalty, because their father is the king. We are royalty, because our Father is the King! These are my musings on princesses, dear readers. I hope you find these simple revelations as delightful as I do! :)

Amazing...

The Lord has prompted me to pray the Blood papers over myself more and more, and so the other night I was getting ready for bed and decreeing His truth over me. I was led to a few declarations that don't sound like much [feet and footsteps, paths and doors, tent and possessions, and time and work], but I found some AMAZING Words in these declarations!

"I declare the power of the Blood of Jesus on my paths and doors: The doors shall be opened before me. {Is. 24:7,9}

He opens for me the gates of righteousness; I will go through them and I will praise the Lord. {Ps. 118:19}

He keeps my doors open because He opens and no one shuts. {Take that, impossible-to-get-into colleges!!! Rev. 3:7b, 8}

He preserves my steps in His will. {Ps. 37:23}

I want to show you the English Standard Version of that last verse, because I read it and was jumping up and down while wanting to cry with joy.

Psalm 37:23-24 ~ The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in His way; though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds his hand.

AUGH!! Amazing!!! This has fed me for the past two days, especially as I try to hear the Lord's voice about His will and my life. Ahhh...thank You, Jesus!