PR, Passion & Puppy - H54F

Good morning my dear friends and readers! Today is Friday! And I know we must all be excited about that. The weekend is finally supposed to warm up, and get us back into the upper 70's, and I'm just really crossing my fingers that it actually happens. I'm ready to put away my sweaters for the year!

This afternoon after work, Jeff and I are heading up to middle Georgia to spend the night at his brother's house, and then drive a couple more hours on Saturday morning in order to pick up the twins for their spring break! They get to spend the whole next week down here, and so obviously we're super excited about that. Looking forward to getting to spend some time with them! Also, this will be the first time we've seen them since getting engaged, so we will finally tell them face-to-face about it. But first we have to figure out how! I might be Googling later "How to tell a 6-year-old what engaged means." Ya know, just for some references ;)

But this morning, let's hop right into High Five for Friday, with the ever-so-cute Lauren at From My Grey Desk.

1. This cute little boy had to get a bath the other night, and he doesn't like those. But then afterwards, he was so sweet and just laid with me for the longest time, resting his head on my leg. So cute!

2. Ate a delicious dinner at Earth Fare, and looooved it. That's broccoli and cranberry slaw, italian caprese, and vegan mock curry chicken salad. And I gobbled up every. single. bite. of that up there. Soo good.

3. Jillian kicked my butt on Wednesday after my mile run. I both love and hate her at the same time. She drives me crazy, but she sure does know what she's doing.

4. Oh you know, just taking some "selfies" in the car after Zumba...

5. Set a new PR for myself again this week! Last week's PR was at 12:58, so this one is 9 seconds faster! I'll be honest here and say, I am constantly amazing and impressing myself guys. I mean, when I first tried to run a couple of times back in August, it took me about 16:30 to run a mile. Sheesh. And now look at me go!! (Oh, and I was wearing my infamous penguin shirt when I hit this PR. I'm thinking it's my new lucky t-shirt.)

And here's the sixth thing, I just don't have a picture for it.... But I need you guys to keep it on the down low OK, so don't go blabbing this around just yet (Tally peeps, you especially). But, I have a job interview this afternoon, that I'm so dang excited for! It's a good job, with much better pay, benefits (I'm OPS now and have none), and at a great place. And that's all I'm gonna say about it now. It's at 3 p.m. this afternoon, so if you think about me, just say a quick prayer or send me some good thoughts :)

Also, more importantly than anything else I've shared in this post, today is Good Friday. The day that Jesus Christ died on a cross for all of our horrible sins, because he loved us so very much; because of his extreme passion for his children. He did that so that we wouldn't have to pay for our own sins, and so that we could have the chance to spend eternity in Heaven with him and the Father. What an amazing gift! Make sure you take some time to reflect on that, and celebrate the fact that although he died on Good Friday, he rose again on Easter morning!!! And that is truly something to celebrate. (You can read the story if you're interested in Matthew 27:11 - 28:10. Or feel free to chat with me too.)

I hope y'all have an amazing day today, and a great Easter weekend as well!

Peppermint Mocha

If we were to sit down today for a coffee date, I'd start off saying, "Hi! How are you?! How are you doing this morning?!" I'd be pretty chipper and cheerful and we'd chat for a minute or two about easy things and maybe the weather, but then when you'd ask me how I'm doing, and then we'd probably get a little more serious.

I'd have to tell you that the past week has been a little rough, and that life is just too hard sometimes. I'd probably definitely tear up as I told you a little bit about the struggles that I've been dealing with this past week. As I sipped my warm Peppermint Mocha, I'd try to pull myself together so that I didn't start crying too much in the middle of this cute little shop.

I would want to be real though, and tell you what was truly going on, without getting too crazy and involved of course. But I'd want you to know the truth about my other job and the sadness this is all causing me. The sadness comes in waves though, and there are times I can ignore it and be happy; but then there are times in my car or talking on the phone with my Mama or boyfriend, that it gets the best of me and I start crying.

Life is just hard sometimes. Coffee sometimes makes it a little better though. And coffee dates with friends definitely make life better. I'd thank you for letting me vent a little bit, and for lending a listening ear today. I'd say thank you for being my friend and for your support and encouragement in this situation.

I do know that God always knows what He's doing, and we rarely do. But that doesn't make it any easier. I know God has a plan for me and He alone knows what comes next, but it's hard not knowing myself. But for now, as I make it through this, I'll try to wait as patiently as I can for whatever He is preparing myself and my heart for.

Know, my friends, that I'm OK through all of this craziness. Don't let this super serious post worry you too much. Yes, life is a little rough for me right now, but we all have to endure trials like this. I know I'll get through it and that I'll be just fine! Here's what I know I can hold on to during this:

"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you face trials of many kinds. For you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance." James 1:2-3

God is just working on my perseverance. For now, I just have to trust Him, and Him alone. In the mean time though, maybe I'll have to sit down for coffee or lunch with a few more friends and family members, so I can work through this with some of the people I love the most. Thanks for listening today though, blog friends. I really do appreciate the opportunity to get real on here sometimes (even though it's very rare that I'm so serious), and use this little space as an emotional outlet from time to time.

Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow

Good morning my bloggy friends! (Or afternoon/evening depending on when you actually read this...) Today I'd like to focus a little bit on Thanksgiving, since it is this very week after all! I just wanted to share a few things I am thankful for in my life, and then share a challenge at the end as well...

Photo found via Google images

The Bible tells us that we should give thanks in all things! (1 Thessalonians 5:18)  Sounds like a tricky thing to do, but it's something we really should work on each and every day, not just once a year for a special holiday. 1 Chronicles 16:34 says, "Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, his love endures forever." Isn't that great? That God's love endures, forever?! That alone is enough want to make you thank God all day long, right...?!

And then there are also some great Psalms about thankfulness as well:
Psalm 69:30 -- I will praise God's name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving.
Psalm 95:2 -- Let us come before him with Thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.
Psalm 100:4 -- Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise, gives thanks to him and praise his name.

Photo found via Google images

I am thankful for:

A wonderful, loving family

My super sweet boyfriend

An amazing Savior who died for me and forgave my sins

Living in the Sunshine state

A church family to call "home"

Being called to youth ministry, and getting to work with the youth in my church

My education

Being healthy enough to ride bikes!
Being surrounded by a great group of friends
This amazing life God has granted me with

These are only ten things that I am thankful for. But let's be honest here people, because there about a million more that we can each name in our own lives. My challenge to you however, is to recognize these things every day, not just on one day each year! So, write down at least ten things you're thankful for, make it pretty, and hang it somewhere you'll see it every day.{ I'm going to put mine on my bathroom mirror.} And then make sure you actually read over it every day, and thank God that he has provided a multitude of blessings in each of our lives!

And finally, I just want to share the doxology with you today, because even though it's not specifically a "Thanksgiving hymn," it's still very fitting when talking about gratitude and thankfulness...

"Praise God from whom all blessings flow,

Praise him all creatures here below,

Praise him above ye heavenly hosts,

Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen."

And Happy Thanksgiving to each of you!

Postal Delivery

I love getting Postal Deliveries -- getting packages in the mail and opening up little gifts! It's just so much fun! Even if you paid for them yourself, it's still like receiving a present, and it just makes me so happy :) Well the other day, I got TWO packages in one day! One of which I ordered and paid for myself, and the other one was a free gift!

The first one (the one I paid for) was from this awesome site called Pick Your Plum. If you haven't heard of it, go check it out and sign up for their daily emails. They have really cool stuff, and it's all at such great prices! The first thing I ordered from them was a set of six rolls of washi tape. Washi tape is just cute little rolls of decorative tape, that come in pretty patterns and colors! They're kind of all the rage right now in the crafty/bloggy world... ;)

I just used them for the first time the other day, and I think they look so cute! Then my second package was the free one! A couple of weeks ago, I won a giveaway on Beka's awesome blog, and so I won a print from Carly's Etsy shop! She let me pick out any of her 8x10 prints, and she sent it to me for free! I seriously loved sooo many of her prints, and kind of had a hard time choosing my favorite. But I really do love the one I chose! My favorite part of this is definitely the super girly, flowery umbrella! So cute!! Now I just need to go out and buy a pretty frame for it. I'm thinking white, or silver, or maybe even light blue or pink might be cute!

And the reason I ended up picking this print, was because of the scripture verse that it represents. It comes from 1 John 3:1, which reads, "How great is the love the Father has lavished upon us, that we should be called the children of God! And that we are! The reason this world does not know us is that it did not know him." 

This was one of the first verses I can remember memorizing. I colored the bubble letters in on an activity sheet, and it hung on our fridge for what seemed like ages when I was younger. I read it over and over so many times, that it turned into a little sing-songy tune, and I've never forgotten it. So not only do I love the colors and graphics of my new print, I also really love what it represents. :) Thanks again Carly! 

What cool things  have y'all gotten in the mail lately?

Presence

"Seek the Lord and His strength; seek his presence continually!" --1 Chronicles 16:11

Seek his presence continually.... sounds like kind of a hard thing to do right? It does to me at least. I mean sometimes I don't want to, or I don't know how, or I don't know where to begin... I think though, that the easiest way to seek his presence, is to spend time with him in prayer and reading his Word. Simple as that, right? Right. So today, I simply want to encourage you seek the presence of God. It's not always that difficult to find it, but it's always worth it. Seek to be in his presence, and for it to be apparent to you.

Think about how different each day would be if we spent the day in the presence of our Lord! I think maybe we should try it out, and just see how it changes our day and our perspective.

And on a completely unrelated, and not-so-thoughtful note, I'm guest posting over at my friend Tiffany's blog today, with a tutorial for my Halloween mani I'm rockin' right now! So check that out HERE.

{Blogger friends: link up your more thoughtful posts from the last week, and share my Thoughtful Thursdays button on your page!}

Provision

God's Provision is sometimes unexpected, and usually not the way we would have done things ourselves; but it is always the best option. Let's look at Abraham and when God told him he was going to have to sacrifice his only son, from Genesis 22...

So back in the day, Abraham and his wife Sarah had no children, and they were very sad. But let's fast forward to when God granted him and his wife with a child - Isaac - hooray! Then fast forward some more, and God says,

"Take you son,  your only son, whom you love - Isaac - and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you."

And you know what? Abraham doesn't even question it (at least not that we read in the Bible anyways), and just sets off on this journey up the mountain. So they walk up there, and Isaac notices there is no lamb, so he asks his father about it. And Abraham just replies simply, "God will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son."

Then they get to the top, Abraham builds the alter, and then asks Isaac to lay down on top of the wood. (I am seriously just wondering about all the thoughts running around in Isaac's head at this time?!) Then right before Abraham is about to "slay his son," the angel of the Lord calls out urgently, "Abraham! Abraham! Do not lay a hand on the boy."

And you know what? God provided a ram to sacrifice instead. And because Abraham had been willing to sacrifice his one and only son, God made a gigantic promise to him...

"I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore."

God may test us and lead us to incredibly difficult (and sometimes seemingly impossible) situations. But God's Provision will always show itself. Again, it may not be the way we want or expect or think we need, but it will be exactly as God plans it. He provides for us in so many ways; ways we don't even recognize or realize, and it truly is an amazing thing when we take a moment to reflect on that.

I want to make just a small list of some of the provision's God has blessed me with:

A paycheck - even if it's not a job I love

Rent-free living with great parents after graduation

Family who continually love and care for me

A church I love being at, with a youth group that makes me so happy

My sweet and loving boyfriend

This list could go on and on and on, but I wanted to keep it short...

Think about this today - what are just a few of the ways God has provided for you lately? Take time to thank Him for those things/people/situations, and then look for more provisions, because I'm sure there are some you're missing. 

Blogger friends, add your link below, and grab my button to link back to me. So glad to have you join me! :)

Proclaim

Again, music spoke to me last night during youth. There's just something about praise and worship music that can get my attention and make me focus in on God just a little bit more than normal. Even if it's only for a few minutes before I get distracted by an out-of-control sixth-grade boy... The power-ballad style of praise and worship is probably my favorite, and last night it was the following words that really caught my attention in just such a song.

"You are more, You are more

Than my words will ever say.

You are Lord, You are Lord

All creation will proclaim!"

Check out this video and listen to the song "Forever Reign" by Hillsong, where those lyrics above come from...

Another one of my favorite lyrics from that song is "You are Light, You are Light, You have covered all my sin." And I like that because (News Flash!!), I've got a lot of sin that needs covering. I mean, don't we all? Can we all just be honest and real about that? But here's the awesome part, we can RUN into His arms, and He will accept and comfort and forgive us. There is literally nothing that can compare to His loving and just embrace. Nothing.

But back to the "proclaiming" part... it is our job as humans to worship and praise His holy name. Because if we don't, the Bible tells us that even the rocks and hills will cry out to magnify Him. Check out this little excerpt from Luke when Jesus was entering Jerusalem (or in church-speak = The Triumphal Entry)...

"As he was drawing near - already on the way down the Mount of Olives - the whole multitude of disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, 'Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!' And some of the pharisees in the crowd said to him, 'Teacher, rebuke your disciples.' He answered, 'I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.' " Luke 19:36-40

So you're telling me that if people weren't worshiping and glorifying our God, that rocks and stones and hills would do it instead? How crazy is that? Does that show you how important worship is? I've heard these verses before, and I understood them then, but today I think my eyes have been opened up just a little bit more, and I've got a new perspective on it now. Isn't it amazing when scripture that we've heard "a million times" stops being just words, and becomes reality? It's amazing how the Holy Spirit works sometimes, huh?

(I hope my thoughts haven't been too jumbled today. It feels like I was a bit all over the place here...)

Blogger Ladies -- Link up with me to share one of your more Thoughtful posts from the last week or so, and again, just put my button on your page or post, and link back to me please... :)

People Need Love

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." --John 13:34-35

We all know about the 10 Commandments, right? They're "simple" things like: honor the Sabbath, don't lie, don't steal, do not commit adultery, do not murder, serve only one God... But when Jesus came, He gave us this new commandment. It wasn't meant to take the place of the original 10, but just an addition to them -- LOVE PEOPLE. 

The "easy" part is though, if we are truly loving people the way we've been commanded to, then all those other 10 commandments are much easier to obey. I mean, if we're truly loving people like Jesus did, then we would never want to break those first 10 Commandments. If I'm loving the people around me, I don't want to lie to them, or steal from them. If I'm loving people like Jesus does, then all those other commandments seem to fall into place much easier. 

"Love God. Love People." is a motto I try to live by. It's certainly not easy. Let's not try to pretend that it is. But it does help keep things in perspective sometimes. But which people are we supposed to love? The Bible tells us to love our neighbors. But who are our neighbors? Everyone. It's the homeless man on the street, the single mother who needs a little help, the elderly man who's lonely, the teenager who just needs a friend, the popular girl who seems like she has a million friends (when maybe she really doesn't...), or the college student who's searching for something more than just a party. Everyone deserves to be loved. Everyone needs love. 

And LOVE is how we as Christians are going to stand apart from everyone else. Because let's face it - loving everyone (the people that are hard to love or seemingly unlovable) is WEIRD. But that's what we've been called to do - love the ones that need it most, because Jesus did the same.

(Hey Bloggy friends! This is now a link-up. My first! So please join in with me and submit your link! Please also put the Thoughtful Thursdays button either on your post or your page, so we can spread the word! Yay!)

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Praiseworthy

Hey guys, guess what? I'm starting a "series." A lot of "popular" bloggers have certain days that they do certain things. One that I follow does "5 Fave Friday," another one that I actually participate in is "Mani Monday." Well, I will be doing my own, and it will be "Thoughtful Thursdays." I don't always post deep, meaningful things, but I want to do it more often. So every Thursday I'll be sharing some scripture and some thoughts that are just a little bit more important than my usual randomness. But really, it's the scripture that's the most important.

Made this simple little deal with PicMonkey, of course :)

So last night in youth Chad brought us another good lesson. This time it was on temptations. Dun, dun dunnn... always such a weighty and difficult topic, but hopefully the kids listened, heard the Holy Spirit within the message, and will be able to apply (or at the very least remember) some of the things we talked about. Temptations are impossible to avoid, just like those trials we face that I talked about last week. Both trials and temptations will always come our way. The tricky part is how we choose to handle those things.

For Christians the topic of "gray areas" is often one that is avoided, because it's just so...well gray. It's too confusing and the lines are usually so blurry. And it gets even more muddled throughout different denominations within Christianity. Here's the thing - it shouldn't be that difficult. A simple scripture will help you determine if a certain situation is appropriate or not...

"Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things." --Philippians 4:8

If anything we do isn't PRAISEWORTHY, then it probably shouldn't be done. Wow. That's a serious claim, right? And let's not pretend that I live like this all the time. Wouldn't it be great if I could say that I only ever do things that bring praise to our Savior?! Well that would definitely be a lie - which wouldn't be praiseworthy.

There are so many times I mess up and sin, and give into temptation, but luckily for me (and ALL of us), we have a loving and merciful Father who will forgive us every single time, if all we do is simply repent and ask. What an amazing thing! So whenever we do give into temptations (because let's face it - we're ugly, sinful humans so it's bound to happen quite regularly), our gracious Lord forgives us.

But in the meantime, committing this scripture to memory, and recalling it in times of temptations and gray areas, may just help us make the right decision, rather than giving into that temptation and sinning.

Short cut to remember this long list -- If it aint praiseworthy, don't do it. Maybe I'll try to make that a motto for myself or something. Or maybe for our whole youth group? I will also be working on memorizing that list though, which will be the second one towards my goal of six before my birthday. Yay scripture verses!

So, what do yall think of my new series, Thoughtful Thursdays?! :)

Edited to add -- this will now be a link-up from now on! Hopefully I'll actually get a few other blogger ladies to join in with me, and make this a regular thing! I'm adding the linky tool to this one, just to see if the code works out...

Producing Perseverance

Last night at youth, our interim youth pastor had some great things to say. I grabbed a 3x5 note card and started scribbling down some notes because I knew not only did I want to remember those things, but I knew I wanted to blog about it.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. --James 1:2-3

Notice first that the verse says WHEN you face trials, not IF. I've said it on here before, but I'll say it again - being a Christian doesn't mean we get a free pass to an easy life. The Bible tells us right here (and other places as well), that we will most certainly face trials. We can't avoid them and not only that, but they'll come in all shapes and sizes, in many kinds and forms.

But we are still to REJOICE!

Why does God test our faith? Why does He allow hard times to happen, and stress to enter our lives? It's because He knows it's going to make us stronger. These trials we face have both an immediate impact on our lives, as well as an eternal impact. They strengthen our faith and our belief and our walk with Him. And they better equip us for sharing that faith with others as well.

And you know what? Jesus himself went through all these tests and trials himself. In Matthew 4, after his own baptism, Jesus went into the desert for 40 days and fasted. At the end of it, Satan came to him and tried to tempt him three separate times. Jesus suffered through trials as well, and it made him stronger too! 

God doesn't test us out of evilness or a desire to see us struggle. But He tests us because He knows the testing will Produce Perseverance. He knows it will make us stronger. He knows sometimes we need to go through the bad stuff, to learn to lean more on Him.

We should rejoice because we have a God who loves us enough to test and strengthen us.

I am not personally going through any hard times or trials, but that doesn't mean they won't come soon. I want and need to remember these things when those trials come. No matter how low and rough it may seem, God is with me every step of the way, strengthening and encouraging me. And He will do the same for you as well!

In the midst of trials, suffering, persecution, tests and just really hard days - REJOICE! - because the strength of the Lord is on it's way...

Image found here.