Temporary Home.

Grab a Kleenex, and check out this video by Carrie Underwood.  SO good!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LraOiHUltak

Home Again.

Headed home tomorrow.  Very excited to see all of my family.   Despite the circumstances, I am looking forward to this.

Everlasting Life.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." --Matthew 5:4


My grandma passed away; it was a blessing, considering how much pain she was in and that fact that she didn't know who anyone was.  But is still doesn't diminish the sting of death.  However, its a relief to know that she is with the Lord, perfectly restored, dancing in the streets of Heaven, surrounded by the love of the King.  It puts a smile on my face and a comfort in my heart knowing that she is living in Everlasting Life; forever. 

Spring.

Just spent a beautiful afternoon taking a walk with a dear friend.  The weather today was gorgeous; and the company was even better.  It was great to take in this amazing weather and just spend some quality time catching up.  I am SO excited for Spring and everything that entails.  Flowers. Fresh cut grass. Sunshine.  Long walks.  Picnics. Thunderstorms.   Very much looking forward to what this Spring will bring : )

A Quick Trip Home.

I made a quick trip home.  It was really nice to be there; very relaxing.  It was very needed after the Friday that I had.  It's amazing how therapeutic a trip home can be.  I should consider going more often.

Frustration.

Today was an extremely frustrating day for me.  There are different variables that contributed to make this a frustrating day; just know that my attitude did NOT help my day get any better.  To be frank, it stunk, just about as bad as Presley's breath.  I have come to realize that I need a lot of help in this area.  I have a lot of things to be thankful for; I should be thinking about my blessings.


"Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes."  --Ephesians 4:23 

Best Friend.

When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand.  The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares.  ~Henri Nouwen


So excited to spend an evening with my best friend at the Matt Wertz concert.  We have a lot to catch up on; this is a long overdue reunion.

Sleep.

I get to sleep in tomorrow!!  Oh, the small things : )

Peace.

I am seeking for peace.  A peace will consume me and rule in my life.  I know that the Lord has great plans for my life; it just all seems so scary at times.  It's scary to know that I have no control; that I am not the one that decides what happens in my life; that I am not the one that reigns.  But in way, it is comforting.  Knowing that I am the one that does not have control, but filled with the knowledge that the One does have control.  It's really a weird emotion that I am feeling.  My heart is joyful that I will continued to be sustained with this peace and that it will get me through tomorrow.  And the next day.  And the next.

Home.

Back home.  Mixed emotions.  Apprehension.  Relief.  Fear.  Concern.  Worry.  Peace.  Happiness.  Joy.  Bittersweet.     

Zoo.

I am going to the zoo today.  Check that one off my list : )  More to come soon....

For Emily.

Are ya happy??  I blogged : )

March Madness.

I love all of this madness.  March Madness, that is!!

lllloooonnnngggg day.

Today was a long day.  And this is what I felt like like. A beached whale.  I'm ready for Thursday.

Missing You.

I miss my someone special.  A lot.  

Worry.

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?"

--Matthew 6:25-27

I had an overwhelming feeling in my heart today, as there seems to be areas in my life that seems really uncertain.  Areas that are causing worry and are unsettling to me.  I needed to know that God had not forgotten me, and He is in control, even when things feel out of control.  I looked this verse up and what a sweet relief :)  My King cares for the birds, why would He forget about his beloved daughter??  He would not, does not, and will NEVER forget to take care of me.  I had peace flood through my heart after reading this.  He grabbed my hand through this verse and gently reminded me that He is in control and to cast all of my burdens on Him.  Simply beautiful.  

GRACE.

The last 2 months at church, the sermon has been about GRACE.  Our pastor has done a great job of drilling into our brains, almost to the point of it being the only thing I can think about, what GRACE means.  So, let me fill you with the knowledge of what I have had the pleasure of learning. 
G=God's gift to me (Romans 3:24)
R=Received by faith (Ephesians 2:8-9)
A=Available to everyone (Romans 10:13)
C=Comes through Christ (John 1:17)
E=Extended through eternity (Romans 6:23)
I challenge you, dear friends, to look up those verses.  And I also challenge you to extend GRACE to everyone around you.  You have a great opportunity to be the face of Jesus to someone who might otherwise be over looked.  To someone who might not feel loved.  To someone who is desperate for our God that won't judge them.  Maybe that someone is you.  I know there have been many times when that someone was me.  GRACE is a beautiful thing.  It steps in when the world is stepping out.  It gives you a hand to hold when you can't stand on your own.  It offers you love when you don't deserve it.  Be a living example of GRACE. :)

Abandoning My Own.

This weekend has been many things. Exciting. Fun. Tiresome. Loving. A relief. Reassuring. Real. It was exactly what I needed.  It has only solidified the fact that God knows me and searches me, loves me, and longs to give me the desires of heart.  It continues to amaze me that He knows what I want, need, desire, and has given me SO much more than I could of picked out, hoped for, searched for, and longed for if I was trying to do this with my own strength.  He loves this broken and flawed daughter of a King with a love that is not adequate for words, nor able to measured against.  He has given me more, so much more, than this heart could of possibly imagined.  He has given me a blessing that might have been over looked if I was searching with my own eyes.  He has given me a sense of love that might of been lost if I was not trusting the One.  He loves me so much that He is teaching me to trust, love, and believe in His plan; and abandoning my own.  

Tired.

More to come tomorrow.  I'm tired.  Until then, just know that I'm extremely happy :)

Learning New Things.

I learned to play Yahtzee tonight.  I like learning new things :)

A Gift From God.

I can't wait until tomorrow :)  Something good is coming my way.  It is nothing that I deserve; or can even fathom why I am so blessed.  All I know is that it is a gift from God.  

Great Power and Mighty Strength.

My heart hurts for a situation that I have no control over.  But it affects me in a lot of ways.  I am trying to remember just how big my God is; trying to remember that He is the one in control; trying to remember that He has moved mountains, and He would do it again for me.  And for you.  

Lift your eyes and look to the heavens:

Who created all these? 

He who brings out the starry host one by one, 

and calls them each by name. 

Because of his great power and mighty strength, 

not one of them is missing.

Isaiah 40:26

A Good Workout.

I can't think of much else that can make me feel like a good workout does.  :)

Isaiah 43:25

This was such a beautiful reminder to me:


"I—yes, I alone—will blot out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again." --Isaiah 43:25

Converstaions.

Today was full of wonderful, insightful conversations with some very lovely people. They were full of gabbing about God, love, and the future.  There is nothing better than having a conversation and leaving, knowing that you feel hopeful, inspired, and better about yourself because of what the other person just shared.  I walked away from each conversation today feeling exactly that. :)

Family.

The family. We were a strange little band of characters trudging through life sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one another's desserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing money, locking each other out of our rooms, inflicting pain and kissing to heal it in the same instant, loving, laughing, defending, and trying to figure out the common thread that bound us all together.
-- Erma Bombeck

What is more important to you than God??

At my woman's Bible study this evening, this question was posed: "What is more important to you than God?  What is something, that if God took it away from you, that you don't think you could get over or forgive Him for?"  As this question was being asked, I was completely taken aback.  I had never really thought about it before.  There are certain things that would be really hard for me to give up; my dog being a very good example.  But what is the one thing in my life that is more important to me than God?  And why?  I am called to love my God with complete abandonment, but how often does that really happen?  How often am I really pouring myself, all of me, into the God that loves me so much?  All those questions make me really uncomfortable because I know my shortcomings and the struggles I face.  I use those, all too often, as a way to keep from giving my everything to my King.  I don't want to live that way; instead I want to live with abandonment and without reservation to love the Creator with all my heart; not putting my family, friends, or even my dog first.  I want to know, that if asked by the One, that I could walk away, not without great, great sadness, and reach out my hand to Him so He can lead me towards Beautiful.  


So my question for you, my friends, is, "What is more important to you than God?  What things in your life do you need to give to God?"  Remember what a mighty God we serve.  :)

Rock Chalk Jayhawks.

I love me some Jayhawks :)

Romance.

I am in a small group that meets every Tuesday.  Currently we are reading the book "Captivating" by John and Stasi Eldredge.  Tonight's topic was about romance.  Many times we think of romance being between two people in love, a husband and wife.  The book made some very valid points about how we are romanced by God.  He wants to chase after us, and call us His own.  He is jealous for a relationship with us, an intimate relationship.  One of the questions posed tonight was, "How does God romance you?"  Many of the answers were, "through nature, the sunset/sunrise, the stars."  And good answers they were because I KNOW that God uses many of those things to win me over.  But I also think that God uses normal, everyday people to romance us.  He uses them to show us things about ourself that we would not of discovered has we not meet them.  Many times I think that they only way God can get through to us is through our interactions with those around us. We all go through seasons when we struggle, or may not feel up to par.  I have been in a season for awhile now where I struggle to see myself through God's eyes.  I long to see myself as He does: beautiful. worthy. beautiful. forgiven. beautiful. unique. beautiful. loved. beautiful.  Both inside and out.  Lately, I have never felt more beautiful and wanted by the Creator of the universe.  The only way He could reach me was through another person believing that I am beautiful.  I have learned that God will continue to seek me, love me, and stop at no cost to get His point across.  He will even send a much needed, undeserved blessing to demonstrate His love for me.  

How is God romancing you??

Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing

I keep thinking about a hymn that we sang in church on Sunday.  It is very rare that you mind me humming a hymn while doing the dishes, or driving to work, but this has been stuck in my head.  The words are so powerful and true.  It incredible that a song can be penned in 1757 and still ring true in my life today.  God is the same today, yesterday, and tomorrow.  Below are the lyrics to verse 3 and 4.

Jesus sought me when a stranger,

Wandering from the fold of God;

He, to rescue me from danger,

Interposed His precious blood;

How His kindness yet pursues me

Mortal tongue can never tell,

Clothed in flesh, till death shall loose me

I cannot proclaim it well.

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

I think about how many times my heart wants to wander from the God I love.  Why would I ever want to leave my King?  He is the fount of every blessing.  Here's my heart; take and seal it.