thankfulness.

.thankful that I live in a country of freedom and that I am blessed with the opportunity to let my voice be heard. 

.thankful for the roof over my head, the warm cozy bed I get to rest my head upon every night. 

.thankful for beautiful fall Iowa days.

.thankful for my health.

.thankful for the cross and the life I have been given because someone else laid down there life for me.

Thank You Jesus. I am so unworthy.

whats your story?

Every single person on this earth has a story. A very unique story. Its unlike anyone else's story. It may be filled with deep pain, rejection, loneliness, fear and a whole mess of other things. When you start to look at people and wonder just what there story is, you suddenly find yourself taking on a whole new appreciation and even sympathy  for that person. A new level of trust and respect is gained when you take the time to listen to their story.

When was the last time you took the time to listen to someones else's story?

When was the last time you told your story?

Do I trust..

• Do I trust that he has ordained my days? (Psalm 139: 5, 6, 16)
• Do I trust that he supplies all I need? (Matthew 6:32)
• Do I trust that never will he leave me or forsake me? (Joshua 1:5)
• Do I trust that who I am in Christ defines me? (Colossians 2:10)

I told him everything..

how i feel like I've lost sight of my dreams. 

how vulnerable I feel. 

how lost, needy, confused, alone and weak I feel... 

and just how weary I am of the never ending battles that I seem to face every day. 

nothing really changed after my heart to heart with God...except that I feel HOPE again.

and it just feels good to be honest.

My eyes are dry
My faith is old
My heart is hard
My prayers are cold
And I know how I ought to be
Alive to You and dead to me
But what can be done
For an old heart like mine
Soften it up
With oil and wine
The oil is You, Your Spirit of love
Please wash me anew
With the wine of Your Blood

the power of a good book.

happiness.

Gary Gilmore an American criminal and murderer, moments before he was executed by a firing squad at Utah State Prison, was asked if he had any final words and he simply replied with "Lets do it".

Three simple words..but yet so much power being in those words.

 I really like this song alot. I think its the cry of every womens heart.

Lead Me.

Today was just one of those days. My emotions are all over the charts these days. One minute I am on top the world happy and the next I am in some dark hole somewhere in the middle of no where. Yeah. Only a women can be that out of control with her emotions. I have some good reasons for some of these out of control emotions. It feels like I am standing on the edge of a cliff right now and I am almost ready to jump into the massive unknown. It excites me beyond words, but also scares me beyond words. Hence the crazy rush of emotion.

I am in the mood to organized. My life of late has been anything but organized. I've been living out of suitcase for the last two and half months and now that I am back at my parents I am ready to get some routine back into my life and catch up a little. So today I tore apart my whole closet and went to work. I have 3 bags of clothes that are headed out the door, along with just a whole lot other junk. I realized thee other day that I am a little pack rat. I save everything.. cards, notes, letters, pictures, school projects. But the thought of parting with any of these things make me so very sad. So instead of the shoe box's that all of these items are currently in, I think I am going to get some kind of plastic tote and get everything organized. I hate the thought of scrapbooking, so I guess the tote thing is going to have to do for now.

The next big project I want to attack is all my photographs. I never print pictures anymore and so I think I am going to just design albums from different seasons in my life and trips I've taken. It just takes time to make that happen. I've also been thinking about doing a book from all my old blog posts.   So much to do..so little time.

selfless.

Envision with me for one moment what the world would look like if...

.husbands cared more about their wives..
.wife's cared more about honoring and respecting their husbands.
.the church spend more time serving brothers and sisters in need.

Wouldn't this change, marriages, families, church's, the places and we live and work in daily if we cared more about serving and putting the needs of others first.

I cant help but come to the conclusion that the reason marriages are falling apart, families are in shambles, Church's are in disarray is because of selfishness.

The life of Jesus is the perfect example of selfless living.

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses,
so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake,
I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.
For when I am weak, then I am strong.  2 Corinthians 12:9-10 

 

Nothing rocks my world more then when I hear God speaking to me about something in my life or encouragement when I am struggling. Over the last few days as I've spent quite a bunch of time in bed, there have been so many things that God has been speaking and it just totally makes me come alive. And nothing beats the feeling of feeling totally alive.

and i am back.

           coming home has been much harder then I ever expected..  it was nothing short of amazing.

and i am off.

and I am about to embark on a once in a lifetime adventure. asia here i come! please pray for me and the rest of my group. epic adventures are going down!


'the lord is on my side, i will not fear. what can man do to me? psalm 118:6'

. today.

.... I'll start living the life I've imagined.
I'll remind myself to worry less and enjoy more
I will add something beautiful to the world.
I will have a new adventure.
I will fall in love all over again with Jesus.
I will remind myself again and again how blessed my life is....

why.

that three letter word just keeps floating around in my head tonight, leaving me feeling more confused and annoyed with each passing moment. there must be a reason, i just cant see it right now.

tomarrow is friday. woot! i have exciting plans for the weekend!

sunset.

                              iowa sunset on a lovely sping night. 

my mailbox...

brought me some lovely things today. a new lens and a delightful magazine..

 of all the photo's i've taken in the last few years i believe this may come in as one of my top favorites.

so finally.

Finally. I am cool. I have a blog. Its been a work in progress for a very long time and I am finally getting around to blogging. Its been a personal goal for quite some time to force myself to write more about life and all of its crazyness. I am not a writer by nature, but I believe its a skill I should work on developing. 

Mad props to the lovely Alyssa y. for the photos and Abigail p. for designing the header. 

So cheer's to a brand new blog!