We Are Full of Beauty

that moment.

when the clock slows to fast forward.

to wrap us up in a memory that holds the sunrise of hope.

love.peace.comfort.overflowing.

into home.

being.simply being.

you.me.

being able to let all the masks fall off.

to fall asleep.

fully present. in beauty.

full of beauty.

*This is my response to the challenge presented by Sarah: “Write a blog post about beauty. Your thoughts, your pain, your triumphs. It can be outer beauty, inner beauty, what you hate, what you love. Anything. Be creative. It can even be a single photo.”

**That right there. written above. that’s when I feel beautiful and fully me. nothing held back.and even though it’s few and far between my heart so wants to feel and find that “fall asleep home” that fully comes from God more often. because in Him is where I am full of beauty.

***So, what about you? What are your thoughts about beauty?

Up, Up and Away

The lovelies at (in)Courage prompted a challenge to find a coloring book page and explain why you chose it…here goes:

I’m all about “happy” and in terms of coloring that means lots of bright colors so when I saw this picture I got excited.  More than that, the page speaks right to where my heart is at.  See, I’m on this journey with God where I’m finding joy and letting Him do some deep heart work to break those ties that hold me to the ground.  He wants to take me to places that I can’t get to alone or would even choose.  Up, Up and Away to beyond all that I can ask or imagine because He is working ALL things out for good 🙂

What would YOU color??

Quotes that go along with this:

“Life is a work of art. You have to keep mixing the colors, creating new blends,and seeing things in fresh ways. You must be willing to get paint all over you.” -Erwin McManus

“God wants to take us to places we can’t get to by ourselves, but we will never get there if we hold onto where we are.”

“I would have never chosen that place to go…”

“It had opened her eyes to the fact that right down in the depths of her own heart she really had but one passionate desire, not for the things which the Shepherd had promised but for himself.  All she wanted was to be allowed to follow him forever. “Nothing else really matters only to love him and to do what he tells me.” -Hinds Feet in High Places

Multitude Monday

I am really starting to look forward to this post every week! I find myself reflecting on the day with such joy in the simple, little things.  Seeking out the little and BIG ways that God shows up in my life helps me keep my eyes on Him rather than getting distracted or letting the day go by unnoticed.  Without further ado, here is a glimpse into last week:

280. Listening to a song on repeat

282. Comment love

290. Long-term sub position!!!

301. Tokbox chatting with interns 🙂

319. The feeling after I’ve cleaned out my inbox

326. Sentences that challenge

336. Learning to trust God more

How was your week? Any big or little moments of joy that caught your eye?

 

God-Sized Dreaming

This little journey all started with this post:

“Because with God, dreaming is different. It’s not pie-in-the-sky, pony-for-Christmas, be-a-princess-when-I-grow-up dreaming.

No, dreaming with Him is very much about reality.

All things are possible with God. Mark 10:27″

and then continued with this challenge:

“Because as I consider the story of our lives, here’s what I’ve come to believe…

Jesus is the author (Hebrews 12:2) but He has given each of us a pen.”

So…I’m forging ahead and discovering some of the God-sized dreams God wants me to step out into and to just dream with Him.  Want to join? I’d love to hear your story and what God reveals to you through this!

Welcome to Africa, love

Snowflakes dust the deck

Welcome to Africa, love

Summer is winter

*(In)Courage challenge to soar and create beauty: Write a haiku. Head over there and join in on the fun!

A New Adventure: Full and Alive

Monday:

7:23 a.m. A call from an 800 number wakes me up and I get to talk to an automated machine. (Yeah…okay, I sleep in sometimes. The sun doesn’t wake me up here 😦

Wednesday:

5:47a.m. Woken up again…

Thursday:

5:01 a.m. Really? Again?

—–

So, what is this silly 800 number saying to me each morning? Well, there’s the fun part.  The machine styled voice tells me that I have an opportunity to be a substitute in one of the schools in my district. Yep! So, I accept and go. Being new to this whole thing, I arrive with no idea what the day will hold.  For this planning type girl, this could be stressful, but no…I LOVE learning and I LOVE kids, which makes for lovely days. I’m discovering I love not knowing what’s coming next, being absolutely flexible, the constant change, the challenges, the leaning on Him, seeking joy in the little things and the sense of accomplishment in terms of making it through the day!  I leave the building at the end of day….full…alive.

plus…I get to wear cute scarves!

Saying No to say Yes

Truth is…I don’t like saying no to people…

I don’t like not being able to do certain things…

I don’t like knowing that because I struggle…because my flesh likes to take over…

that to walk as He calls me to… I must say no in order to say YES to God

Because, for me, the bigger truth is…I want to say YES to God way more than I want to say yes to people.

I don’t want to let a seemingly “little” yes get in the way…

That’s how it starts…the little yes to the flesh leading to a bigger yes leading to finding myself in a hole…

But, see, I am OUT of that hole.  And I am staying OUT.

The old is GONE. FOREVER.

Oh, but I won’t be naive in knowing that I can choose to crawl right back into that hole so instead I fix my eyes on Jesus and hear…

God saying, “What are you talking about?” because my SIN, my UGLY, is forgiven…is as far as the east is from the west and…

He made me a new creation…with a new heart…

A heart that is saying a big resounding YES to God

A heart that is being guarded from that hole by my Protector, my Provider

and Oh, I must have more of Him

So, I press on to know Him.

To know His voice and to follow Him…

To His immeasurably more than all that I can ask or imagine.

And, yeah…it might probably will look different than my little head imagines

Yeah…that might hurt…that might ache…that might cause some tears to fall…

But I know that He’s working ALL my things together for good.

I believe and stand on the promise that He will come through.

That He has made everything beautiful in its time.

Because you know what, He lets me know, “My delight is in you”

So, I’ve laid down my UGLY at the altar.

He’s calling for a living sacrifice.

A sacrifice…that costs but reminds me…

Jesus is better.

Yeah. I confess…I desire to be married.

Yeah, I confess that that desire in my own hands instead of His lead me to my hole…

to my sin, to my UGLY

So, He’s called me to lay that desire down on the altar as a living sacrifice

and for this next season I will heed His call and stay single by saying no…

So, I stand still and w…a…i…t… to see what He will do

Because the attention I get from Almighty Jesus is better and I’m going to…

run to Him.

run to Him.

run to Him.

And keep saying no…so that I can say YES to Him.

Creativity

Check this out!  I love the concept of taking something that you’re not good at or a rookie at and giving it a shot.  The whole idea behind being creative takes you out of your comfort zone and puts you into a challenging, thought-provoking, out of the box, dynamic situation in which you can utilize your gifts and talents in a unique, powerful way.  For me, I already have an “assignment” waiting for me.  Last week, I bought some paints since Kelly, my lovely intern director, gave me a canvas she hadn’t used.  I am definitely a rookie with painting, but already have a few dabbling thoughts for what to paint.  What about you? What area can you expand your creative thinking?

Ambitious and Driven

Ha, so I love taking random little quizzes and things of the like when I see ones that are semi-interesting on Facebook.  I thought this was interesting about my apparently “perfect” match:

Your perfect match is someone who values success, is a natural born leader and constantly works hard to improve themselves and their life. They will deeply appreciate your ability to make them feel special. This type of person loves admiration and your giving, loving and wonderfully kind nature will make you their perfect mate. Your match also enjoys biking, hiking, working out and eating healthy–taking care of their body is a priority to them and they always look their best.This person will always protect you and keep your best interests at heart– they really want to go the extra mile to make you happy. The top traits they are looking for in a mate is loyalty and trustworthiness.They love a good challenge and are visionaries. This can hinder them when falling in love because they are very driven to find “the one” and won’t settle for less. However, once they fall in love with you, they will be very affectionate and are enthusiastic about the relationship.

50,000 in 50

The idea is simple.  Mobilize the blogging, facebooking, and twittering networks to spread the word about this Nashville based organization:

“Nashville-based Soles4Souls facilitates the donations of both new and used
shoes, which are used to aid the hurting worldwide. Since its inception,
Soles4Souls has distributed more than 3.3 million pairs (or one pair every
23 seconds) to people in more than 60 countries.  The charity has been
featured on CNN Headline News, NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, ABC
News, FOX, CBS, and hundreds of regional outlets around North America.
Soles4Souls is a 501(c)(3).”

THE CHALLENGE: 50,000 pairs of shoes donated in 50 days!  For every $5 donated, two pairs of shoes will be bought.

THE BONUS: After 50,000 pairs have been donated, one person (with a guest of their choosing) will be selected at random to deliver the shoes they purchased to someone in need on one of Soles4Souls trips to Mexico!

WHAT NEXT: Go HERE to donate and learn more about the challenge!