Sunshine and summer days...

             ...Or at least sunshine and winter days....

It only seems appropriate to post a picture of summertime, on this oh so sunny day in February! Yes, it is a bit chilly, but just the sight of the sun streaming in through the windows is enough to make this girl smile and dream of summer days gone by! Can't believe that this coming summer, the GOOD lookin' man standing next to me in this picture, will be my HUSBAND!!!!!!!!! WOW, one BLESSED girl!

HAPPY SUNSHINE everyone!

Sugar, Spice, and everything Nice

Doesn't get much better than this! Today is just "One of those Days" where we needed to find something fun to do, while being cooped up inside. I figured with the little "lady bug" on the right, that PINK cupcakes were just the thing we needed.

I LOVE my job! I am SO grateful for the opportunity to spend quality time with these little blessings every week! Wouldn't trade their snuggles, giggles, or smiles for anything!


Enjoy the Beautiful Snow! In the words of Emme, "Thank you for the snow Jesus, we LOVE to play in it!"

Upside-down Toast

It is days like today, when the weather is on the dreary side, temperatures are dropping and it's the beginning of a long week; that I need to keep my focus upward. It is WAY too easy for me to find MANY things to complain about, and FEW things to be grateful for....

Even as I sit here, typing those words I find myself asking...why? Why is it so easy for my thought life to convert so rapidly to flaws? Why is it so effortless for me to forget how blessed I am, why is it so convenient for me to let bad habits creep into my life, and what makes me think that all these thoughts are perfectly normal and justifiable?

The only answer with reason that I can come up with, is that I am a sinner. Don't get me wrong, I am NOT saying that an attitude of complaint is the right thing to have. In-fact, I am saying it is wrong! VERY wrong! Even with the religious knowledge I have known from childhood, and the undeserved gift of salvation I have accepted and committed my life to; at the end and beginning of every day, I am still JUST a SINNER....desperately in need of God's grace.

Is it easy to have wrong thoughts, because I am living in a world packed full of wrong thinking?
Someone once told me that Christ-like thinking is like an upside-down piece of toast. When you think about it for a moment, it really does make sense...I PROMISE:)

Toast just shouldn't be jelly-side down...right? It looks weird, makes things more complicated, and is completely opposite of how we know toast should be served. If you ordered toast in a restaurant, and the waiter/waitress served it to you "upside-down" with the jelly smeared all over the plate, more than likely you would send them back to the kitchen with your food requesting your toast jelly-side up. In the same way, when the "world" sees some one with Christ as their focus, they think..." this just shouldn't be, they make issues more complicated, they look weird...."  (John 16:33).

All this to say, I am grateful for today, even if it isn't the ideal day I had in mind.

I am blessed just to breathe.

Here's to a day of becoming a little bit more like upside-down toast...

Embracing the Chaos

Ahh....A brand new clean slate! The starkness is almost overwhelming, but then again extremely refreshing!

I have been dreaming of beginning my own blog for quite some time now, but I never really knew where to begin. I suppose I still have those "new kid on the block" jitters. But if I don't start now, I am afraid I never will.
Recently my life has felt a bit like.... chaos. Which is hard for this overly-organized chic to admit!

Let me explain...

Just a little over a month ago, the love of my life got down on one knee and asked me to spend forever with him. (still gives me goosebumps!) These really and truly are such happy times! But even before the engagement, I started to feel.... well...sort of like a.... nomad. Yes, I said it, a NOMAD! (def.: any wanderer; itinerant.)

With wedding plans and ideas spinning in my head like a treadmill on speed 10 running 24/7, constantly dashing in and out of my parents house going from one thing to the next, trying to nurture and grow my relationship with my Lord, my fiancé and my family; life has quickly become extremely chaotic, many times leaving me feeling scatter-brained, worn out and weary.

I don't know if I am the only one on this planet who has felt this way before, but I just don't feel like I "belong" anywhere. Don't get me wrong, I have a wonderful family and parents who have loved and continue to love me unconditionally.....so why do I feel SO ready to move on and create my very own space to call my own??? (When I say it out loud, it sounds rather selfish....ok, VERY selfish!)

I have the type of personality which SCREAMS for order. If things start to pile up, I have the urgency to tear them down and clean up shop ASAP or even sooner! You get my point, clutter and chaos simply aren't in my vocabulary, or at least that is what I tell myself. That right there, the "telling myself" is where I get into trouble. 

Instead of listening to my own unfiltered thoughts, I need to preach to myself the truths of scripture, meditate on them, and change more course of action....easier said than done! So, as my life is changing and my small little room begins to close in on me, I need to take a deep breath, praise the Lord for the things I have and the family he has blessed me with, and decide to "embrace the chaos." For this too shall pass.

I don't want to look back on this time, the ONLY time in my life when I will be engaged, and shutter at how miserable I made myself by wishing everyday away. One thing I know from past experience is that joy, is not based on circumstance but on how you react towards your circumstances (James 1:2).

Taking a deep breath, keeping the WORD close to my heart, and ready to begin a new day!