{just.breathe}

{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 ::
sometimes it pays to just stop and breathe.

when life seems to be a little rough, maybe overwhelming, remember this.

 

one thing that yoga teaches me is that your breath is an amazingly powerful tool.  breath can calm us, center us, stretch us.  last saturday i had the joy of taking an in store "boga" class taught by my friend katie of Kadi Fit at our local lululemon and she encouraged us in our breath, that

"sometimes in life, it just takes another breath 

to push us to where we thought we could never go"... 

so take a minute to breathe in life today!  

to remember what a majestic creation you are and remember...

 

{happy.breathing}

aw

(all images via pinterest)

{life}

{via kadi fit}

{i was made to live, i was made to love, i was made to know you}

these words are speaking so deeply to my soul this morning.  

the words of c.s lewis from mere christianity, put so beautifully to song by brooke fraser, and then they showed up on pinterest this morning on this beautiful piece of design by baylee heart.

my heart not only connect so deeply to these words, but when they come alive through music and beautiful design, my soul connects in a way that words cannot describe.  

the Lord meets me there.  

i have seen His face.  

the face of Love.  

the face of Hope.  

for THAT i am beyond grateful.

{C.S. Lewis Song}

if i find in myself desires nothing in this world can satisfy,
  i can only conclude that i was not made for here
if the flesh that i fight is at best only light and momentary,
then of course i'll feel nude when to where i'm destined i'm compared

{chorus}
speak to me in the light of the dawn
mercy comes with the morning
  i will sigh and with all creation groan as i wait for hope to come for me

am i lost or just less found? on the straight or on the roundabout of the wrong way?
is this a soul that stirs in me, is it breaking free, wanting to come alive?
cos my comfort would prefer for me to be numb
and avoid the impending birth of who i was born to become

{chorus}

speak to me in the light of the dawn
mercy comes with the morning
  i will sigh and with all creation groan as i wait for hope to come for me

{bridge}
for we, we are not long here
our time is but a breath, so we better breathe it
and i, i was made to live, i was made to love, i was made to know You
Hope is coming for me
Hope, He's coming...

{pure joy}

{let everything that has breath praise the Lord}

psalm 150:6

i'm not sure how to put the last 2 weeks of life into proper words. pure joy. unexpected new chapters.  hearing the tenderness of the holy spirit lead and being obedient. restored old chapters. blessings. travel plans out west for an epic trip of a lifetime. friendships deepening and flourishing. travel plans to haiti.  what a blessing of a season. God is knocking my socks off with the depths of His love in the best way possible.  i'm doing my best to relish in the gratitude of every small thing and very excited where this season of life is heading...

these images from pinterest put it the best way possible. 

good words. beautiful color. my heart and soul drawn out.

 

{let everything that has breath praise the Lord}

psalm 150:6 

aw

{a.beautiful.struggle}

 

and i feel like i'm currently in a thick season of it...

{aw}

{DIY :: repurposing.frames :: inspiration.chalkboard.frame}

i'm a sucker for a good frame "repurposing."  especially when they move from one of my closet floors to actually being used.  ahem...  moving forward.  i have a couple "repurposing" projects to show you today. 
project#1
first up is a little photo that's been hanging in my room that i just don't love anymore.  i bought this at target about 5 years ago and it's nice, but i wanted to change it up.  how nice of target to sell this where it's totally closed off (insert sarcasm) ...enter the handy dandy exacto knife. 

  anyone else remember exacto knifes from "technology" class in middle school??  i do.  i was that crazy kid that wanted to cut perfect straight lines in everything.  ok.  back to the point here...i was determined to use that frame because it was the perfect size for this...

  after cutting off the backing to the target frame and digging out the picture that was in there (wasn't as easy as i thought, but i DID IT!) ... this is the newest addition to my bedroom.  i love the pop of color it brings to gray walls.

katie daisy prints make my house so beautiful!

project#2

last week i found an awesome frame at goodwill for $4.99 that i knew would be perfect for finally making a project that my friend mary austin recommended to me after i tweeted that i could hang quotes in every inch of my house.  she recommended a chalkboard for changing out inspiring verses and quotes.  done.  well fast forward a few months and then it's "done." so here it it goes... a little DIY.  are you ready for this goodness?  well the AFTER is goodness, the BEFORE is straight up hideous...

here's what i needed for my inspiration chalkboard frame.  spray paint color of your choice.  not sure if this is even the appropriate type of spray paint, but it was the only one wal-mart had in the color i wanted, so i made it work. cost $3.77  the dry non-sanded grout i found at my local hardware store for $2.59.  this stuff will last forever. the paint is from wallyworld as well $2.47... we're going for a total cost of about $14 bucks folks.  that's not too shabby.  chalkboard paint alone can be that much.  plus making it this way you can actually make it any color you want AND make as much as you want.

here's our BEFORE frame after i took out the "lovely" picture.

throw on a few coats of turquoise goodness and booyah! 
it already looks SO much better.

back inside while i let that dry, i poured about 1.5 tsp of the grout into a cup and added about 1/4 cup of black paint.  i used a sponge paint brush to paint on the chalkboard paint.

time to say goodbye to this and HELLO to a brand new chalkboard.

 once i finished painting 3 coats on that one i realized i had a lot of chalkboard paint left.  insert stack of frames on my coat closet floor.  awww... how cute was my sister and how LONG was her hair?!?.  sorry sister... i'm not hanging you in my house, but thanks mom and dad for the frame!

so i threw some spray paint on that one too and painted the cardboard backing that was behind my sister's picture with the chalkboard paint.  once the chalkboard paint dried on both, i "primed" them by covering the whole board in chalk then washing them off.  honestly i don't think this step is necessary at all, but oh well...

and there you have it folks, not one, but TWO chalkboard inspiration frames for mi casa.  i'm in love with them. 

{happy.DIYing}

aw

{live.your.life.on.purpose}

really thinking on this today...

via sarah jane

{keep.on.hoping... yes.i.will}

::but i will hope continually
and will praise You yet more and more::

 psalm 71:14 esv

digging into my hope in Him

hope in the "impossible."

all things are possible though Him.

tis a rough... yet sweet, sweet season i'm in right now.

leaning into the One who knows me best.

i will rest in my weakness knowing that He is strong.

oh how HE loves me so.

this devotional was in my "streams in the desert" devotional 

by l b cowman and it was spot on what i needed to hear. 

Waiting For Hope

“For we through the Spirit by faith wait for the hope of righteousness” (Gal. 5:5, RV).

There are times when things look very dark to me–so dark that I have to wait even for hope. It is bad enough to wait in hope. A long-deferred fulfilment carries its own pain, but to wait for hope, to see no glimmer of a prospect and yet refuse to despair; to have nothing but night before the casement and yet to keep the casement open for possible stars; to have a vacant place in my heart and yet to allow that place to be filled by no inferior presence–that is the grandest patience in the universe. It is Job in the tempest; it is Abraham on the road to Moriah; it is Moses in the desert of Midian; it is the Son of man in the Garden of Gethsemane.

There is no patience so hard as that which endures, “as seeing him who is invisible”; it is the waiting for hope.

Thou hast made waiting beautiful; Thou has made patience divine. Thou hast taught us that the Father’s will may be received just because it is His will. Thou hast revealed to us that a soul may see nothing but sorrow in the cup and yet may refuse to let it go, convinced that the eye of the Father sees further than its own.

Give me this Divine power of Thine, the power of Gethsemane. Give me the power to wait for hope itself, to look out from the casement where there are no stars. Give me the power, when the very joy that was set before me is gone, to stand unconquered amid the night, and say, “To the eye of my Father it is perhaps shining still.” I shall reach the climax of strength when I have learned to wait for hope. –George Matheson

Strive to be one of those–so few–who walk the earth with ever-present consciousness–all mornings, middays, star-times–that the unknown which men call Heaven is “close behind the visible scene of things.” 

{keep.on.hoping}

aw

{light lovers :: root sharers}

i love this quote from max lucado.  i blogged it a while back, 

but yesterday decided to make a little graphic of it.

{creativity :: finishing as an art}

"i think half the battle of a creator is in finishing their projects. i wonder how many of the worlds greatest creators never created anything great, because while they may have had the intelligence and even the skill, they weren’t finishers. finishing is part of the art." :: donald miller

i've had a burst of creativity over the last few weeks.  i've felt inspired and it's felt really good.  i've felt the need to create... to make something with my hands.  yet i find myself beginning and then being stuck.  the ideas swarm and swirl in my head and i get started and then get about half finished and my mind has wandered to the next thing...

all of my life i've had trouble nailing down those last details and finishing. it's a great effort for me.  i tend to make excuses and blame it on lack of time, other activities, etc, but it's almost as if my interest dwindles and i am not fully satisfied with what i'm creating...  or i like to blame it on my non-existent ADD.  does anyone else suffer this problem?  well obviously donald miller has and after reading his blog post a few weeks ago i was very happy to know that as a creative, i was not alone.

i long though in my heart of hearts to finish my art and finish well.  to follow through with my projects, and as donald miller said in the quote i first listed, "finishing is part of the art."  i want my creations to be a complete work of art... not half finished.  reminds sort of how God must feel about us as His creations.  i definitely know that He doesn't have a problem finishing his art, but I wonder if he longs for us not to remain half finished, but ultimately for us to become the finished work He's started.  finishing is part of the art.  i would have to say that this is a lifelong process, but a beautiful creative process at that.  always changing, always growing.  a beautiful ebb and flow that gradually moves progressively towards the flow.  the sweet spot of this life we've been given.

i will be finishing these projects and for that goal i am very excited.  as soon as they're finished i will post my final projects here.

{happy.thursday.friends}

aw

{5K... here i come!}

well it's true... i've been conned into running my first 5K by my loving friends.

...and honestly i never thought i'd say this, but i'm SO pumped!!

after the initial shock of the email blast that came out advising us that we didn't have a choice on running and that it was a must, i realized that this was just what i needed and i'm totally adopting the above mentalitly. i haven't run since last year when i had a minor injury and it's the exact challenge my body needs right now.  it also doesn't hurt that summer is right around the corner.  this is giving me a serious push to challenge myself and kick this 5K training right in the keester.

what i really wanted to share with you is this awesome Couch to 5K iPhone app that i download that is hands down the best trainer i could ever have.  not only does it lay out the training for you week by week, but it also keeps track of your training, allows you to play music from your playlists, and also prompts you in your headphones when to run and when to walk. 

AND it only costs $2.99 for the 9 week training.  can't beat that for a cheap trainer!  HOLLA!  all you iPhone users can download it here :: couch to 5K  and for all of you non iPhone users... well... i'm sorry.  you need to get on the iPhone wagon :)

{happy.running}

aw

{hellllloooooooooooo.28}

how in the world am i 28?!?

yes... it's still young. 

yes... i'm excited.  

yes... it's 2 years away from 30. yikes!

i'm embracing year 28 of my life and like i posted yesterday i'm adventurously expectant for what the Lord has up His sleeve this year for me.  for the last few years on my birthday i've reflected on this picture of me as a preemie, almost 3 months early and weighing in at a whopping 2lbs and 14ozs, and remember that this life i've been given is a GIFT.  no if's ands, or buts about it... God has given me a gift of life.  a miracle that i am healthy and i long to give each day back to Him and live it to the full!

i've had this little devotional thing that i've kept on my bathroom counter for a few years, but haven't really paid attention to them up until the last few months and i've been taking one each day and treasuring the words. each card has a pretty picture (gotta have a picture!) and a bible verse on the front and on the back a little encouragement word about that verse. 

i like the one that showed up today.  on my birthday.  i'll take it!

{front}

::now glory be to God! by his mighty power at work

within us, he is able to accomplish infinitely more

than we would ever dare to ask or hope:: ephesians 3:20

{back}

::we make plans.  we dream dreams.  we imagine wonders.  but, they're puny compared to what God plans for us.  if we trust God with our life, He'll work through us to accomplish His dreams in ways we can't even imagine.  He created us.  He knows us better than anyone else and He knows what He can do through us.  we need to make a choice.  are we going to follow our dreams or trust the dreams God dreams for us?::

{happy.day.friends!}
aw

{adventurously.expectant}

romans 8 has been all up in my face this past week and some change.  well really the last 6 months, but last week it reappeared at my bible study, then yesterday through a friend's tweet.  last night i jumped into the text and then again this morning and what do you know... a pastor that i follow on twitter felt like he needed to write a blog post on romans 8 today as well {insert sarcasm} 


i've been trying to write out what's going on in my head and heart for quite some time and just can't quite put it into words and that's one thing that is so very frustrating to me. i've had this draft saved for quite a while and when i opened it tonight i was pleasantly surprised to find this...


::this resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It's adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike "What's next, Papa?" God's Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children. And we know we are going to get what's coming to us—an unbelievable inheritance! We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we're certainly going to go through the good times with him!::  romans 8:15-17 {the message}

for the last 6 months it's the perspective i've been trying to cultivate and the way i've been trying to live.  to walk out that "adventurously expectant" mindset every day that i have the chance to wake up.  trying to walk this way during this season of life, this season of waiting,  has been SO awesome as i've jumped in with both feet into new experiences, but SO challenging right along side that when the deepest desire of my heart still seemingly goes unmet.


these past few years of my life have been a season of waiting and at times a season of extreme wrestling with life where i feel like i'm holding my breath for the next shoe to drop, but then i catch myself about to pass out and throw up (metaphorically of course) because that shoe never falls.  i'm still holding my breath, feeling like i might suffocate by the heartache of another rejection ... and i might've tweeted the other night that i wanted to punch this waiting in the face.  i'm not a violent person really, but that's exactly what i felt.  thankfully a wise mentor of mine stated to me this week that "this life following Christ is a constant waiting"  truer words have never been spoken, but man somedays that's tough.  must've been what the writer of romans was referring too when he said "we'll go through the hard times with him..." 

as i run full speed ahead into the age of 28 this week, my prayer is that i will continue to  seek to embrace every moment i have and live it adventurously expectant while pressing into God like romans 8 says " with a childlike "what's next, papa?"
i will also be clinging to this quote that a wonderful, loving friend that i have been blessed with over the past few years, passed onto me this last week...

"listen to your life. see it for the fathomless mystery that it is. in the boredom and pain of it no less than in the excitement and gladness: touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of it because in the last analysis all moments are key moments, and life itself is grace." :: Frederick Buechner

{aw}

{fall.leaves}

"sunshine spills through autumn-colored leaves, lighting up

their brilliance like stained-glass windows in a great cathedral,

expressing the wonder of God's love, declaring His glory"

{picture from iPhone Hipstamatic app}

{life is short. love hard}

{exhaustion & the love of friends}

{ex·haus·tion} --last night i finally admitted that after a few weeks of running ragged doing many things that i love, i had hit an entirely new level of this word and found that satan, unfortunately for me, loves to prey on me when i'm at this point.  thankfully though, the peak of this experience came at a time where i was surrounded by some amazing women that God has placed in my life.  women who love me even when i'm in a low valley.  women who have seen me cry more times than i'd like to admit and don't get angry with me when i randomly interrupt our study because for some strange reason the water works decided to turn on right then and there, as much as i tried to fight them. 

these amazing women speak truth into my life, lift me up with amazing words of encouragement, and fill me with wisdom that i'm convinced, if it was not for this little community of friends, i don't think i would receive in the way that i do.  a way that is so close knit to my heart, and i'm completely convinced it's exactly what the Lord knows i need to hear. 

i call these wonderful group of women my "lifegroup" not only because that's the coined phrase of our church, because let's face it... we flat out face life together...

the good, the bad, and the ugly.

all this to say, today i stand more convinced that community with people is of the utmost importance in this life.  loving them and being loved in return is one of the greatest gifts i've received in my life thus far.  if you aren't in a community of friends, make sure you get in one now.  yes sometimes it's scary to be open and vulnerable, but that's where true life and love happens.

i was encouraged by this little chart of scripture that backs up this idea...

 Our task, given specifically by Jesus, is to

"love one another", which we do when we..

-build each other up ( 1 Thessalonians 5:11; Hebrews 3:13)

-look out for each others' best interest ( Philippians 2:4)

-bear one another's burdens ( Galatians 6:2)

-are kind to each other ( 1 Peter 4:9)

-honor and respect one another ( Romans 12:10)

-serve each other ( Galatians 5:13)

-admonish each other ( Colossians 3:16; Romans 15:14)

-confess your sins to each other ( James 5:16)

-forgive each other ( Ephesians 4:32)

-think of one another ( Hebrews 10:24)

-do not judge each other ( Romans 15:13)

-accept each other ( Romans 14:1, 15:7)

-do not stand in each other's way ( Romans 15:13)

-regard each other as more important than oneself (Philippians 2:3)

{happy.tuesday}

aw

{...come & let us walk in the light of the Lord... isaiah 2:5}

just enough light

"sometimes only the step i'm on,

or the very next one ahead,

is all that is illuminated for me.

God gives just the amount of light i need

for the exact moment i need it.

at those times i walk in surrender to faith,

unable to see the future

and not fully comprehending the past.

and because it is God who has given me

what light i have,

i know i must reject the fear and

doubt that threaten to overtake me.

i must determine to be content where 

i am, and allow God to get me where i

need to go.

              i walk forward,

                    one step at a time,

                         fully trusting that

                             the light God sheds

                                  is absolutely sufficient."

                                         ~stormie omartian

*excerpt from "just enough light for the step i'm on"

{my utmost for his highest}

I've had Oswald Chambers' well known devotional, "My Utmost for His Highest" on my book shelf for 10 years.  As I was looking inside the front cover while I was reading it last night, I saw the year 2000 scribbled in my hand writing and I could barely believe 10 years have passed. 

The small brown book came into my possession my senior year of high school and while everyone spoke of Oswald's amazing wisdom in reference to our faith, my simple mind just couldn't grasp a lot of what he was saying.  It traveled with me to college where I would find myself occasionally flipping through the pages to the corresponding date looking for some kind of respite for my searching soul, and still find myself distracted & not at a level for full comprehension of what I was reading...  Fast forward to a few months ago where a friend was discussing this devotional and I remembered it was collecting dust on my book shelf and I immediately got excited and was overcome with an ache to read this little book.

This time as I've read the words of Oswald Chambers, whether it's in the little book I have or the web version, utmost.org, I find myself clinging to his words, his wisdom, and my mind and my soul are in a complete place of understanding and longing for this type of wisdom, relationship, and total abandon to the Lord the he speaks of.

Just wanted to share with you yesterday's devotional that totally resonated with my soul and brings clarity through a different lens, looking at the purpose of life that I live as a believer and follower of Christ and freedom and joy that is offered.

’. . . and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished.’ . . . But they understood none of these things . . . —Luke 18:31, 34

God called Jesus Christ to what seemed absolute disaster. And Jesus Christ called His disciples to see Him put to death, leading every one of them to the place where their hearts were broken. His life was an absolute failure from every standpoint except God’s. But what seemed to be failure from man’s standpoint was a triumph from God’s standpoint, because God’s purpose is never the same as man’s purpose.

 

This bewildering call of God comes into our lives as well. The call of God can never be understood absolutely or explained externally; it is a call that can only be perceived and understood internally by our true inner-nature. The call of God is like the call of the sea— no one hears it except the person who has the nature of the sea in him. What God calls us to cannot be definitely stated, because His call is simply to be His friend to accomplish His own purposes. Our real test is in truly believing that God knows what He desires. The things that happen do not happen by chance— they happen entirely by the decree of God. God is sovereignly working out His own purposes.

If we are in fellowship and oneness with God and recognize that He is taking us into His purposes, then we will no longer strive to find out what His purposes are. As we grow in the Christian life, it becomes simpler to us, because we are less inclined to say, “I wonder why God allowed this or that?” And we begin to see that the compelling purpose of God lies behind everything in life, and that God is divinely shaping us into oneness with that purpose. A Christian is someone who trusts in the knowledge and the wisdom of God, not in his own abilities. If we have a purpose of our own, it destroys the simplicity and the calm, relaxed pace which should be characteristic of the children of God.

{happy.friday.friends}

aw

{beech.mountain.july.2010}

"if you're lucky enough to be in the mountains...

you're lucky enough"

{happy.wednesday}

aw

via volume twenty five