Banana Pancakes.

Confession time. I love Pinterest. ::GASP:: Yes. I love it.

I've always been obsessed with color and interior decorating. But now my horizons have been furthered with recipes, more decorating ideas, organization tips, natural beauty secrets, wedding things (another dream of mine is to be a wedding designer-aka I design the look of the wedding-expecially the tablescapes and alter area) and many many more.

Notice I mentioned recipies. Below is my attempt at making a recipe that Taralynn posted and I eventually pinned.

I'm going to go into this with a few disclaimers:
1. I've been eating gluten free since August (with a few minor exceptions that involve family traditions.)
2. I'm not the best cook. So anything that went wrong I'm making assumptions about.
3. I haven't photographed anything in awhile so the pictures are...not my best. :)
4. I adapted the recipe. Which might be my first mistake.

So. I saw this and became really excited. A flourless pancake?! Yes please! A use for the old brown bananas?! Yes please! So here we go.

First. Put on a cute apron. (My mom got this one for me for Christmas!)

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Side note. Favorite flower of the moment. Thanks mom :)

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Ingredients! I used two farm-fresh eggs, two ripe bananas, some defrosted berries, a few chocolate chips, and a Tablespoon of flax seed.

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I find that coffee goes well with anything! First mash the banana, and then add the egg/flax seed mixture. Mash it all together until it is smooth-ish.

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Grease your pan! I quickly learned that I do not like using olive oil spray. But then you should be able to cook it like a pancake.

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Flip...like I said this wasn't the most pretty of food executions. Above is why I didn't like the olive oil.

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Then I switched to butter!!!!! I love butter. It flipped easier. Still fell apart. I honestly should have made smaller pancakes. Seriously. Impossible to flip. Maybe upon further experiments it'll get better. Just be okay with having ugly pancakes and you'll be fine. :)

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The finished product! I drizzled honey on top. Delicious. 

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Okay so here are things that might have factored into my not cute pancakes. I added flax seed. The bananas were super ripe. I wonder if using less ripe ones would be better? The pan was also not super hot when I started. I kind of want to try this but in a baked form. Cook it for a few minutes on the stove and then throw it in the hot oven for a few minutes. Might be great! I also might try two eggs and only one banana. And some toasted sliced almonds. And sprinkled cinnamon on top.

I have to say, this was a great way to get protein and fruit. I thought it was quite tasty and I would love to try it with other fruits!

In trial, in life.

I love my church. I love how the scriptures are taught clearly every week. I love the community and fellowship that takes place. I've been going to Harvest over the past year–and I have to say–it has been quite the blessing in my life.

This past Sunday was a message I needed to hear–mainly the part about what God is asking of us. The whole message was called, "God With Us: In Trials." Click to listen for yourself! Listen Here!!

I wanted to unpack one section of the message.

3 Things I Know God is Asking of Us in Trial:
1. Turn to the Lord (Psalm 56:1-2)
2. Feed on His Word (Psalm 56:3-4)
3. Walk in Fellowship with Other Believers (Galations 6:2)

What I got out of it: First of all–I want this to be my life daily. I daily want to be seeking the Lord through prayer, scripture, and fellowship. Not every single day of my life will include that. I know this by looking at my track record. But, I do think it is something worthwhile to pray for.

[I have heard the more you do something, the quicker it becomes a habit.]

"Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me; all day long an attacker oppresses me; my enemies trample on me all day long, for many attack me proudly. When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?  "  Psalm 56:1-4

READ that scripture. Read it. I keep reading it. It applies to so many areas of life. Are you stressed about work? Give it to the Lord!! Is school getting you down? Give it to the Lord! Is a friendship/relationship letting you down? Give it to the Lord!!! We shall not fear the things of this world. God is for us! Also: read your Bible! [I know everyone says this, but seriously, it's important. I keep realizing this more and more in my life how important it is. I wish I was more serious about it, and I wish I had been more serious about it sooner. But hey, you learn from your past.]

"Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." Galations 6:2

I used my handy iPhone ESV app to look up references for this verse. Look them up if you want! Just click on the links. :D

Romans 15:1, 1 Thess 5:14, Galations 5:14, 1 John 4:21, and John 13:34. 

Basically this: LOVE each other, lean on each other, let people lean on you! But always–put Christ at the center and ask for His strength and wisdom.

Wow. Hodge podge blog post. It's been awhile.
I want to blog more about what I learned during the study Nancy Leigh Demoss wrote called, "Seeking Him: Experiencing the Joy of Personal Revival."

:)

empty.

I have this struggle right now.

The semester just ended. I suddenly have loads of free time–minus the having a job thing–and I just feel empty.

This past semester has literally been one of the most difficult I've had school wise. My classes were challenging, being a "young designer" was challenging, and the never ending load of homework was challenging.

Towards the end of the semester I just started being consumed by the homework. Consumed. I was skipping Bible study and neglecting things just to finish my homework.  Now I'm at the end of the semester, with only one more ahead of me. And I just feel empty.

In this moment it's as if all this work I'm doing is just for a grade, for a piece of paper, for the credibility.

Colossians 3:23 says, "Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for man."

Am I doing that?

It doesn't feel like it.

I need a perspective change and a heart change. I need rest in the Lord. I need to seek the Joy that only comes from knowing Him.

I'm tired. I'm weary. I'm exhausted. I'm vulnerable. Yet Jesus says this in Matthew 11:28-30 "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

The Lord will not forsake me. Moses speaks these words to Israel in Deuteronomy 31:6, "Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you."

So many beautiful and amazing promises in Scripture.

Time to stop, and rest.

Ask the Lord to show you what your heart really looks like.

So you put a banana in your hair.

I'm only posting about this because I found it completely hilarious and I'm slightly embarrassed by it.

Sometimes when I need a break from homework or life in general-I do weird things. Today that weird thing was making a homemade moisturizing mask for my hair. I've made a couple in the past and they usually turn out okay-ish. Key word "ish." There was this honey and olive one that took forever and a day to rinse out. This time I opted for one with honey, olive oil, banana, egg, buttercream, and avocado. Well. We didn't have an avocado in the house so I used everything else. After mixing everything up I put the gunky mixture in my hair, wrapped it in saran wrap and waited.

Here's the embarrassing yet funny part. So I go to rinse it out. The banana is not rinsing out. Basically I was trying to rinse this mushed up banana out for twenty minutes. It was ridiculous. Everything else rinsed out. I even washed my hair twice.

That was a few hours ago.  I'm pretty sure there are still some tiny pieces of banana in there. My mom looked and it felt like a lice check for a second there. But after drying it and brushing it, I think I got most of it. But seriously. Who gets banana stuck in their hair.

At least my hair is super soft now.

Bucket List Updates!

My last entry me curious about this post from a few years ago.  Surprisingly-I can update it!

• Graduate with a Bachelor Degree
• Go back to the Czech Republic on a second mission trip
• Visit Greece & Italy
• Get a photograph published in a "coffee table" book 
• Get a photograph published in a magazine
• Live in a state I haven't lived in yet (I've lived in Texas, Oklahoma, Indiana and Illinois) [Aug-Dec 2010 I lived in Colorado!]
• Go legit camping [Nov 2010-Colorado]
• Go skiing in Colorado [December 2008]
• Take a cruise in the South America region
• Work at summer camp in Colorado
• Pet a giraffe
• Obtain a wedding planner certificate
• Photograph engagement shots for friends
• Photograph a friend's wedding
• Design a wedding invitation
• Take a train somewhere other than to downtown Chicago
• Pay off my student loans
• Visit Ireland
• Visit Australia
• Go scuba diving
• Go on a mission trip to a 3rd world country
• Work at summer camp [Kanakuk K-2 Summer 2008]
• Go to the Sears Tower [Summer 2009]
• Try snowboarding
• Successfully ski down a black/blue diamond mogul run in CO without stopping, sitting, or falling. It's gonna happen. [Winter 2010 in Colorado!!!]
• Give a friend a hair cut
• Learn how to drive manual [August 2009]
• Buy my own car
• Kayak on a legit river
• Experience Times Square on New Years Eve
• Find giraffe print fleece and make footie-pajamas
• Work in a coffee shop [Starbucks! Aug 2011-present]
• Read the Bible cover to cover
• Travel Route 66
• Go to the Grand Canyon
• Get my associates degree [december 2009]
• Go on a road trip with my sister [Minnesota August 2012]
• Go on a road trip with my best friend
• Have an upsidedown Christmas tree
• Visit the art museums in Chicago [2011 & 2012]

Colorado was good to me. :)

A Heart's Dream

I sat next to a lovely woman on my plane ride to Texas this past Thursday.  She was a strong believer and she was able to challenge and encourage me by asking various questions on the flight.  I feel blessed.  Something that stirred my heart was this question: what's on your bucket list.  I didn't really have an answer for her in that moment.  I know somewhere on this blog I've posted a bucket list of sorts, but I have honestly forgotten a lot of what was on it.  I'm pretty sure this is due to me being caught up in work, school, and daily life.  It's almost as if I've forgotten to dream.  I know we're not supposed to worry about tomorrow and we're supposed to be living in this day to glorify God, but isn't it okay to dream?

I've been pondering this for a couple days now.  I realized God had laid some BIG dreams on my heart when I was in Colorado.  Over the past two years they'd been pushed to the back of my mind.  They're resurfacing.  This scares me because I literally have no free time to put effort towards another ministry.  Right now I'm praying that God would open doors in HIS timing for it.  I feel like God is slowly pulling my heart in the direction of ministry.  This might be in a church.  It might be among artists. It might be in a business venture.  I'm not really sure what it is going to turn into.  But I'm excited.

It's time to let my heart dream.

It's time to let my heart's dreams glorify the Lord.

It's time to constantly glorify the Lord.

Windows are turning into doors.

I'm done with undergrad in May.  THIS May. Remember a blog post or two ago when I said it was two years? I think it was something along the lines of, "I have two years left in this town for sure.  I mean, I can't really say for sure because we all know how God can change anything in an instant." Yeah. I said that.  Well, literally a couple hours after I wrote that I had this overwhelming sense that I needed to just let go of all my fears tied into not graduating early.  Aka I was suddenly emailing everyone I could think of who would get me the overrides and such that I needed. The whole time I was just praying that God would open the doors if they were meant to be opened. The doors literally flew open.

I don't think I really expected it.  I had been hearing, "no" and "it's not possible" for so long that I had kind of given up on it.  But everyone has been super supportive. Part of me is just wondering what next year looks like. But the other main part of me is so excited to just do this next school year diligently. I pray I still make the time to focus on learning more about God's Truth by studying His Word-aka the Bible! I'm also curious to look deeper into what the Bible says about being a disciple.

Really this next year can be represented by a few words: patience, diligence, strength, striving, hope, and most importantly, courage.  I feel like this past season of rest and internal processing has led up to this.  I just want to grow, grow, GROW! In every area. I'm so excited. I'm so ready.

Maybe in time, I'll know what I'm doing when I graduate.  But for now, THIS is the moment I'm supposed to be living in.  All glory be to God.

Soli Deo Gloria

May 8th, 2012

I wrote this on May 8th, but never actually posted it.

My college campus at dusk is quite the beautiful sight.  I have this love for architecture and gorgeous lighting, so when they are combined, it’s just great.  I’m in the library on the fourth floor overlooking part of campus.  The way light changes throughout the day is breathtaking. 

I feel like this semester has been very different than any of the other nine semesters of college I’ve experienced.  God has done a lot in my life:  A lot of healing and self discovery.  Growth in who I am as a person.  A relationship that has taught me more about what it means to follow Christ and have a life centered on Him.  A more solidified belonging at my church.  A better sense of community that I have had yet to experience in my own hometown.  I strongly believe that God has been slowly changing my heart in a lot of areas of life.  I never expected to enjoy living here.  I never expected to be at peace about so much.  But I also know that no matter what happens next, God has a purpose for it in my life. 

This is one of the first semesters that I feel like I’ve actually cared about my classes and tried really hard to do my best work.  (I’m not counting my semester in Colorado.  That is a semester all in its own.)  I’m paying all this money for an education-I want to walk away with a fantastic design portfolio and beautiful artwork actually worth hanging on my wall.  This newfound attempt at doing really well hasn’t come easy though.  It has been a total transformation from where I was my freshman year.  Seeing how far God has brought me in so many areas of my life gives me hope that He will continue to transform me into someone more like Jesus.

I feel like I’m at a point in life where God could take me anywhere at any moment.  Well, any moment after I graduate.  I don’t know what that looks like, and I’m not sure when I’ll have an answer for it, but I do know that whatever happens, no matter how I feel, there will be an awesome purpose in it.  An awesome purpose based on how I’ve been shaped so far, and how I’ll continue being shaped.  Yes please.  Spring semester 2012, thank you for your lessons.

More life updates, lessons, prasies, etc. coming soon. :)

Where is YOUR Heart?

Time for an interactive blog post!

Answer these questions:
1. Who and What am I living for?
2. Where do I find purpose?
3. Whose kingdom are you living in?
4. What makes you get up in the morning?
5. What is your highest goal?
6. If God’s eyes was to move through this place looking for a man/woman whose heart was fully His, would His eyes rest on you?

These are hard questions.  I keep asking myself these questions over and over.  Kind of like a reality check as to where my heart is.  Perspective.

A Self Interview

The Lord has been teaching me a lot lately.  There it is.  That statement that barely begins to encompass everything that is going on in my heart, head, mind, soul, life, etc.  The list goes on.  Common questions in my life lately: how are you, are you ready for school to start again, what are you wanting to do with your life, what's new, etc.  Common questions that should be easy to answer, but questions that really leave me standing there with a blank stare on my face wondering how do I answer this in the quickest, best, and most understandable way possible.  There isn't an easy answer to any of these questions in my life right now.  Let me start by saying this: I am extremely blessed and joyful about my life.  Not just this moment right now, but my life in general.  This summer I've really been learning a lot about what it means to be satisfied and content.  It's been an interesting process to say the least.  I see patterns in the lessons the Lord has taught me in the past 5 years.  I really do think the biggest part of my journey in my faith began when I went to college.  Situations that revealed to me where my heart was really at, and how ugly it really was.  God has been stretching, healing, teaching, growing, mending, saving, challenging, humbling, leading, and mainly caring for my heart.  He will do the same for you.  Just ask.

I'm thinking out loud here.  Well, thinking out loud in the sense of just typing out whatever comes to mind in the moment.  I feel silly doing this but hey, it's my blog and I make the rules.  I'm interviewing myself.  I'm a weird lady sometimes.  I'm okay with that!

Self: Bri, how are you? 

Bri: Well self, I am doing pretty well! 

Self: No, but really, how are you? 

Bri: I'm doing GREAT.  I've had to let go of a lot of ideas of who I am, and a lot of things that were holding me back from really seeing my life for what it is.  I'm learning what it means to be a disciple of Jesus, how to live that out in a more meaningful and glorifying way to God, as well as learning who I really am in Christ. 

Self: Woah. 

Bri: I know right? Try explaining that to someone who doesn't share my beliefs. 

Self: Isn't that the point? 

Bri: Yesssssss. 

Self: So Bri, are you ready for school to start again? 

Bri: Meh. I mean it's nice to have an actual schedule, but it's also nice to only really have one thing to work on. 

Self: Expand on that. 

Bri: Well...working full time, doing side projects, doing stuff with church, AND school is kind of taxing.  But I have a slightly different perspective this semester.  I was so drained in many previous semesters, and I think that's mainly because I kept trying to do things on my own.  It's amazing to see my life through the eyes of the Bible though.  If I look at my life through the Word of God, it's so much better.  My life isn't for me.  My life is for GOD.  My life is meant to glorify the Lord.  My life is meant to be lived like Jesus did, and my life is meant to show people the glory and power of the Holy Spirit.  I mean, it's still a huge challenge to die to myself daily, hourly, and pretty much every minute.  It's hard.  But it get's easier.  The more I focus on the Lord, the less I notice the weariness that comes from doing things in my own strength.  John 3:30, self!! "He must become greater; I must become less."  Really that's one of the main verses I'm focusing on right now!  It's crazy.  I love it.  But it makes me such a huge internal processor and somewhat of a hermit.  Which is weird.  But I think I'll get out of that phase soon. 

Self: ummmmm. 

Bri: Yeah, I know it's a lot and most of it doesn't really make that much sense.  I told you.  It's crazy.  Aka I feel like I'm on a crazy awesome adventure in my faith.  Like, I'm on this obstacle course high above the ground and God keeps asking, do you TRUST me.  I have to be like, YES LORD I TRUST YOU WITH EVERYTHING.  Some days I don't.  Those days are awful.  At the end of those days I'm like, shoot Lord, why didn't I trust you.  It's my selfishness.  It's my awful pride.  It's my sinful nature. 

Self: How does this relate to school. 

Bri: School is just another part of my life that is a part of this season I'm in.  And it's not my main focus.  God is.  So everything flows through that.  At least I want everything to flow through that.  God. 

Self: Okay.  So...what are you wanting to do with your life? 

Bri: You sound hesitant in asking me that. 

Self: I mean... 

Bri: Short answer: I have NO idea.  God has taken me on this extremely unexpected and unpredictable journey the past 5 years. 

Self: Long answer then. 

Bri: I would LOVE to work at a church doing design, communications, worship arts, something.  I see myself in ministry.  I see myself married to a man in ministry.  But I might marry a doctor.  I might marry a circus performer.  I might not get married.  But like I said, I see myself in ministry.  When my teachers talk about "the real world" in the design community, I cringe.  If I end up doing that, I know that God has a beautiful purpose in me being at an ad agency or at a design company.  But really.  I cringe.  It scares me.  Which probably means I'll end up there.  God is funny like that.  I adore His sense of humor.  At first, I did really hate it, but the sooner I learned to laugh with God and learn from the lesson, the more I enjoyed it.  The more I adored God.  It's a process.  But really.  I have no idea.  I guess what I really want to do with my life is live out the second of my favorite verses: Proverbs 31:25 "She is clothed with strength and dignity, she can laugh at the days to come."  Really I'm not worried.  I have two years left in this town for sure.  I mean, I can't really say for sure because we all know how God can change anything in an instant.  But really, I want to finish my degree.  I'm six classes away.  Two years away.  Then after that?  Only God knows.  And to me, that is SO exciting.  Scary, but exciting. 

Self: So, what's new. 

Bri: Everything.  God is amazing.  Beyond anything I ever expected.  Everyday I learn something new.

End of thinking out loud.  If you read that, I applaud you.  Pray for me.  Share how I can pray for YOU.  I would love to.

When I hit painful moments in life, it makes me nostalgic.

Nostalgic of all the other painful moments I didn't think I'd get through that God totally brought me out of and sanctified me in during the process.  I think about this blog post quite often.

It's crazy.  In my mind I'm just now really beginning to let things change me that happened even 5 years ago.  We're doing a study on Philippians by Matt Chandler this summer in my small group.  After the first week-just going through the historical background and content of how the church in Philippi got started.  There was so much going on there.  The love of Jesus Christ was breaking all these cultural, racial, gender, status, etc. backgrounds.  It's amazing to think about.  We put the power of Jesus's love in a little box all the time.  We want it to be convenient, easily explainable, normal even.  It's none of those things.  Why do we cling to our selfishness so much and make it so hard to let the Lord change our hearts.

I don't want to be selfish.  I don't want to hide from this beautiful process of change.  I want to run right at it with all that I am and be like, "OKAY God!! I surrender. Make me more like you no matter what anyone else says!"

"He must become greater; I must become less." John 3:30

That was a slight tangent.  Back to the painful moments.  There are a few that stick out in my mind.  I'll highlight a bit of the beauty that came from the pain.

Pain: Leaving Taylor University.
Beauty: Community with my college youth group.  Amazing friendships.  I can see how God used me in Michelle's life to be a positive thing.  She was pretty much the friend that made moving home be an okay thing.  God showed me so much about myself through my friendship with her.  It was so amazing to see her get married recently.  God transforms us all.  I'm so thankful for that.  I don't like taking credit for this, but a guy named Will was in my speech class my first semester back, and God gave me the courage to invite him to Crave.  It has been amazing to see how he got plugged in and pretty soon was a strong leader and prayer influencer among the group.  I became involved with a community worship night that completely changed my life and heart about worship.  Oh man.  I need a blog post for that.

Pain: Kamp.  It was physically and emotionally so difficult.
Beauty: I loved working at kamp.  I made a few good friends there who I still admire so much.  I love seeing how the lives of Kim, Caley, and Whitney are playing out!  (Funny story-Whitney actually went to FLI with me as well!!)  I learned so much that summer about letting go.

Pain: Not getting into FLI the first time I tried.
Beauty: This brought me to NIU a semester earlier than I thought it would.  I met some amazing people who I still see a lot of in the art building.  Also-It postponed my attending of FLI.  Which was awesome because of the AMAZING people I met when I actually did attend!

I know I'm forgetting so many moments in here.  Moments that brought beauty into my life.  Those are just a few moments that stick out.  God uses EVERYTHING in our lives.  Everything.

All I know is this: I love the life God has blessed me with.  I actually enjoy learning from the times of confusion and wondering what God is doing.  It's an exciting reminder that my life is meant to glorify HIM.

I'm blessed.  I really am.  I'm thankful for so much.  And I can honestly say, I'm happy.

"She is clothed with strength and dignity, she can laugh at the days to come." Proverbs 31:25

I miss the lovely lady pictured with me on the right.  Such a wonderful sister she is!  I was just reading her blog and got a little jealous of flying the skies.  Such a fun thing.  Being a flight attendant.  At least I think it would be fun.  Couldn't be much different from working at Starbucks!

It's funny that only a few days after I created a blog post based on identity-I had a reality check of sorts on where my identity is.

There are moments in life that force you to evaluate what you really look like on the inside.  It has been a rough couple of days.  A lot of confusion in many areas of my life.  But you know what?  I have loved seeing how people close to me have rallied around me to speak Truth and encouragement into my life.  I love prayer.  God is Great.

On a brighter note-I finally bought a new camera!!! Whooot!

Identity

Something that has really captured my attention lately is my heart and where I find my identity.  I've had this internal struggle going on for the past couple months about this issue.  I even did my final project in printmaking on the concept.  I feel like I've become so aware of what the battle between my heart and the world really looks like.  I love the following passage from 2 Corinthians.

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.  2 Corinthians 4:16-18

For so long I've been focused on how people see me, I look for their approval, I find satisfaction in being included and sought after.  Over the past year I've slowly become more aware of this in me.  I've become aware of the people pleasing nature and the rule following structure in my heart.  It was only recently that I became convicted about some of the things I would say in order to feel more accepted.  Gossip is such a huge part of our culture.  Gossip makes us feel stronger than the person we're talking about or putting down.  It doesn't seem harmful in the moment.  It caught up with me a few times this semester.  Not in awful horrible ways, but in little-itty bitty ways-ways that made me question my heart behind loving people.  It wasn't a fun feeling for me to recognize this in me.  You can see yourself one way but then the next moment you're completely aware and feel very exposed of something in you that needs changed.


I've been praying so much lately about this issue.  It's crazy to think that since that moment I was super convicted about gossiping, how much has changed.  It might only be my perspective that has changed though.  Things with people around me have gotten harder.  I hear the things people say and it crushes me thinking that I have gone along with it.  Comments about people because they are different, because they don't do something the way we think they should, comments because they don't fit our ideal, comments because we think we are better.  We are not better.  We are all human.  We all have faults and sin and pain.  Nobody is better.


It's funny.  It really is to me.  That the times in my life I've prayed for patience, for changes, for anything really, it seems like God challenges me in ways I would never have expected.  Lately I feel so opposed by some people around me.  I feel misunderstood.  I feel a lot of things.  But the thing I want to feel the most, is the love and satisfaction that can only come from my Lord Jesus Christ.  That is my biggest prayer.  In the meantime I'm learning to pray these verses and the ones in 2 Corinthians on my life.  

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore,having fastened on the belt of truth, andhaving put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and takethe helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, makingsupplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak. Ephesians 6:10-20

All in all, there are some amazing things in my life.  But really, my biggest prayer is my life will glorify the Lord.

Time.

Time fascinates me.

Moments that quickly pass,

Days that seem like weeks,

Months that happen like an eye blink.

A skewed perspective and perception.

Our reality isn't something measured,

Yet we constantly try capturing it,

Making it comprehendible. 

The Greatest of these is Love

"God, who in Genesis sent His fallen ones out of the Garden, even then because of love, promised a way back.

This same God demonstrated His love toward us by sending Christ to be born in Bethlehem.

This same God, in the greatest act of love, laid down His life to save our lives.

This same God today pours His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit whom He has given us.

(Romans 5:8, John 15:13, Romans 5:5)"

-taken from "Our Journey" Feb2012

snow.

It snowed today!!! Finally. We're halfway through January. So many funny moments at work involving snow. Goodness I'm so blessed.

When I got home I decided to shovel the driveway, which was interesting to say the least. After 40 min I looked around and saw that all my work was pretty much already being covered. But hey! It's the thought that counts. While looking around I thought about how much we sometimes work to have this image of a clean or perfect life. But underneath our hearts can be so bitter, broken, dark, prideful, etc. Sinners.

The falling snow reminded me that even in those darkest moments, God's love is covering us with this beautiful embrace. Kind of like snow. Snow for the most part is fluffy, beautiful, and graceful. This beautiful thing that can make the ugliest scenery the most breathtaking moment. God's love for us and his gift of his son Jesus sent to die on the cross for our sins is kind of like that. We're all ugly. Deep down we really are. But God's love slowly changes us and makes us beautiful. Kind of like that first big snowfall. A slow but sure change into that picture that people want to see. Our lives are like that. They can be like that. I pray mine is like that. I pray God is just making my heart more beautiful to the point that my life is this example of how great and wonderful God's love is.

What about you?

now.

When God tells you to do something...You should do it.

Really that's what my conclusion has been lately.

A year ago when I left Focus I had on my heart to start an art ministry of sorts...but it just became this idea on the back burner of everything else that was consuming my time. After going to Passion2012-[HUGE Jesus conference in Atlanta, Georgia...like 43,000 college students huge]-I've realized something, that idea is still on my heart...and it's growing. It makes me happy but at the same time I'm still at a loss for how to go about working towards this vision.

I'm still processing things from Focus...and now I'm processing things from P2012...but I'm really excited about all of it. :)