A Friendly Weekend Wish

Hey everyone! Just wanted to stop in and say hi. It's been a little while since I have posted anything!

March and April are very busy months at work for me, so I don't really have a lot of free time to write. I can't believe that it is the last day in March already! Thank God! I am so ready for Spring Break, which is only two weeks away. I have so much in store for the upcoming months, I just can't wait until I am able to share with you all!!!

Until then, Happy Friday and Many Blessings in this season of life! I have linked up, two encouraging posts for you that I wrote for my church's online devotional study.


The Good Life: On Being Great

The Good Life: Watch Out for the Dogs

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Many Blessings,

Receive His Peace

Happy Saturday friends! I am back with some more encouragement for you. This upcoming Monday is the first day of Spring. Here's to hoping the weather starts to get warmer really soon!

Today, I want to talk to you about worry and how, so easily, we are robbed of peace, because of how much we worry.  I wish that worry was one of the emotions that we didn't have to deal with. I'm fine with all of the others, but worrying about things, it's the worst! Worse than all of the other negative emotions, because it's the hardest thing to let go of. Anger, frustration, sadness, nervousness; these are all feelings that I can overcome through prayer and reading scripture. These feelings last only for a short while for me, but worry? Worry can last for so long. Even when I say that I am not worried, sometimes secretly, I still am. I don't want to be, but it's the truth! There are so many things in life to worry about, maybe that's why. I just wish that I could let it all go.

Maybe I can. Let's take a look at some of the scriptures in Matthew chapter 6.
Chapter 6 verses 25 -34 says this....

 25 “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? 27 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?

28 “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, 29 yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. 30 And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?

31 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ 32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. 33 Seek the Kingdom of God[e] above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. 34 “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

Friends, these are words spoken straight from the mouth of God!! How beautiful and reassuring they are to me, and I pray that they are for you too!!

John 14:27 has some of the most powerful words in scripture.

So let's receive His piece but trusting in His Word and knowing how much He loves us and will provide for us everything that we need!! Have a great weekend friends!

Many Blessings,

Hitting the Restart Button

Here we are, almost to the middle of March already and just when I thought it was starting to get warmer, it snowed today. I just want April to get here already! January till Spring Break, every year, is always the hardest for me. I don't really have any breaks at work and with the weather being colder during this time, I don't get out much. This is the season where I need most of my encouragement. That little extra push of motivation to get me through till Spring.

After thinking about it, I realized that I am probably not the only one who feels this way. I decided to write a short series, on 4 different areas that I sometimes struggle with. Hopefully, by the time I write the last post, the weather will be warmer and we will be close to Easter Break.

The first area I wanted to write about is starting over, and I'm not necessarily talking about huge changes in life, but rather the smaller restarts of everyday.

For whatever reason people love the start of a new year. It's our chance to regroup and refocus our thoughts and priorities. Tons of people set goals and make new resolutions. I would be lying if I said that I didn't partake in these rituals as well. However, over the past year or two I have be trying to shift my focus in terms of when I can start over. Starting over at the beginning of a new year makes sense, well because, it's just that, a new year. But what happens when months, weeks, or even days into working towards your new goals and resolutions, you mess up? And believe me we will mess up. We are humans, we all fall short.

I love this verse from Lamentations.......

Friends, I want you to just ponder this verse for a minute. The Lord is letting us know that we don't have to wait for the start of the new year to hit the restart button. His mercies are new everyday!! As long as we acknowledge that we messed up and ask for forgiveness, we get to start over each and everyday. And that is just amazing to me. You see, He knows that we are going to mess up even before we do and so he wrote this amazing truth for us. That's how much He loves us!

So don't beat yourself up when you aren't achieving those goals that you set back in January. You can hit that restart button whenever you want! And when we mess up again, we can rest assured that he is faithful in providing us with new mercies every day!

Many Blessings,

What I Learned This Winter

Has it really been three months already? I can't believe that we are almost through another season! I am back again to share with you what I have learned this Winter. I participated in Emily's link up for the first time, last Fall. I followed her advice on keeping track of the different things that I have learned over this past Winter, so that I could come back and share with all of you.

In no particular order, here are the 8 things I learned this Winter......

1. There is a lot of really bad stuff in the food we eat!! Unfortunately, I have had a lot of digestive related issues over the past few years. I was diagnosed with Celiac's Disease in 2009, so I have been gluten free since then. However, for the past year or two I have still been having issues and I just got fed up with the doctors trying to mask the problems by giving me prescription medication. A person I worked with, told me to see a Nutritionist who does Nutrition Response Testing and for the past 7 weeks that is what I have been doing I am about half way through the program and while I don't feel 100%, I feel way better than I did before. I have learned so much about food and how your body works when you eat certain foods. What is also neat is that everyone's body tolerates foods differently. I am learning that I can't eat soy, corn, or too much sugar, or my body feels like crap.

2. Starting my day off with prayer and time in the Word has really changed the way my days go. I didn't always used to have my quiet time in the morning and what I came to realize was, that if I didn't do it first thing in the morning, most of the time, I didn't do it at all. I've also been noticing a difference in my mood and my attitude towards others. I am more joyful and positive when I start my day off with Him. I chose JOY as my word for 2017 and it is so true that, you experience much more joy when you put Him first in your life.

3. It doesn't have to be the start of a new year for you to start over. You can hit the reset button whenever you want. Each day is a new day and we are not promised tomorrow. That is His gift to us and it is so freeing to know that if we come to Him as we are, He will meet us wherever and we can start fresh in that moment. I will writing more about this area of life in a 4 part series that will start next week. Be sure to check back in so you don't miss it!

4. How to give my 'best yes'. I started the book, The Best Yes awhile ago but I never finished it. I'm kicking myself for waiting so long to finally pick it back up. I am sure there are plenty of you out there who are like me, and have a hard time saying 'no'. This book is for you too. Lysa offers so many great tools and suggestions on how to go through the process of accepting an invitation/request from others. She talks about the power of a small no and how it can actually be good for you and your family to say 'no' more often. Especially if it is not a best yes assignment from God. Go order the book and don't delay reading it like I did!

5. I really love a good a book. With that being said, it takes me forever to get through just one book. Every year I say I want to get through at least one book a month, but it ends up only being like three books a year. That means it's taking me four months to get through just one book. It's not that I don't like to read at all, I just wish I had more time. I am trying to be better at reading before bed instead of watching tv, but let's be honest, how can I watch just one episode of Parenthood??!! In all seriousness though, I am learning not to put a number or a time limit on things, because when reality doesn't line up with my expectations, I become disappointed. Be sure to check out my must read favorites in the book list tab.

6. How important it is for my son to know Jesus. This World seems to be falling apart more and more every day. It breaks my heart sometimes to think that this is what my son has to grow up with. However, I am so thankful for what he is being taught in school. He is only 3 right now and he attends 2 days a week, at preschool/kindergarten program that is run by our church. He comes home singing songs about Jesus and Bible verses that he has memorized. It makes my heart so happy!! I love watching him grow and learn each and every day. My goal is for him to know how much God loves him and will always be with him. I pray that this foundation he is given now, will stay solid and be built upon as he grows older. 

7. Life is full of difficult stuff but God is always faithful. I have been using the first5 app as part of my morning devotions. A few weeks ago, I came across this passage by Whitney Capps. It was so powerful. It literally brought me to tears. I felt led to share.

"When we are dealing with difficult relationships or impossible circumstances we must trust our God and trust the mustard seed of faith we hold that God still resurrects even the most desperate situations. His process may be long and painful, but His plans are perfect."

What an awesome reminder this is. Anytime I start to fear or worry about stuff, I read this passage and let it sink in and I am filled with unexplainable peace knowing that He is in control.

8. There are lots of awesome communities on Instagram! Back in November I took a leap of faith and messaged a few ladies that I admire on Instagram. Other than the photos I see on their feeds, I knew nothing about them. Well, that was the best thing I could have ever done!! Not only did they respond, but the responded with open arms and since then my Instagram experience has been so different. I tried so hard before, to gain new followers, but I just wasn't tapping into the right audience. Once I started to engage with these women who shared the same passions as I do, everything changed. I have been joining in on fun hashtags and giveaways and I am meeting new people in this community every day. I have not only gained lots of new followers, but I have gained friends. This community of decorators really care about what I post. They are interested in what I have to share and I love that I have finally found a community where I belong!

Top Row Left to Right:

Stacey @farmhousechic4sure
Carla @myfarmynest
Laara @rusticmeadowslane

Middle Row:

Photos from my feed @the.erin.elizabeth

Bottom Row Left to Right:

Holly @hollys.hobby
Cindi @themustardseed205
Alyssa @cottonpickinacres

Be sure to stop by all of their Instagram feeds. They are some very talented women!!

I hope that you all have an amazing season of Spring! I know I am looking forward to it. I'll see you back here in three months for the next edition of 'What I Learned This Season'!

Many Blessings,

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