30 Days of a Thankful Heart {Day 18} Answered Prayers

It’s Sunday.  In this house that means we spent most of the day at the church.

That happens when you are the pastor’s family.

It was a long day, as most Sundays are, and I didn’t even have time for my Sunday afternoon nap.

After a great sermon by The Hubs this morning, focused on John 3:16-21 and The Gift of Grace, our Abundant Life Small Group provided a spaghetti and lasagna lunch for the congregation, taking up donations to help fund various mission work in the conference.  It was delicious and I am incredibly thankful to share life with this amazing group of individuals.

We were able to have a brief respite at home after lunch, even though I had to run back up to the church to decorate and tidy up for the Community-wide Thanksgiving Service our church was hosting that evening.  I think The Hubs and the boys got a little bit of an afternoon nap, and I did manage 30 minutes to relax on the couch!

We headed back up to the church a bit before 5 and I corralled the kids while The Hubs prepared to welcome a few hundred people into our church.

For Everything a Season: Day 34: Lent Journey

“¹ There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:”

“¹¹ He has made everything beautiful in its time.”  -Ecclesiastes 3:1 & 11

A friend handed me a copy of a devotional on Ecclesiastes 3:11 at church Sunday.  She said she was doing her devotional and thought of me since I had recently been posting on this very idea; beauty.  I was very grateful for two reasons: 1) She cared enough to think of me and make me a copy, and 2) She cares enough to read my little blog and remember something I wrote!  Makes my heart happy.

The funny thing is that she didn’t realize she was sending me a much needed message from God.  I didn’t read the devotional until after we had returned home from the Community Easter Service (yep, a week early), and I desperately needed to read that scripture and the accompanying message by then.

The author of the devotional, Nicole Johnson, focuses on the need for us to embrace beauty as part of who God created us to be.  Instead of getting so caught up in seeing the pain or ugliness in and around us, we often need to spend time focused on the beauty God has created in and around us; not to mention the beauty He is working to create through us. 

Box Full of Happiness

I got a surprise in the mail yesterday…. my Vera Bradley order arrived early!  I was visibly excited.  Wiggling like a puppy or a kid on Christmas excited!

Plain on the outside
Pretty pop of color on the inside

I ADORE Vera Bradley products.  If I could afford it, I would own a full luggage set, and so many of their other colorful and wonderful products.  I receive email updates and frequently peruse the website for sales.  I had been keeping a close eye on sales lately because I had been green-lighted by Aaron to order by new purse when I came across a good deal.

Right before Micah was born in 2009, Aaron and I went shopping at a bookstore in KY and we purchased my very first Vera purse.  It was my birth present!  Sweet right?  Absolutely.  Why mess with tradition and a good thing?  Before my love with Vera purses, I would exchange my purses at least 1x month.  I carried that first purse for almost a year!  Loved every moment with it.  I got my second Vera purse as an actual birthday present from my mom in October 2010.  It is still my current purse, and by far my favorite print.  While still in really good shape, the wear and tear of everyday use for 1 & 1/2 yrs is starting to show a bit.

Parting will be such sweet sorrow with my Very Berry Paisley print

Hence the box of happiness carrying my new purse (my birth present for Kasen), plus a couple of extra pretties that were also on serious sale.  Here is some Vera eye candy to start off the weekend on a happy note.

Defining Beauty Part 1: Day 33: Lent Journey

“The bride, the beautiful princess, a royal daughter, is glorious. She waits within her chamber, dressed in a gown woven with gold. Wearing the finest garments, she is brought to the King. Her friends, her companions, follow her into the royal palace. What a joyful, enthusiastic, excited procession as they enter the palace! She comes before the her King, who is wild for her!”   – Psalm 45: 13-15 (as interpreted by Holly Wagner)

beau-ty  (from dictionary.com)

1. the quality present in a thing or person that gives intense pleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind, whether arising from sensory manifestations (as shape, color, sound, etc.), a meaningful design or pattern, or something else (as a personality in which high spiritual qualities are manifest).

2. a beautiful  person, especially a woman.

Who we do let define our beauty?  Our worth?  Where does true beauty lie? Do others see us as someone whose beauty they wish to emulate?  Where does our beauty come from? Is it worth emulating?

I saw the above quote on Pinterest today, and it went along with the Scripture I had read in my devotional.  I’m focusing on this idea of beauty, and what it really means.  Am I someone who sees herself as beautiful? Honestly, it’s difficult to do when you are 30 wks pregnant.  I am tired because I’m not sleeping well.  I don’t feel like I get anything accomplished.  I don’t FEEL beautiful.  Is that my worth?  Doesn’t God see me as beautiful no matter how I feel?

I’m going to be reflecting on this concept of beauty today and tomorrow.  Think on this until then–

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”  ~Philippians 4:8

How do you view your own beauty or the beauty in your life?

Gracefully~~Heather

You is Important: Day 28: Lent Journey

Image copyright of Heather Tiger

“ ⁷ or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. ⁸ Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. ⁹ But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. ¹⁰ That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. “

2 Corinthians 12: 7-10

Aibileen Clark, one of the main heroines from The Help, faced great trials and persecution.  She felt weak; yet she was made strong.  She had great faith in the midst of struggles.  She never forgot that she, and those she fought for, were worth every minute of pain.  She knew her value and the value of others, even when told there was none to be found.  She was worth the fight.

Do you know you are?

Must Share MWF

I am not alone!

In my search for a new best friend, in close proximity, that is.  (You can read about why I am searching HERE)

Thanks to WordPress, I came across an amazing blogger and author, named Rachel Bertsche, who not only started a blog about seeking a new best friend.  She wrote a book about it!

MWF Seeking BFF: My Yearlong Search for a New Best Friend

I ordered it!  (Yes honey…I love you honey!) And I ordered the paper version, not the Kindle.  Sometimes you need to hold the actual pages.

After perusing her blog, I cannot wait to get my hands on the book and read away.

Do I think it will be a magic bullet, cure-all and will automatically land me a best friend?  Maybe.  Maybe not.  But it will help me not feel so alone in my search.

Here are the details:

Have you Friend Requested Jesus? Day 11:Lent Journey

 

 

“I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business.  Instead I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.”

 

John 15:15 (NIV)

It’s obvious by the sheer amount of social media available today, that people are desperate to connect with each other.  Whether it’s on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or a slew of dating sites, we want to feel connected to others.  This is a part of our created being.  God created us to be in relationship; with others and with Him. As Jon Bon Jovi said, “No man (or woman) is an island.” We are not meant to live life alone. The good news is, our very creator and savior wants to be our friend.

So how do we “friend request” Jesus? 

Tired

A desire to be needed, just for me
A hope to belong, fit in, one of the gang
A longing for closeness, sharing, laughter, and memories
Where I’m the friend they all want to have

Tired of being the new kid, the out of towner that hasn’t found a niche
Tired of doing the calling or the texting, just want to be thought of first for a change
Tired of trying and failing and hearing, “Hey, try some more,”
Just tired

A Muffin for the New Mom: Thankful Thursdays

It was sometime in January when I realized my neighbor was pregnant.  I had seen them move in two doors down and I had told myself many times that we needed to go introduce ourselves and be neighborly.  They were our age, or near it, but for some excuse always come up when I thought about making the trip over.  Maybe it was her.  I wasn’t sure they would want to meet the neighbors; a lot of people don’t these days, content to live private lives.  More than that though, I was intimidated.  This girl was really pretty.  Like the kind of pretty that makes you want to hate them just for being pretty, or if I was a guy, I would say she was hot.  It’s intimidating.  Sometimes the pretty people aren’t always the most friendly.  She did have this really great wooden tree with lights on it by her front door though that made her seem more homey.  It was my kind of style.  Still, we remained strangers.

Even after the destructive ice storm swept through Kentucky and killed the power on our street for over a week, we did not extend a greeting.  We did notice that the giant tree across the street from their house come crashing down during the storm.  That would of been the perfect opportunity to offer to help clean it up, especially since the tree’s owners did not do it.  I did feel bad for her, being without power and pregnant.  I remember remarking to Aaron, right before we left for our trip to Gatlinburg, that I didn’t envy her being uncomfortable already, and then to not have warmth.  Little did I know at that moment, but that was exactly what I was, we would just make that little discovery the day we came back from vacation.

You would think that finally, after having common ground to share, it would have been easy to walk over and say hello, especially since I kept feeling a certain nudging from You Know Who.  Not Aaron, though he was bugging me as well.  I mean, I was tired and nauseous and emotional and….. You get the picture.  It literally took a sign for me to follow instructions.

It was May by this time and a little blue sign appeared in their garden, announcing the arrival of their new baby boy, Connor.  That was enough.  My hospitality gift kicked into overdrive and my desire to hold a new baby was the icing of the cake.  I had just purchased some muffin mix for a bake sale at work, but I figured they didn’t need all of them.  I told Aaron I was making them and to get ready to meet the neighbors!  Approximately 45 minutes later we stood nervously outside their door, basket of hot, chocolate chip muffins in hand.  I almost chickened out when it took them a minute to answer the door.

Once we were in the door and Nathan, the dad, all but tossed us his newborn son, I knew we would be friends.  The kicker was when he introduced Connor’s mom, Heather.  I literally laughed out loud as we realized we had quite a few things in common already.  The visit lasted well over an hour and the friendship between the Heathers has blossomed and will hopefully continue to grow.  I’m thankful to know I was able walk two doors down and find a someone who was looking for the same thing I was; a friend.

I often wonder how much better those 5 months would have been if I had just listened and responded to that little voice nudging me to just reach out in friendship.  Instead, I let fear, anxiousness, busyness, and plain old stubbornness rob me of a beautiful gift God was offering me.

My friendship with Heather has been one of the greatest blessings I have received while living here in Kentucky.  I had continually been praying for a friend, and among the many He provided, how amazing that He provided not only a friend, but a neighbor, two doors down, that was a mother of a little boy.  Someone to share insight, wisdom, tears, laughter, frustration, and joys.  Someone who has a heart like mine.

It has been a joy to watch our boys grow together these past 7 months.  I even got the inside track of being a new mom watching her with Connor before Micah arrived.  Heather has run over to watch Micah on a moment’s notice, and we have returned the favor.  We get to cruise Walmart knowing the other understands the fussy little boy in the shopping cart.  We get to share real life, and that is the best thanks I’ll ever get for a basket full of muffins.

The Boys

 

Connor, Micah, and Heather

Us Moms don’t get on camera too much!