Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Savior



Something that made me think...

Jesus is coming back.
Are you ready to meet Him?
You will. It could happen today.
Make Him your Savior, not your Judge.
#TellTheWorld     - Clayton Jennings

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Going On


Painting pottery with my sister and a friend. I put my favorite Bible verse on mine (Isaiah 40:31)

I haven't really ever posted a lot about my personal life, but I've had a couple of recent posts about it now. Not sure what to think. Do you like seeing what I'm doing? Or should I just stick to poetry type things? 

Saturday, December 26, 2015

Hoary Heads

[via]
The trees stand silently
Their hoary heads held high

Friday, December 25, 2015

Blessings through Raindrops


This is the last post on this topic, but honestly, this series wouldn't be complete without posting this song... I hope you really think about these words, they are so, so good and true.

We pray for blessings, we pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering

All the while You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears?
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You're near?

What if trials of this life
Are Your mercies in disguise?

We pray for wisdom, Your voice to hear
We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough

And all the while You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears?
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You're near?

And what if trials of this life
Are Your mercies in disguise?

When friends betray us, when darkness seems to win
We know that pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home
It's not our home

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears?
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You're near?

What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst
This world can't satisfy?

And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are Your mercies in disguise?

Merry Christmas

An interruption from the regularly scheduled program to say...

I hope you're all having an amazing holiday season! 

And while I'm at it, here's a glimpse into our celebration. 

I got some new markers, which I've been experimenting with...


doodle art... lol


our tiny Christmas tree...


my grandma has cool old ornaments


a ginormous poinsettia in our living room


my brother carving the ham with my grandma and sister's supervision


everyone except for my dad (he was setting up a tripod for a different camera)


I also got a selfie stick haha. My brother was having more fun with it than me though ;)


This is the reason I wanted the selfie stick ;) 

Cool food pictures for my food blog (http://www.nutritionfromscratch.com) 

(our Christmas feast)


from our family to yours...

Merry Christmas! 

Thursday, December 24, 2015

Backwards Logic

  

 

 


Life isn't always all that it seems. Sometimes there are hard spots. Things we have to endure. Hatred, pain, fire, trials and tribulations. But as much as we don't want to endure them, they are very necessary for our spiritual well being. 

My dad sent me this note last week: "God changes caterpillars into butterflies, sand into pearls, coal into diamonds. I have enjoyed watching how He is changing you!" 

I read this note AFTER I had started this series, so as you can imagine, that really got my attention. 

Life isn't always easy, but maybe we should be glad. So many beautiful things come about from things that we would classify as negative or painful or challenging. But like the saying goes "A smooth sea never made a skillful sailor." 

It is through these challenging moments and days that we learn our place, and have the most opportunity to grow. If it weren't for challenges, we'd end up thinking that we are good enough, and we can do it on our own! But God never intended us to do it on our own. He wants to help us, and give us His infinite strength. But we have to allow Him. We have to ask Him. And if we never come to the realization that we are indeed weak and frail, and not enough on our own, maybe we would never ask Him or allow Him to help us. And how sad of a life would that be. 

God made this world an interesting place. Things aren't always as they seem. Sometimes we have to use "backwards" logic in God's kingdom. The poor and weak are the greatest in His kingdom. We have to hate our life in order to keep it. In other words, sometimes we have to give up things that seem really big here on earth, in order to get even better things in the life to come. 

I think we (as humans) can be very childish sometimes (at least I know I am). It's so hard for a child to see the big picture. They only see this moment - or that candy sitting on the counter that they want now. It's hard for them to comprehend that if they wait to eat it until after lunch, they might enjoy it more. 

We're so much the same way. We think we need the best house and the most money. We think we need to look like we have it all together. We think we would be happiest in a life devoid of pain and suffering. But would we really? It may seem like suffering to that child to wait to have their candy, but if they could eat all the candy they wanted whenever they wanted, would it really be better for them? 

--
This is part of an ongoing series I will be continuing throughout the week. Stay posted, lovelies.

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Hate before Love



Verily, verily, I say unto you, 
Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, 
it abideth alone: 
but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.   

He that loveth his life shall lose it; 
and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.   
[John 12:24-25]

Oh child, why can't you understand My sayings?
Why won't you obey My commandments? 
They may not make sense to you now, 
But you have to learn to trust Me.
Have I ever failed you? 
I give strength to the tiny seed, 
And I will give strength to you. 
But you must rely on Me. 
You'll never do it on your own strength
Just as the vase did not create her own design.
You were not created to live a life of your own pleasure
Just as the seed shed his perfect complexion for a much grander purpose.

--
This is part of an ongoing series I will be continuing throughout the week. Stay posted, lovelies.

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Despised before Accepted


Shame and despair.
He could feel their judgmental glances
As they passed him by each day.
He wrapped his cocoon closer
As if to shield himself from their disgust.
He felt so helpless, so small.
Wishing he could crawl around
And eat to his heart's desire, as he had in times past.

Then one day, his cocoon began to disintegrate
As he stood frozen in fear
He realized that people's stares had changed -
From disdain to wonder.
No one would notice his shaking fear,
But they would watch awe-struck as he soared to new heights.

--
This is part of an ongoing series I will be continuing throughout the week. Stay posted, lovelies.

Monday, December 21, 2015

Fire before Strength


They found the perfect home.
It had a beautiful view, overlooking a valley.
Everyday was a mountain top experience
What could go wrong?
They were self-sufficient
And had all the things they could ever want.
They could make it on their own, without any help.

One night, the fires came.
Their earthly goods were destroyed
In a moment, reduced to nothing but ash.
As they knelt in the rubble,
Alone and with nothing left,
They cried out for help.
No one would see how self-sufficient they were,
But they would be amazed at what God helped them endure.

--
This is part of an ongoing series I will be continuing throughout the week. Stay posted, lovelies.

Sunday, December 20, 2015

Pain before Beauty


Life was an ocean of bliss.
Everything was smooth sailing,
Her food was served on a silver platter,
And she had plenty of money to spare.
She could buy her happiness
As well as beauty and friends.
Until the doctors were stumped by her symptoms.
All the money in the world could not save her now.

She writhed away in pain,
No one could understand what she was feeling.
As she prayed in desperation, in full reliance on God,
He touched her life,
And changed what once was bitter
Into a beautiful piece of art.
No one would look at her in awe of her fame and power,
But they would give glory to God for the beauty that was her life.

--
This is part of an ongoing series I will be continuing throughout the week. Stay posted, lovelies.

Saturday, December 19, 2015

Death before Life



The life of the party.
That's what he'd always be.
Hanging out with friends all day long
Not a care in the world.
His complexion was fair and everyone liked him.
After all, he was in complete control, right?

Darkness.
All light faded away.
Where was everyone?
Why was he suddenly all alone?
He felt the dirt pressing in around him.
And just as he was giving up, his leaves broke through the soil
And the glorious sunshine pored down on him.
No one would notice his fair complexion, but they would all marvel at the strong oak that he became.

--
This is part of an ongoing series I will be continuing throughout the week. Stay posted, lovelies.

Friday, December 18, 2015

Broken before Great



Broken and worthless
Shards of clay scattered across the room.
The consequences of hot water in a cool pot
Just moments before so beautiful
Intricate patterns perfectly aligned.
That proud little pot failed to realize
Where those designs had come from.
Surely a pot so beautiful could accomplish much
With little need for help from less perfect pots.

Small and frail
The pieces lay broken by nothing more than a little water.
All hope was lost
Until the loving Creator reached down
And glued the pieces back together again.
This time, with the help of the Potter,
The little pot would accomplish much.
No one would notice how beautifully perfect the pot was,
But they would all marvel at what she could survive.

--
This is part of a series that I'm going to be continuing over the next week. Stay tuned, lovelies  <3

Thursday, December 17, 2015

P.S.


So I kind of redid my design. It's been long overdue...

What do you think?

I'll probably continue tweaking it, but I think it's much better than my old one.

Ironically, I've never been much of a yellow fan. In fact, it might be my least favorite color. But I like it here. Maybe it's because this is more of a golden yellow. (Sorry, I'll quit analyzing myself now)

Anyway, I also have a new button (see my sidebar) - for those of you amazing peoples that have my button on your lovely blogs.

Which if you do, please tell me and I'll be more than happy to return the favor ;)

That's all for now. Goodnight (:

Eugene

My mom sent me some snapchats of my doggie, Eugene. 

I miss him so much, but I couldn't take him to Iowa with me, so my family takes care of him.

 I recently sent him a few gifts... he liked some of them better than others. lol


Like this toy deer that squeaks.

Silly dog. 

He's already tore most of the stuffing out. 

He loves his toys half to death, I dare say. 


However, he didn't like these antlers that I sent him quite as much. 

How ungrateful. He's so cute in them though. 

Look at those eyes - "Why are you doing this to me, mother?"

We call him Eu-genius sometimes. He's very smart.

I call him Eugeney-bean. Because he's so adorable. 

Seriously. I love my puppy. 

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Beauty Wins

(Do you have any idea how hard it is to get a good picture of an orange rose?!)

Tonight I was scrolling through Facebook
Reading posts that my friends had shared
Thinking of conversations past
When I began to realize a very stark difference.

Some posts were beautiful, making my heart and soul joyful
While others were dark and sad and bleak
Well you say, some people have just experienced more hardship
But I beg to differ.
Some of the most beautiful thoughts I've seen
Have come from hearts that have experienced indescribable pain.
Yet they look to God and praise Him through it all;
Yet others, seem to want to cast blame and point fingers
For offenses that seem so small in comparison.

But God doesn't compare;
He loves us all, no matter our past.
He cares about our hurts and He doesn't want us to bear them alone.
All we have to do is cast our worries upon Him,
And He will protect us and comfort us like a mother hen does her chicks.

What is more beautiful than that, my friend?
An omnipotent God who cares about me.
A loving Father waiting to remove all my cares
Just waiting to give me indescribable peace in the midst of the storm.
If only I would turn to Him, instead of pointing my fingers in condescension.
How can I dwell on the bad that has happened to me, when there is so much good?

Oh Father, make me more like the simple rose.
Who turns her face toward the rain
Knowing that her almighty Creator
Is standing there, just out of sight
Commanding the storms to bring her life-giving water.