I just wanted to pop in real quick to say HI!!! and to do a shout-out to my Instagram! If you want to get more behind-the-scenes awesome-ness, that's the place to find me. Sometimes I just don't have the time (or content! Let's be honest, creativity can hit a wall sometimes!) for a whole blog post, so that's when I take a few minutes and share some life on Instagram.
Here's a little sneak peak into the kind of stuff I post. So if you're into home styling, Jesus, motivational stuff, ramblings about my life, or just pretty photos, hit that little "follow" button next to my name if you're on Instagram, and if you're not, no worries, you can still view my photos.
Also, since this post is pretty random already anyway, I want to leave you with this little beauty. It was sung at our church a couple weeks ago and I've pretty much had it on repeat since then. Enjoy!
You guys, I know that most of you aren't as obsessed with your calendar as much as I am so I wanted to let you know that it's FRIDAY! Woo! This weekend is packed with lots of goodness... with a double date tonight, Loverboy's Casino work party tomorrow, and visiting family for a birthday party and a small group game night on Sunday. We're hoping to slip in a bit of sleeping in [we've been dragging the last coupla' days], taking a chunk out of our wedding thank yous, and baking some Christmas cookies as well! Bring. It. On.
What are your plans for the weekend? Anything spectacular?
Here's some holiday inspiration for your weekend [I promise I won't make every post ever about Christmas during this season... maybe...].
I simply adore these free desktop and phone backgrounds. Perfect for getting some Christmas music stuck in your noggin. :) Speaking of Christmas music...
My love for Pentatonix grows every Christmas. They just keep pumping it out! You can listen to their whole album, That's Christmas to Me, for free on Spotify!
I'm sticking with the Christmas music theme, so here's a free printable that you can frame and put on your mantle. Or just tape to your wall with some pretty washi tape. Your choice. :)
On this rainy, dreary day I get to work from home. [Yay!] So that means no shower, pjs, and cuddled up in a blanket. Maybe I should find a job where I can work from home every day??
Here's what I'm currently...
Looking at:
Listening to:
John Lucas <<< pssttt... it's free on Noisetrade right now!
Dreaming of:
How sweet is this print?! I think it would look amazing above our stove... hmmm. :)
Blend in a blender. Pour. Enjoy for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or snack. (Or all of the above!)
[Music.]
My new favorite rapper: Andy Mineo
(especially 1:50-3:00)
[Truth.]
Romans 8:1-17
(Working on memorizing it this summer!)
1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set youfree in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot.8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you.Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesusfrom the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.12So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.13For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.14For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.15For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,17and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
[DIY.]
This really makes me want to start another art journal!
I have legitimately been listening to this song on repeat for the past few weeks. I love, love, LOVE the first verse... I feel like it adequately describes my life- mistakes, broken promises, doubts. But like the song goes on to say, I'm not alone in the dark with my demons-- Jesus enters in. He enters into my mess and He loves me. He teaches me, He empowers me, He strengthens me. Jesus uses the rain in our lives- the less than desirable circumstances- to grow us, to make us whole. And I am so grateful because I have made mistakes. But it's not a waste if I learn from them.
I have made mistakes, I continue to make them
the promises I've made, I continue to break them and all the doubts I've faced, I continue to face them but nothing is a waste if you learn from it
and the sun, it does not cause us to grow it is the rain that will strengthen your soul and it will make you whole
we have lived in fear, and our fear has betrayed us but we will overcome the apathy that has made us
because we are not alone in the dark with our demons
and we have made mistakes
but we've learned from them and the sun, it does not cause us to grow
it is the rain that will strengthen your soul
and it will make you whole and oh my heart, how can I face you now?
when we both know how badly I have let you down
and I am afraid of all that I've built
fading away
Like what you heard? Download the Oh Hello's full album here for free!
Because I love you all so much, I am telling you- check this out. FREE music. And it's good too! :) This group is giving away all their albums in the month of March... which includes ELEVEN albums! A bunch of their albums are hymns that are re-done. So legit. Here's a taste.
Editor's Note: I know Caitlin Elmore from EDGE Corps... we met out in Colorado at training back in May and have definitely been "social media" friends since- inspired by each others blogs, instagrams, etc! She serves at the University of Akron. (That's in Ohio... don't worry, I had to google it too) and has something like a bajillion siblings. Caitlin blogs over at Engraved. Her blog is deep, silly, snarky, and filled with DIY, music, and life. She recently asked me to do a "10 Things I am Loving Right Now" post for her... make sure and check it out (after reading her post of course)! Without further ado, I am SO excited for you all to read this... it's a real gem! - HB
CREATED BY THE CREATOR OF BEAUTY
So when I was asked to write this I panicked a little bit. In a
good way. I just could not figure out what to write on...a lot of things make
me tick! Gold glitter, Beyonce, knitting, kittens, infinity scarves...
But in all seriousness, I feel pretty passionate about a lot of
things and I was having trouble deciding what to write this precious guest post
on. And then, I was scrolling through Hellogiggles this morning and one of the
headlines stuck out: Creating the “Perfect” Man. What? This seemed out of character
for their site. I had to know.
So I click on it and there is this hilarious picture of Viggo
Mortensen with all these photoshopped body parts and such. Ah, I’ll just show
you: here.The picture was in response to an article from Men’s Health magazine. Based on the passion stirring up in my
heart, I knew I had to write about this.
I am about to tell you a dumb story about high school. It’s 2005 and I am 15 years old. Every
year in marching band we would have silly awards for our class. That year I won
“Best Butt”... which some of the guys in my class took as an open door to make
comments. They never said anything
mean... they were honestly trying to flatter me. But I was 15, growing into a
new body, and very uncomfortable with the attention my body was getting. I was
born into a family of women with child-bearing hips. I am what magazines called
“Pear shaped.” When puberty hit and things started changing, I noticed, but now
I knew that other people did too.
I was also a dancer at the time which meant that I was in a
leotard and tights three to four days a week. Standing in front of a giant
mirror. With ten other girls and their unique body types. It was then that I became an active
player of what I like to call “The Comparison Game.” And now, with the comments
the guys were making at school, all I could look at during ballet class was my
giant butt (I wore a 4...) and how wrong my body was.
This is not the first time I struggled with body image. And this
was definitely not the first thing to put the idea in my head that I had to
look a certain way, but it’s a very vivid, awkward, and sometimes painful
reminder that like most women, this is a deep issue in my heart that goes way
back.
Honestly, I can’t handle that Men’s Health article. And I really
can’t handle the picture that accompanied it. But I will say, I was encouraged
to see comments from men saying the article was inappropriate, offensive to
women, and offensive to MEN. So kudos guys. You rock.
Who has seen the Dove beauty campaign ads? While the campaign
itself could be controversial based on conflicting messages from Dove and their
media team, I do really enjoy the ads. This one in particular:
Ok so the “he” in the video is this young man who apparently has
a crush on Amy. But what if Amy is us (because she is, isn’t she? Quick: name
twelve things wrong with your appearance.) and “he” is God.
So, I’m not going to talk about how we need to show more “average
girls” on tv or how “curvy is beautiful.” Yeah those things are true, BUT if I
am going to claim to be a daughter of the King, then I am not going to tell you
that you are beautiful because you have “real” curves, but because YOU ARE ALSO
A DAUGHTER (or son) OF THE KING. We are beautiful because we were created,
beautifully and wonderfully, by the creator
of beauty.
To our Father’s sorrow, we chose to redefine beauty. And we’ve
kind of gotten to a point where those redrawn definitions of beauty and
perfection are just accepted, even among Christian women.
I would look better if I
lost 10 pounds. My skin is too white. I have cellulite on my thighs. My hair
doesn’t ever look right.These are all lies. And they aren’t limited to appearance. I am too loud. I am too quiet. No one thinks
I’m funny. No one wants to be around me. If I were just more gentle. If I were
just more bold.
Stop. Breathe.
What does God say?
“All beautiful you are, my
darling; there is no flaw in you.” - Song of Songs 4:7
“The king is enthralled by
your beauty; honor him, for he is your Lord.” - Psalm 45:11
“He has made everything
beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they
cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” - Ecclesiastes 3:11
“God saw all that He had
made, and it was very good.” - Genesis 1:31
Honestly, this is just scratching the surface of why we are
perfect in Christ. We are beautiful (men and women included) and we are worth
SO MUCH MORE than society has led us to believe.
Because I believe strongly in applications, I will leave you with
a list of things that you can do to start to reverse the effects lies about
beauty have had on your heart.
Stop filling your mind
with junk. You be the judge of what is “junk” and what is harmful for your
heart, but here are some quick examples. Beauty and women’s interest magazines,
music videos, the Victoria’s Secret fashion show, The Bachelor, A LOT of
movies. I am not saying that you are bad for watching movies and tv shows, but
if you are really struggling and want to be really serious about focusing your
heart on truth, get rid of the junk that feeds the lies.
Fight with truth. Write down every lie
you are believing and everything that is “wrong” with you. Now get out your
Bible and do some serious reading (and some serious praying). For every lie your
wrote down, find a truth that proves it wrong.
Take care of yourself. I don’t mean
counting calories, and dieting and exercising excessively. I mean finding
clothing that is modest and makes you feel beautiful in the right way. Also, staying active in any
capacity that will give you energy, keep you healthy, and give you a more positive
outlook.
Find a network of encouragement. Are
you interacting with a group of people who tear you down or build you up in
things other than truth? Get out of there. Solid Christian community will build
you up in the right ways. Also, seek accountability. Find a woman (or if you
are a man, a man) who you can tell everything to and (this is key) who will
speak to you truthfully.
Incorporate some cheesiness into your life.
Leave a love letter from God next to your mirror. Let Scripture remind you who
you really are in Christ.
Most
importantly, spend time with your Father.
Who better to remind you of your worth than the one who deemed you worthy
enough to come into existence? Focus on your identity in Christ. Focus on what
is true and good.
You guys, we are beautiful. We are so beautiful. God calls us
lovely. He calls us his beloved. He did not intend for us to operate out of
these lies of unworthiness. “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
I wish I had pages and pages to talk further on this issue. This
post doesn’t even begin to go deep enough, but I hope it was at least an
encouragement to you. You are in no way alone in your struggle with body and
self image.
I will leave you with this song. What a powerful message of
truth!
Live Loved (because that’s what they say here and I think it’s
super awesome),
Last night Tenth Avenue North came to town, and although they have great music, they have even better teaching! Mike Donehey, the lead singer is basically a traveling preacher, with all his concert-goers being his church. This man speaks truth with such passion, you can't help but let it change you. He even got down into the crowd and stood on the chairs at one point [as shown below]. So naturally, at a concert, I took notes! :)
Mike challenged us to have at least one relationship in which we are getting nothing back- one relationship where we are doing all the pouring out, and there's no way the person can or will repay us. He argued that this is how others will know we are followers of Jesus... by loving with no return on our love. People will see our love and it will point them to Jesus, who first loved us. They will say 'You're not getting anything out of this exchange' and then we can say 'Yeah, I know. It's what Jesus did for me and I can't help myself.'
100% of Christian action is simply reaction.
Mike also talked a lot about the gospel- how it allows neither sniveling or swagger- "When you really believe the gospel, it robs you of your right to be miserable and it robs you of your right to think more highly of yourself than other. When we really believe God's love for us, we can't think highly of ourselves or low of ourselves... we just think of ourselves less."
Mike ended with talking about his story- how he broke his back in high school in a car accident and that's when he started to learn how to play guitar- when he was on his back for 2 months. It was so cool to hear him talk about pain and struggle and our circumstances. One line that really caught my ear was this- "the pain between the pictures." He was talking about how although he could have albums filled with hundreds of pictures of happy smiling memories, it was the events that happened between all those photographical moments that really shaped him and that he is really grateful for today- the pain between the pictures. He talked about how often we pray for the hard times to go away, for everything to be easy. But God responds- "It's not your circumstances that need to change, it's you."
I'd like to end with a few lines from their song, The Struggle:
Hallelujah We are free to struggle We're not struggling to be free Your blood bought and makes us children
So children drop your chains and sing
P.S. If you haven't read yet about how Tenth Avenue North inspired the "live loved" sign-off, you can check it out here.
It's been awhile since I've done a Weekend Wrap-Up... and it feels good to be back! :) Hope you lovelies all had a wonderful weekend... what better way to end it by enjoying some tunes, inspiration, craftiness, and a sweet reminder about who's really in charge... as well as a yummy, easy treat!
2. Buy cute scrapbook paper at a craft store [I got mine at Michaels]
3. Paint the border of your board so it's not that cheap wood look
4. Arrange your paper, and staple!
faith.
Check out this portion from "Jesus Calling" by Sarah Young on January 31st:
I am your strength and shield. I plan out each day and have it ready for you, long before you arise from bed. I also provide the strength you need each step of the way. Instead of assessing your energy level and wondering about what's on the road ahead, concentrate on staying in touch with Me. My Power flows freely into you through our open communication. Refuse to waste energy worrying, and you will have strength to spare.
You must try this delicious appetizer! I made it for New Years, as well as for a little get together with some friends a couple weeks ago. Click here for the recipe! It's super simple and has been a hit!
There's still a bit of time left in the weekend... go out there and make it count!
This is the last line of a Mumford and Sons song. And I find it so beautiful. This is how I want to love... with urgency, but not with haste.
I want people to know the Love of the Father, because it's the most important love they'll know. And it's urgent that they know it. I want to show it gently, and with passion. Quietly, and with shouts. Humbly, and as the only thing I can boast about.
I want to fill myself with this Love. Soak it in, drink it up, live in it. I want to depend on this Love more than any other love... any human love.
This Love. It's real. It's tender and fierce. It's the Love of a Father giving up His only son for us. For ME. It's a Love that was displayed for all mankind with urgency, but not with haste.
“For God so loved the world,that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him." --John 3:16-17
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). -- Matthew 1:23
Emmanuel: God with us.
That's a pretty mind-blowing concept if you really think about it. That the God of the universe would come to be with us. That the creator of all things would choose to live amongst the created. That the one true deity would put on humanity. Why?
But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. -- Romans 5:8
Not because of anything we have done, but because God loves us! Even in our sin and filth, he decided to send His son to be among us... God with us. This is love. This is Christmas.
Happy weekend! Just a few things that I have enjoyed lately... hope you enjoy as well!
+ So apparently these may be limited time and only at participating McDonalds.... so get in your car and drive over to your MickeyD's immediately to find out if they have them... dipped cones! Hard shell of chocolate around the normal soft-serve cones= AMAZING!
+ Check out the Facebook page for the new Davies center! It's opening for a bit on Monday and I hope to be there! Maybe I can provide you all with some sneak peaks! :)
+ I'm currently digging this song...
+ I'm thinking of getting into running more... I would love to run a 5k someday. Here's a "couch to 5k" chart I found that looks like it could be promising. Maybe someday isn't too far away? :)
Don’t be
embarrassed but you can join me in raising your hand if much of a week or other
extended period of time can be remembered by what song you listened to on
repeat (riding in the car, dancing in the living room, starting it over &
over to stop messing up the lyrics)…
For me it has been the song Farther Along by Josh
Garrels.
Every time I
listen to it I am thinking or processing through something different and I just
can’t get enough. I hope you enjoy and share what you think!
1. Check out this video. Go to your local Michaels and buy one of these. Or you can find them here. [I personally love the "doodle red" one!] Commence hours of crafting.
2. Looking for a good summer jam? Well look no more! Listen to 'Some Nights' by Fun. You will be dancing night and day.
3. Also in need of a great summer tv series? Once again, your quest is over... check out 'Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.' I have no idea how you get ahold of it aside from buying it from Amazon, but do whatever is necessary to do so. You will not be disappointed. Seriously... how could this not be amazing?!
4. Check out your local thrift store [Goodwill is preferable]. You never know what you may find!
5. Spend time with Jesus! All these things might make your summer more fun, but Jesus will definitely make your summer meaningful and complete!
Editor's Note: I know Caitlin Elmore from EDGE Corps... we met out in Colorado at training back in May and have definitely been "social media" friends since- inspired by each others blogs, instagrams, etc! She serves at the University of Akron. (That's in Ohio... don't worry, I had to google it too) and has something like a bajillion siblings. Caitlin blogs over at Engraved. Her blog is deep, silly, snarky, and filled with DIY, music, and life. She recently asked me to do a "10 Things I am Loving Right Now" post for her... make sure and check it out (after reading her post of course)! Without further ado, I am SO excited for you all to read this... it's a real gem! - HB
This is the last line of a Mumford and Sons song. And I find it so beautiful. This is how I want to love... with urgency, but not with haste.
