Freedom

Ready is for people who trust in themselves,
Who want to live small & safe lives. 

Freedom is for people who trust in the One who made them,
Who want to live lives too big to be ready for. —Abigail Green

I want to live now, in freedom and abandon, not waiting until I'm "ready." Because in reality, I'm never really going to be ready for the big things that God will ask of me. I'm never going to be ready for them, because He wants me to rely on Him in them. Freedom. Freedom is allowing God to do what He will in your life and saying yes to what He asks, regardless of whether you feel ready or not. I don't want to live small and safe. I want to live free in Him.

//via

Attributes of God // Sovereign

I recently joined a Titus 2 Group at my church—basically a small group of young women being mentored by one or two older women. We meet once a month to discuss a book, and the group I joined is reading The Attributes of God by Arthur Pink. Our first meeting was last night, and beforehand we were given this quote and asked if we agreed with it or not, and if so, why.

“An unknown God can neither be trusted, served, nor worshipped.” —Arthur Pink

//via

I agree. But why? Why is it so important to know the God that we claim to trust, serve, and worship? If we don't know Him, who He is, His character and ways, then we have ...

+ No grounds to trust
+ No motivation to serve
+ No reason to worship

Even looking at one of the countless characteristics of God brings us to a place where we have something to stand on when it comes to relating to Him. We know a piece of Him [even it it is a teeny tiny piece!] and therefore have grounds to trust Him, motivation to serve Him, and reason to worship Him.

For example, I love that God is sovereign because it means that God is in control. He has the final say in what happens and has the complete power to make it happen. He knows what's going to happen before it does, and despite our efforts to control situations, He is the one that ultimately decides how things are going to go. Thinking on this makes me love God more. It helps me trust Him because I know He is in control, I am motivated to serve Him because I know that my future is safe in His hands, and ultimately, these truths give me reason to worship Him!

[Side note: As I think on God's sovereignty, a little part of my brain questions "But what about free will?? What about us getting to make our own choices?" And I don't really have an answer to that or really know how God's sovereignty exists within the same reality that free will does, but I do know that it does. And that's enough for me. It might not be enough for those of you who like lengthy explanations, thorough research, and facts to back it up, but for me, it's enough. It's enough to know that, yes, I do have choices, but that ultimately my life is in the hands of my Creator. That brings me peace.]

As we get to know God better, as He reveals more of His character, we come to love Him more. As we love Him more, we can then trust, serve, and worship Him.

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So why not grab your Bible and a journal and think about an attribute of God that you are grateful for. Think about some characteristic of God that makes you love Him more. Something that brings you to trust, serve, and worship Him. Explore it. Then revel in the awesomeness of our God. He is mighty, trustworthy, faithful, powerful, loving, just, merciful, wise, holy, infinite, gracious, righteous, unchanging, good, self-sufficient, jealous, all-knowing, compassionate, and so much more! What attribute of God is most precious to you right now?

Best & Worst [Marriage Edition]

So a little over a year ago I wrote this post titled Best and Worst. It was based off this quote—"I have seen the best of you, and the worst of you, and I choose both," and was all about how we are called to love people in view of their flaws and shortcomings.

I wrote that post after being in my first real adult relationship for exactly six weeks and one day. And I didn't even know the half of it.

Because this first real adult relationship continued on for a year and 3 months to where I stand today and it has changed me.

When I wrote that post a couple months of marriage, 5 1/2 months of engagement, and 8 months of dating ago, the hubs really didn't know my best and worst, and I didn't know his. We were brand new to this whole relationship thing, plus we were long distance and had probably barely even spent much time together as a couple.

But I still loved this picture, this idea, of being loved and chosen by someone who knows your best and your worst. I mean, who wouldn't love that? Besides, of course, that it's terrifying to think of someone knowing you that well.



I loved it, but I didn't really know it. And although today I know it so much better than I did on that warm day in August, I know that I still don't even know the half of it. Because yeah, I've seen more of his best and worst, and you better believe he's seen more of mine (heavier on the worst), but I'm certain we still haven't seen it all. I'm certain that over the next weeks, months, and years more bests and worsts will come out, and ultimately, more bests and worsts will be born. Because this relationship, it's changing us.

So yes, I understand more deeply what it means to be known and loved. And it's a beautiful, sweet thing. It's a thing that wells up gratefulness in me. It leads me to worship my Savior who does it completely and perfectly and who also has gifted me with an imperfect but wonderful earthly expression of this knowing and loving.

But I also know that my understanding is so minuscule, so minute, compared to the grand scheme of it all. Because every day that I am on this earth my husband gets to see a little bit more of my best and worst, and he gets to continue to choose me, to choose both. And I get to do the same with him and we get to both experience this knowing and loving from the One who does it wholly and without reserve, Jesus.

And it's a really good thing that we have a perfect example to follow. Because this knowing and loving thing, it's hard. But it's so, so worth it.

//photos via Availeth Photography

What Could Be & What Is

I've been thinking a lot lately about how selfish I am [thanks a great deal in part to a hard, but loving conversation with a dear lady in my life this last week]. And I've been thinking about how that's not what I want to be, but it feels so much like who I am. It feels like a part of me, something that's ingrained deep down. It doesn't feel like something I can just turn off, or decide one day to not be.

And I think we all have that, to some extent, something that feels like it's who we are, like it defines us, although it's the last thing we want to be. We grow used to it and so we don't notice it for awhile. We live in it and it's comfy. But then we're confronted with it. Whether it be in a conversation, an interaction, a nudge from the Holy Spirit, or just some good ol' self-reflection.

It comes like a train. It takes our breath away how sinful we are. How utterly unlike Jesus. We realize maybe we don't have things together as much as we had hoped. We cry. We get mad, maybe even defensive. We are disappointed in ourselves. We feel hopeless. But then we grow used to it again. We allow that thing that feels so much like who we are to define us again, to be comfortable.

But how I pray that I don't grow used to it this time. How I pray that I wage war on this sin that encompasses my relationships, my thoughts, and at times, it feels like my very being.

How inadequate and underprepared I feel to be marrying a man that is so very unselfish, so serving, so kind. But how very loving of God that he paired us together for the rest of our lives so that I can learn. So that I can be hit with the train that is my selfishness time and time again and not grow used to it and let it be. So that I can rip it from my life and then rip it again the next week when I see it start to inch in again.

And I know that the truth is that my selfishness, my sin—it does not define me. I know that Jesus defines me. He says I am a saint, now that I am in Him. And His voice should be the loudest when it comes to who I am. But it doesn't make the reality of my sin any less painful, any less hard.

I really am convinced that one of the most difficult things in a Christian's life is seeing what they could be and then facing their current reality. Knowing the life that Jesus calls them to live and then seeing how absolutely short they fall of that. The great chasm between what could be and what is. But it's a really good thing that, as C.S. Lewis says, "The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us.” God, please make me good. 

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Make Them Feel

I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. 
// Maya Angelou

Let's stop focusing so much on what we are saying and doing and start focusing more on how we are making others feel. I find it doesn't matter if I'm eloquent or extravagant—more often than not it's in the small, simple things that connections are made and feelings are created.

//via pinterest

The Painful Best

“We're not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us; we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be” —C.S. Lewis

Control. It's freaking hard. Most of the time I don't even realize when it's rearing it's ugly head. Most of the time I think I'm being a responsible adult and planning ahead and having my ducks in a row. But usually it all boils down to wanting to be in control of "my" life.

And then I get reminded. Reminded that it's not really my life after all. Because when it doesn't work, when there really is no way that I can be in control, I start to leak [check out this sweet post by a lovely lady about when your eyes leak]. I come apart at the seams and start to crumble. Honestly, you might even be able to call it a temper tantrum (I bet my mom would never believe that... ha!). 

Because when I'm reaching for control, I'm really just wanting things to go my way. I'm wanting things to be easy and smooth and not cause a lot of ripples. I want what I want. Mature, I know.

But thankfully I have a God who loves me too much to let me stay where I am, and a man who likes to partner with God in that daunting totally doable task. And honestly, I think God gets a little chuckle out of my tantrums when I can't control things. I think that every once in awhile He chooses to put things in my life that I have absolutely no control over so that I can be [once again] reminded who's really in control of this life I am living. So that I can be reminded to trust Him, the only one who knows what the future holds. 

And yeah, that future might be difficult and ripply, and even painful, but at least it will be for my best.
[Photo via Pinterest, design mine.]

Weekend Wrap-Up

Happy Friday! The work-week is over, so let the weekend fun begin! This week I think that these things are...

PRETTY. That couch. (Well, really that whole room). I've been a bit of a craigslist-crazy lately looking for couches. I love the look of these lower, mid-century couches. And the fabric on this one is to die for.

CLEVER. Not only is this display of test tube flower holders clever, it's also oh-so-cute. And as a bonus I think that Loverboy would probably be swooning over this scientific decor as much as I am. (However, I don't think he would call it swooning. Geeking out? Yeah, let's go with that.)

THOUGHT-PROVOKING. The church we've been going to here in the Cities never fails to serve up some hard-hitting truth.

He must crucify our pride so that we will humbly praise the crucified One alone.

—Pastor Jason Meyer, Bethlehem Baptist Church

THRIFTY. Turning an old dresser into a spruced up bookshelf? Yes please!

INSPIRATIONAL. So good, so true. It can be easy to trust God when things are going our way, but what about when they're not? Don't give in to the temptation to doubt when you believed it when things seemed better. (Amen, sister! Preaching to the choir right here.)

This weekend holds quite a bit of excitement for me as I look forward to not one, but TWO concerts, my first bridal shower, the possibility of apartment hunting and some DIY projects, and a fancy date to celebrate my awesome hubby-to-be who just scored an engineering job!! Go him! (But mostly go God!) Have any fun plans for your weekend?

[1. via flickr, 2. via sunset.com, 3. via Etsy, 4. via Kristen Delap]

All There

Holy Caboose, this is hard! To be "all there." To be fully present and engaged with whoever you are with, wherever you are at. 

No. Matter. What. 

Regardless of how much sleep you got, or how hard you've worked this week, or how fried your brain feels. Because let's be honest, there will most likely always be something that we could use as an excuse to check out, to un-engage. 

But checking out isn't really loving. It's loving on our terms. When we feel energized enough. Or focused enough. Or fill-in-the-blank-here enough.

With that being said, it's also not loving to yourself or others to not have boundaries. Boundaries help us to get enough rest, to have enough margin, and to take care of ourselves. All of which are entirely important for us to be present and engaged. 

So how do we be all there? 

We can start by finding our rest in God. Psalm 62:1 puts it well: "My soul finds rest in God alone." I'm starting to realize that as a believer, I don't get rest the same way the world does. I can nap or watch a movie or just be- which are all fine things- but if I'm not getting rest in the Lord, I can still feel just as frazzled as before. 

In the past month I have heard three separate talks where the speaker references Matthew 11:28-30. THREE talks, guys! I think I should probably pay attention to this. So anywho, Jesus says "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.”

It's a pretty famous verse about rest. But it's SO good because it comes straight from Jesus' mouth. He invites us to come. He offers rest. Real rest. Not just sit-on-the-couch-and-surf-facebook rest. He wants to teach us. He wants us to find rest for our souls and trade our heavy burdens for His light one.

So that's what I'm embracing today. That's the step I'm taking to become better at being "all there." At living fully alive and present and engaged. To find my rest in God alone. To come to Jesus and to learn what rest for my soul looks like. 

Dangerous Women Pt. 1: Living Alive

“A dangerous woman is alive! She knows she is deeply loved by God and grounds herself daily in that love. She delves deeply into the truth about who she is and claims her unique temperament, gifts, passions and dreams. She refuses to let fear stop her as she responds to God’s calling on her life. And out of her fully alive heart, she radically engages with the needs of the world.”

I L.O.V.E. this quote by Lynne Hybels! I feel like it does a super job summing up what I want for my life and for the lives of the women that I encounter on a daily basis. I love it so much that I'm going to blog about it. Not once. Not twice. But as many times as it takes me to dissect this sucker 'til there's nothing left.

So for today, we're going to take a look at the very first line: A dangerous woman is alive!

What does this mean? What does it look like for us to "live alive?" This morning I read an article over on storyline that was all about living in the present, not going numb, and choosing to be invested in all the moments of our life- the seemingly boring, hard, or painful ones included. The author talks about her friend who has gone through more than most of us will ever have to and she writes:

"She wasn’t waiting for the good part. She knows that these are the good parts, even while they’re the bad parts. She wasn’t shut down, going through the motions. She wasn’t holding tight till this season passed. She was right there with me, right there with her kids, right in all the glory and pain and mess and beauty of a spring night in between everything.That’s how I want to be. That’s who I want to be: deeply present in the present, in the mess, in the waiting, in the entirely imperfect right now."

I think that this is part of living alive. Being fully present in the mess, fully present in the boring. Not allowing our circumstances dictate whether or not we're engaged in life. Choosing to invest and feel and continue on even through the times that seem too painful to even look at.

This is what it looks like to live alive: to be so secure and safe within our Savior's arms that we can be fully present and engaged in whatever circumstances we face, whether our flesh would deem them worthy of our investment or not, safe for us to be present in or not, and exciting enough for us to be engaged or not.

I want to be a dangerous woman. I want the enemy to shudder when I wake up and the Kingdom of God to be advanced through my day. I want my life to showcase Jesus- the only one worthy of shining a spotlight on.

But for this to happen, I have to live fully alive. I can't keep choosing which moments I want to be present for and which I will just allow my brain to check out of. I can't keep going numb when hard things happen, shutting down my emotions so I don't have to feel all the things that God has put inside of me. I can't keep waiting for the next big thing to happen, just ignoring all the wonderful beautiful little things God is doing around me everyday. I have to live alive.

Check out Part 2: Grounded in Love here.

Solitude

I think this may be a summer about learning a bit more about solitude. I've had some really beautiful moments already, in which I've been able to bask in creation and soak it all up. The dock at night, hammock time, and hikes in state parks have all allowed me to just be silent (not to mention a trip to the library this afternoon!). I used to really not like solitude, silence, stillness. But I'm really beginning to appreciate them as life is continually getting busier, filled with more people, activity, and noise. 

Solitude allows me to not only be alone, but to be alone with Jesus. "Happiness only real when shared." This thought from the movie/book "Into the Wild" has struck me multiple times this week as I've experienced some incredible beauty. I have been tempted to feel lonely. I have reached out to friends, to anyone who will come experience this with me. But what I have been forgetting is that I always have my closest friend with me. I have been forgetting that yes, it may be true that happiness is only real when it's shared, but I can always share it with Jesus! 

             

 

So here's to embracing solitude this summer- to sharing my moments of wonder, awe, and happiness with Jesus.

Fill it in.

Right now God feels _____________ toward me or with me.

Fill it in.

What do you put there?
Loving, compassionate, delighted, attentive, proud, affectionate?
Angry, disappointed, overwhelmed, sad, disgusted, irritated?

Indifferent?

I've chosen that word- indifferent- more times than I'd like to admit. And although I don't think of it as super positive, I've never really seen it as a bad thing. Until reading this:

“The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference” –Elie Wiesel

So, God being indifferent about me would be one of the worst ways He could feel toward me (oops). And the thing is, this is NEVER true! God has never and will never feel indifferent toward us! He created us! 

I heard the idea recently that our deepest convictions come out of our wounds… they are what we feel and think when we lay in bed at night. So how have your wounds affected your view of how God feels about you? How does your answer to "right now God feels ___________ about me" feed into your convictions? And then what do you do with those convictions? How do you let them shape you? Your relationship with God?

What are the things that you feel and think when you lay in bed at night? How do you think these things line up with reality? That you are delighted in, cherished, and protected by an infinitely loving and forgiving Father. That you are never a disappointment, shock, or irritation to the One who created you, who chose you. This is reality. (Just check out Ephesians 1 if you don't believe me).

So, instead of filling in for God how you think He feels about you, why don't you ask Him? Keep your eyes open as you read His Word, be attentive to His still, small whisper. Ask Him to make you aware (through whatever means He chooses) of how how He really feels about you, what He thinks about you.

Jesus says “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." So go after it confidently...

You might just be surprised to see how the blank is filled in. And I will bet that you won't find the word indifferent in there.

Weekend Wrap-Up

Here's what I'll be doing this weekend! Why don't you take a peek and join me?

:Watch/Listen:

:Read:

(here)

:Make:

(here)

:Watch/Listen:

:Remember:

Happy weekend! Go out there and do something unexpected this weekend! :)

A Few of My Favorite Things

You can call it a wish list, inspiration, or late-night creativity. I call it a few of my favorite things (at the moment, subject to change, in fact, required to change, always growing, morphing, ebbing and flowing according to my mood, the design world, and yes, sadly, even our culture.)

P.S. Pssttt... did you know that The Things That Makes Us Tick is on Facebook now? Check it out! (and go ahead and click that "like" button while you're at it!)

Guest Post: Love God and Do as You Please

Editor's Note: Jenny Tokheim currently lives in Spain where she is part of a program called G42 Leadership Academy. She gets to look at the Mediterranean Sea all the time (that's what I gather from her Facebook photos) and grow and learn and hang out with really sweet people. I met Jenny when I spent the summer after my freshman year serving alongside with her with an organization called TeenServe. In the past four years, she has been an immense encouragement to me and my walk with Jesus. Jenny blogs over at Jenny4Jesus, where she has tons of neat ponderings, poems, and photos... check it out for more about her life in Spain! - HB

Love God and Do as You Please

When HB asked me to write a little ditty for her lovely blog, I wasn’t quite sure which direction to run in. I like to share about what Jesus is up to in this heart and mind of mine, but honestly, God has been shaping me in such crazy ways in this current season that I don’t recognize myself from week to week. It is a good thing to be shaped by the love of God.

I’m in a season of life and a place where Kingdom dreams get hashed out and brought to life, and in the spirit of that dreaming and planning, I wanted to issue a little challenge. It isn’t going to be long, at least in print, but if you really take some time and search that heart of yours, I think you’ll find some hidden [or not so hidden] treasure.

Over the past year, a quote from St. Augustine has been brought up numerous times, and I believe it’s worth some consideration. It’s seemingly a bit controversial, but I don’t believe it has to be too complicated.

“Love God and do as you please.”

Now that’s a loaded statement. Set aside what you think you know for a moment. Take a deep breath.

What if God has placed, in that very heart of yours, a Kingdom dream, a Kingdom purpose for His glory that would cause your heart to jump up and down with excitement? What if the outcome of your life with God was not only full of holiness, but also really exciting?

Friend, here’s the challenge:

Ask Him. Ask Him how He’s made you. Search that heart of yours that longs to serve Him, and I think you’ll find a beautiful dream for His glory. Reading this blog posting of mine won’t change your life, friend, but interacting and dreaming with the Living God certainly will. You can take my word for it.

So go! Right now! Pull out some paper and a pen, go for a walk, start playing some tunes---do whatever it is you do to meet with God, and ask Him to show you what, “Love God and do as you please,” means in your own life. Perhaps He’s given you a passion that you never thought was “spiritual enough” to be used for His glory. Maybe you’ve forgotten a part of your heart’s cry in order to be successful or accepted. Or, maybe you just need to be encouraged by the truth that God cares about that heart of yours.

Enjoy Him and this life He’s given you!

Joyfully His,

Jenny

Free Printables: Fear vs. Love

Got back from Les Miserables at the cheap seats and was feeling artistically inspired... so I've popped these babies our for ya'll... what better way to spend a Monday [super-duper-late-for-me] night? Enjoy!

For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. 2 Timothy 1:7 

here.

here.

here.

Children Drop Your Chains and Sing

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. 

Weekend Wrap-Up

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!

music.

FREE Jenny & Tyler music at Noisetrade!

inspiration.

diy.

1. Buy Bulletin Board

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.

food.

[image here]

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!