Sneak Peak: Bedroom

I'm back! I'm back! And this is my very first time writing as Mrs. Heather Douglas. And boy, do I love the sound of that! The Mr. and I got back from our honeymoon on Friday and have hit the road running this weekend on getting our apartment put together! There's a lot still in process, but I wanted to give you just a little sneak peak into one of my favorite rooms of the house... our bedroom! 

We (well, let's be real, the bridesmaids and I) had made this ribbon as a backdrop to be hung from the arch we got married under, but it ended up being a bit too windy the day of our wedding. So instead, we hung it above where we sat at the reception and it was still perfect. As I was making it I was definitely envisioning it going over our bed after the wedding so I was so happy to see that it turned out!

We got this lovely brass headboard for just $25 on craigslist! I love the shine that it brings into the room and it goes great with the framed art above the bed!

This gem can be found at Hobby Lobby... which if you live in the cities... get excited... drumroll please... they are opening a location in Maple Grove! I almost peed in delight when the lady in Duluth told us (we snagged this puppy on our honeymoon). However, I think Loverboy might be a little frightened. For our bank account. It's kinda reasonable. [Kidding, hunnnyyy]. ;)

I just love this space! I love that there's a reminder of our wedding day right above our bed, and I just love how everything came together so nicely. Keep your eyes peeled for more sneak peaks and hopefully a room reveal or two in the near future!

P.S. Married life rocks! My champ of a husband just walked in the door with this. Parks and Rec and chinese take-out sounds pretty amazing right now! Peace out!

Guest Post: Expressions of Gratitude

Editor's Note: I am so grateful (hehe) to be bringing you a new guest post today! Since the wedding is right around the corner I thought I'd feature some lovely ladies that I think you should know. So without further ado, meet Tanya. Tanya and I met a couple years ago in beautiful Colorado during our training for Navigators Staff. She exudes peace and joy wherever she goes. Tanya lives in the Midwest with her husband, David, who is attending Medical School. Their life so far has been everything but what they have expected or even hoped. Tanya’s blog, Blissfully Sweet, is an avenue for her to express the joys of life happening now. There is joy in life. And it is meant to be shared and celebrated. 

Expressions of Gratitude

I first started blogging to document things I was grateful for. When I first started my journey to cultivating a heart of joy based on truth and thanksgiving, I had no idea what I would discover. I did not realize the darkness of my ungrateful heart and did not know the profound intimacy thanksgiving would create with my Savior.

I read books related to the topic of thanksgiving. Many of which challenged my thinking and increased my knowledge about the discipline. If you haven’t read 1000 Gifts by Ann Voskamp or Choosing Gratitude by Nancy Leigh DeMoss, I suggest ordering either book now. Although these authors’ wisdom helped me grow in this area, the reflection of thanksgiving in the Spirit of Jesus is what made me choose to have gratitude in my life (because let’s face it, if we are not thankful, we are choosing to be ungrateful and discontent).

Jesus’ expressions of gratitude in the gospels provide practical application to cultivate a heart of thanksgiving.

Jesus expressed worship and awe.After the return of the 72 in Luke 10, "he [Jesus] rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, ‘I thank you Father...’" Jesus was in awe of the Trinity’s work and his response was to thank the source.

Singing to the Lord is a wonderful aid in worshiping and expressing thankfulness. “Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; make melody to our God on the lyre!” Psalm 147:7. Some of my favorite songs to sing are “10,000 Reasons” by Matt Redman, “It Is Well With My Soul” by Horatio Spafford, and “The House of God Forever” by Jon Foreman.

Jesus expressed trust and surrender to God’s will. Many of us are familiar with the story of Lazarus in John 11; how Jesus raised him from the dead. But what I have overlooked so many times is found in verse 41, “And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, ‘Father, I thank you that you have heard me.’ “ He expressed “thanks” before he commanded Lazarus to come out. How often do we give thanks as an afterthought?

Doesn’t the test of faith and act of surrendering to God’s will happen without knowing the outcome? Gratefully trust Him with all things.

“Give thanks in all circumstances for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18

A great way to foster all things is to keep a journal of things to be thankful for.

Jesus expressed sacrifice and service. Knowingly at the end of Jesus’ life, in the midst of betrayal and a trial that would lead to his crucifixion, He gave thanks (Luke 22:17,19) at the Last Supper. He was grateful for the sacrifice he would make and the service he was sent to complete for our justification and salvation. We too can express gratitude and speak up, offering sacrifice and service for the sake of the gospel.

“One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts.

...

“They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds, and I will declare your greatness. They shall pour forth the fame of your abundance goodness and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.”
Psalm 145:4, 6–7

Excuses, Excuses [And a contest with a (possible) prize!!!]

You can definitely tell wedding time is approaching (NINE days, guys!) by the lack of blogposts around here. Especially any posts related to my super-excitement about apartment styling, decorating, projects, and more. Wanna know why? Because our apartment is an explosion right now. I'd love to say it looks even remotely like it did when we did the living room reveal but that would just be a flat-out lie. My steam has run out for the time being in regards to that place as wedding planning has budged in line to top priority and as I for some reason own a million and one things and just keep moving in more and more stuff [sorry loverboyyyyy... but thanks for putting up with all of it! <3].

So anyway, I thought I would just inform you all that there WILL be more [hopefully lots more] room reveals and house projects to come, it just might be a bit later than anticipated. Like picture after the wedding, honeymoon, and massive amounts of unpacking, cleaning, and organizing.

And yeah part of me feels a tiny twinge of guilt for hyping everything up and promising more soon, but then the rest of me remembers that this blog doesn't run my life, that real life is messy and unexpected and down-right tiring, and that sometimes I'd rather lounge on the couch with my sweetie watching Parks and Rec than unpack those 17 cardboard boxes staring us in the face. Yeah. Sounds about right.

So, until you get to see more pretty pics of our place and what we're doing around there, let me keep you entertained and inspired by some lovely bedroom spaces.The first person to comment as to what is in one of the pictures below that we own and have in our place WINS! Not sure what you win yet... maybe just the satisfaction of being a winner... or it could be a secret surprise. Prize TBD. Reeeallll enticing, I know. Get to it kiddos!

1  //  2  //  3  //  4  //  5  //  6

**UPDATE: We have a winner... Stacy Biesterveld! Congrats! Your prize is the knowledge that you are a winner and public recognition of such knowledge here! [and maybe a lil somthin-somethin coming your way... we'll see what happens with the craziness of life right now :)**

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. 

//via

Weekend Wrap-Up

Tonight I'm heading up north for a weekend with the fam. I'm excited to escape the urban landscape for a short bit and trade it in for lakes and woods!

This week I thought that these things were...

Delish. 
HOLY YUM. Go. To. Cupcake. [why yes, I did have this for breakfast]

Wise.

"Most foundationally, marriage is the doing of God. And ultimately, marriage is the display of God. It displays the covenant-keeping love between Christ and his people to the world in a way that no other event or institution does. Marriage, therefore, is not mainly about being in love. It's mainly about telling the truth with our lives. And staying married is not about staying in love. It is about keeping covenant and putting the glory of Christ's covenant-keeping love on display." 

—John Piper, This Momentary Marriage

Fun.

Check out The Timeline Project to make an inspirational goal list... you can see mine below!

Well, I'd love to keep sharing inspiring and interesting things with you, but the truth of the matter is that my mac is about to run out of battery... so let's call it good, shall we? :) Have a fabulous weekend!

Giver > Gifts

Do you desire what God can give you more than you desire Him?

This would be like [as ladies] yearning for the lawn to be mown, the car to be fixed, and the spiders to be killed—when in reality we're really yearning for the intimacy with a man from whom those gifts might flow. It's the same with God- when I'm yearning for spiritual gifts, or blessings, or answers to prayers, I'm actually desiring the intimacy with God that those gifts would naturally flow from.

We should choose the Giver over the gifts. The Creator over the creation. But even as I write this I know there's still something wrong with my thinking... as I write "should."

So my simple reminder today and probably for the rest of my life [because let's be real, lessons like this aren't just learned overnight] is this: Giver > Gifts. The Giver is more important than, bigger than, and to be desired, loved, worshipped, enjoyed, savored, yearned for, and thanked over the gifts.

Notice my reminder isn't Giver Gifts. Gifts are still good! Heaven knows my heart flutters for my man every time he saves me from a giant spider [one of the non-perks of an older place], but if that's all I want him around for then there's a problem. Gifts are good. The Giver is better. Seek HIM first, friends. He is bigger. He is better. All good things flow from Him.

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. —Matthew 6:33

30 Days and Counting

One month.

Four Weeks.

Thirty Days.

It's so close. 

This has been my mantra every day for the last couple months, and is even more important in this final month before our wedding...

I'm so super excited for the details. For the decorations, the food, the music. I can't wait for the photos, the dancing, the dress. But above and beyond [a million lightyears] all that is the moment that we vow our lives, our beings, our souls to each other for the rest of our days on this earth. The moment that we declare our decision to choose each other every day. That's what it's all about. And in front of God and our friends and family, we will covenant our lives to each other and we will celebrate [read: PARTY] and at the end of the day, we will be married. *insert happy dance here*