Trash to Treasure

Antiques....ahhhhh, I absolutely love hearing that word. 
If someone ever asks, "Do you want to go antiquing?" expect an huge "YES!!". 
I'm so in love with worn down items..even if they truly aren't old and used, I like making them worn and used *insert huge smiley face here*. As a newly wed living in a small, third floor apartment in an old firehouse (and yes we have an old, antique door in here which I'm super duper OBSESSED with!), I dream and search and search for one day living in a farmhouse type house with everything repurposed or antique looking.
 (we'll see how that goes).

 Although we're not there yet, I'm super content and thankful for all that God has done for Michael and I. We're both still working two part time jobs each and waiting on God to show us His next step for us, and yet He has still provided for us in everything we need and then some. What an amazing Savior!

 I can't help but think He looks at me as I look at my antiques...a treasure that was once considered trash, but now I'm covered in the blood of Christ. He sees me as...

  something beautiful.

One of my amazing finds that I'm so in LOVE with!

(please excuse the lack of good picture quality)

You are for Me

I don't know about you, but I sure do have a lot of things, hard things, difficult things that I'm going through which I sometimes see as necessary and sometimes not so necessary. For example, I'm currently going through my very LAST! semester for Grad school. (oh my word, where has the time gone???) To acquire completing, I have to write a 30 pg. thesis incorporating all of the concepts involved in my program. YIKES!! I see this as necessary in order to graduate and receive my masters.

However, there's those times that are hard...I mean REALLY hard when you have no idea why you're going through this. You question whether something's wrong with you, or maybe God is punishing you for not spending more time with him, or.....

....or maybe, God is simply molding you into His perfect masterpiece.

James 1:2-4 talks about "counting" or choosing to have joy when we face trials because these trials of our faith produces "steadfastness" which when it has its full effect, we will be "perfect and complete, lacking nothing". 

Now, let me tell you, I am definitely not perfect, but what an amazing thought to dwell on that God is allowing testings of our faith during hard times in order to mold and fashion us to fall more in love with him, to trust in Him more, to g.r.o.w. in our relationship with Him. God is always there, rooting for us to finish the test...He is for us. Is that not something beautiful?

14 days of "i love you"

Hello February 1st...and 50 degrees? Hey, I'm not complaining :) 

As we enter into this month, many of us think of one word, "love". When I was younger, I would think of the lovely red and pink colors embedded into hearts and tiny candies throughout this month and holiday we call "Valentine's Day". I always looked forward to buying the perfect box of mini Valentine cards that I would share with my class (purposefully giving the "Be My Valentine" quotes to the girls so the boys wouldn't think I had a crush on them!). As I entered middle and high school, I tried to put more of my focus on God's amazing and gracious love for me during February. Then came 10th grade when I met Michael, my one and only Valentine for life...

Isn't he handsome!!??!! Sorry, I can't help myself... :)

This is a picture of my husband, Michael. He is the most caring, encouraging, humble, and loving man I've ever known. I'm so blessed and proud to call him my husband. :)

Whenever Michael tells me, "I love you", I often ask "Why?". I do this because I want to know what made him think to say those words. What specifically is stirring up his emotions to say those wonderful 3 words. I just find it so fascinating to listen to his explanations. Then I thought that I don't tell him why I say those words nearly as much. So, because this is our first Valentine's Day as a married couple, I wanted to make this holiday extra special by letting him know why I love him through a fun, DIY project I found on Pintrest . (Great site, but addicting so consider yourself forewarned!)

I'm a slowly developing craft person, and I found this easy to accomplish so ANYONE can do this craft. All you need is a frame with a glass front, craft paper, and an expo marker. I found this frame and craft paper at Michael's both equaling $5.30 with a 40% off coupon. (And yes I'm sick so this was a legit message :) )

What I plan to do with this bad boy is write one reason why I love Michael for the first 14 days of February. Then I plan to continue to use this project for the rest of our lives.

So ladies or gentlemen, why don't you try writing just one reason why you love someone to your spouse, fiance, boyfriend or girlfriend, or even your best friend! If not why you love them, maybe writing why you care or appreciate someone with a small note each day. What a perfect way to be something beautiful to someone special in your life for Valentine's Day!

                    "And over all these virtues put on love, 

                                     which binds them together in perfect unity" - Colossians 3:14

something beautiful

"Hey now, this is my desire. Consume me like a fire. Cause I just want something beautiful to touch me. I know that I'm in reach cause I am down on my knees waiting for something beautiful."

I don't know about you, but I'm a huge fan of the songs by the band NeedtoBreathe...especially this song. Despite how often it's played over and over again one of the radio stations I listen to, it still speaks to my heart about the craving and desire we have to see that "something beautiful" in our lives. Sometimes, I have certain days when everything...I mean EVERYTHING goes wrong: Set the alarm clock to "PM" instead of "AM", late waking up, rushing to get ready (stubbed toe, spilled coffee, and forgot my lunch due to rushing), late to work and feeling horrible about it, my husband forgot to get _____ at the store, instead of working out once home I ate half a bag of cheddar popcorn (hello guilty conscious=mad at myself), etc. etc. 

Then there are times when we have seasons when we desperately want to see God shed something beautiful in our path. We've lost someone dear to us whether from a broken relationship or their passing away. We can't  seem to make ends meet financially. Or even, we can't seem to hear God's voice or even His presence when we so desperately want it. We hit rock bottom, and cry out to Him "Where ARE you??" "Why can't you show me something....SOMETHING beautiful?"

I've gone through this so many times, I can't even keep track. When I was thinking about the beginning of this year, 2012, I felt God tugging at my heart to blog. I thought, "Well  that's great, God. What on earth do you want me to blog about?". That's when God placed this song stuck...no...cemented into my brain. The lyrics repeated over and over again. I then heard several songs on the radio that involved the theme of the word beautiful.

 (source)

That's when it clicked. That's when I realized that I want to see that "something beautiful" in my life despite the seasons of trials or the day to day mishaps. God has made and given to us so many beautiful things in our lives (loved ones, creation, music, GRACE!) to name a few.

Ecclesiastes 3:11a says, "He has made everything beautiful in its time..."

Last time I checked everything doesn't leave anything out. God has made and will make EVERYTHING beautiful in its time. How amazing is that?!?

So as I wrap up this little intro, I hope to simply be an encouragement to you to hold on to the truth that God is purposefully molding and shaping the storms, trials, highs, and lows into something wonderfully and truly beautiful