Thankful Heart

Hello friends! I am back from a wonderful fun-filled week with sleep-talking jr. high kids, wolf spiders, and sunshine! This Monday morning, I find myself overwhelmed with gratitude. The rain outside my window reminds me of the providence and care of our Lord. He certainly proves himself faithful time and time again.

Camp was truly an incredible experience. The Lord showed up every night and not only did he wreck the kids, he wrecked me. Ugly cry, snot and all. (Why can I not be a pretty cryer?) The Lord touched my heart in a way that I have not experienced in nearly a year. I knew after the last night that my life's desire is to be spent for God's glory.

I spoke one of the nights about passion. As I prepared for the talk, I looked back at my own life and saw how the Lord had developed so much passion inside of me. It is an uncontrollable emotion that exudes from the heart and cannot be missed by others. I realized that this very passion that wells up within me is the same passion that took Jesus Christ to the cross.

I received this passion from Him, and I in turn give it to others. The passion of Jesus Christ is contagious, and it is my every intention to spread it all across the world.

I saw over this past week the faithfulness of God. He was my energy when I had none, my strength when I was weak, my renewal when I felt done. He truly stood beside me as I sought his power this week for the kids. And He did not let us down.

It has been my dream for over a year now to see children encounter God as they did that last night. I saw kids called to ministry and missions. I saw kids in awe of God as they felt his manifest presence come down from Heaven. I saw the gates of Heaven open and the joy of the Lord pour out on his beloved children.

My God is faithful. My God is good. He delights in His children. All it took was a simple, "Yes." A yes to whatever God wanted to do that night.

Looking back at this week I am so grateful for my church family. I'm so grateful to witness jr. high kids experience the living God, and pass it on to me. I'm so thankful for my own family that the Lord is constantly perfecting and using to come together. I'm grateful for the blessings of a nice clean home ;) and modern conveniences. But most of all...I am grateful for a God who is intimately acquainted with His children.

It never ceases to amaze me how my God moves and changes hearts. His patience and compassion overwhelms me. I am still on the road to understanding God's love for me, but as I ask for daily revelation of His love, I see that I will never be able to truly comprehend this love. This week, however, I glimpsed his truly overwhelming love and the innumerable thoughts he has towards me.

How is it that I, a small speck in this universe, am so outrageously important and treasured by the God of all? How is it that He cares about the little details of my life? How is it that He can even see any good things, much less amazing incredible things in me? And yet He does.

I want to be the girl He sees. I want to be the girl He knows I will become. But as I sit here typing how I want to be this or that...I am reminded...I am just as He wants me to be.

So today I am thankful for who my God is and who I am because together we are perfectly one.

My God is so great, so strong and so mighty, and today I am thankful for Him.

Here is a free download I made. May it bless you and remind you that thankfulness breeds happiness.

Instructions:
1. Right click on the image
2. Click "Save image as"
3. Save to desktop
4. Print

Those Who Wait

Hello friends, and happy 4th of July week!

I pray that as we celebrate our nation's freedom, you are also able to celebrate the freedom you  have found in Christ Jesus. He is so good and so beyond all that we could ask or hope for.

This weekend has been full of fun and quite a bit of sleep, praise the Lord for that! Friday night we had our youth lock-in...13 hours with some of the most hilarious students I've ever known. Surprisingly, we all stayed up the whole night! Much to my brain and bones disliking...seriously though...I'm still recovering.

I cannot believe that today marks the first day of July. This year has flown by so quickly, but I am somewhat grateful for that. This year has come with some big challenges in many different areas, but as I look back at the past 6 months of 2013 I see my God ever faithful.

I find myself in this season of absolute hunger for the Lord. I feel very much like the Canaanite woman of Matthew 15. I am eager to eat even the crumbs that fall from Him. I want anything and everything that I can have of him whether it be his presence, his words, his encouragement, his love, his peace, anything. It's as if I cannot get enough of Him.

I know this is a good place to be, but I wonder at my getting to this point. When I sit back and look at where I am today, I realize that I really have no direction at this moment. I see myself as if I am in a small boat in the middle of the ocean waiting for orders of where to go. The ocean's vast expanse surrounds me and I sit waiting eagerly for any sign of where to go. The captain calls every now and then and I jump at the first sound of his voice, only to hear him say, "Nothing yet. Just wait." And OH how sad I am to sit back down once again and wait. Storms come and go, but my orders remain the same, "Just wait."

Friends...can I be completely honest with you? I don't really like waiting. Ok I really don't like waiting! I feel like I've been waiting my whole life, and my soul is finally about to burst. That's why I jump for every little crumb that falls from our Master's table. I am so hungry for anything I can get from Him.

I find myself sitting in this metaphorical little dinghy saying, "Please God, please just give me something to do! Anything. Anywhere. I'll do anything. Just let me do something for you!"

It is easy to become frustrated and discouraged in this place, I realize. After all, it is not quite in our nature to wait patiently. But it is then that I am reminded of Lamentations 3:25, "The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him."

What a blessed reminder. The Lord is good to those who wait.

Waiting is in and of itself one of the greatest blessings. It envelopes a secret blessing that many do not wait to uncover. 

All throughout scripture the heroes of faith were those who had to wait. I am reminded of God's creation. No flower blossoms as soon as it is planted. No child is able to labor efficiently at birth. No, all of creation must wait to reach its full potential. Even a mountain does not start large. Everything must wait to be what it is destined to fully be.

And so it is with us. We must wait in that small little boat, learning trust, patience, peace, and faith. "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1).

My God has said He is faithful (2 Timothy 2:13), that his word proves true (Psalm 18:30), and that he will not go back on his promises (Isaiah 55:11). "I have spoken, and I will do it" (Ezekiel 17:24) says the Lord.

And so as He has given me this hope, this very faith that I call my own; I can be assured that my God will not go back on His word. He has a reason for making me wait. He knows my full potential and intends to use it, but He also knows the beauty and blessing of making me wait. I do not know what lessons I have yet to learn in this waiting, but I know that what God has in store for me and for you is good. It is truly good indeed.

And so sweet brothers and sisters, I must ask for God's grace to wait faithfully where I am. To seek His face day in and day out. I long to discover the hidden blessing of waiting. I have hope in my Lord. He will not abandon or forsake me. He has not forgotten me here in this little boat. No, He watches over me and smiles at my silly impatience for He knows all that He has in store for me. He knows the adventure that awaits this little girl. 

Enjoy this free 8x10 printable I created as a reminder that the Lord is good to those who wait and continue to seek.

2013 Calendars for Free!

This week I spent some time organizing and planning out my month. I absolutely love calendars so I thought I would share some of the cutest ones I found with you!


First up is ellinee with this adorable 12 month calender. Each month has unique colors. Super cute!

Next is from The Twinery. They offer two sizes of these soft spoken calendar. I love it!

If you are a fan of all things sweet, like me, then you will need this 

delightfully sweet one by Eat Drink Chic.

I'm seriously in love with this next one. LOVE love love it! It comes from one of my favorites, Love vs. Design. They have several color palletes to choose from once you download it for free. : )

Now for some weekly calendars. 

I love this one. The colors are gentler once you print them off. They are GREAT for weekly plans. This is from TomKat Studio.

I love the color scheme on this one, and it is just straight forward and simple.

 It comes from Mommy Tracked. 

This one comes from The Project Girl and helps plan out every meal for the week. 

P.S. If you actually plan out every meal for the week...you get a standing ovation. 

That is seriously incredible!  

And there ya go! Hope you found one you like! I printed off quite a few just because they were so pretty! Here's to staying organized! Happy crafting!