{detoxing}

This weekend I attended Disciple Now, a retreat with my church.  The focus of this weekend was to detox.  To empty ourselves of worldly things that have caused distortion in our minds and refill ourselves with eternal things that will bring clarity back to our minds.  Refill our minds with: 
 Things that will not fade but last forever. 
Things that may go directly against what the world tell us is right. 
Things that will bring eternal joy, not instant joy. 
Things that the Lord tells us are good, and pure. 
Things that will cause radical change to occur in your life. 

Let me just say, those are the kinda of things I want in my world.  

Valentine's Day Lovin'

"Good friends are hard to come by.  Friends that encourage and uplift are  honey to the soul."  ~ Ashley Ann Campbell 
Good friends are honey to the soul.  
Good friends can make any day better with a simple smile.  
Good friends are so important have.
 They can influence you in ways you didn't know you could be influenced. 
They can challenge you in areas of your life that you  didn't even know needed improvement.    I am so thankful for the friendships that I have and I do not  want to take them for granted. 
On days like Valentine's Day you see all that love.  Its really just a great time to stop and say just how thankful we are for each other.  I have some super sweet, creative friends that brought me these yummy treats. 

Coffee and Old Folks

My sweet papa turned 75 today and we had to celebrate! This is my mom's dad, they live in town and we see them often.  I adore him. He is such a loving soul who always has a story to tell!  Whether its a story about his time spent in southern California fighting forest fires, or growing up with SO MANY siblings, there is always a interesting story to be heard.  If you listen carefully you will realize this is how he reveals himself and the things that stick out in his mind.  

My mom is the middle of three girls and there are 8 of us cousins.  The oldest cousin, Britney, just had her first born.  He was born at the end of December but since they live out of state lots of friends, and family members were had not gotten to meet him yet.  They were dying to meet baby Connor.  He is so dang cute, if I can say so myself! We had a big celebration today to celebrate the arrival of baby Connor, and my papa's 75th birthday! It was quite the day between sipping coffee with the old folks, and snuggling with a soft newborn!  

Girls are headed to State!!

A couple of months ago I did about 14 fabric monogrammed sweatshirts for St James volleyball team.  They were headed to state, and these were a gift from their parents I believe.  They were very fun to do but because of the quantity it took forever! But they turned out very well, and the girls were so happy with their new sweatshirts!! 

Ohh just kidding

"Just as damaging as a madman shooting a deadly weapon is someone who lies to a friend and then says, "I was only joking." - Proverbs 26:18-19
Has anyone ever said something mean to you or about you but then proceeded to claim they were "just kidding?" I hear it all the time.  Unfortunately, I am all to guilty of it too.  I just do not understand how or when it became okay to say hurtful things with "just kidding" at the end and all of the sudden its not so bad? Or not as rude?  Or it isn't supposed to hurt as bad? But news flash it does. I am so confused as to why someone can say something hurtful and expect it to be excused just because you were "just kidding".  Because usually your not. Your not just kidding.  Those words, those feelings, yeah they came from somewhere and chances are that is really what you thought.  That's why you said it!  Y'all just because you stick "just kidding" or "jk" at the end of a sentence does not excuse the hurtful words preceding it.  
We need to be more conscious of our words.  By not saying the first thing that pops into our brains but filtering the things we say to encourage and build each other up. "Sticks and stones may break your bones but words may never hurt you." Could possibly pass as the BIGGEST lie ever told.  It is so not true.  Words hurt.  Real real bad.  
"Words can build us up Words can break us down Start a fire in our heart or Put it out" - Hawk Nelson    These song lyrics could not be anymore true.  Words can build us up, they can make you feel so good about yourself. They also can break you down so far that you don't even want to get back up. We have to learn to control our words and not let things like "just kidding" be our excuse anymore.  Your words can make a huge impact on someone.  On someone's mood, on their day, on their week, or maybe even on their life.  All to often I think we say things without thinking, or say them without realizing that they may actually hurt the person we are saying them too.  Just because you say you are "just kidding" does not make those mean words hurt any less than any other mean words.  
"Kind words are like honey - sweet to the soul and healthy for the body"   Proverbs 16:24
Our words have to power to be used for good yet so often they are used for evil.  But thankfully we each have the power to change that.  We have to be more careful about the things that come our of our mouths. We need to learn to control our tongue and not use "just kidding" as an excuse anymore because it does not excuse anything. 

Holiness is Beautiful

I hear girls say all the time "I wish I was prettier" or "need to lose weight to be prettier" or " I just don't feel pretty" and it makes me so sad.  So sad that what they are actually striving for is very weak.  Pretty is a weak weak word.  Everybody has a different opinion of what pretty actually is. Thats why its not about just being pretty.  Its about being beautiful.  How often do you look in the mirror and find yourself thinking negative thoughts?  How often do you find yourself comparing yourself to others, models, or people in magazines?  All too often we look for our beauty in all the wrong places.  How your hair looks today, if your face is broken out or not, or even what type of bag you have on your shoulder does NOT define your beauty.  

Beauty is much deeper than that.    m u c h m u c h  d e e p e r   Your beauty is found in your holiness.

"Give to the Lord the glory due His name; Bring an offering, and come before Him. Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness!" Chronicles 16:29 

Holiness is beautiful.  Honoring the Lord is holy and holiness is beautiful.  Instead of chasing after the impossible worldly standards for beauty, chase after the Lord.  Once we stop chasing worldly things and began chasing everlasting things, it is only then that we will be truly find our beauty.   Our beauty in Christ.  The world tries to tell girls that to be liked and to fit in you have to a certain look. Your hair, make-up, clothing everything has to be just right. You have lose all your morals and values to fit in.  That's just NOT true.   You can be BEAUTIFUL without conforming to the world.  
"Women who are concerned with being pretty think about what they look like, but women who are concerned with being beautiful think about what they are looking at." ~ Glennon Melton 
Beautiful women take the time to fill themselves up with beautiful things. Things that are beautiful to you may be different for somebody else. Beautiful people make time to fill themselves up with good and pure things. So that beautiful things flow your their mouths and their actions.  A beautiful person is a person who fears the Lord.    "She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue"  Proverbs 31:26. 
Words of wisdom and kindness flow from the mouths of beautiful people. It is magical.  Beautiful people are contagious to be around.  When you find yourself around a beautiful person you will notice the way they make you feel, you will not even notice their hair or their clothes because you will be so distracted by the way they make you feel.  

26 

So girls join me in 2014 as I strive to be beautiful! 

Christmas Card Fun

The weeks leading up to Christmas I met up with a few families for Christmas Card pics!  Oh it was so much fun!  

 

 

 

Little man was asleep and his mama woke him up, took him out of the warm car, into the freezing cold so to say the least he was an unhappy camper. But luckily we managed to get a smile out of him!