Summer Visit From Grandpa

Visits in the summer are LIFE!!! We were so blessed to have a visit from grandpa last week!  It was a blast!  Since my job is a little bit more flexible, I was able to spend extra time with him!  We enjoyed time at Stauvie Island, had lunch by the water and even found a tavern in the middle of the forest one day!

We were also able to visit my brother-in-law, sister-in-law and their sweet kiddos out at Whisbey Island! It was so nice to spend some much needed time with family!  Living far away from our Texas family has been tough so getting a chance to be with family was such a blessing!  Here are some precious moments from that visit!

Grandpa stayed there and spent some time with his other son and hubby and I took the ferry back from the island and oh how fun that was!!  The ocean is certainly my happy place!

High Five For Friday - Meet Holly

High Five For Friday Number One:

Meet Holly Addis, the newest member of our family! I'm thankful for early Christmas gifts from the hubby!!! Love her so much already!

High Five For Friday Number Two:

REST!!!!! Lots of rest this weekend!

High Five For Friday Number Three:

Along with rest, it will be Life Coaching business catch up time! I have my FIRST payed clients and need to get their plans together! Super thankful for God's gifts and allowing me to help others!!!

High Five For Friday Number Four:

Growing in God....WOW! I am growing so much that it feels like my WHOLE perspective has changed drastically! My view on the local church has changed and the things that used to be important to me are not important to me any longer. I have researched and dove into scripture to find out what God really says about the church. (A blog on this soon to come....actually probably a series on this, one won't cover it). God is just amazing!!!!

High Five For Friday Number Five:

Love.

I am so thankful and blessed and honored to be this man's wife!!!! Love. Love. Love.

Love Without You

This morning in my Bible study, God gave me this quote that I couldn't shake off until I wrote it down, "We can never truly love others until we truly can see past ourselves." God is so amazing how He works 'cause shortly after I wrote that quote down, I ran across this scripture:

“Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus."Philippians 2:1-5

Is that confirmation that He was truly speaking to me, or what? As I read this scripture a flood of different emotions filled my spirit; joy, anger, sadness, confusion, happiness, thankfulness....all went through me at once. Why would I feel all of these emotions? I'lll share because maybe you can relate! I felt joy in the thought of being united with Christ and finding comfort in His love. Anger that sometimes when I need tenderness and compassion that it isn't given to me by others. Sadness that sometimes I, myself, do not value others above myself. Happiness and thankfulness at the thought that even though I fail in this every single day, God still beacons me to have the same mindset as He. He doesn't beacon me to this because He thinks I'm this great human being that has super powers but because He knows He designed me perfectly. He knows that in my heart of hearts, I have a heart that beats as His own and blood that flows through my veins as His. 

So many times we get caught up in our own story, in our own feelings and in our own thoughts that we forget to love like Him. We forget that somebody is hurting, somebody is grieving, somebody is battling real battles that mean something to them. I'm learning this. I'm learning that my own story isn't all that's going on in the world. Somewhere somebody has just lost a parent or a sibling. Somewhere somebody's husband has committed adultery and has abandoned the family. Somewhere a child is hungry and sick with nobody to love them or care for them. There is hurt and tragedy all around us and all I know to do is to love without limits and love without boundaries because the world needs it! The world needs it now more than ever!

We have to learn to love without our own issues in the mix.....we have to love because God loves. We have to be intentional about seeing others the way God sees them. His love is so selfless and inspiring that I can't help but desire His heart. Today, I encourage you to love with a God heart! 

Be Peace

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you made some wrong choices? What did you do in that moment or after the fact?  Did you repent?  If other people were involved, did you seek forgiveness?  Did you admit to God, yourself, and others your wrong doings? 

"So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin." James 4:17

It's hard to humble ourselves and admit our wrong doings and it is also hard to humble ourselves and ask others or even God for forgiveness.  Admitting we are wrong makes our pride wall go up and we do not want to put it down!  We are afraid that others will view us badly or look down at us.  We tend to get so concerned with the judgement of people that we forget who's judgement can destroy a land.  God's wrath is real and He still holds people accountable for actions.

Peace is connected to humbleness and when we can humble ourselves to others and to even ourselves, wow, the peace that follows that humbleness is amazing! God honors the moments in life when we can humble ourselves, admit our wrongs, and seek forgiveness. He shows us grace and allows a shift to happen in our lives.  He allows growth and change to happen in us and this growth empowers us to do life differently.  That one moment of humbleness and repentance can change our whole lives forever!!

Never underestimate the power small moments have in our lives.  A small moment of ego; whether it is trying to prove you are right and somebody else is wrong, or refusing to admit your wrongdoings, or putting blame on other people and not allowing yourself to grow in a situation are small moments that if not handled Godly, can keep us stagnant in life.  These moments and small events in our life are HUGE!  God doesn't care about our reputation as much as He cares about our character.  He will use these moments to evaluate where our heart really is and if we are ready for His movement in our lives.

A small incident or event in our life where we do not show humbleness and shadow our wrongs with ego and immaturity WILL have a lasting effect on our journey!  When we encounter grace and humbleness, we can't help but to change inside and to open the doors to God's goodness.  The grace of God empowers us to be radically changed but we have to step aside from ourselves. We have to be willing to release the ego and allow our hearts to be kind, honest, and pure.  

What is holding you back from that freedom?  Is it a small argument with a friend or a family member?  Somebody within your church family?  Is it a reaction to a spouse or a child? What decisions whether big or tiny are keeping you from God's complete goodness in your life? Ask Him, pray about it and follow His lead.  Do not let arrogance, fear, or ignorance keep you from doing what is right!  Obedience is not easy but it is worth it!

What is the soul of your existence?  If it's Jesus then be love today.  Be humble. Be graceful.  Be kind.  Be peace. 

Summer Catch Up

I'm super excited for my periodic catch up!

It has been an awesome past few months of newly wed bliss, friendship, Church, Ministry, writing, and family!

My girlfriends and I have been able to spend lots of time together over the past few months and that's amazing in itself.  We went through a season of business and ALL of us gals were always super busy, so it's been nice to enjoy time and fellowship with one another this summer.

"As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." Proverbs 27:17

Ministry has been so much fun since my promotion!  It is a lot different from my position as Generation's assistant. It has been so much fun learning and growing!  I have truly enjoyed working at the Church in both admin assistant position and now in my Life Group Coordinator position.  God has truly blessed me!!!

National Pink day was in June and of course, I participated!!!  Everybody knows how much I LOVE LOVE pink!!!!

It's no secret that summer is not generally my favorite season; however, I have to admit that summer nights with family and friends are always awesome!

Bowling night with the fam happened only once this summer but that's ok....it was a great night!

Family visits in the summer are always a blast!!!

And of course who can forget lazy cat days!

Summer is also a season of fun holidays!

I celebrated my first Father's Day with my new father-in-law.  It was really neat to plan a father's day lunch with my new family!  We also meshed up with my dad and took him to his favorite thing to do in the world, GOLF!

and YES, that is my adorable sweet nephew above!  CUTENESS! 

4th Of July is one of my other favorite summer holidays!  This year Darin and I hosted at our tiny apartment and it was SO MUCH FUN!!!!  We had family and friends over and meshed families!  Talk about fun!

And who can forget summer weddings??  My Mom's best friend from her younger days got married to the love of her life this summer and it was such a beautiful day!

Summer loving is always so much fun and so are dates to the library with the hubby!

To conclude our awesome first summer as a married couple, we moved into our beautiful new home!!!  We have had so much fun unpacking and shopping for new furniture and just starting our lives together in a spacious beautiful home!  I cannot wait to dress our home up in FALL AND WINTER ( MY FAVORITE SEASONS) WOOHOO!

Needless to say, marriage has been so good to me!  I have had so much fun as a newly wed and I have the most amazing husband, I have no idea what I did to deserve Darin!  I'm so excited for fall and all of our fall and winter adventures!!!

Loving One Means Loving The Other

A reader that reads my blog sent me an email yesterday asking for prayer and advice on an issue she has with her brother not liking her new husband.  I didn't respond until this morning.  I'm not an expert on marriage, I've only been married for a little over a month, and I wanted to pray about it and make sure I spoke with wisdom and not emotion and not a text book answer formed from my psychology education.

I thought I would share my thoughts on this topic because I feel like this is such an important topic.

 Our relationship with our spouse, next to our relationship with God, is the MOST important and sacred relationship we will ever have.  Yes, I say EVER.  It's more important than our relationships with our parents, children, siblings, friends, co workers etc.  Our spouses are the ones who take care of us when we are sick, pray with us when we are frustrated and struggling, hold us when we cry late at night, battle the world of finances with us, share in every joy, laugh with us late at night when we wake up thinking it's morning....and the lists go on.  My spouse is the one I go to for every little thing, he is my best friend!

I was so sad Thursday morning after hearing about an old college friend who passed away the day before, that I couldn't even find something to wear to work.  I stood in my closet for ten minutes and came out flustered because I forgot what I was even doing in there.  Who is the one I counted on to find an outfit for me to put on because my heart was so heavy that I couldn't even focus enough to find something to wear? My husband.

Yes, I have amazing family and phenomenal friends who go above and beyond for me and I value those relationships to the moon and back but I take to heart Mark 10:8 when scripture tells us, two become one flesh in marriage.  

As Christ followers we should always support and love our family members or friend's spouses.  

I had a conversation with Pastor Carl a couple of weeks ago about marriage when he asked me how I was enjoying the married life. I told him how amazing it was and that it was not what I expected.  I expected it to be amazing but being married is more than amazing, it is something you can't really put into words.  It's so holy and sacred.  You think you know what marriage will be like when you aren't married but then you get married and it is more than what you even could have imagined.  It's awesome!  He then talked to me about how that alone is why the enemy is always out to destroy and attack marriages, because of the amazing and holy bond a husband and wife share.

Do not be one of satan's tools he uses to attack a marriage.  Unless there is some kind of physical harm or abuse going on, learn to love the spouse and even then, you should still love them and advise your loved one to seek professional help to deal with the situation.  However, right now, I'm not talking about those harmful situations, I am talking about the petty reasons as humans we choose to not love or like others.  I have news for you..... that spouse you dislike or hate are now one with your loved one and you can't hate or dislike one and expect your relationship to be the same with the other.  Either you will feel a relationship slip away slowly or you will be a reason for a discord in marriage.  I took this blog email to heart because I have seen so many marriages that could have been saved, end up falling apart because family and friends chose to ignore the marriage vowels and encourage divorce or cheating.

Love is powerful and even more powerful between a husband and wife.  If you see a problem in a marriage or you have a valid reason to "dislike" that spouse.....pray for them and pray for their marriage to blossom and more than anything.....don't just pray for them but LOVE them through the tough times and change.  Marriage is AMAZING but it is also different and challenging at times.  None of us are perfect and just like in life, marriages need seasons of growth.  Husbands and wives become phenomenal in time.  It takes time to become the spouse we are meant to be!  Give people a chance and learn to love.  If you are married; I promise, you weren't the perfect spouse at the beginning and neither was your spouse.  If you aren't married......you will understand one day.

                              This is also a good motto to have for those spouses you don't like.....

There Is Beauty In Difficult Relationships

So, over the past few months I have really dealt with learning how to let difficult people go.  I have to say that I have not really had to face too many people who "dislike" me nor have I really had a lot of enemies in my lifetime, so learning how to deal with this topic and not let it effect me or the people in my life is an amazing blessing!  I am learning how to really dig deep inside of me and know who I am in Christ and know who I am as a beautiful Christian woman and where satan means it to hurt me (it has hurt but I haven't let it get to me like the enemy wants) God is using this opportunity to help me with my confidence.  

"When you have to turn and walk away from somebody, you walk straight into the arms of Jesus." Dr. Charles Stanley

So, true.  Remember, that Christ himself was persecuted both physically and verbally.  So, if we are to be an Image of Christ than we must use moments in life to build our character and form us more into His image.  If you are facing enemies, use the opportunity to dig deep down and know who we are no matter what somebody else says or how hurtful the rejection is.  Obedience to this is one of the most awesome things!  When we walk away from hurtful situations, we walk straight into the arms of Christ for His comfort!   

"The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit." Proverbs 18:21

Not only do difficult times with other people give us a chance to build up our character within but it also gives us a chance to really exemplify Christ in you outwardly.  If somebody has hurt you, frustrated you, upset you, we still have to show love.  Yes, it is hard when somebody "gets" to you but remember that a merciful person does not expose a person's faults just for their own personal gain.  It is a beautiful beautiful thing when we protect even our enemies and we don't talk bad about them.  I'm not going to lie, I have had moments of "slip" ups with allowing my frustrations to get the best of me.  So, do not fret if this has been a challenge for you.  There is forgiveness, redemption, purification, and the gift of change when we lay it all down at the foot of the cross.  

"A troublemaker plants seed of strife; gossip separates the best of friends." Proverbs 16:28

We have to also be careful with "venting".  Venting is most of the time really "gossip" and for some reason people seem to think "venting" is an excuse to talk badly about somebody else but it isn't.    Gossip is hurtful and a very sinful act of the tongue!  Remember, those seeds are planted and not just with the person you are talking about but for yourself.  Gossip hurts you as well, if not more!  You might not feel the repercussions right away but eventually you will. Gossip is a very very dangerous ground to walk on when it comes to the tongue.  If you need to talk to about the "issue" or how somebody else frustrates you, talk to God!  One of the things I have learned from the amazing women in my Church is that God is the BEST person to talk to because He knows the other person as well!  He can offer you peace by not only comforting you but also speaking grace into your heart for the other person.  He loves all of us and He understands all of our hearts and where we all are and why we do the things we do.  He can give us that grace, love, and peace towards the other person that we need in order to show the love that He commands us to show others, even our enemies. We NEED Him to help us with such a huge task because this is hard.  I mean, He invented friendships for a reason, right?  There is a fine line between "discussing" and "gossip" and trust me, I'm still learning this myself.

One of the other things the Bible has taught me is to never openly confront somebody in front of others where it can cause embarrassment.  Remember, we still have to love, even our enemies.  You go to your brother or sister privately and try and straighten out the issue just between you two.  If that doesn't work then you have a choice to take another brother with you, according to the Bible, or simply let it go.  In my most recent case, I chose to just let it go and let God.  We can't give up the power to control our own happiness and so in order to keep that control of your own life and happiness, you have to hand it over to God.  Let Him deal with it.  Perhaps there are things in your heart and the other person's heart that He needs to still work on.  No problem.  TRUST HIM!  He always fights for us and for peace!  

God has invested a lot of time into you, so don't lose your worth on how somebody else has treated you or what they say about you cause you then lose joy in your life.  Our worth and value are not in what we do or in what others think or say about us, our worth is in the fact that we are children of God.  Remember, whatever we sow, we reap and this includes our thoughts.  Our thoughts are seeds, so you must continue to think positive and good about yourself and about your life and about the amazing plans God has for you.  Protect your thoughts and wrap every thought in love.  We cannot harm another with our thoughts, we only harm ourselves! 

We can't change yesterday but we can be happy, courageous, and encouraging today.  We can start again by forgiving others and ourselves and declare today the first day of the rest of your life.  God gives us the gift of u-turns and new beginnings, so utilize these gifts!  There is nothing we have done that cannot be fixed by God.  The battle belongs to Him, so let Him fight it for you! God wants us to stop talking about the days of the past and look forward and embrace the new days ahead! 

Love is.....

Love is when it is a beautiful day outside but I don't want to enjoy a beautiful walk without my other half.

A Princess Turned 5

While we were in Colorado, we were able to celebrate Little Rachel's FIFTH BIRTHDAY!  The theme was little black dress and pearls, HOWEVER........ Little Rachel decided she wanted to wear her PINK easter dress.  Birthday girl gets what birthday girl wants!  Absolutely love that girl!