Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens...

Sound of Music is one of my favorite movies, and it is the inspiration behind this blog post  :)

Here are a few of my favorite things:

10.  Mexican food = my weakness

9. Doing puzzles 

(especially Charles Wysocki and Hometown Collection)

8. Working out

(specifically Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred)

7. Teaching

6. Cooking Healthy Meals  :)

and... 

5.Dreaming 

(I don't know if you know this, but I'm a total dreamer.  

I am excited for my future spouse and raising a family.)

4. The Countryside

(preferably in rainy Washington  :)

3. Real true friends

2. My family

1. My bible...aka my lifeline

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavely lights, who does not change like shifting shadows."

~James 1:17

Did you know I have sisters?

"For you, O God, tested us; you refined us like silver."

~Psalm 66:10

God has been doing a lot of refining in my life lately, and in the lives of those around me.  He is so faithful to surround us with people to help us on this journey of life.

I am so thankful for the amazing roomies that He has blessed me with--they are such an incredible encouragement.  They always help me fix my eyes on Jesus--the author and perfecter of my faith.  We have started doing roommate dates each week every Monday night.  We sit down for a meal together and talk about the Lord and what He is doing in each of our lives.  We laugh lots together, sometimes we cry together and we always pray for each other.  I can't reiterate enough how much they mean to me.

Today, I am thankful for true friends--the friends that are there to rejoice with me, and cry with me.  The friends who care enough to call me out when I'm wrong and to encourage me when I'm seeking after God's very heart.  I'm thankful for a God who cares enough about each and every one of us to give us people that care.

So, Abbie, Amie and Cat, you are amazing roomies, incredible friends.  

Sisters in Christ.

And of course, what's a blog without pictures???  :)

 We are kinda normal?

One big, happy family  :)  

Complete with mom, dad, angry teen and toddler.

Right before Cat SLAPPED my hand...

she took the acting role a little tooo seriously  :)

Freshman year...awkward first roomie pics.

The sisters I never had.

Amazing grace...

...how sweet the sound.  That save a wretch like me. 

I am so thankful for this God that I serve.  Sometimes I have no words to describe His greatness.  Now, is NOT one of those times  :)

God has been challenging me so much lately to live each day in His grace, day by day, moment by moment.  I have been reading Transforming Grace: Living Confidently in God's Unfailing Love by Jerry Bridges.  He is a very wise man of the Lord, and has amazing insights into the grace of God.  Lately, I have been struggling with understanding that nothing I do can change the way God sees me.  Every time I "mess up" I somehow think (often subconsciously) that God thinks less of me or will withhold blessing from me.  I know, it sounds ridiculous, but maybe you can identify.  Have you ever had a time where you've felt you've messed up too much for God to take you back and see you just as "clean" as before?  I think we all have.

All that to say, that this book is incredible!  It is so full of Truth from the Word of God.  Here are some of the points that really stuck with me:

"The law of God and the justice of God have been fully satisfied.  The debt of our sins has been marked 'Paid in Full!'  God is satisfied and so are we" (20).

"Not only has the debt been fully paid, there is no possibility of going into debt again.  Jesus paid the debt of all our sins: past present, and future" (20).

"We are brought into God's Kingdom by grace; we are sanctified by grace; we receive both temporal and spiritual blessings by grace; we are motivated to obedience by grace; we are called to serve and enabled to serve by grace; we receive strength to endure trials by grace; and finally, we are glorified by grace.  The entire Christian life is lived under the reign of God's grace" (20).

Until we understand that we are fully and completely deprived and that NOTHING we can do will earn us God's favor, we cannot fully appreciate Christ's redemptive act on the cross.

Christ's death was the result of God's grace; grace is not the result of Christ's death" (22).

Be assured, there will be more to come from Mr. Bridges.  It's so much to take in, at least for me it is.  I have to "chew" over a lot of this stuff for a while in order to let it sink in.  So...how can YOU remember what true grace really is?  Easy...

God's Riches At Christ's Expense

Isn't that just nifty??  I knew you'd think so  ;)

So, there you have it!  God's provision, plan and purpose are absolutely incredible.

Live today in the freedom of grace.

Blessings,

Beautiful

YOU are beautiful.  

MY Jesus.

Need a reminder of the God we serve?  This will do the trick.



Sometimes we stress over the most ridiculous things.  Sin has a way of puffing us up in our own mind and shrinking God down.  In all reality, we serve a God that created the universe and currently sustains each and every one of us.

So, on those days when you lose sight of the Almighty King, remember that the God of the Bible--our God--is mighty and powerful and so very faithful.

Christmas in pictures

Christmas Eve...

We celebrated Christmas Eve by having our good family friends, Allison and Phillip over.  We started babysitting Phillip from the time he was about six weeks old.  So, he's pretty much like a brother to us!  He's only a few weeks older than my brothers.  We basically grew up with a set of triplets in our house :)

We discovered that traditional Jenga can evolve into many different games!  Here's some pictures to illustrate:

(Traditional Jenga)

("Domino" Jenga)

("Tower" Jenga)

Here's all of us! (L to R: Morgann, Daniel, Phillip, Kendall)

Our neighbor makes AMAZING gingersnap cookies!  

Daniel LOVES them!!

Can't have Christmas without some yummy goodies!

 Christmas Morning...

My stocking: cute knee high socks, hair accessories, lots of earings, gum, lotion, and my FAVORITE--GLUTEN FREE recipe magazine!!!!!!!!

The morning we celebrate Jesus' birth.

 Christmas Day...

Mom and I always do puzzles when I'm home.  

Our favorites are Charles Wysocki and "Hometown Collection."

My favorite present!!  My new Bible  :)

Luke 2: The story of Jesus' birth.

Christmas dinner table!

This year, it was "just us" for Christmas day.  For the first time EVER, we didn't have any extended family over and we didn't have to go anywhere!  We literally stayed in our pajamas all day and spent time as a family.  Dinner was quiet and relaxing.  It was a joyous Christmas day.

"And there were shepherd living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.  And angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.  But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid.  I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.  This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 

'Glory to God in the highest heaven,

and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.'"

Luke 2: 8-14

Videos to keep you busy...as if you're not already busy enough.

The story of Christmas with a "social media" spin:

~AMAZING~

For a great reminder of what Christmas is really about:

~CONVICTING~

For a laugh or two:

~CUTE~

Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas!!  :)