A Smattering of Thought

" The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims His handiwork ." Psalm 19:1

"I'm redeemed, You set me free!" The music washes over my soul.  Memories of yesterday haunt my heart and I almost stagger under the weight.  I stop and reflect and humbly sit in silence.   I am redeemed.   I ...a sinner, a rebel...am Redeemed.   I AM redeemeed. Not going to be redeemed, not was redeemed, I AM redeemed.   Present tense.   Every second.   Every minute.   Every hour.   Every day.   I stand redeemed. I am REDEEMED.  Just writing the word brings tears to my eyes.   I have been bought with a price.   I have had my evil doings wipe clean.   I have been presented before God pure.   I have been made a new creation.   I have been given right standing with God. Only because of the shed blood of Jesus Christ.   Only because from the beginning of creation, I was sought after. Only because His love and justice is far greater than ours will ev...

Sand flowing through my outstretched hands.  Sunshine splashing across my face. Cool breeze rustling my hair. Giggling kids as they dip their toes  bodies in the water. The swoosh of the football being tossed back and forth. Smatterings of conversations swirling around the air. A splash of color as the sun says goodnight and moon appears. A very very good night!                        As we circled around each other on the sand and shared about God's many blessings in our lives, the following song began to echo in my mind.   Would you be able to name 10,000 reasons why God is deserving of our praise? 10,000 Reasons by Mat Redman [Chorus] Bless the Lord, O my soul O my soul Worship His holy name Sing like never before O my soul I'll worship Your holy name The sun comes up, it's a new day dawning It's time to sing Your song again Whatever may pass, and whatever...

I stumbled upon the above picture while browsing some blogs and was struck by the significance of how often we allow "socially constructed ideas of 'beauty'" to shape our thinking...every day. The mascara that will extend your lashes for miles The lipstick which will improve your pout The shampoo that will give your hair a mirror shine The "maybe she's born with it", "easy, breezy, beautiful", "because I'm worth it" commercials. (note: for the record, I use makeup and hair products, but don't believe these products create my beauty...I like to believe they enhance!  My dad use to say "if the barn needs painting, paint it.") According to the world standards I would not be considered "beautiful."  And in all honesty, I am thankful! Not because I don't want to be beautiful but I want to be considered beautiful because of the right qualities.  I truly desire to be a woman whose fear of ...

Sometimes prespective comes out of nowhere...and usually unexpected or unsolicited! I suppose since I'm reading the book ( One Thousand Gifts ), the thought of gratefulness should have been expected, but yet it still seemed to hit me upside the head.   Really?   I should live with an attitude of gratefulness?                                Will that really make me feel better about life?                                Will all my troubles just vanish?                                Will I suddenly see world peace?   Okay, so my expectations were a little out of reach. However, if your attitude changes, doesn't your perspective? As I continue to read this book...I feel convicted.  Not just a little pang of "yikes, I ...

For as long as I can remember I have always enjoyed planning activities, big or small.  The aspect of entertaining I enjoy the most is creating an atmosphere with elicits good conversation, carefree laughter and enjoyment!  I am still a self-professed non-creative person, it is fun to bring an idea together...even if a simple dessert party for friends.  This past weekend I wanted to share my new apartment with some friends and have an excuse to do some baking.   (side note: I LOVE baking but the food needs to go somewhere else so I don't eat it all). I made some yummy red{ish} velvet cupcakes with whipped cream cheese frosting. I also wanted to try my hand at making refreshing fruit infused water .   It came out a bit tart, but still refreshing: strawberry lemonade water.   After looking at the for quite a few months, I used some birthday funds to purchase a replica mason jar dispenser {World Market} and was excited to fill it for the f...

You would think that e stablishing  home would be an fairly easy task.    You find a place, put your belongings in and ta-da...home!   When I look back on my childhood, I realized that we really moved a lot until I was near high school.  We seemed to move somewhere new every two years...at times just across town but other times it was across country.   The unique aspect about the concept of "home" is that it seems that wherever you are, it is home.  My mom always did a great job of making the place we inhabited feel, look and smell like home.  She even made our motorhome feel just like home.    I gleaned from that experience that home is what you make it.  Throughout my adult life thus far, if you count dorm rooms (which I do, they are home for 9 full months), I  have moved 10 times, at one point I moved almost every 6-7 months.  I got really good at sorting and purging! Each place felt li...