Lead me to green pastures....

In the midst of chaos God always shines His bright light of love on darkness. Last night a dear friend of mine had Gods amazing power shine greatly on a dark situation and used Psalm 23 to bring that light to lead to the green pastures...
I will not fear, you are with me (vs. 4). We need to know God so deeply and personally that NOTHING can separate us from His amazing anointing, goodness and LOVE.
In verse 4 it talks about His rod and staff bringing comfort. What I love about this verse is the rod and staff that David is referring to are shepards tools that the rod was to lead, guide, correct, rescuing the lost sheep and even beating away animals that were going to attack the sheep. Then the Staff was a tool that was meant for support. So just in those few words it says that God is our Leader, Guider, Corrector (which at times can be painful), Rescuer and our Supporter. What a sweet picture that as He does all these things His desire is to lead us to the green pastures and still waters. His desire is to bring REST to our souls.
God is so good and so faithful if you wait and listen for His leading. When we rush God we miss many lessons and miss ALL that He has for us.

Many victories... so here is my update on my journey with the Lord. This week was a few major milestones for me. I am now officially the lowest weight I have been since I gave birth to my youngest. I am at 164.2!!!! AND many small (but HUGE to me) victories this week. I can see my heart being transformed and no longer feel the overwhelming power and pull of the world to food. I am ok with waiting till I am hungry and being content with less. YES sometimes I mess up but the Lords sweet voice uses his Rod to bring correction and leads me back to the green pasture by my obedience to wait until I am hungry next. It's been such a sweet journey and it's not even close to being over but I do feel that this week I climbed some tough terrain and I feel victorious.
Moments of victory for me look like this...
** Being OK with a 3"sub from Subway
** Not even getting a meal when hungry and eating bites off my kids
** Not getting or taking bites of my kids donuts
** Today ends my 30 day fast from sweets and having no desire for them
** Going to the movies and not eating the whole bag of popcorn and not getting candy
** Eating out and having the waiter think that I didn't like the food because it looked like I hardly ate but instead I was just full.
These are all things that God gets the GLORY for because a few months ago I would have failed every moment. God is good and gracious to show up every time you seek Him but your heart has to be ready for the leading and guiding. But first you have to be willing to be honest with yourself and ready to admit you are a work in progress.

I encourage you to read 2 Peter 1: 2-11

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Determination...

Yesterday my son Blake was talking with his Dad and as they were talking about church that morning Blake lifted his shorts to show his Dad his "battle wounds" from that morning at church. Shocked at the broken blood vessels in this thighs I ask Blake what happened and he states that his class was learning about encouragement and he was chosen to hold this box that was really heavy. He said "I didn't want to let my team down, they were counting on me, so I kept holding it even though it hurt!!" This morning I was thinking on his determination and the way that he was persevering through the physical pain to not let people down. I am one proud mama and even though I hate to see my son hurt those are battle wounds that make my heart proud.
How many times do we give up in allowing the Lord to use us or mold us because it "hurts". How much should we value God and others that no matter how hard it got that we would not "put down that box". Or even follow through on what we say we will do.
Blake is one special boy and I love that kids heart to serve and do what he says he will do.
The Lord is so good and so patient in always waiting for that moment of us fully surrendering.

Here is the deal... my last post I was open and vulnerable and it scared me into thinking that I would fail so I neglected my blog and neglected my heart to stay in the game. I guess I kinda rested the box on my knee. So here is my plan... I am going to update once a week with my goals, challenges and struggles every Monday. This way I will be held accountable and not allow myself to slack off. I in no way want this to become a weight loss blog but I know that allowing God to mold this area of my life will be transforming for me and hopefully an encouragement for you to ask the Lord to reveal those places in your life that he is speaking to you about. I can say with 100% assurance that if you are not going through growing pains you cannot grow. So here is where I am at... I have lost one pound in the last few weeks. My goal is to lose 2 a week but will be happy with one.

Alright... let's not put down the box and let the Lord down.... let's do what we say we are going to do because the Lord and other people are counting on us... let's move toward what the Lord is wanting to rid in your life (trust me victory is so much sweeter than walking in the desert for a lifetime).

Hebrews 12 ¹ Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, ² fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³ Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

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Barnes and Noble, School, Youth, Journeys...

Over the last 6 months so many changes and dreams have been reborn and turned upside down in a good way. It's been a crazy road and things are not perfect... not like I ever expect them to be. But the one thing that has remained constant and true is that God is still on the throne and we have not lost his gentle gaze.
The one thing that we know to be more true than anything is that we are walking in Gods perfect will for our lives and he is more dear to our hearts now than ever. It's a sweet place to be in.


So let's catch up... first I am completely removed from the Scrapbooking world which is at times bittersweet for me but for the most part I feel more alive than ever walking is Gods perfect will for my life and putting 100% into my family and our youth ministry. Its been such a glorious ride to serve those youth. It's like every week we get to see a glimpse of Gods love pour out on us. To watch these youth pour out their lives to God and serve their friends and community all in Jesus' name is powerful. This community truly reflects what church is meant to be (of course every institution has it's flaws) but this community is contagious. Each one of these youth have special talents and gifts that are being used for His Glory... it's POWERFUL.


We have also started school again which means that I am back to homeschooling 3 days a week and the kids are in school 2 days a week. This year has been a sweet transition since our youngest Luke has started Kinder. Ummm what?? I still am in awe of my baby being so big. So that means that I get 2 days a week ALONE... yep that's what made me start blogging again (well that and the Lord pressing my spirit to start up again). So here I sit at Barnes and Noble with my Pumpkin Spice Latte writing, reading, doing devos and preparing lesson plans. It's a glorious life. But I really do miss my kiddos.


Mike and I have been constantly reminded this last year that success in life isn't about how much money you make or the car you drive or any other worldly success but it's truly shown in what you are YOKED to. Here is a verse from Galatians

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by the yoke of slavery.
Galatians 5:1

I am going to start a new and challenging authentic journey of my hearts yokes and how I am constantly being challenged by the Lord to throw off yokes that are not mine to carry and yoke with Him. Let's just say that this new journey will be stretching and very vulnerable for me but isn't that what the Lord calls us to... jump out of the comforts and challenge yourself to immerse ourselves in new areas.
See you tomorrow as I announce my new journey!! Eeek so nervous!!

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My Little Shoebox CHA projects

I love scrapbooking... I used to live for it, since my priorities have changed and I find happiness in scrapbooking but it's not my life anymore. Don't get my wrong I REALLY like to do it but it's not what defines me any longer... just another thing the Lord yanked out of me haha.

BUT here are some of my FAVORITE projects that I created for CHA Los Angeles. These were from the My Little Shoebox Summer release and OMGOODNESS these were so fun and some of my fav projects yet. LOVE these papers... so fresh and perfect in every way!! The colors scream summer and farmers market... My favorite line of MLS summer release (I think haha).

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Lord you can have it all.... but don't touch the iPhone

So the phase that had been a constant phrase in our prayers was "Lord please help us in our financial situation.... everything is yours but please don't ask for us to give up our iPhones. They are our one source of Joy!" I know that as you read that many of you go ahhhh I know where this is going... Gods gonna ask you to give them up?? And yes you are right but instead I want to ask you a question... are there areas in your life that you are asking God to not touch? Ponder that for a moment then read on....


OK now on with the story, so yes you are right the Lord asked us to give them up and with obedient hearts (and reluctant hearts) we gave them up and got "ghetto phones". These phone did not compare and yes they worked (well most of the time) but they didn't do anything cool. BUT it was such a sweet time of Disconnect. Now is where it gets good... the blessings that poured in were unexplainable and amazing. We got a roommate which has been a sweet little blessing and joy to our family, we got more back on our tax return, we've been able to pay off some major medical bills, our mortgage company just decided to randomly lower our mortgage $200 (who does that??)... and many other blessings have come our way. We are FAR from being in the place that we want to be and still say no WAY MORE than yes. But we are overjoyed with Gods favor and love overflowing from our lives.

Now here is the conclusion of the story... Why did we get rid of our iPhones? Well we were paying for data plans and that cost us $60 a month. After making some changes to our plan with our ghetto phones we were saving about $90 a month with ghetto phones. JUST YESTERDAY my wonderful hubby changed his service to his corporate account and lowered my plan even more and now we are able to have our iPhones back while saving even more money AND AND AND we get to return the ghetto phones for a full REFUND!!! WHAT??? Yep God was just testing our hearts and I am so glad that we passed the test and that we found his path to freedom and full surrender.

So again ask the Lord to search your heart or maybe you already know, there may be those things in your life that the Lord is just waiting in anticipation for you to let go of before he unleashes his blessings upon your life. It will be painful (that's why we are holding onto it right?) and you may not get it back like we did BUT I can tell you that if I had to always be stuck with ghetto phones to be stuck in Gods perfect will you can bet your bottom dollar that I would be dropping calls and texting random people for the rest of my life.

(by the way... my hubby totally had the Zack Morris HUGE cell phone back in the day, yes we are that old haha)

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Frugal Fashionista....

Frugal... it's just a polite word to say the truth is that I am CHEAP!! Haha... I haven't always been this way. I once upon a time would spend any money on anything that I wanted whenever I wanted it. HA. But since moving into our larger house it hit us a few years back that in order to keep this larger house it was gonna take some major sacrifice. So here we are on our journey. It's been amazing and life challenging and growing. No longer are my values and self worth wrapped up in things of the World. OK but here is the REAL reason for sharing my cheapness story...

The other day my son got on A track at his school which means I only homeschool him now 3 days instead of 5... YAY. Along with that came a new list of school supplies. So I went to the store knowing I had a very limited budget as these school supplies were not something I could plan on in a few weeks and would come from our food budget. After looking at the pencils and getting 2 new folders and then finding the pencil pouches I couldn't bring myself to spend $4 on a pencil pouch, that's lame... it's not even cute!!! So I left there spending only $2 on the supplies he needed (WHOOP WHOOP) and I would sew him a CUTE pencil pouch from CUTE fabric. HAHA So here is what we ended up with....

Isn't it cute... now I don't have to feel guilty about spending money on something lame and I am a proud mama knowing my son has the coolest pencil pouch out of his class. Now have a cheap day!!

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Customer Service... lost art form

A couple weeks our wonderful Keurig started brewing only half cups... frustrated at this since we only had it for about 4 months I called customer service (which of course I scored a HUGE deal on... haha). They stated that I should do a de-scaling and it should work fine. Did that... didn't work. So called them again one morning before taking the kiddos to school and after running tons of tests of clean this clean that, they determined it was broken and would send me a new one. That was a Wednesday and Thursday guess what showed up at my door??

Thanks Keurig for having awesome customer service. Love you and think of you every morning when I have that amazing cup of coffee.

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Such a crazy week....

Do you know how many times I have come to write on my blog... my journal is bursting at its seems with amazing revelations that I am dying to share with you. Ahhhh

So first if you haven't read this blog you need to... my dear friend Tracey is starting a new amazing journey and is going all out. Trust me this is an inspirational story you don't wanna miss. http://becomingmyhusbandsgirlfriend.blogspot.com/

More news... I am going to be doing a half marathon in June... there it's out there and now I must finish it. Ahhh it's been a rocky journey with already having an injury but hey let's get them out of the way early. This is part of the reason I have neglected my blog... needed some rest time. This week I got back out there twice and it felt good. Except for the burning pins piercing my lungs... never smoked and never will but I can imagine that's what a runner that smokes must feel like. But I am pushing through it's a little defeating how quickly your body loses it's momentum after just 2.5 weeks of being out. But hey the Lord is my strength and with Him I can do all things... even roll my fat booty out of bed at 5:30am 4 times a week to run... UGH!!

So I will be speaking in a few weeks to our Jr High Group (whoop Whoop for the Core... YAY) and I always need a LOONG time to meditate on the Word and absorb it in my every blood tissue and DNA. It just doesn't come easily for me as it does my amazing hubby but here I go, I will be speaking on Ephesians 1:7-10 well after absorbing it partially my word is "Together" God has always intended us to work together and live in Harmony together... this is why He always called to "ordinary" to preach his word. It's so easy for us to get caught up in status and think that we are better than someone else but God doesn't call us to be extraordinary and self righteous he has always called us to an even playing field. This isn't a sports try out that only the best make it. I have so much more love and Joy in my life when I let go of people and surroundings and focus directly on Jesus and allow my eyes to meet his, to allow my heart to beat in unison with His, to see others as broken, to hear God on a daily basis and have my heart yoked with His. When you are yoked with the Lord it allows you to work together in a harmonious way free from guilt or strife since it's almost like the Lord whispers sweetly and softly to you "that's not truth my loved one... don't buy that lie" or even "that person is really broken and hurt they just need a friend". Reaching out to other and being accountable to one another is just as the Lord intended life to be. Isolation is the first thing that the enemy does to our hearts. If the enemy can get us alone in our heads that's when he does his best work.
Something to ponder... does being together and authentic in our failures and pains scare you?? If it does why?? Maybe the Lord is wanting you to live better together.

This is a work in progress but these are my first thoughts...
GEESH I am all over the place today... must be the run and then all that coffee. Hope I didn't lose you and you still love me. haha

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New Year New Blog...

So this last year has been a crazy adventure for sure I will be making a layout soon about a year in review and how the Lord has really changed our lives and outlook this last year.

Why a new blog?? Well the hubs and I are in a season of simplifying and making small changes in our life to have HUGE rewards later. So this is the deal, if we don't love it... use it... or need it then it's gone. Either selling it on Craigs List or giving it away to Goodwill or a family in need. The hubby and I wanted our lives and home to reflect the things that are in our hearts. So out with the old and in with the... well old. HAHA. We are looking forward and making sure that we are never so cluttered in our life that we miss the true meaning of why we are here.

This last year the Lord had on multiple occasions told me and convicted me on my busy-ness. It bothered me every time that I heard someone mention that they were too busy to do this or do that and I was curious about why that bothered me so much and I reflected on my own life and how many times I said those very words. Then the Lords soft and still voice whispered... leave it all and follow me. This is one of those TRUST moments that had me at a HUGE crossroads. I loved my busy hectic life of youth ministry, homeschooling, scrapbooking design teams, marketing, teaching classes and then throw in being a mom and wife. I was swamped and did I really have any time to be still and rest in the Lord?? The answer was easy, no I didn't. So over the next few months I slowly let go of all obligations except for being a wife, mom, youth leader and homeschooling my kids. I am so thankful for change and I have found a brand new outlook on life and found Joy that had been lost inside of my crazy life. So this is my new adventure into a new life which for me meant a new blog... what will you find here?? You will find crazy stories as I homeschool 3 kiddos, my art projects and decorating transformations (turning trash into treasures), sewing and playing with fabrics, always playing with paper making mini books, cards, and layouts, painting and most of all our adventures in our pursuit of the All Mighty. Hope you will follow me on this crazy adventure of my "house of 5" (maybe one day 6 if our hope for adoption happens) but that's another blog post in itself.

Be blessed in your pursuit of Him.

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