day 11:

(these posts are going to take 8 years to finish! taha!)

"Post a recipe. Or if you don’t cook, try a new recipe and write about how it turned out (pictures please!)."


the other day i made cookies for the kids with frosting, and they were pink. for valentine's day. that's the extent of my cooking lately. :)

day 10:

"What is Jesus teaching you as a wife, mom, or friend? (Or just woman in general?)"

Jesus is teaching me a lot. or maybe it's just that i'm actually listening.

i think one of the greatest things He's teaching me is to stop underestimating, undermining, and devaluing myself. He's teaching me to believe i am who He says i am... not what the scale, the tag on the inside of my clothes, my past, or my mind tell me i am. i'm learning to believe that "i am made for more."

He's also teaching me that "i can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
ALL things. not just some. not just the ones i'm comfortable with or the ones i feel i can handle on my own. with Him, there is nothing i can't do.
those are hard words for me to swallow. they don't line up with what this world says. but they are the truth, and for that i rejoice!

God is restoring me piece by piece and the transformation is both emotionally and physically tangible. and He's been letting me know that He isn't going to stop until those good works He's started come to completion. :)

day 9:

"What virtues do you value in yourself?"

God is teaching me to value and to love myself in general. so i guess this is a good exercise, huh?



i value my sense of right and wrong, and how my heart seeks to resolve the gray area. sometimes it's a source of stress because we live in a world of many shades of gray, but i am grateful for that kind of discernment.

i value my intuition.

i value the way my heart swells and pours itself out around children.

i value the quiet part of me.

i value the leader in me, as well as the follower.

i value my purity.

i value my mothering nature.

day 8:

"Have a beauty secret (e.g. hair tip, make up tip)? Share, please!"

[sorry the numbered days don't mean much anymore, as i have not kept up with it. just pretend.]


my beauty secret? it's not really a secret but i do it every day and sometimes people ask me what the heck i'm doing.
i heat my eyelash curler with my blow dryer! not too hot, or you'll burn your eyelid, but enough to be effective. and it works great!



although... the more i look at this question, as well as the style pics kind of posts... those all have to do with external beauty, which isn't what God says true beauty is. so, i'll keep doing those posts. but perhaps i'll share an internal "beauty secret"?
hmmm.

i think it is beautiful for a woman to assume the best in people.

there. :)

day 7:

"Write a blog to encourage another beautiful woman."


dear adrianne,

hi, friend. so i wish words could do justice in expressing all of this. they most likely won't, but since it's day 7 (and really like day 186 because i haven't kept up with this challenge), i'm gonna try anyway since this is the prompt and you are the beautiful woman i want to encourage.

i said this last night in the car, but i'll say it again... look at how much you've grown. seriously. the outward expression of your faith has stretched and grown so much in the last year that we've been friends in ways that simply astound me. A, you are bold, and determined, and willing to serve, and you feel for people so openly. and there are a thousand other beautiful things about you that could never all be named because a) there's too many to count, and b) i don't even know all of them yet, which is so exciting!

what's to come in the months ahead is exciting as well as sort of scary for both of us, simply because of not knowing. but i have no doubt that God is going to use you in the best of ways for His kingdom. the things you're going to face, both internally and externally, might be challenging... but you have a God whose power resides within you. the very power that raised Christ from the dead is ALIVE in you, working and active so that you can be fruitful, joyful, and at peace. cling to that power when you're overwhelmed by demands and frustrations and anger and confusion. (and remind me to do the same!! :) )

i am so thankful for you, and for the journey God has you on. and i'm thankful that we get to serve Him together in a ministry we're so passionate about!

i hope this encourages you at least a little. even if it doesn't, you still know that i love you, so i guess it's alright. :)

love,
ju

day 6:

well guess who fell off the blogging bandwagon? we're going to pretend that it's still day 6. no, in fact, days don't even matter anymore. we're gonna roll with it.

"Jaded beauty. Has the world’s definition of beauty ever jaded you?"


overweight, fat, big, unworthy, unclean, big, obtrusive, crazy, unattractive, plain, big.
these are words, among others, that i have associated with myself at one point or another throughout my life. this is the way i saw myself, because i viewed myself through a worldly lens. not skinny enough, not pretty enough, not quirky enough, not small enough. taking up too much room and swallowing space.

beloved, redeemed, purified, clean, sought after, known, woven & spun.
these are the ways in which the Lord, my Creator, sees me, His creation.

i need to keep whispering these reminders to myself each day.

day 5:

"Write a blog thanking someone who has made your heart come alive."

this took me a few moments to figure out. but when i did, it was like a big huge "duh!".


when depression had its strongest grip in my life, there were very few things that could ignite passion inside of me. but haiti was one of those things. the pull i felt toward getting back to them was greater than the pull i felt to just stay in bed all day. and now, the pull i feel to return, to see their faces and hold them close to me... well, that's more than a pull. it's God, knotting one end of a thread around my heart, and tying the other end around theirs. He's creating a bond beyond my capacity as a human to form myself.
i'm so thankful i get to know them, and that i get to love them and be their sister in Christ.