Merry Christmas

It truly is a wonderful and glorious time of the year! This season is full of warm and cozy feelings, family and friends, and the celebration on the greatest gift of all, Jesus!

Something that stuck with me from my church's annual Christmas Eve Candlelight Service is that while the earthly view of Christmas can change year after year, whether with loss of loved ones or even the feeling of sadness of families growing up, change taking place, and traditions changing, we can always rest assured that the spiritual view of Christmas is constant, with a joy that never fades, and the gift of Jesus that is never ending!  I pray that you will find peace knowing that Jesus is the sparkling light, and that His mercy, grace, love, and forgiveness will never waver or change.  

Hebrews 13:8 "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever."

Matthew 1:21 "She will give birth to a Son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins."  

What a great day to celebrate the birth of our glorious Savior.  Happy Birthday Jesus & Merry Christmas to you all!

Love,

Recap via Pictures

Life lately has been full of fun, joyful events.  I've been reminded daily how blessed I am to be surrounded by friends and family who are so loving and supportive.  Here are some snapshots from from of my most cherished and favorite moments (that were photographed) from the past couple months!

To give you a little rundown, this semester has flown by.  It's been fun and rewarding.  These pictures include Delta Zeta recruitment and Bid Day, girl’s trip to Curtis Apple Orchard and Pumpkin Patch, EIU Homecoming football game, teaching 4^th grade students about the importance of kindness and encouragement, my 2^nd triathlon (with two of my friends!), fall photo-shoot, Luke Bryan concert, visiting my best friend in Chicago (and going to the Cupcake ATM), KDP banquet with two of my besties, turned 22!, ran my first 10 K (and beat my goal time,1) went to a barn dance, had tons of fun with friends, had the BEST classmates and professors of all time, and taught 3rd grade for the past 4 weeks (so so incredible and rewarding!).  Not to mention, I've seen two of the most beautiful sunsets & had to include those pictures too!

Never forget to reflect upon your life and all God's blessings!

Xo,

Happy December!

December is here! First of all, I can not believe that this semester is almost over and classes are wrapping up (welcome, finals). Secondly, I am very excited for a nice, long Christmas vacation!

Although I am not a huge fan of cold, blustery weather, I really love December and the Christmas feeling of coziness that this month brings.  All the sparkly and festive decorations, lots of time spend with family and friends, and the fact that everyone seems to be much more cheerful this time of year!  

If you're not quite in the Christmas and holiday spirit, I put together a little compilation of fun ideas that can help get you into full Christmas mode:

Another way to prepare your heart for Christmas and the true meaning of the season, (Jesus!!!) is to do an Advent study or devotional.  I have never done one of these, but one of my Facebook friends posted one the other day, and I am excited to do the daily readings and spend time in reflection of Jesus, the best and ultimate gift. Here is the link if you're interested! 

Lastly, sorry I have not been posting lately!  Hopefully I can get back into it while I have some time off school.  Maybe I'll do a recap of what I've been up to lately, soon!  

Enjoy this day, and make it GREAT!

Xo,

Fall Bucket List

I am soooo excited because my favorite time of year is here - FALL! With the crisp cool weather, beautiful and colorful leaves, pumpkin spice everything, and so many fun festivities to attend, fall is by far the best season in my opinion!  (It also doesn't hurt that my birthday is in November!)  I think it's always fun to make a fall bucket list & strive to partake in all the joyous thrills that fall brings! Here is my list of things I want to do this fall:

What's on your fall to-do list?

Hope y'all enjoy this beautiful day that the Lord has made!

Xo,

Triathlon

This past weekend I took part in my very first triathlon! I enjoy running, I adore biking, and although I don't have a lot of experience with swimming, I love the water.  I decided somewhat on a whim that to sign up for a local triathlon and set a goal of finishing under 1 hour and 45 minutes, and glory to God - I exceeded my goal and finished in 1 hour and 30 minutes.

But, that's not the point of this post.

The point is that wow - God is so incredible.  Psalm 139:14 says, "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful, I know that full well." How amazing of bodies did He create that can "run and not grow weary!" (Isaiah 40:31) 

I definitely could not have finished this race without The Lord.  He is the great provider and provided me with strength and endurance throughout.  What a pure joy that we are able to rely on the Lord in all things, and how comforting it is to know that He will never leave us or forsake us (Deuteronomy 3:16).  He cares so greatly for you, for me, for all of His children, and He wants us to call upon His name. Psalm 50:15 says, "Call upon me..., and I will deliver you."

One of the coolest things about partaking in this race, is that I had 13 miles of biking and 3 miles of running, so I had 16 miles that I dedicated to 16 different things to pray for.  Roughly an hour and a half just to pray.  I was somewhat worried that I would run out of words, but wow, at the end of the race, I wished it would have lasted longer so I would have more time to pray. I encourage y'all to go for a walk, a run, a bike ride, a swim, a drive, or just go somewhere with no distractions and pray. Just talk to God, and enjoy peace in His presence, because there truly isn't anything like it!

The Lord is so so so good! I love each of y'all so much!

Xo,

What if...

On Sunday morning, two of my best friends and I were on our way to church when we were hit by a drunk driver.  Glory, praise, and thanks be to God because He is Good and He is always with us.  My car was totaled, but we are blessed because we walked away from the scene with minor bumps, bruises, and one broken nose {prayers for the cute little nose of my best friend, Carley!} 

In all reality, I believe that God allowed for this accident to happen, and that it was a blessing that He put us there at the exact perfect time.

What if my car hadn't stopped the drunk driver's truck? 

He could have ran straight over the curb and into the home of a precious family. 

What if I had left my house yesterday morning 5 seconds later?

What if I had been going a tiny bit faster?

What if I would have paused at the stop sign a little longer?

He likely would have ran into the driver's side door, making things much much worse.

I was thinking about these things last night, about how different and how much worse this accident could have been.  Through His Word in Jeremiah 29:11, God reminded me, "For I know the plans I have for you. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." And then Proverbs 19:21, "For many are the plans in a person's heart, but the Lord establishes his steps."

Through the good, the bad, the highs, the lows, the pretty, the ugly, and everything in between, God has a plan and He establishes our every motion.

There are so many "What if..." statements we can make about literally every situation in life. And sometimes it's only after the fact that we are able to see God's hand upon us and how much better His plan is than ours.

Even in scenarios when we pray so hard for something, God only gives us, His children, what is best.. “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ‭‭ask Him!" Matthew‬ ‭7:11.

I love this truth:

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When He tells us "Yes, this is My will and My plan," do you ever think back to the times he said "No, I have something better prepared," or "Wait, My timing is perfect and you are not ready for what I have planned for you," and just sit in pure awe of how glorious is plan and timing truly is?

Maybe a relationship didn't work out and you're in the midst of a heartbreak, but then when you meet the person that God has chosen for you to spend the rest of your life with, you can see how much better His plan is.

Maybe you were required to take a class that you really didn't want to take and maybe it even hurt your GPA, but you then you meet someone in that class who ends up being your very best friend.

Maybe a tragic situation happened, but because of it, you are able to be a witness to others and grow the Kingdom of Heaven in Jesus' name.

Maybe, like Job in the Bible (read his story here), we are experiencing pain and suffering and The Lord is severely testing our faith. Will we be drawn to the Creator, Author, and Perfecter? Will we allow the suffering to bring us closer to God and gain a deeper sense of His power and splendor?

God doesn't promise an easy life, in fact He tells us that we will experience hardships in this life.  John 16:33 says, "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart; I have overcome the world."

I believe that, if we allow it,  God can and does use every situation to bring us closer to Him, and to allow us to see Him, His love, and His plan clearer. And maybe we won't always understand why God has us go through what we must, but someday we will. Just as Jesus says in John 13:7, "What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand."

To paraphrase 1 Corinthians 10:13, if God brings you to it, He will bring you through it. He is the God of hope, He is our good good Father, and we are called to have faith in Him and trust fully in Him.

Proverbs 3:5-6 says "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight."  Cling to Jesus, love Him above all the things of this world, and He promises a life according to His perfect plan!

I love y'all and I truly hope and pray that regardless of any circumstance, you will trust in God and hold fast to Him!  He will see you through whatever you are going through.  He is ever present in every situation, and He loves you so much!

Love,

Lavish Love

I recently discovered <and fell in love with> this quote on Pinterest:

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Psalm 139:14, "I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made."

Ephesians 2:10, "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus..."

Isaiah 64:8, "We are the clay, and You are the potter; we are all the work of Your hand."

1 Corinthians 3:16, "Do you know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?"

God has made each person unique and special! Why is it that we are often so prone to hold back love? We should acknowledge attributes that we see in others. We should rejoice at how God has made His children. We should speak of the admirable qualities we see in others. We should make everyone around us feel loved!

Why? Because each and every person is loved. Everyone is loved.

Romans 5:8, "God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

1 John 4:9, “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him."

John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He sent His one and only Son..."

1 John 4:19, "We love because He first loved us."

1 John 4:8, “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”

God is love! We can show other people God by loving them! I encourage y'all to love today and everyday. Love your family, love your friends, love people you don't know, love people who don't know what love is, love people that are hard to love.

I love love. I want all those around me to feel loved. I want to lavish love!

I hope you know how loved you are! Xo,

Deliverer and Redeemer

Titus 2:11-14

For the grace of God has come to bring salvation to ALL people, instructing us to give up ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for out blessed hope - the appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for US to redeem us from wickedness and purify us.

As a read over these words over and over, I feel so loved.  One of my favorite ways to study the word is to look up other translations and even look up words in the dictionary.  This helps me grasp the word in different ways!

Grace: a free gift

Salvation: deliverance from penalty of sin

Savior: the One who saves, rescues, and delivers

Redeem: to recover possession

God has given us this free gift, deliverance from death and promise of eternal life with Him.  He calls us to live in a way that is of Him while we wait for Him - the one who saves, rescues, and delivers us.  He came to redeem us - to recover possession of us.  

He is the great deliverer and redeemer! He loves us so much! Bask in these truths today!

I love you!

Xo,

Freedom

I have a feeling that this week is going to fly by & the weekend will be full of 4th of July celebration! My favorite parts about the 4th of July festivities are definitely the fireworks and sparklers!

The 4th is a great day to celebrate our county's freedom; but, this day can also serve a special reminder of the freedom we have in Christ Jesus!

Whenever we put our faith in Jesus, believing in Him and following Him, he gives us freedom from our sins.  

John 8:32 says, "Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

John 8:36 says, "So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed!"

Have a great weekend celebrating!

Xo,

Grace

God is LOVE.  He loves us so much that He sent Jesus, His ONLY Son, to die for us.  Jesus was born a child, yet a King.  Jesus was born to die. And not just to die, but to die for US, to die for sinners like you and me.  But it doesn't end there; Jesus was resurrected and sits at the right hand of God.  His resurrection gives us HOPE, and because of it, we can have FAITH that we will be in HEAVEN with Him someday.  Our names are written in heaven (Luke 10:20)! How awesome is this sweet truth! 

All you have to do is accept Him as your Savior and Lord! (John 3:16)

He wants us to come to Him, to accept what He has so graciously given us.  A gift that He gives because He LOVES us.  He loves me.  He loves YOU!

No matter what we have done, no matter what we do now, no matter what we do in the future, nothing can separate us from God's great love (Romans 8:38).  Ya'll...This isn't just great news, it's the BEST news. We are so undeserving, so unworthy, so unrighteous, but because of Jesus, because of His death for US, God sees us as His flawless children.  He extends forgiveness and grace WITHOUT END!

I hope you all feel this love, this grace, this peace that only comes from The Father because of Jesus! He wants you! He wants you to accept this grace.    

His love and grace are my favorite things! I want you to know these feelings, I want you to know GOD.

God loves you! I love you! Praying for y'all, that you will feel His love and fall deeper in love with Him!

Xo,

You Gotta Regatta

The ever-so-popular You Gotta Regatta print is back at Lilly Pulitzer! If you've been a Lilly lover for a while now, you know how rare it is for them to bring back an old print.  The hype about this is especially huge because You Gotta Regatta is very sought after!

I definitely love the printed popover, but for now I just snagged the beautiful beach towel! I can't wait for it to arrive!

If you're looking to own something in this beautiful, bright, summery print, act fast because the items are only available while supplies last (and I have a feeling that sizes are going to get picked over quickly!)

Hope y'all have a wonderful summer day!

Braids

Braids are seemingly very popular lately - and I have been loving this trend for summer! I have adopted this hair style in the nick of time for the hot and humid weather.  Not to mention, braids are fairly quick and easy and they're especially useful when you're on day two or three hair (thank you, dry shampoo).

Some of my favorites are the double braids, loose messy braids, and half up half down braids:

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I've always been able to braid other people's hair, and I've been trying to get better at doing my own.  Summer is definitely a great time to learn some new hairstyle skills!

Hope you guys have a wonderful & sunny week! Xo,