Fighting for me.

What God spoke to me this morning was from Joshua 10 about how Israel didn't seek Gods council and made a covenant with the Gibeonites not knowing they were their neighbors. Then when the Gibeonites where under attack they called to the Israelites for help. Then they sought Gods council and went in to battle where He said "Do not fear them, for I have given them into your hands. Not a man of them shall stand before you." In the battle God threw down large stones and more of the enemy died by the stones then by the Israelites swords. Then Joshua called for the sun to stand still and not set till they had defeated their enemy and God listened for He fought for Israel.

In this God spoke to me clearly about His council being what guides us in everything, and in everything when we listen He will take our mistakes God will fight for us! There has never been a day like that before and never will be again. He did this. He made the Israelites what they where in the land, outside of Him they where a little people against giants. But it was His promise to them that they would be in the land if milk and honey. Trust Him. Know Him. Be guided by Him and He will fight for you.

What especially effected me was that God listened to Joshua after he hadn't gone to Him for council earlier. That is what's so amazing about grace and what is counted against us, which is nothing. God listened to Joshua! It was in Joshua's humility that after essentially sinning in making a covenant with his neighbors that he went back to God and sought Him. After knowing Gods guidance He was secure enough in his relationship with The Lord to know that God would fight for them.

To know God loved me that much. To be humble enough after my sin to go strait to God and know His strength. That is the place He has called His people to live in.

I will live in this place.

The color blue

Unfortunately, I didn't get to posting in the month of march. The topic of celebration was "the color blue", and I must say, I appreciate it a whole lot more now.

This month I found myself in awe of two fixed points, that I otherwise ignore or take for granted: sky and water.

Here are a few if the snap shots I took this month while I was out exploring my gratitude for one of our primary colors:

Blue

We have utterly failed at celebrating blue this month. Or perhaps just writing about it. Because let's face it I love blue. My eyes are blue and so blue is in a lot of my clothes.

But honestly there's not my h to be said about blue. Or at least not from a girl who doesn't have a degree in fashion. Someone knowledgeable in that industry could go on and on about the color blue, but they'd probably not call it blue either. Sadly I do not know the history of blue or all its names and how we get the dye for it. All I know is blue goes well on most people.
Oh but I did learn that blue invokes the emotions of serenity, peace and security. Random I information for the day.
But I do love blue, probably for those exact reasons. Or maybe just my vanity of my eyes.

Oh blue, there is nothing to do with you.

Our valentines day!

Thought it be appropriate to share our adventures from valentines day.
We love and value each other and as such took each other out.

To alterra, best coffee house in Milwaukee.

Then to the king and I for some amazing Thai dinner.

And lastly we went to an old French filming of beauty and the beast.

The whole evening was amazing!!!

Celebrating friendships

In a lot of ways I feel like I don't really know how to go about celebrating friendships. I spent this whole month trying to figure out what that means. How to do it. It's all very complicated for a girl who truly does value those around her but has no idea how to work it out.
All I know is I'm so incredibly grateful for these women in my life. It's usually a challenge and friendship defiantly doesn't come naturally to me. Still, its theses women I hold with the utmost value.
All I know is that even if I don't know these people for ever I'd like to know them that long.
I value friendships over anything else. It's one of the first things I look at in men. Their friendships. How they interact with each other, how they support each other. What connects them and brings them closer. How deep are the friendships.
It's all massively important in knowing how he'd treat me. How he'd encourage me. The challenge then would be how I look in these areas. I know I'm not as amerced in this as I should be. In fact sometimes I'm forgetful or over think everything. But honestly. I celebrate my friends ever day. As I think of them. As I pray for them and their futures. As I try to encourage them in the destinies God had in store for them.
I guess for me know time with them is how I show my care and love. I'm going to continue celebrating these women. I think that's how you would celebrate friendship.

February: Celebrating Friendship

"Greater love has no man than this - than he that would lay down his life for his friends".

The other day, Kenz blew off her plans and budget to buy me beer and ice cream because I was having a hard day. What a gal!

Welcome to February - the celebration of friendship.

I have been extremely blessed by the incredible people in my life. I am excited to grow in gratefulness for them, as I make a point of considering the gift friendship is to us this month.

                                             They like me even though I'm super cheesy! :)

Love

Love. Love, I keep writing things down and then deleting them here. There isn't anything that could come after a word like love that can give it the credit this word deserves. Love holds your heart and can do what it wants to your heart. Still, the truth is God is love. This is the fundamental truth and the basics of my everyday life. God is love. No adding on to it or changing any of it. You don't even need to expound on it, although I'm going to try very hard to do just that.
Now, to the points of love I'd like to discuss, because to be honest its too massive a word to fully grasp so I'm just trying to extend a thought or two on some areas that extend love. To friendships and family. I'm not going to say that friends are the family you choose because they aren't. The people you surround yourself with have a massive impact on you most defiantly and they speak volumes about your character. But your family have known you sense you where born and if your lucky they will be there till you die, they aren't the everyday people but they stay there through everything. Both of these groupings are massive implements of love in my life. Now, the truth is I run from love like a little girl still hiding under the covers and I will admit that my family has had a lot to do with that in the past but now it is all on me. My friends can be given this girl who, on occasion, it can be like pulling teeth to get me to share my feelings and thoughts, except on occasion I'll tell all at the drop of a hat. Still they love me through it. They can test the boundaries and in some city's ruins drive me crazy and not help or even make some things worse. Still they love me and I love them for all of it. For trying even if what's going on isn't necessarily helpful. For always being given and willing. And then there is so much more and it completely not them. They couldn't love me all on their own (truthfully I couldn't love me either) but its there despite logic and even common sense. To be connected to people that are this giving is a blessing. It's the love that shapes and molds your character as an adult. It's how God shows you to relationally live and do so rightly in Him so as to have a greater understanding as how to love Him. It's the ultimate purpose of everything He gives us: to love Him. Here I can continue on endlessly so I'll give up for the time being on trying to expound, perhaps in a later date I'll continue with further revelation upon friendships. It's rather likely that as I learn more about how to actually have friendships God will show Himself more and more giving me deeper understanding of what love truly is.


Then you have the family that loves me, despite both me and them. I know my family is great. We are definitely special. No one can shut me down faster or make me feel as insignificant as they do while actually truly trying to encourage me. They can often be selfish, as can I more times then not. But these imperfect relationships give us the strongest analogies to what love with Him looks like. The love of a father and son, the love if a husband and wife. A perfect father. This is a live that cares for and wants to see you grow and mature. That loves you in everything and sees everything. The live if my family is frightening to me but I do have the understanding that they will always love me. The same with God. His love for me will never stop or change no matter where I'm at in life. This is probably the hardest miracle for me to understand. Because it makes no sense. Especially sense the closest thing we have to its understand is our family and we all know how imperfect that can be. Yet, that's where the understand starts. A love sucks as that is truly something to stand in awe of, and I do daily. It's a love that loved you first and more then you could ever figure out how to love back. That's a fathers love. That's something that I will spend all of eternity experiencing. That's a love that all I can so in return is love back, and doing that is the most natural result. It's all I can do in return.
So, love. There's so much there. And I have no true understanding of it and have no clam of known almost anything. But what I do know is God will forever be showing me a deeper revelation of it as I pursue Him. And in the relationships I have around me I will learn more and more about it. What it truly is, not what I thought. I know as my relationships deepen I will have a stronger faith in love and I'm so thankful for this! So thankful that this is a privilege to have and it's amazing that God uses our relationships to track us.
I guess this was all to say how little I know about live and how much He's showing me.
Now to open myself up to experiencing it more. After all everything I just mention requires quiet a bit of vulnerability and I will openly admit that frightens me and I'm really terrible at it. But this is still me trying.

Security

I feel like the feature that I desire the most as a single girl that married women have is clear security. Now, I know that's not entirely true. That being married isn't a sure guaranty to security but it is nice to be able to go to someone when your car breaks down for help and solutions or even just to hug you. As a single girl it's hard to find it or have it at all in your life. I know there are fathers and brothers that are willing and able to provide and help in any means possible (and fir that matter they will probably continue to care for you in different ways after you are married) but they have a life of their own and a family of their own, at a curtain point you aren't their responsibility.
This being said there is something so amazing and wonderful to say about relying completely on God for all your needs. The practical "fix your car" needs, the crazy work situations for comfort, the uncertainty of where rent will come from and what direction your life is being built in. For me fear can consume my life, in every area there is uncertainty of what will come next and how situations will be worked through and I feel the lack of security strongly. Still, to know God will provide. To stand solely on this truth is frightening , yet can be so fulfilling. God always provides in miraculous ways. It may be completely different then how you pictured things turning out but He works all and I mean ALL things out for your good. When you stand so utterly set apart from others that He's the only one holding you up in desperate situations this is when you learn what true security is and feels like. To rely so completely on God and Him alone. It's when you learn how to act rightly, He deals with the fear and your stubbornness in these moments. He shows you how to submit and stand securely in His arms as a girl. It's unbelievable valuable as an example of how to act one day to your husband. Still, more importantly its acting in relationship with Him. It's intimacy with Him, it's learning to clearly hear His voice and His voice only. It's learning to let Him love you.
When you are single you can have the most desperate loneliness and uncertainty you will ever feel. Yet, if you take the time to not take your own path by forging through terrible hard things but to submit to God in this season it will be the anchor of the rest of your life and you will know stability and security that can bring a nation to its knees. You could not only change your life (mainly because its a give in that you'll become more like Him) but you'll effect the world around you drastically.
All this to say I will embrace the circumstance before me knowing its the season God has placed me in with a design in mind. Knowing He gives me only that which I can handle and that till He adds I'm happy with what I have as well as secure in Him.
I'm secure in Him.

Nights at Toad Hall

Monday nights are reason enough to have joy in this season.

Alone

I get as much quiet time as I could of ever needed. It is something I don't give myself enough of. Time to sit, to read and enjoy the quiet. The refreshment of God.
I resolve to reenergize myself in this season. To meet God in the quiet moments that I won't always be able to have as freely as I do right now.

Joy

Sorry about that random thoughts that are about to happen. But its the bunny trail my brain tends to go down.
I love because God loves me. I'm kind because God is kind to me. I know mercy and grace and can give it to others because God extends grace and mercy to me.
I know freedom because God has set me free.
Free.
That's what I have as a single girl. Freedom in so many areas of my life. Freedom to go and be myself.
It's weird to think how little I know of myself. I don't know what suits me. What I like and what I want changes frequently. Yet I still don't fully know who I am. This season is the only season where I'll get to be fully who I am in God. To learn who He created me to be with no division in me.
I was knit together with purpose, with a destiny. Im only learning who I am and still God knows everything about me from who I was, am and can become in Him. Still, fir me everything in new.
I sometimes feel like a well kept room that was forgotten. Left to collect dust. I know I've felt like its a season of waiting. But its not. It's a season filled with love. Filled with time. Freedom. To know myself. To learn about myself.
The reality is waiting can be hard. But waiting with God in this season can be a journey. Filled with love and joy and peace. A game of learning who I am. Who I'm growing into. To learn sacrifice and patience.
To know Gods love and be fully satisfied in Him and Him alone. That's what this season is all about. I'm sure ever season after this will be filled with the same thing. But this season is the first. The freest to rest fully in Gods embrace and have hardly any distractions from Him.
That's what I do in this season. In being single.

January - celebrating singleness

Singleness has a bad rep. I've had countless conversations with women who are beyond beautiful inside and out, who find themselves in the "one ticket please" category. Sometimes, this makes them sad. Since this is a place for celebrating, I'll leave two suggestions.

1) Buy popcorn
2) Sit wherever you want

I am so grateful today for this: to be wholly devoted to the love that never
ever
ever
ever
fails.

"...the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus"

1 Timothy 1:14

Celebrating Celebration

2012-2013

In view of this blog's dedication of celebrating celebration all year, I thought it would be fitting to include some tid bits from the New Year that it was birthed in!

Yes, to answer your question. The creme brulee was fabulous.

Celebrating Singleness: January : 1

What a gift it is 
to see 
the depth
we posses:

to long; to be filled
to desire; to be had

What a gift it is 
to see
the extent 
of our acceptance

in Him.

Through Eyes of Joy

My dear friend Kenzi and I are committing this year to seeing through eyes of Joy.

Each month, we will be taking time to honor something we have deemed worthy of celebration.

The rule is: it doesn't matter if life is especially difficult or easy. What matters is choosing to partake in the delight of whatever thing is in front of us. 

Contributions are welcome. Please enjoy!

cel·e·brate

  [sel-uh-breyt]  Show IPA verb, cel·e·brat·ed,cel·e·brat·ing.

verb (used with object)

1.

to observe (a day) or commemorate (an event) withceremonies or festivities: to celebrate Christmas; to celebrate thesuccess of a new play.

2.

to make known publicly; proclaim: The newspaper celebrated theend of the war in red headlines.

3.

to praise widely or to present to widespread and favorablepublic notice, as through newspapers or novels: a novelcelebrating the joys of marriage; the countryside celebrated in the novelsof Hardy.

4.

to perform with appropriate rites and ceremonies; solemnize:to celebrate a marriage.

verb (used without object)

5.

to observe a day or commemorate an event with ceremonies orfestivities.

6.

to perform a religious ceremony, especially Mass or the Lord'sSupper.

7.

to have or participate in a party, drinking spree, or uninhibitedgood time: You look like you were up celebrating all night.