i heart friday: beyond me

This verse spoke to my heart this week.  I know I have referenced it over and over on this little blog, but my heart seems to forget so quickly...

"And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong."  ~2 Corinthians 12:9-10

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I got a text coming out of work: "Have you heard TobyMac's new song, 'Beyond Me'?"

Such a beautiful reminder...

 

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Ohmygoodnessgracious...this looks amazing.  I just might have to try a batch today. ;)

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Isn't this ADORABLE?!  If you have a nerdy family (*cough*maybelikemine*cough*), why leave the littles out?  I would looooove to make one of these for the boys...

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This reminder...

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I love imagination.

This just warmed my heart.

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This just makes me happy...

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Okay, now this was just funny...but I wouldn't mind if somebody wanted to get it for me ;)

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"Three Reasons Why The Giver is the Best Christian Movie Since 'Narnia"

Thought provoking article...loved The Giver!

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And did you get a chance to check out this week's two other posts?

Check it out HERE!

Read this post HERE!

Hope you have an amazing weekend!

What were some of your favorite things from this week?  Please share, I'd love to hear!

10 songs for the weary heart

Music has a way of speaking to the heart when words fail.

Why is it that music has such a powerful impact on one's mind and soul?  I find that a song can be playing in the background, and the words and ideas about the words will fill my mind--even though I am not even really *trying* to listen to the song!

Deeply rooted from our longing to join in the heavenly, eternal song of "Holy, holy, holy..." I believe that God has given us the gift of music here on earth to give us a tiny glimpse of the beautiful gift that reigns over all of heaven.  The gift of song...the art, the worship.

Today, I have 10 of my favorite songs to share with you for when your heart is feeling worn and weary.

10 songs to lift you up, to remind you of the goodness of God, the power of God, and His overwhelming love.

10 songs, prayers, cries out to the Lord...to remind us that we're not alone.

1. Never Alone, by BarlowGirl

"I cried out with no reply

And I can't feel You by my side
So I'll hold tight to what I know
You're here and I"m never alone..."

2. Broken Hallelujah, by The Afters

"I've seen joy and I've seen pain.

On my knees, I call Your name.
Here's my broken hallelujah.

With nothing left to hold onto,
I raise these empty hands to You.
Here's my broken hallelujah."

3. Hold Me, Jesus, by Rich Mullins

"Well sometimes my life just don't make sense at all

When the mountains look so big
And my faith just seems so small

So hold me Jesus 'cause I'm shaking like a leaf
You have been King of my glory
Won't You be my Prince of Peace"

4. Promises, by Sanctus Real

"Sometimes it's hard to keep believing in what you can't see

That everything happens for a reason even the worst life brings
If you're reaching for an answer and you don't know what to pray
Just open up the pages, let His Word be your strength..."

5. Lord, I Need You, by Chris Tomlin

"Lord, I come, I confess

Bowing here I find my rest
Without You I fall apart
You're the One that guides my heart

Lord, I need You, oh, I need You
Every hour I need You..."

6. For the Moments I Feel Faint, by Relient K

"Never underestimate my Jesus

You're tellin' me that there's no hope
I'm tellin' you, you're wrong
Never underestimate my Jesus
When the world around you crumbles
He will be strong, He will be strong..."

7. Never Left Your Side, by Stellar Kart

"So you feel another midnight on the way

Can’t see the road ahead
Though you’re wide awake
All the voices in your head begin to say
You’re alone, you’re alone

The sun’s still shining through the night
The stars still burn in the daylight
Sometimes you just can’t trust your eyes
I never left your side..."

8. 5 Minutes at a Time, Superchick

"Life is hard, but it's been a little harder than usual lately

I wish I knew why I am struggling through this
What makes it harder is the lack of understanding on my part
Could I have changed this, why am I fighting life so hard?"

9. It's Not Over Yet, by for King and Country

"They are inside your head

You got a voice that says
You won't get past this one
You won't win your freedom

It's like a constant war
And you want to settle that score
But you're bruised and beaten
And you feel defeated

This goes out to the heaviest heart..."

10. Still That Girl, by Britt Nicole

"Dreams, they come

Plans, they change
Yea, we're gonna break
Yea, we're gonna break
Things we face make us who we are
Baby, you're a star shining in the dark
Let's go back to the summer, summer when
We dreamed in love, let's go back again
Let's go back again
Yeah, back again, my friend..."

What songs speak to your heart and lift you up?  I'd love to hear!

when you're tired of just surviving

Survival mode.

Everybody has experienced it at one point or another.

For some, it's a season that comes and goes.

For some, it's every day.

Lately, it's felt like every day for me.  It's like I'm trying to fit everything in.

I wake up, and the rush begins.  Every moment spent just trying to get through the day.  Just trying to make it to evening.  Just.  Trying.  To.  Make.  It.  Through.

Survival mode.  I know it all too well.  I sit here and feel sorry for myself. 

I want to thrive!  I'm tired of merely making it through the day.  I want to MAKE each day something special.

I sag as I continue my survival charade, this dance that I know the steps all too well.

Until it hits me.

Yes, it's all survival mode.

Because my very survival is hinged on the grace found in every moment.

My year's word comes to mind: breathe.  As I realize, YES--this is survival mode.  But every day is for everyone else is, too.  It's how I choose to SEE.  

As I fold laundry a few minutes before I need to rush out the door, my shoulders sag.  If only I could get this done faster!  Have time to do better things!

And I forget the ordinance of God.  That my very survival depends upon His grace--and every moment that I spend breathing His grace is ordained by Him.  I forget that He ordained that I would be folding that laundry.  That I would run out the door in those few moments.  That I would spend all that time in the car driving.  That I would go work a few hour or a long hour shift.  That I would have to eat a PB&J on my dinner break, because I didn't have time to make anything else. 

And my perspective begins to change, as I ponder.  

And I begin to SEE... from God's perspective, He's given me all I need to thrive!  

From my human perspective, I have a hard time grasping...because it's not what I think I need to thrive.  I want more.  Of course!  More.

But He whispers gently, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness."

He always gives me enough to thrive. He is enough.  Even when it looks like I'm in survival mode, it's what He has given me to thrive, what am I going to do with it?  How am I going to make the most of this grace that He has afforded me?

While I fold, I can pray and sing.

When I'm sitting in the car, driving, I can listen to sermons.

I can be God's love to everyone that I meet on my shift, short or long.

I happen to love PB&Js.

Survival mode is enough to thrive.   His grace is sufficient for me.

Grace is enough.

i heart friday

Some of my favorite things around the web this week, thought I'd share them with you!

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Loved this...

48.6 Miles in 4 Days, Sean Astin on the Walt Disney World Marathon 2015

"I’m 43 years old for one more month and my passion for running has morphed into a full blown obsession...I want to push my body and my mind. I want to test my spirit. I want to see what's possible. Mostly, I'm looking to go beyond the limits placed on me, mostly by custom. I’ve set many lofty goals and failed at many. Well, failed so far. I am actually not freaked out about this coming behemoth of a task. I'm totally stoked. Flex leg, deep breath in my airplane seat. It'll probably hold up. 

I’m 43 years old for one more month and my passion for running is a full blown obsession.

Walt Disney World Marathon 2015
The Dopey Challenge -- 48.6 Miles in 4 Days"

So inspiring.  To push one's body and mind.  To press the boundaries, to see what is really possible...

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Mind blowing:

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"The heavens declare the glory of God..." 

The earth and universe echo with the sound of His voice, the touch of His fingerprints.

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This will probably not be the last time that you see the Pevensies on here...but this picture just absolutely gets me.  One of my favorite characters in all literature (and film, for that matter) is Peter Pevensie.

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His devotion to looking after his siblings, his steadfast heart, his bravery...and as they so beautifully depicted in the film, his humility. His loyalty to Aslan and his siblings by always putting them first, but yet, we all know that he's broken, he's got a little bit of a temper, and he might not be quite as brave as he wants everyone to think.  But that's another one of the reasons that I love him.

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To follow up, I did find this little gem this week as well:

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Isn't that the cutest?!

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So I was looking up some Disney costume ideas for the little sisters, and I came across these...

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Aren't they adorable?? I want to make them so badly!

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Story inspiration:

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What comes to your mind?

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What a great printable! 

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What better way to start your year than with a goal of hiding 50 of His most prominent passages in your heart?

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Don't ever forget who you are...

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Does this not look amazing???

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I think I may add some recipe goals to my list! :P

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This gorgeous Etsy print:

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Echo the words from one of my favorite songs...

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Found this; made me laugh...hard. :D

Doesn't it feel good to laugh?  No wonder it is called medicine for the soul...

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And last but not least...

This week I was able to get some AHS gear out there!  What do you think?

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And that wraps up this first week of i heart friday!  Hope you enjoyed it.  

Do you have some favorite picks from the week?  Let me know in the comments, or better yet, blog about it, and post the link below for everyone else to see too!

Be blessed, my dear readers!  I hope you have a wonderful Friday and a peaceful weekend! <3

breathe {2015}

When the world seems so big.

I feel small.

These hands.  They're small. (Literally.)

This heart can only hold so much.

Seasons change.  The world turns 'round.

And I struggle and kick.  I want things to stay.

Breathe.  He whispers to me.

I fold my small hands that can only grasp so much.

I fall on these small knees that can only stride so far.

I bow this head that only thinks so much.

And close these eyes that can only see so far.

I can feel this heart thrum.

Beat.  Beat.  Beat.

Slow, steady, rhythm of heaven.

Beat.  Beat.  Beat.

This heart, can only hold so much love, dependent upon the Author of Love itself.

At His command, the core of my being jumps with joy at the life it brings.  Each leap, His order.  Each drop of blood that it stirs, life and love, racing through my veins.

I inhale.  I exhale.  I breathe His breath, from His very mouth.  The continuation of the first breath of life He breathed into Adam.  But Adam fell, and He had to make a way that we might keep His breath.

Now, every breath I take in is courtesy of the blood poured down from that hill.

Every breath I take in.  Every beat of my heart.  Grace.

I am often tempted to rush.  Efficiency is one of my favorite things.  But as I ponder the wonder of something so simple, oft taken for granted as a breath or a heartbeat, I realize that when I rush through life--I miss it.  I miss the simplicity of grace.  I turn around, I'm a few years older--and I may have gotten a couple of 'accomplishments' under my belt.  Have I thanked Him for the breath He gave me to do it?  Are they worthy of the gifts that He gave me for that moment?

My word of 2015 is breathe.

That I might not forget how I am ever dependent upon His grace for my very life, the very beating of my heart.  What am I doing with the thousands of breaths and beats that He graces me with every day?

here with us

It's still a mystery to me
That the hands of God could be so small
How tiny fingers reaching in the night
Were the very hands that measured the sky

~Here with Us, Joy Williams

This song plays in my head all throughout the year.  Reminding me, it was not just a baby born that night.  It was not even just a baby with special favor granted over him.  It wasn't even just a baby with prophetic gifts or destined to be a great teacher.

This baby was God.

The God before whom Isaiah fell, covering his eyes from the blinding light and cried out, "Woe is me!  I am a man of unclean lips!"

The God that placed Moses in the cleft of the rock, so that he saw God's backside--and his face glowed so much so that the people begged him to cover it up.

The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  The God that brought Moses and the children of Israel out of Egypt.  

The God that slew thousands of Egyptian firstborn.  The God that struck Uzzah dead for disobedience.  The God that killed the priests that disrespectfully offered strange fire.

The God that strengthened a shepherd boy to kill a giant with a stone and a sling. The God that enabled Gideon's few hundred to wipe out thousands.  

You don't mess with this God.

And yet, for the sake of love, He allowed Himself to be born.

He could have come in all His glory, as a King--and we would have been forced to honor Him!  He could have come and been given all the glory that He so muchly deserves from His own creation--us.

But He came and was born.  A helpless, weak, tiny baby.  Born to one of the poorest of the poor.  In the depths of the lowest of the low...in the midst of animals, dirt, grime.  He was placed in a feeding trough, when He is accustomed to a shining, white, glorious throne.  

But He chose for it to be that way.

He wanted to be here with us.

...how how He loves us...

trust issues

I will admit it.

I have trust issues.

I did not always.  I was always the naive one.  The one that you could get to believe pretty much just about everything.  Because I trusted you.  I did not see any reason to not to--why would you lie to me?

I was the wide-eyed girl that believed everything she was told.

She never wanted to think badly of anybody.

She was the one that fiercely defended her friends when accused.

She was the loyal one.

I'm talking fierce.  I loved hard.  All in.  All or nothing.

But then, this little girl learned a hard lesson.

She put so much trust in people...she believed in those that she loved and those that loved her.

And then....

They failed her.

Friends betray.  Family lets down.  People change.  Hearts are fickle.

And the little girl crumbled.  Because she trusted them with her heart.  She let them in, she gave it over, all in.  And they crushed.  They broke.  They betrayed.  They....

...were human.

Innately, we all have the desire to be held firm.  Our hearts yearn to be cradled in the cleft of the rock.  We all want to trust...in something.  We all want to find our worth...in something.  We all want to find purpose...in something.

Something tends to take many forms.  People.  Drugs.  Sex.  Career.  Money.  Hobbies...the list could go on.

So we search.  We try.  We fall.  We break.  And we quickly find...

...that we are let down at every turn.

That nothing is unshakable.  That nobody is perfect.

And so we get trust issues.  

Was that the intent of the Designer when He wired us with that desire of being held firm?  That we would all become broken, bloody, bruised people?  Bitter and resentful of life, ready for betrayal and heart break at every turn?

He whispers over us in His Word,

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart..." (Prov. 3:5)

And the verse has new life to me.  In my journey to find worth, in my quest for purpose, I trusted the world with all of my heart.  I gave my heart to my family and friends, never fearing.  Until I was broken.

Now I am bloody and bruised.  All I have left are pieces of this heart.  And I find myself clutching them close.  Holding them far from anyone and anything that could ever again break them.  

But in the process, I grow weary.  I grow hungry.  There is a longing in my chest that I can no longer deny.

And He keeps whispering.  He is relentless.  He pursues me.  He chases me.

Whispers sweetness to my heart, beckoning the bloody pieces to find their rightful home:

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart..."

And I surrender.  Hold out my hands and offer what is left of the tattered shreds of what once was so strong.  The fearless heart, limp and torn.

And I offer it up, my last act of trust.  Giving it over.  All of it.  Every shred.

He holds it in His hands, and closes it fast.  And I can feel...that this was the final place.

Because now, every hurt, every betrayal, every pain has to find its way through His hands.  

Does that mean that they won't ever happen?  No!  But that every one of them is purposeful--He will not allow me to undergo unnecessary pain.  

By surrendering my heart to Him, I give Him my everything for His greater purpose: for His glory.

Sometimes my pain is necessary for His glory.  But then, sometimes His glory is found in my joy.  

But ultimately, His glory is found in my satisfaction in Him.

Which means, that even through pain, even through trials, even through the darkest night, because I have trusted Him with my heart, I have an everlasting Rock.  

His promises stand firm forever; they never change.  He will never take them back.

I know that He lives, I know that He stands firm forevermore.  I know that He will never betray me.  I know that He will never change.

I know that He reigns sovereign.  My desire is filled.  I am cradled in the cleft of the rock.

Storms may come.  Pain may overtake me.  People may betray me.

But it doesn't matter.  My God holds my heart.  

Wherever He calls me, I will go.

Where He holds me, I will stay.

I can hold tight to His promises: He will never leave me nor forsake me. 

Indeed, I'm thankful for my trust issues.  They have driven me harder to my knees, closer, stronger to Jesus, and taught me more of what it means to trust in the Lord with all my heart...