INTO THE PATIENT WAITING...

Lace + Kimono = oohlala! This is a current listing on my Etsy page for an upcycled vintage lace tablecloth turned into a trendy kimono.  Leave a comment and let me know if you'd like to see more kimono's like this one in my shop . Happy Monday!

"He has filled the hungry with good things." Luke 1:53 I read this today at church and asked Jesus, what good things will you fill my hungry heart with today? Immediately, my mind went to the "good things" that are described in Philippians 4:8. "Whatever things are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy - meditate on these things." Yes, these are "good things" that Jesus can fill my heart with and I was blessed when I read it. But my mind became filled with hundreds of questions like: how? how will You fill? do i need to "do anything" to make these meditations possible? how do i think of lovely things? i don't have anything in me that is great to think on, so where do i start?  God stopped me in my tracks and He reminded me of this: He is the one that fills. He is the one that will give me something to meditate on...if I strive to "do" it, He c...

Over the past few months, Tim and I have really tried to incorporate rest into our lives. Not necessarily the kind of rest that means eye lids must be closed, but a rest that means "stop doing lots" and start "breathing more" and "being present" and "soaking in the moment." I think Jesus did a lot of this while He walked on this earth too. Rest is like a recipe. A recipe that when made properly and consumed in moderation can actually help a person and nourish the soul. Let me give you an illustration to think on: When you're making dinner, do you ever try to think of all you can do "before the timer goes off"? And then, you try to do it? How successful are you? I have done this so many times and some are successful and others...not so much! But today, I was making Kanelbullar (a Swedish Cinnamon Bun) and while I was waiting for the bread to rise, it struck me that I needed to rest just like the bread needed to rest. The bread...

As I rode my bike home today, I was overwhelmed with thankfulness, peace, and a hopefulness for the future. There was nothing out of the ordinary that brought these thoughts about. There was nothing incredible that happened or life-altering. It actually is the fact that life has seemed more normal than ever. Life has a rhythm to it that is beyond what I've experienced the past five years...God is making the rhythm and He is asking me to fall into step with it.  In the past, I created my own rhythm and I even tried to join in with other's rhythms and activities. This happened with my job, my church life, social media, and even friendships. It left me worn out, my husband frustrated, and made me a not-so-happy-people-pleasing-person. The past few months have been about embracing something better than people pleasing: God pleasing. For Tim and I, that has meant letting go of activities that have left us frazzled, relationships that have depleted our energy, and letting g...

"They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb . . . and they loved not their lives unto the death" (Rev. 12:11). When James and John came to Christ with their mother, asking Him to give them the best place in the kingdom, He did not refuse their request, but told them it would be given to them if they could do His work, drink His cup, and be baptized with His baptism. Do we want the competition? The greatest things are always hedged about by the hardest things, and we, too, shall find mountains and forests and chariots of iron. Hardship is the price of coronation. Triumphal arches are not woven out of rose blossoms and silken cords, but of hard blows and bloody scars. The very hardships that you are enduring in your life today are given by the Master for the explicit purpose of enabling you to win your crown. Do not wait for some ideal situation, some romantic difficulty, some far-away emergency; but rise to meet the actual conditions which the Providence...

Ever read Streams in the Desert? If you haven't, you'll be challenged and drawn closer to Christ by the devotions that this woman has put together over years of hardship and suffering. April 29th's devotional was a balm to my weary heart when I read it because my faith has been tested so much the past 8 weeks. My faith in man, the church and "good things" has failed. Faith in those items will not last and will eventually crumble. However, faith in God will never crumble and my faith in Jesus Christ has only gotten stronger. And this post - my friend - is why. Streams in the Desert: April 29th Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. James 5:17 Thank God for that! He got under a juniper tree, as you and I have often done; he complained and murmured, as we have often done; was unbelieving, as we have often been. But that was not the case whe...

May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy! He that goes forth weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him. Psalm 126:5-6 This article was recently posted on Instagram and it was an immense encouragement to my heart this morning. Why? Because there are some seasons of life where tears just seem to be never-ending. Tears of all sorts but tears nonetheless. And yet, the work remains the same in each season despite the tears. May these thoughts on tears be an encouragement to your heart as they were to me. - There is nothing sad about sowing seed. It takes no more work than reaping. The days can be beautiful. There can be great hope of harvest. Yet the psalm speaks of “sowing in tears.” It says that someone “goes forth weeping, bearing the seed for sowing.” So why are they weeping? I think the reason is not that sowing is sad, or that sowing is hard. I think the reason has nothing to do...