"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
1 John 1:9
This morning I was reading in 1 John, and I can't count the many, many times I've read those words. I've grown up my whole life exposed to the Bible, and reading it for myself. And it's amazing and excites me that I still get overwhelmed when I read these verses. I stop and reread them several times, absolutely savoring the promise. "He is faithful and and righteous to forgive." All we have to do is confess. I cannot understand why, or how, He can forgive and love so beautifully, so unconditionally. But I am so very grateful.
This weekend I introduced my little sisters to the wonderful world of period drama's for the first time, and of course we watched the entire a&e Pride and Prejudice all at once, because we are girls and it seemed like a good idea. They were quite ecstatic to be able to stay up until the wee hour of 2am for the very first time ever, but in reality, it wasn't a very smart idea, because we were all tired Saturday, and slept in too late, which meant we were rushing to get things done and have everybody dressed and primped and headed out the door by 12:15 sharp for a friends wedding. (Why, oh why does my family only have one curling iron? I think I shall be remedying this problem later this week, because it was rather ridiculous. One cannot properly curl their hair in a hurried manner. It ends up looking like some sort of frizzy disaster that will probably give nightmares to small children.). And we ended up leaving fully 15 minutes later than planned, and then getting lost for another 20 minutes, which meant we arrived at the wedding late. But despite all of our technical difficulties, it was a delightful wedding and they make the cutest couple and are incredibly sweet together. The decorations and flowers were so beautiful. She kept everything simple, yet absolutely gorgeous. And the church they chose was stunning.
le tenue:
wool skirt: goodwill {7.99}
Cardigan: Target {18.99}
Polka dot Tee: Khols {17.99)
Black Pumps: Payless {20.00}
Headband: Fred Myer {5.99}
How was your weeknd? And since it seems I am in the market for one, what curling iron do you recommend? :)
+ Lately, I've been trying to focus on living my life and enjoying the little beautiful details, rather than stressing about recording every little detail. I haven't blogging, taken photographs, or even journaled for weeks. It's been nice to take a break from writing.
+ I just spent a couple weeks in Cali, doing some nannying for my Aunt, and I spent a lot of time playing with her kids, and reading countless stories. I love that reading is their favorite activity. One evening my Aunt and I decided to play mini-golfing. And I realized that I'll never, ever, ever be a golfer. On one hole I think I hit the ball 15+ times, and then finally just decided to stop trying because there were some people waiting, (and probably giggling at my attempts.) We definitely have a lot of fun, and I think it's the perfect activity to just have fun. It is not to be taken seriously in the least bit. Lets just say that my score was much worse than regular golf scores. ;)
+ While I was down there, all the trees at home turned beautiful shades of yellow, red and orange. That was the best part of flying home; swooping in over Portland and catching glimpses of hundreds and hundreds of brilliant-hued treetops as I tried to focus on continuing to breath properly. Flying isn't exactly my cup of tea.
+ I got to spend last night with one of my best friend and my not-so-little brother, drinking coffee, talking and attending a church function. It was a very wonderful evening. ;)
+ This weekend I am watching five of my siblings while my parents are spending four days at the beach. And I've decided to attempt to make caramel corn this afternoon, as the littles are all currently snuggled up watching a movie, and it's drizzling outside and miserably cold. I am hoping I don't catch the popcorn on fire. haha
+ I decided to start listening to Christmas music earlier this week, and it's making me incandescently happy.
So what's been going on in your life during the past few weeks? :)
Currently, I am snuggled up in my room watching the second half of Sense and Sensibility, (for probably the 20+ time. ;) in my favoritest pajamas, (complete with atrociously mismatched socks. ;) while my family is all off exploring the library. I made a huge, delicious London Fog, (adding a spoonful of vanilla ice cream was a brilliant idea.) and am working on a thousand things at once while the house is quiet. :)
Today was good. I felt so happy and light, much like the calm after a storm. Yesterday was so hard; mostly battles with myself. In the afternoon I was able go for a walk, and spend time praying and surrendering my fears and desires to God, and I came home feeling somewhat peaceful. Then, last night I was emailing a friend and had one of my pandora stations playing, and “Jesus, King of Angels by Fernando Ortega played and I felt like my soul took a deep breath. It was almost like a lullaby, a sweet reminder from my Savoir. Jesus, King of Angels, heaven’s light, Hold my hand and keep me through this night. For this fearful, anxious girl who stresses about everything, who deals with infrequent yet terrible nightmares, and who panics frequently, it was a beautiful, acute reminder. Remind me how You made dark spirits flee, And spoke Your power to the raging sea.
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“Peace I leave with you, My peace i give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.” John 14:27
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Sense and Sensibility just ended and my heart melted, again. I've come here with no expectations, only to profess, now that I am at liberty to do so, that my heart is, and always will be, yours." I've never been able to decide whether I love Edward or Colonel Brandon more...
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Jesus is always, always, always, always faithful. Even when confusion reigns, and doubts cloud in. When the world is bright and cheerful, or when everything seems wrong, when nothing makes sense, when plans fall through. Throughout it all Jesus remains faithful.
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The Ice cream in the freezer downstairs has been on my brain all evening. I think I'm finally going to go cave in. And you know what else? There's only one serving left, so I might just pour chocolate sauce right into the carton and eat it out of that. It always feel so satisfying to just eat it out of the carton, doesn't it? or am I the only weirdo that does that?? :)
+ praying (it blows my mind that I can talk directly to the Star-Breathing Creator of the Universe and Savior of the Entire World, and know without a shadow of a doubt that He hears and answers me every single prayer and every single day. It's pretty awesome!!)
+ getting to spend time with the girls from my church. I have a pretty fabulous church family!!! :)
+ falling asleep listening to the sound of heavy rainfall
+ candles and christmas lights in my bedroom. (the bedrooms in this house have the worst lighting ever, but I put a strand of christmas lights up and it's so pretty and improves the lighting drastically!)
+ "When I am afraid, I will put my trust in you." Psalm56:3
+ canning apple sauce and seeing the jars add up on the shelf.
+lots of strong, strong coffee (honestly, I've been so tired lately. I don't think I could function at all without coffee.)
* these pictures are awkward, especially because I was talking the whole time trying to explain how to use the camera. But you know what? I've realized that my whole life is just awkward at the moment, so I'm learning to get used to it. :)
Skirt: Thrifted {6.99}
Shirt: Thrifted {6.99}
Cami: Forever 21 {1.90}
Boots: Fred Myer {59.99}
I recently bought these boots (okay. yesterday.) and am quite excited about them. Not only are they beautiful, functional, and stylish, but they're brown! My parents have been complaining mentioning a lot lately that I wear too much black... and the truth is that I do wear black incorporated into almost every single outfit. It's a classy color, relatively easy and goes with almost everything. basically a win-win-win... except that it was starting to upset my parents. So I am excited to start incorporating more brown tones into my wardrobe to compliment these boots. This is one of the outfits I envisioned when I bought the boots, and it just makes me feel pretty. Which means that I will probably end up wearing it often. ;)
I swear this child gets cuter by the moment. She just learned to crawl, so we're going to have to look into getting a gate for the fireplace (right now sticking the ottoman in front of it seems to be doing the trick, although she'll probably learn to get around it eventually.) and a gate for the stairs. It's also way more work when watching her, because of hazardous choking material all over the house. But it's also fun, because it means she's growing normally. Plus she crawls pretty cute. :)
A mysterious Phantom haunts the depths of the Paris Opera house where he has fallen passionately in love with the beautiful singer Christine Daae. Under his guidance her singing rises to new heights and she is triumphantly acclaimed. But Christine is also loved by Raoul de Chagny, and by returning his love she makes the fiend she knows as the Angel of Music mad wit jealously. When the Phantom is finally unmasked, will Christine see beyond his hideous disfigurement?
The Phantom of the Opera had been on my TBR list forever, but I was more than a little nervous about it, so I kept ignoring it. But my older brother bought me a copy a couple months ago and informed me that I had to read it immediately because it was his favoritest play ever and was oh-so-good. I am very glad that I took the time to read it. I was nervous mostly because I have a tendency to fall in love with the bad guys in films or books, out of pity. (Think Mr. Preston in Wives and Daughters... I kind of really love him, to the horror of my Aunt. :) And I didn't really want to fall in love with a sociopathic, homicidal genius who is absolutely obsessed with a beautiful girl to the point of kidnapping her and attempting to murder her "fiance." That just didn't sound wonderful to me. Much to my relief and surprise, I didn't fall for Eric in Phantom of the Opera. I felt a tremendous amount of pity, and interest for him, but nothing resembling affection. :)
Leroux did a wonderful job with this book! Its written beautifully, and the story was intriguing! Set from the perspective of someone totally unrelated to the plot line, Leroux crafted a brilliant "mystery" set around the French Opera, and a beautiful, unexpectedly talented girl, and a Phantom who haunts the Paris Opera, demanding money and appearing in various forms, kidnapping Christine occasionally and killing those who oppose him. (Gosh, describing him is hard! Basically he's insane!) I loved Christine. She was sweet, innocent and trusting, yet smart and she was willling to take a stand for right and justice. I didn't like Raoul quite as much as I thought I would. He was pretty spineless, but in all honesty, so much of an improvement from Eric that I was happy with him.
I recommend adding this to your reading list. It was fascinating, brilliant and sad. :)
i love when the sun starts to sink in the horizon and bathes the earth in liquid gold for a few minutes at twilight. the whole world glistens like a jewel, and I wish it could last forever instead of just a few moments. I think I could spend hours staring at the constant changing sky, especially at sundown. i've always thought that sunsets are a beautiful love note straight from God. they certainly display and magnify His creativity and beauty!
"That men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun that there is no one besides mee. I am the Lord, and there is no other." Isaiah 45:6
I don't understand why the world at large has decided that the role of homemaker and mother is somehow inferior or unimportant compared to other careers. Elisabeth Elliot said it beautifully; "This job has been given to me to do. Therefore it is a privilege. Therefore it is an offering I may make to God. Therefore it is to be done gladly, if it is to be done for Him. Here, not somewhere else, I may learn God's way. In this job, not in some other, God looks for faithfulness." Mothers have the amazing opportunity, and immense responsibility, of pouring their lives into their children, teaching, training, loving and nurturing. It's such a beautiful occupation.
I have my plans for what I'd like to do career-wise. I've always talked about a certain field, and thought about the opportunities I'd have to serve people. But you know what I'd really, really want more than any other career? I just want to be a mama and a homemaker, and spend my life investing in my children and family. (and why am I posting about this right now? I don't know really, except that I've had the future and decisions on my mind a lot lately, and this keeps coming up.)
I'd love to hear you thoughts on the homemaking role. :)
+ lots of tea and coffee (it's not like i didn't drink those in the summer, but being able to drink them without dying of overheating would be cool. :)
+ sweaters, scarves, and boots
+ pies
+ stunning leaves and colors
+ falling asleep to the sound of rain
+ fires crackling in the stove in the evenings
+ my girls bible study at church starting again
+ listening to Christmas music (it's my favorite, okay! Yes I do start listening to it full time in October, and yes, I am listening to Michael Buble's christmas album as I type...)
+ Pan (Fairy tales are my favorite, too, and I am pretty excited to go see this one with my favorite sister in law!)
+ road tripping to the beach with my bestie
+ getting to know new friends better
+ family camp with my church starting tomorrow.
+ reading many books and lots of the Bible
what are some things you're excited about now that it's September?
