You never marry the right person

"The reason that marriage is so painful and yet wonderful is because it is a reflection of the Gospel, which is painful and wonderful at once. The Gospel is-we are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared to believe, and at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope."

Read about it yourself at Relevant Magazine.

Be vulnerable

let love be genuine

Prodigy in me

Defining a Prodigy from Elevation Church on Vimeo.

My thoughts exactly

Things That Inspire

Everything I need to know, I learned from Titanic...

Jack: Rose, you're no picnic, all right? You're a spoiled little brat, even, but under that, you're the most amazingly, astounding, wonderful girl, woman that I've ever known...
Rose: Jack, I...
Jack: No, let me try and get this out. You're ama- I'm not an idiot, I know how the world works. I've got ten bucks in my pocket, I have no-nothing to offer you and I know that. I understand. But I'm too involved now. You jump, I jump remember? I can't turn away without knowing you'll be all right... That's all that I want.
Rose: Well, I'm fine... I'll be fine... really.
Jack: Really? I don't think so. They've got you trapped, Rose. And you're gonna die if you don't break free. Maybe not right away because you're strong but... sooner or later that fire that I love about you, Rose... that fire's gonna burn out...
Rose: It's not up to you to save me, Jack.
Jack: You're right... only you can do that.

It's my favorite movie. I'm devoted to saying this is my favorite movie for the rest of my life. But I would have found a way to get two people on that darn floating debris. Orrrr when I was producing the movie, I would have gotten a smaller piece of wood.

Darlin, I think you're pretty

I mean, how hard is it to be found worthy of impractical, inconvenient and lovely...

God loves me not because I am worthy, but because I am a fixture in His mind...

a.w. tozer

When I grow Up...

if you catch it in the moonlight

via Design Crush

I'm such a sucker for anything When-Harry-Met-Sally-esque

"You wear white, and I'll wear out the words 'I love you'"

...live in love...

C.S. Lewis, you pierce my heart...

Mrs. Wong

It costs God nothing, as far as we know, to create nice things: but to convert rebellious wills, cost him crucifixion. -c.s. lewis

The "F" Bomb

Mind out of the gutter-the other F bomb.

So here's the deal about "forever." It is the one word that simply put means the day after tomorrow and the day after that and the day after that and the day after that, etc etc etc. You get the picture. I made the point.

So when you're with someone, you eventually-hopefully sooner rather than later-but who am I to judge-come to the ultimate question:

Many would lead you to believe that is, "do I love (insert name)?"

But I think the ultimate question is, "do I want to spend the day after tomorrow and the day after that and the day after that and the day after that, etc etc etc, with (insert name)?"

Because love, as much as it is the ultimate compromise between emotion and game-time decisions, is more intangible. Because we desperately believe in its ideals, truths and infectious butterflies, we conveniently and flirtatiously forget if it's lost or missed.

But forever. Now, we know exactly when something is not forever. Nap times in Mrs. Williams' first-grade class were not forever. Running the mile in middle school was not forever though it felt like an Iron Man bc Pizitz Middle School was surrounded by torturous smelling Bradford Pear Trees and strategically built on a hill for the sun god to beat us all with hot, sweaty sticks.

Love conquers all.

But there is only one forever...

And we're not there with the Author, Writer and Maker of Forever.

So therein lies the dilemma...

Grace be active. Patience be outstanding. Wisdom be obvious. Boldness be encouraging.

Love be genuine.

Forever be near.

Sooner rather than later.

Peace on earth... and in my heart

Peace.
I recently read in My Utmost for His Highest that peace is God's mark of approval from when we obey Him.
I recently made a few decisions (insert "duh. you're 22 w a mediocre income, depending on your parents, deciding ab grad school vs real world, still living in a college town with a heart as big and as tossed yet as anchored as a Macy's Thanksgiving Day balloon).
I accepted a new job still in Auburn, turned another opportunity down and am patiently waiting to see a few more decisions unfold themselves.
While transitioning into my new position working with development in AU's College of Architecture, Design, and Construction, but still working full-time in my old job with Special Events, I realized there was deep unrest in my heart. I felt hasty despite knowing good and well the Lord will never leave nor forsake me.
I thought I was lacking peace because I didn't pray for months about some of these decisions like I had in the past. ex 1) I have prayed since freshman year for a fulfilling job, and I prayed even more fervently before graduation about which job to take because I was blessed to have two promosing options. ex 2) I pray for my husband, but I admit, I may/may not have asked the Lord to hold off on that one until I had ex 1 at least semi-controlled. Commit-a-phob strikes again. Moving on...
Today, this phase in life, everything is different now. I didn't have months this time.
I had urgency.
Funny because Jesus didn't have months either while praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, but I'm pretty sure the blood sweat came from a deep sense of urgency for His Father's will too. Not that I'm sweating blood bullets here, but I find courage and so should you knowing it's not always the amount of prayer but the need of the prayer. Yes, there have been months and years of counceling/prayer in the Word, so when the time came, I would know His will. I'm not saying Jesus nor I hadn't prayed about a day that would come when we'd need the Lord urgently-just saying, sometimes, He calls for our immediate action, and we should be prepared to pray accordingly.
Never doubt the Lord's response (though it might not be what you want) to the sincerest prayer that come from the most humblest of circumstances asking for the wisdom to do His work.
But be ready because He'll ask you to "go" or "no" or "stop" or "now" at any unannounced moment... And He expects you to do just what you prayed for-His will, not yours, to be done.
So here we are at Christmas, and I can't help but sing,
"Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me."

Hit it Gladys...



live in love,
grace

I love you more than blank... a live in love campaign

I love (love, love) campaigns. I'm not talking political today. I'm talking about personal and innovative campaigns. I love campaigns that cost nothing or cost a fortune, but either way, improve quality of life.

I love large-scale campaigns such as Pepsi's Refresh Project, which is giving away millions of doll-hairs to individuals supporting community projects just because... It's Pepsi. It can. Awesome.

But as generous as Pepsi is, I think I found another campaign where we can all win. It's called i love you more than blank dot com.

The campaign started in a paperwhite studio in NYC's lower east side from the belief that someone can't evaluate the value of something unless it can be measured to something else...

They even divided your love into categories: the benjamins, coffee vs. fizz, wired, eatables, wax poetic, if you only knew, homies, i heart and motley crew...

Go to i love you more than blank to find your category and submit a reason why you love

If you know me, you might know which one I submitted...

In their words, it's "a small project w a big heart"

live in love, me

Where the Battle is Won or Lost

’If you will return, O Israel,’ says the Lord . . . —Jeremiah 4:1

Our battles are first won or lost in the secret places of our will in God’s presence, never in full view of the world.
The Spirit of God seizes me and I am compelled to get alone with God and fight the battle before Him. Until I do this, I will lose every time. The battle may take one minute or one year, but that will depend on me, not God. However long it takes, I must wrestle with it alone before God, and I must resolve to go through the hell of renunciation or rejection before Him. Nothing has any power over someone who has fought the battle before God and won there.I should never say, “I will wait until I get into difficult circumstances and then I’ll put God to the test.” Trying to do that will not work. I must first get the issue settled between God and myself in the secret places of my soul, where no one else can interfere. Then I can go ahead, knowing with certainty that the battle is won. Lose it there, and calamity, disaster, and defeat before the world are as sure as the laws of God. The reason the battle is lost is that I fight it first in the external world. Get alone with God, do battle before Him, and settle the matter once and for all.In dealing with other people, our stance should always be to drive them toward making a decision of their will. That is how surrendering to God begins. Not often, but every once in a while, God brings us to a major turning point— a great crossroads in our life. From that point we either go toward a more and more slow, lazy, and useless Christian life, or we become more and more on fire, giving our utmost for His highest— our best for His glory.

"Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in all the earth. " Psalm 46:10

This was today's Oswald Chambers' My Utmost for His Highest

live in love, me

Best friends near or far

Two of my best friend's WEB LOG.
If you follow me on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace (jk. I think I'm better than most people with MySpace. Besides, I think it's for the music crowd), you know I am obsessed with my two friends, Jordan and K8ie gurl Anderson.
He's a chaco-flannel-Levi-wearing Tiger Head (AU alum), wet cat (AU swimmer), Banjo picking and skit performing enthusiast (YL leader).
She has a Moe's-pizza-and-Birthday-Cake-ice-cream palette with a rockin body. She loves nicknames, lilies, notes and early bedtimes. But I love her most for her unmatched ability to deeply love a wretch like me despite my mood swings and all-too-often tendency to pull away from the ones I need the most.
Freshman year in ADPi, I was blessed to meet Katie . Then I got to live with her on the ADPi hall and in 36 Mafia with 4 other best sista friends. I met Jordan through my "magnet" friend whom was also influential in kindling the K8ie+Jordo=4eva fire.
I liked Jordan because he entertained me in between classes in the Haley Center. He was (who am I kidding-IS) way cooler than I, so I appreciated his companionship.
Now, when I say I liked him-I did. But that didn't mean I liked him coming in and dating my bff.
I need to confess this because for all who knew me at the time Jordan was pursuing Katie so patiently and confidently, I was not-so subtly protective.
I was protective because she had been hurt indifferent to what Jordan was or was not doing. I was also protective because of the caliber of man I knew him to be in the short time I had known him. That sounds backwards, but isn't that the mind of a girl for you?
I have been affirmed EVERY time since the first few days of our friendship he was as genuine and intentional as they come. I knew he was the real deal.
THAT terrified me because those are the kinds of guys who ride off into painted sunsets and steal your best friends.
It didn't take long (well, I was the last bff to accept them, but give me a break) for me to concede my reservations and happily support this couple. The rest is history documented thanks to various Facebook albums, visions of swim meets dancing in our heads and countless stories that will be re-told to their all-star kids and my red-headed heathens of unforgettable porch nights and lake trips.
Now, I have a brother AND my sista friend.
Here's the kicker: He is actually stealing her away-not to never never land via side saddle on some tantalizing stallion, but to England via Delta (maybe even United).
AND I'm not even upset about this fairytale. I'm pumped.
Because it's not a cursive "The End" after a Disney movie or "happily ever after" just yet...
It's the beginning.
I joined my best friends in marriage, and you better believe I'm using my dad's Sky Miles and sick days to go visit.
Now that K8ie gurl blogs, I can shout out to her with hope she'll see it:

Here's a toast to... you know the rest, but most of all here's a toast to my best friends!