Be Mine

Malachi 3: 17
" 'They shall be Mine', says the Lord of hosts, 'On the day that I make them My jewels. And I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.' "


Day 2 of Valentine's week.  The last book of the Old Testament, Malachi, tells us that "For those who fear the Lord and who meditate on His name", we will be His , we will be made His jewels.  I find comfort in these words, and to be honest, a little discomfort too.  I find comfort because my faith tells me in John 3: 16 "whoever believes in Him should not perish , but have everlasting life".  What makes me a little uncomfortable is that I'm still human here!  I mess up every day! What if my faith wavers, I'm not good enough, I'm not prayerful enough or, I do something else unforgivable???  I only have to go back to my Bible to find out in Romans 8, starting at verse 31, that nothing...vs.39 "nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."  Whew.... I'm feeling much better now! Be Mine? Yes, Lord, I am yours!

So, today, we had another unanticipated day off from school...and my husband has the day off. Curses, spoiled again!  No problem, a great time to practice love, right?! Right. We'll just have to get a jump start on our Valentine's for school, and for our family and friends. I find some really clever ideas on Pinterest.

Such a cute idea for preschoolers!

Or, maybe today would be a good day for Valentine mani-pedi's for me and my girls. Again, a lot of cute ideas on Pinterest.  This is just one of many ideas. What I like about this one is the tutorial that goes along with it. Whatever we decide to do today, I'm sure we'll do it with LOVE! (wish me luck!)

Hope

1 Corinthians 13: 13
" And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love.  But the greatest of these is love. "


Well, it's the week before Valentine's day and everyone's got love on their minds.  That's a good thing.  We are told that love is the greatest!  But what kind of love is the greatest?  Is it the kind of mushy,gushy love that we feel when we first meet someone?  The kind where we get butterflies in our stomachs?  I'll say, "no".  Although this kind of love is wonderful and probably helped when you were choosing your spouse, it's fleeting. The greatest love of all is not found in another person or ,contrary to Whitney Houston's hit, found inside of you. It's sent from Heaven above from our loving God and Father, who sent His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, to die for our sins. It's the self sacrificing love of our Savior who went to the cross to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  That's true love.  My hope for you today is that you experience this great love.

Now for the butterflies... I still get them when I'm with my husband (he'll be reading this later...LOL). He's the only man here on earth that still makes me feel that way. And that's how God intended it. Do I always feel that way? Um...I'll say it again, "no". But that's OK. God has planned for our love to change and grow and to resemble His love. Will we ever be perfect and achieve that kind of love? Probably not or we wouldn't need God.  But, don't lose hope, if we consistently go to God with our failings and our shortcomings then we are growing in love everyday and that's good too.

2 of my favorite Valentine's!

Anchors symbolize hope, so I'm in luck this year that the nautical look is back (quite frankly, not a summer goes by for me that they're not). Anchors are found everywhere in  the stores, on purses, shoes, t-shirts, dresses and of course jewelry.
I'm wearing my new  "Anchor Tee"- from "Talbots" and my great "Navy Anchor Necklace" from the "The Pink Silhouette".  

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery

Titus 2: 7
" In everything set an example by doing what is good.  In your teaching show integrity, seriousness."


I really enjoy beautiful clothes. I find a lot of my inspiration these days on-line.  I have an entire Pinterest board called "My dream closet".  That doesn't mean I run out and buy everything I see.  I try to imitate what I see, using the pieces I already have in my wardrobe and sometimes spruce them up with a new accessory, a new top or some new shoes.  All it really takes is to see what you already have with a pair of fresh eyes. If you are trying to imitate an outfit from someone else, remember to modify it to suit your lifestyle, your age, and your body type. Something that looks great on a 20 something, super slender model, doesn't always translate properly to my 48 yr old, we'll say "athletic" build... just say it, humor me, please! I also chase a 2 year old around all day so 4 inch heals probably won't work for me everyday either.  Most importantly, be mindful of what you choose, who is your audience (mine is a lot of kids!) ?  In everything we are to set an example of what is good.

Here is a cute outfit I found on this blog,  Jessica McLain

Here's a similar one from another blog,  Southern Curls & Pearls

And here's my version....

I love the leopard heals in the photo above, but of course substituted my leopard slip-on tennis shoes. I love the over-sized scarf, but opted for my turquoise scarf and gloves. My purse is from my favorite local store, "The Pink Silhouette"   

Run, run as fast as you can!

1 Corinthians 9: 24
" Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize?  Run in such a way as to get the prize."


I did it! I ran a little over 2 miles yesterday and I did it in under 21 minutes.  Not bad for a 48 year old woman with 7 children, huh?  No one was waiting for me at my parents house with an award, though. Actually, they didn't even realize I was finished. There was some serious "duplo" block building going on in the living room when I walked in.  I wasn't even missed.  But that's fine, my reward is knowing that I  was able to finish my running course, that I completed the goal I had set out to accomplish, and that there were no sad faces when I returned from my run. My greater reward is knowing that the real finish line for my race is not even here on earth. It'll be when I run through the gates of heaven into the arms of my loving God. Now, off to my bible for some more training!

Pre-run photo. It was warmer yesterday (51 degree high), so I was able to run with a light-weight sport jacket layered over an "under armor" long sleeve shirt. 

Photo taken last summer with my running girls!  My 11 year old can beat me already!

This is the day.

1 Timothy 4: 8
" For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come."


Well, this is the day. I'm going to do it, really I am...I hope. I really need to start training for my 5K and today I promised myself that I would start. Wouldn't you know it, I need to take my daughter to the doctor this morning, my husband goes into work earlier than usual, and even though I get up between 5 and 5:30 in the morning, it's just to dark and cold to start running and be back in time to shower and get the kids on the bus. I'm done with my excuses now.  My parents live 5 miles down the road, they would be happy to watch my 2 yr old for me, and they are running the 5K with me. Yup, my 70 and 71 yr old parents! Pretty impressive, huh?  At least I started my day with training my heart and mind for the Lord. I do make time (almost) every morning to have my morning coffee with my God. And that kind of training holds much more value.

While running my errands this morning, I chose this cute tunic top from "The Pink Silhouette",. I'm also wearing my favorite "Target" boyfriend jeans and tan booties.
( Sorry for the renovations in background. I need to find a prettier spot for pictures! I did move the shoes this time.)

The cutest 8 yr old photographer I know! Thanks for the pic, Babydoll!

Get fit, starting tomorrow

Ephesians 5: 16
"making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil"

This verse in Ephesians is about walking in wisdom. Something I try to do from time to time. I have some good days, sometimes, not so much. But that's just part of the process, as long as we continue to lift up to God the areas where we most need Him, the more we truly rely on Him, the more we see Him working in our lives. I highly recommend journaling. It's a helpful tool to see what areas we have put before our Father and where He has taken us. I know personally, I don't often forget my problems, but I sometimes forget my blessings.

Today, I was going to start training for a 5K ( I really haven't run a lot since last fall ). But, it's just too cold outside! Tomorrow it's supposed to be in the 40's so I'll try again. No, I'll do it tomorrow! There have been so many days that we have been unable to get outside because of weather and  illnesses, that it's easy just to stay inside and finish up that dip you made for the Super Bowl, those last few Christmas cookies, bake some other wonderful thing "for the children" and then finish it up for them while they are in school...I am afraid to step on the scale! So, I won't.  I'll make the most of today's opportunities; to keep my babies warm inside, to try and stay away from the last few Rice Krispie Treats, and think about what I'll be wearing tomorrow when I finally go for that run!

I had an opportunity this morning to play around with a logo for my blog...not quite there yet.
What are your thoughts?  Please comment and let me know.

Seahawks...that's all.

Matthew 19: 26
"Jesus looked at him and said,  ' With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.' "


First, let me just say, " I am a Ravens fan". The Ravens, however were not in the Super Bowl, so yesterday I was rooting for the Seahawks. Why?  Well, the Patriots beat my Ravens in the play-offs (bummer). Also, there is that little incident with the air pressure in the footballs...and, one of my favorite Christian artist, Natalie Grant,  is a big Seahawks fan so it seemed like a no-brainer.  Somehow, I feel somewhat responsible for the Seahawks defeat...crazy! I am not an NFL consultant, I am in no way supernatural and have no super powers to somehow manipulate the outcome of sporting events, life events, etc.  So why do I feel responsible? I'm not exactly sure. I feel the same way when the Ravens lose or when things don't wind up the way I think they should. If only I'd worn a different shirt or if only I'd have painted my nails a different color or prayed harder or been better or nicer or... It doesn't work that way, people. We are not in charge. We can not control everything around us. After all, we are only human.

All of that is OK though. In our weakness, He is made strong. We need to remember who ultimately is in control. So in any circumstance, most not as trivial as the outcome of  the Super Bowl, we need to fully rely on God. It might not be the outcome we are hoping for,  but knowing He is with us through our many trials in life is all we really need....Go Orioles (a girls got to move on!)

The nails that "jinxed" the Seahawks! Super cute color though. I love to have fun with different nail colors, this one is "Green With Envy"- Sally Hanson Extreme Wear

This is the outfit I had picked out to wear today, however, I didn't want anyone to think I was happy about the Patriots victory (mature, right!).  The dress and leggings are from my favorite local store, "The Pink Silhouette", the tan booties are from "Target". I was actually going to wear this dress belted today with some boots...see future blog post.