Imperfections

Imperfections. Oh goodness. If only we accepted them in ourselves as much as God accepts them in us....

One thing I love about imperfections is that it really shows you what kind of friendships you have. For example, have you ever visited with a friend and not bothered with makeup? Have you ever been around a friend wearing the same clothes two days in a row? Have you ever been around a friend and not cared that your house was clean? Have you ever been around a friend and no longer cared about what they thought of you because you already knew they loved you for you?

It's been such a very long long long time since I've had friends like that. I'm blessed to have a couple of friends in my life like that right now. I adore these friends more than any of these words could describe. I'm having a play date with one of them tomorrow and I just now (at 9pm) realized how awfully messy my house is.

There is absolutely no walk room in my girls' room. It's a disaster to say the least. There are dirty clothes all over the hallway waiting to be washed. But I can't wash them because the laundry room is messy with dog stuff that needs to be cleaned first. We're constantly washing dishes in the kitchen but there's always another pile in the sink to be washed. The living room and dining room are also disasters (not as bad as the girls' room) because of rearranging things around the house over the weekend. We need to move stuff out to storage and it will make it looks tons better, but there's still a bit of clutter that needs to be dealt with. I'm pretty sure I can't get around to cleaning all of it before she arrives with her girls tomorrow.

But you know what? I was so stinkin' excited that I'm having this friend come over with her little girls to play and have lunch with us that I never bothered looking around the house at all the mess. I know she loves us just the way we are. To see us living in such clutter and mess won't change her opinion of us. It won't make her love us any less. I can even guarantee you that she would still come over again if I asked her to.

I'm so lucky to have more than one friend that loves me this much. I'm so lucky to have more than one friend who loves me for me and isn't influenced by whatever junk is around me.

You know there is a lesson in this. But I'm going to let you figure that one out on your own while you watch this video.

Decisions

The year of hard decisions. That's what 2011 is turning out to be for us. While that may sound like a lot of bad things are going on (and I guess they sometimes are)... we're really not looking at it like that.

The best part about making hard decisions is that there's an outcome on the other side of that decision that we're all okay with. I won't go into detail on all of the hard decisions we've made this year, but there have been quite a few big ones as well as some we're still trying to figure out.

There was one very recently that I'm still having a hard time dealing with. I know praying about this and discussing it with my husband that I made the right decision for us right now. But sometimes these decisions aren't always what I really want.

That's just life. In the words of The Rolling Stones, "You can't always get what you want. But if you try sometimes you just might find you get what you need."

I thank the good Lord above for always watching out for us and always answering prayers. It may not always be the answered prayer I was looking for, but all our prayers get answered. I'm so glad that He knows better than I do.

I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out - plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for. When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I'll listen. When you come looking for me, you'll find me. Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I'll make sure you won't be disappointed.

Jeremiah 29:11-13 The Message

(This video is from my church 4 months ago during a series called "Rock for the Rock".
The picture is blurry, but a great message I think you may like.)

ROCK for the ROCK: Week Three from Darin Hamm on Vimeo.

An Inspiring Week

I missed my favorite parts of last week - Wishful Living and An Inspiring Week. And where I left off with "An Inspiring Week" wasn't all that fabulous. Hopefully this week you will agree that my inspiration is much much better. I've really been too busy this past week to do much of any crafting or sewing of my own, but I'm always on the lookout for adorable things that inspire me or simply put me in a good mood.

First on my list is this awe-some bed from the linen house. I want a bed like this so bad. One that just looks comfortable and inviting and says "come snuggle up on me and rest." It's one of those you know you could lay on in any position, snuggle the covers up under your chin, and be so perfectly comfortable. I am quite happy that we have upgraded from a wire-poking-you-in-the-back uncomfortable sofa bed to a king size bed. That's quite the blessing, really. But this bed here - oh this bed! I want you.

This is hillarious and adorable at the same time. I really think our Max needs one of these sweet bow tie collars. Most of the time I don't think our dog could get any more adorable, but then I found these and I changed my mind. He needs one whether he agrees with me or not.

I'm pretty sure I made something like this when I was a kid. It inspired me to start thinking like a kid again and look at everything from a creative point of view. I found it while surfing around on this blog.

While surfing around on this blog, I saw this lamp. It's delicious. I want it. I'm sure I could figure out how to recreate it, but for now I'll admire this one.

I thought these were super creative and it's the first crafty thing I've seen that I cannot figure out how to recreate. Therefore, I want one. If I can't recreate it, it's worth purchasing. :) Go to the site and see more of these cute things.

And last but not least.... something I shared on Twitter and Facebook earlier in the week. There is nothing cuter than this video. NOTHING. I still cry from laughing every single time I watch this (and I've watched it a lot!). Even if you take your eyes off the video and just listen to the baby laugh, it's still just as cute.








What inspired you this week?

Wishful Living

It's no secret that I am a bit obsessed with the 1950s. So of course, it comes as no surprise that when we are finally able to buy our own home, one made in the 50s would be ideal. Most 1950s homes have been remodeled and updated inside. But that's okay. I can always switch it back. ;)

I found this charming yellow home for sale in Florida. I have no desire to move to Florida, so this is great material for "Wishful Living." For an easy $60,000 we could own this dream. But I'd have to uproot it and move the house here to Oklahoma - because seriously, Florida isn't for me. We'll just pretend this home is here in Oklahoma or even Albuquerque, NM. *grin*

Built in 1951. 1157 Square Feet. 3 Bedrooms. 1 Bathroom.

And of course, there has to be "theme music." So this is what my life in that home would sound like...

Forgiveness

I started reading though an old blog of mine (just a personal one I didn't share with the World). I found something there I wanted to share in this blog.

It was written toward the end of last year when hubs and I were in marriage counseling. To those who know us now, it's hard to believe our marriage almost ended last year. I am so thankful for our marriage counselor, J, who helped us get through some really rough stuff. We're also so thankful we discovered New Heights church at just the right time - when we had to end our counseling sessions (it was far away and we couldn't afford the gas to get there anymore). God worked through our pastor, Darin. We applied what he taught and it has saved our marriage. In fact, we're at a place now where you couldn't even imagine hubs and I even thinking about splitting up.

Back to the old blog post... In counseling, I learned something about forgiveness. It was one of those moments an answer I gave wasn't really my own thoughts. These words just poured out of my mouth and I learned something pretty spectacular from it. Here's the post:

I've learned a lot about forgiveness. I'm not sure I've ever talked about forgiveness with anyone until last night. J asked me for my definition of forgiveness. I told him I couldn't really give an official definition, it's more of a process. I explained to him that I know what Jesus did for us a long time ago. He died on the cross for our sins. It wasn't just for MY sin... it was for everyone's sin. That includes my husband. That includes my family. That includes my friends. That even includes strangers. People make mistakes in their life. I certainly have made a lot of mistakes in my life. I've learned from them - the biggest lesson being forgiveness. Who am I to say that Jesus died for my sins and that I am forgiven but think that others don't deserve the same forgiveness? Whatever bad things have happened, I forgive him because God did. He deserves that forgiveness as much as I do. I will not judge someone by their mistakes. I have done a lot of bad things in my life but I have grown up from those mistakes. I am not the same person I used to be. I trust God that my husband will not be the same person he used to be.

I believe God deals with each of us in a unique way. God is certainly dealing with my husband right now (and me too) and I am holding on to all of God's promises for us. I am exercising patience. I am exercising forgiveness. While there are still days I want to give up, I keep holding on.

Wordless Wednesday

The Secret

Fact. Life is hard sometimes. Sometimes bad things happen - yes, even to good people. Sometimes we make mistakes. Sometimes things beyond our control can ruin a perfectly good day.

But every day is full of new possibilities - possibilities to dwell on the bad or think about the good.

Last night, hubs and I watched The Secret. It's crazy how much of it relates to Christian principles. So is "The Secret" to life Christianity? It could be for everyone. For me, it is. For me, there is no other way to live. The movie described our lives as being controlled by "the Universe" but Christians call this kind of "Universe", God. God is the One in control of my life. He is the powers that be.

The movie talked a lot about how we are to stay focused on positive things to have a positive life so "The Secret" can manifest itself in our lives. The rest is up to "the Universe" - or in my case, God. The thing that made most sense to me in this movie was how bad things happen because we're always thinking bad thoughts. If we start focusing on good thoughts for our life, then good things will happen. I really think there's some truth to that.

Think about what happens when you surround yourself with awful people. Your life starts to kind of suck and you always feel bad. But when you surround yourself with positive people, good things start happening and you're more joyful. Right? It's the same for our thoughts. Go through your day thinking about the positive things you want to happen in your life. Cut out the thoughts of why or how it won't work. Just focus on the fact that it will. The Universe God will take care of the how/when/etc. You just have to believe it'll happen.

Today, I tried to put this into practice with my own life. When I started to get upset at my children, I tried redirecting my thoughts to all the things I appreciate about them. When I started to get upset about my finances, I started to think about all of the times God provided for us no matter how much money there was wasn't in the bank. I think it all starts by appreciating your life and those in it. Stop thinking about what you don't have and appreciate the things you do. Focus on what you want in your life and don't question it ever happening.

And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:19 (NIV)