believe. receive. then give.

This weekend I had the wonderful opportunity to be a Disciple Now leader for 6th grade girls. It was such a blessed time. First of all, they are such a blast. But most importantly they are so sincere and so pure. It was such a breath of fresh air.They greatly desired to taste and see.

It was brought up during the weekend by the incredible speaker Jason Dukes (among many other fantastic things) that in order to love well you must fully grasp you are loved well and fully. I believe it is something we forget often. We try our best to do and do and go and go loving and serving, but unless we fully believe and receive HIS love for us, truly truly get it, we are ineffective in our own.

Understanding He is the center affects everything - our view of our worth, forgiveness of ourselves and others, etc. He graciously gave us all these things. He deemed us worthy, when we weren't. He forgave us, so we must forgive. He gave us righteousness, when we deserved death. He loved us when we hadn't loved him. To grasp the unconditional and unchanging love he poured out on us will change your life. He doesn't choose everyday, he has ALREADY CHOSEN... it's not something we have to earn. Understanding and receiving this makes our capacity to love so much greater because ... it's not us at all ... it is Him.

There is beauty in it all, because in it all there is HIM.

embrace it.

Embrace LOVE today. Celebrate it. Whether you have a "valentine" or not, love should still be celebrated today. and ALWAYS.

It is freeing.
It is patient.
It's what makes the ups.
And gets you through the downs.
It's beautiful, and makes you come alive.
Love wins, always.
It bears all, endures all, hopes all and believes all.
We didn't choose love, it choose us. So we must walk in it.

You are loved today. You truly truly are. 

Wonderful lavender vanilla latte with my sweet sister, Morgan, on this beautiful Valentine's Day. And they even gave me a heart cup. How perfect!

"If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have no love, I gain nothing."

{1 Corinthians 13:3}

celebrate the new & now

Isn't it a nice thought to know that we are never finished growing, maturing, molding into the person we are meant to be? I think it is. A lot of times I feel we get bogged down with the thought that we are to have it all together to do this or that, and in all reality we may never "have it all together". So we can't just wait to do what we feel like we should do because we are bound by something we have no control over. We are always learning and becoming better versions of ourselves, whether through experiences or just lessons in general. And that... is such a beautiful thing.

Why don't we take more chances?

So don't let your circumstances today hold you back from what you want to do. The Lord is so much greater. His sovereignty does not dissociate with our circumstances. Be wise, yes. But make the most out of every opportunity (Ephesians 5:15-16)!

(image from tumblr)

the magical tunes of...

...THE CIVIL WARS

Last night I was privileged to hear the beautiful melodious sounds of the The Civil Wars! These two, made up of John Paul White and Joy Williams, are insanely talented, and together form some sort of musical combustion. I haven't seen anything quite like it before; MAGIC, if you will. They just came out with a new album, "Barton Hollow", and it is wonderful. If you haven't checked them out before, please do... you won't be sorry!

Mr. John Paul White

Mrs. Joy Williams, cutest person on the planet (I'm convinced!)