LOVE. Childlike love. Puppy love. There’s true love and there’s dumb love. There’s passionate love and playground love. There’s the love of a friend, the love of a mother. Love of a savior. There’s LOVE painted in red roses and red hearts, there’s LOVE painted with the blood that was shed for humanity. You can fall into love, supposedly fall out of it. Make it. Break it. Lose and find it. It can be a verb or a noun. LOVE. There’s countless songs in all genres about it. For four letters it tears up lots of gossip, who you love how you love. And today it has its own holiday. V-Day.

Valentine’s Day may find you in a place of disgust with the holiday, mocking its Hallmark emptiness… or it may find you blushing with roses from your love… or what about you with the silent reality of a dissatisfied marriage … or you with the broken heart. However, let me remind you of the best type of love.

Unconditional love. It’s something as humans I truly don’t think we can fully grasp because it’s not deserved or earned or solicited or even worthy of us. In this very moment, you could not be loved any more. No matter what your past, your burdens, your heart break say about you…. you’re loved. Unconditionally. For God so loved the world… that he gave. Out of Love for you the savior died so that you may live. God is Love. And wants to lavish all the feels type of love out on you, without limits or conditions.

Stop craving scraps of love from people who aren’t even capable of loving you like you need it. Your husband can’t fill the love. Your boyfriend/friend/parent/child cannot fill the void. When we experience the love of a Savior who desires relationship with us, we live as whole, loved, way better versions of ourselves.

So..Give your husband a break. Try loving yourself first. Try accepting Love. I promise you, HIS love never fails ❤️

And a note on comparison: don’t do it today. There’s temptation everywhere. Cutie couples with picture perfect roses and chocolates and date nights. Here’s the deal- those things are cute but not what makes real love. Truth moment- I did not wake up to flowers or chocolates or even a card. I did however wake up to a man that proves he loves me year round. Especially today when he came home from work while I puked and fevered and felt like an absolute mess. YES, flowers and gifts are great- but how else has your man been trying to show you love and you don’t even notice?! Super challenged myself because this girl’s love language is gifts. But I’m reminded today that wanting other people’s gifts is a life-sucking, joy-sucking, gratitude-sucking TRAP that has absolute no benefit. You deserve the world, but entitlement is an ugly thief. Be grateful if you have a man that’s been perfectly gifted to you! If you’re alone this lovefest day- show yourself some lovin’- do something YOU love for YOU. ?

XO,

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Trying out a new thing- “Wear it Wednesday”. The occasional Wear it Wednesday will feature ways to rock a current trend. Today’s fashion trend how to- blanket scarves. They’re so cute, you can wear them so many different ways, and they can take you from Fall, through Winter and into Spring. So… how do you tie them? Here are a few different ways you can style your scarves. Which do you like best?

I’ve linked a few of my favorite scarves and where to find them <3

XO,

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Hi friends! I hope this post finds you well. I’m all settled back into reality from our amazing Hawaiian Vacation! I had a big response to a dress I wore on vacation (the cute grey and white striped one) and everyone wants to know where its from! So here is a PSA post of my go-to online shop- SheIn! I had never heard of it before and am always a little leery buying clothes online-who knows what kind of material it is or how its going to fit?! BUT, I went out on a limb and ordered three dresses for Hawaii and COULD NOT BE MORE EXCITED ABOUT THEM. Seriously. They’re great. All my purchases fit great (size up) the fabric is really great quality, and they’re so comfortable. The site is super affordable for fashion forward-trendy stuff. They offer a 40% off your first purchase and right now have a Valentines Day Sale so do yourself a favor and check it out. Side note about size- look at at their sizing chart before you order.  I typically wear a small and went medium with these dresses and I am happy I did!

The fave grey dress had been sold out, but literally as I am typing this it is RESTOCKED and on SUPER SALE!!!!! Seriously, you need it in your closet. It is perfect for date night, vacation, a wedding/baby shower, girls night, etc. Shop it here.

I also got this cute black maxi. It was the perfect loungey-beachy dress but could totally be dressed up. I wore it tied in a knot in the front walking around downtown Lahaina for lunch and also just around the resort over a swim suit.

Also love this off the shoulder dress. As usual, I overpacked for Hawaii so I never got around to wearing it.. But I can’t wait for spring to bust it out.

Happy Shopping…

XO,

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Resolution:

a) The act of resolving or determining upon an action or course of action method, procedure etc.
b) The mental state or quality of being resolved or resolute, firmness in purpose.

This time every year people decide to make a change. We see the new year as a blank slate, a fresh start. Honestly, the “I want to lose ___ amount of weight” or “I want to save ___ amount of money” resolutions are seemingly overplayed and under obtained. Why? Is it unattainable, no. I don’t think so. I do think it is a mishap of our mindset. We are so good at staying motivated January 1- maybe March? Then it fades. For this reason, some people don’t make resolutions at all. I read the book “The Resolution for Women” by Priscilla Shirer and she makes so many good points, but what I found most remarkable was her profound thought that if you don’t make resolutions, you’re resolved to stay the same. YIKES who wants to be resolute on staying the same?! This goes beyond New Years. In your February- December who are you resolving to be?

“Right now whether you recognize it or not, you’re choosing to treat people a certain way, to stay committed to certain activities, to a certain life, to be a certain kind of person, to not be a certain kind of person, to not be a certain kind of person. Either way, you’ve made a decision. A spoken or unspoken declaration. A defining banner hangs over your life, written in ink of your choices. Others can read it, even if you can’t” (page 2).

So the goal is to make resolutions so that the banner over your life is what you want it to say. How do you want to be known? What word do you want to mark your life in this 2017? My word is “ENOUGH”; I am. You are. There will be voices that tell you that you aren’t, don’t listen to them. 2017 I declare that I’ve had enough believing the schemes of the enemy on my life. ENOUGH of fear and anxiety. ENOUGH of overthinking and underwhelming disappointment. I also will CHOOSE to believe that God’s more than enough for me; enough peace, enough joy, enough provision, enough love, enough affirmation, ENOUGH.

What’s your word friends? Share it, with at least one other person. They can support you and believe with you; there’s power in ME TOO.

There’s nothing magical about a New Year that will change your life. Yes, it is a new opportunity but you have to change what you’ve been doing if you want different results. Perspective. Sometimes when you can’t get a good look at something, you go to higher ground to gain better perspective. When our situations don’t change, we have to start looking at them with new lenses. Lenses of gratitude, lenses of fresh vision.

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I’m sitting here writing from Maui- my favorite place on earth. Drinking our morning cup of Joe staring at the horizon. Why? Because it is whale season. We know they are out there, so we have our hearts set on seeing them. If we didn’t know it was whale season, we wouldn’t know to look for them and would miss the wonder and beauty of them breaching. Hey guess what- there IS goodness in your life, go look for it. There IS joy in your life, go look for it. There IS peace in your life, go look for it. Train your eye to search for it. We don’t always go searching for goodness though. Lenses of hurts, disappointments, fear- they shape our perspective. In the natural eye, when you focus on light, you see clearer. When light illuminates our vision, we see objects clearer. That is how we overcome our dark lenses. Spend time in the light. See the truths. Let God illuminate promises that you can stand on- because they’re there.
Happy New Years Lovelies, What’s your word?!

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I don’t know about you, but I hate unfinished business. Whether it’s unfinished laundry, unfinished decorating, or unfinished projects… I hate it all. Why? Why do I want completion? Why does checking something off my exponentially growing to do list feel so good? Why do I want my whole house to be fully decorated the moment I move in? I have a feeling it all comes down to- acceptance for myself and by others. Here’s a few things I have learned:

1. Get new perspective. With my house, I have to realize that things won’t look like my mom’s house because if took her 30 years to get her house that way. I can’t expect my house to be straight out of Pottery Barn on the budget I live on. I have to see my reality for what it is. I have to look at my life through the lens of gratitude. I’m grateful Wil and I are homeowners at age 24. I’m grateful that we have furnishings that make our house more than livable. I’m grateful for friends and family that can gather there. I’m grateful that it feels like home. When your focus isn’t on what you don’t have… what you do have feels a whole lot bigger. 

2. Be realistic with goals. When we bought our house, I instantly had a mile long to do list of what I wanted to buy to fill it up. My husband brought the realism and had a great idea to make “phases” for our plan. Phase 1 was downstairs living area (kitchen dining living room) Phase 2 is downstairs office and bathroom, Phase 3 upstairs guest rooms, Phase 4 upstairs loft, Phase 5 finish our room. We’re on Phase 2 after almost a year of living here, and I’ve become okay with it. I’m an all or nothing girl; I don’t like starting things that don’t get finished. But having phases makes the whole task of furnishing our house more attainable. Why did we pick those phases??? Bc that’s what you see first when people come over. Do we crave acceptance from others?? Do we want our house to define who we are? Or how good of person we are?

3. Crave the ONE thing that CAN complete you. Instead of begging for scraps of acceptance from others, try living loved in all you do. Adoration from others is mere icing on the cake  that you don’t NEED. Decorate your house with what you like on the budget you can afford that makes you and your family feel at home. Know who you are, accept who you are.. flaws and all so that you live whole and complete. I believe that there’s a God who has a purpose and plan and finishes them out to completion. Who loves us completely. Without conditions or requirements. Don’t seek acceptance from peers who are just as insecure as you are; live secure in knowing you’re accepted. For who you are in this very moment. Live completely loved-  because you are just that. Completely loved. 

Sometimes, I’ve had to come undone before the Lord, take off perfectionism, all my wants and preconceived needs, all the pressure and be the undone, kinda a hot mess version of me- to let Him remind me who I am. I am: more than a conqueror, a daughter of the King, beautifully and wonderfully made, destined for a purpose and a plan; plans to prosper me and not to harm me. I am strong and can laugh without fear of the future. It’a okay, to not have it all together. It’s actually better that way. There’s a lot less weight there. There’s a whole lot more freedom there. Jesus is the only true form of completion. He said, “I have brought you glory on earth by FINISHING the work you gave me to do.” (John 17:4) And if we are striving to be like Jesus then it is not about the house and the work we create for ourselves but our callings as followers of Christ, His charges in our lives that we should be focused on finishing that we may bring His glory to the earth.

Desiring completion goes beyond our homes but our bodies, our relationships, our circumstances. Baby steps are forward movement, forward movement is progress nonetheless. You can’t progress, until you start. Don’t let the fear of failure, incompletion, or regret paralyze you from moving FORWARD. Whatever you’re facing and wishing was complete, START MOVING and try to enjoy the process.

XO,

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