Thanksgiving Day

Here is a group picture from our Thanksgiving with our friends from church. It was one big Italian Thanksgiving. ;) We had a great time!

In Christ Alone- True Contentment Is Found

Sunday's sermon was about finding true contentment in Christ alone. The scripture reference was Philippians 4:10-13,

"I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me."

-I know I can quickly become discontent where God has put me in my life. One area that I find myself mundanely becoming discontent in would be in boredom. Too often I find myself wandering around the house saying out loud, "I'm bored; there's nothing to do", which in all reality that is not true at all. It doesn't seem like such a big deal to be bored, but when I'm saying that I find my heart in a bad place. I am being discontent in what God has allowed for me to have. So for me being bored is much more than just being bored; I am lusting after my own desires and acting as though God has not been gracious to me. I need to look at the things God has given me and be content in those things, and that comes with realizing that I don't even deserve what God has given me (including His son's death on the cross to save me from my sins!).
So this week when I find myself feeling "bored" I am looking for things that God has given me: I can go in the kitchen and learn from my talented mom how to cook, I can serve my brother (like Christ first served me) even by just playing a board game with him, and I can use the gifts and abilities that God has given me to glorify and exalt Him. There are a lot of things that God has blessed me with and I need to remember these things when I start becoming discontent.

I am so thankful for a patient and gracious God who is just to forgive!

O Holy Night- Justin Figueroa

Right now I am learning this version of "O Holy Night" on acoustic guitar, I think it's really pretty. "O Holy Night" is my favorite Christmas song, It is so beautiful. Plus I Love this guy's voice! Enjoy.

Thanksgiving Survey

Fill out this fun Thanksgiving Survey and then share it with your friends!
Here's mine:

Where will you be eating this Thanksgiving? At the Williamson's.

Will you be watching a game this Thanksgiving? Maybe snippets of it.

How long will you spend eating your thanksgiving meal? I have no idea.

Are you worried about putting on weight this Thanksgiving? Haha, not really.

What do you normally eat at Thanksgiving? Every year is different because every year we spend Thanksgiving with a different family.

What is your favorite Thanksgiving food? I love mashed potatoes and turkey, oh and pumpkin pie...I guess I like all of it. =)

What will you be thankful for this Thanksgiving? My loving family and loyal friends.

What is your best Thanksgiving memory? Spending it in Florida with my family when my amazing Papa was still alive. I miss him; those times were great. =)

Do you give cards or presents at Thanksgiving? No, I don't think we ever have.

Are you planning on going shopping the day after Thanksgiving? That's supposed to be our grocery shopping day, that should be interesting...

Will you be waking up early to hit the sales? No way.

~I hope you all have a blessed Thanksgiving!!~

Been Painting...

Today I was in the mood to paint. I didn't have all the right color paints so I had to make a quick stop at the store . My parents had gotten me a 12x16 inch blank canvas a few weeks back and I have been waiting for the perfect thing to paint on it. Since my room is decorated in an Audrey Hepburn inspired theme I decided to do a painting based off of the movie Breakfast at Tiffany's. It's based off of a pop art painting that I had seen in a fashion book that I own. It took me around 3 hours to complete, and about 30 minutes to wash all the paint off my arms, hands, and hair. ;)

Costume Party

Saturday night Tyler and I went to a costume party at a friend's. Tyler dressed as a mobster/mafioso and I dressed as an ancient Egyptian. We both came up with our costumes last minute! The party was a blast, I even got to do the dance "Walk Like An Egyptian". ;)

Here are some pictures of our costume's:

Tyler-Mafioso

Me- Ancient Egyptian

Spotlight Product: Bonne Bell Lip LITES- Cappuccino

This is my trademark lip gloss right here; I have been wearing Bonne Bell's cappuccino Lip LITES lip gloss since I was 15, and it is my absolute favorite! It looks and feels very natural because of it's subtle tint of color and gloss. My favorite thing about it is that it smells delicious, just like a real cappuccino. It only costs about $3.50-$3.99 in most drug stores and grocery stores for a decent sized tube. There are 17 different flavors and shades to choose from, the next one I would like to try is the Cherry Berry Kiss. Here's a chart so you can see the different choices: Bonnie Bell Lip LITES

Q & A—Relationships

I came across this article on Girl Talk and thought it was very good. I thought I'd go ahead and share it with you:

"From time to time we get this question: “I like such and such a guy but I’m not sure what his intentions are. I want to tell him how I feel, but I’m not sure what to do.”

When feelings of attraction toward a guy are strong, even a perceived interest on his part can raise our hopes and drive us to want to “do something” about those feelings. How do we know what is the right course of action?

As always, we must turn to God’s Word for direction, for Scripture is, “a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105). Regardless of how strong our feelings are, we must examine them under the light of God’s Word and submit them (by force if necessary) to the authority of God’s Word.

So what does the Bible have to say to the young woman who wants to make her feelings known? The Bible isn’t merely a reference book for our problems; however, it does have all the answers. Understanding who God is and the purpose for which He created us, will cause everything to fall into place. Three guiding principles apply here:

1. God has created us as women to be responsive to men’s leadership. This is clear throughout Scripture, not only in the created order and our calling to be helpers (Gen. 2:18-23), but in the commands for a wife to submit to her husband (Eph. 5:22-23) . If we seek to take matters into our own hands and “do something” about a situation such as this, we are depriving a man of an opportunity to fulfill his God-given calling to lead. Truly believing in the importance and significance of our femininity means living it out, even in the pressure cooker of strong desires. We must resist the temptation to allow our feelings and desires and not God’s Word dictate our direction. On a purely personal note, my mom used to ask me: Don’t you ultimately want a guy who is attracted enough to pursue you, without needing hints from you?

2. God is sovereign, loving, and wise. “But this guy I like hasn't pursued me. How do I resolve the fear that he won't notice me unless I take some initiative?” You may ask. Enter: the character of God. Human reasoning would say that this is incentive enough to buck the created order. However, we must hold fast to God’s Word and trust in His character. God is intimately involved in every detail of our lives (down to the hairs on our head). We must trust that His sovereignty is more than powerful enough, His love is more than true enough, and His wisdom more than knowledgeable enough to fulfill His perfect plan for us. This perfect plan may or may not include the desired relationship. But it will most definitely be for our good. As a single woman, Psalm 84:10-12 was my hope: “For a day in your courts is better
 than a thousand elsewhere. 
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God 
than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
 For the Lord God is a sun and shield; 
the Lord bestows favor and honor.
No good thing does he withhold
 from those who walk uprightly.
O Lord of hosts,
blessed is the one who trusts in you!”

3. God rewards our trust in Him. We don’t say “no” to our feelings and “yes” to God’s Word without a fight. And yet, there is joy and peace and freedom to be had. Psalm 131’s description of the weaned child, not concerned with things too lofty or wonderful, comes to mind. So does 1 Peter 3 and the woman whose beauty is of great worth in the sight of God because she does not “fear anything that is frightening.” Waiting and responding instead of initiating romantic relationships is not some kind of manipulative trick. It is the path to true attractiveness, the miraculous kind that only comes by the grace of God producing trust in God. For truly blessed is the woman who does not sinfully strive after a relationship, but quietly rests in the goodness of God!

Again, let me restate that these are guiding principles. Every person’s experience and situation is different; consequently we need the help of others to apply God’s truth to our lives. If you are unclear about how to relate to a guy in a God-honoring fashion, don’t try to figure this out on your own. Seek out your parent's counsel or guidance from another wise couple or mature woman. God will surely guide your steps."

Quote by Mark Driscoll

The following is a quote I read today by Mark Driscoll that I really like.

"There is a strong drift toward the hard theological left. Some emergent types [want] to recast Jesus as a limp-wrist hippie in a dress with a lot of product in His hair, who drank decaf and made pithy Zen statements about life while shopping for the perfect pair of shoes. In Revelation, Jesus is a prize fighter with a tattoo down His leg, a sword in His hand and the commitment to make someone bleed. That is a guy I can worship. I cannot worship the hippie, diaper, halo Christ because I cannot worship a guy I can beat up. I fear some are becoming more cultural than Christian, and without a big Jesus who has authority and hates sin as revealed in the Bible, we will have less and less Christians, and more and more confused, spiritually self-righteous blogger critics of Christianity." —Mark Driscoll

Looking in Jesus’ Eyes

I found this article by Nicole Whitacre off of the Girl Talk blog, it was first posted in 2005 but I just now came across it. It was both convicting and encouraging to me; I struggle with keeping the Gospel my main focus, especially in those mundane moments. It's worth the read!

"It’s been a very busy season for me. I keep saying, “Next week things will slow down.” Rrrrrrrright. I’ve been saying that for about fifteen years now. Currently we’re in the middle of renovations to our house (they are knocking down a wall today and I hope the upstairs doesn’t fall with it!), it's past time for my son to be potty trained, and I’m teaching a writing class for my little brother and his friends and I have thirteen essays on the “Sea Wasp” to read.

In the midst of this, I was asked to edit a book that’s coming out in a couple of months. It’s a book by my dad, and it’s entitled: Living the Cross Centered Life. I hope some of my comments were helpful to Dad, but I think the real benefit was to my soul. Even though I’ve heard my dad preach countless sermons on this topic, and even though I’ve read his other books on the cross over and over, I still desperately needed to hear this message again.

I often tell my son to “look at mommy’s eyes” when I want to get his attention to tell him something important. By reading this book, I felt as if my heavenly Father was saying to me, “Look in Jesus’ eyes. Take your eyes off the busyness, off your 'trials,' and even off your sin (I’ve paid for that), and be captured once again by the cross. For only one thing is needful. Only one thing matters. And it’s my cross.”

As Dad writes:

“In the midst of our various responsibilities and many possible areas of service in the kingdom of God, one overarching truth should motivate all our work and affect every part of who we are: Christ died for our sins. This…is the main thing. Nothing else—not even things that are biblical and honorable—are of equal or greater importance than this: God sent His Son to the cross to bear His wrath for sinners like you and me. If there’s anything in life we should be passionate about, it’s the gospel. And I don’t mean passionate only about sharing it with others; I mean passionate in thinking about the gospel, reflecting upon it, rejoicing in it, allowing it to color the way we look at the world and all of life.”

So how about you? What are you passionate about---is it thinking, reflecting, and rejoicing in the gospel? Does the truth of Christ’s sacrifice for sins on our behalf truly color the way you look at all of life?

To color our worldview with the gospel, we must meditate on the cross. Here’s just one verse that helps me to do that: “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21)

Life is full. But I can’t afford to wait until next week when things slow down to meditate on the gospel. I need the truths of the cross to brilliantly color my world right now, today!"