Hope for the future

 ¹ This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: ² “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Write in a book all the words I have spoken to you. ³ The days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will bring my people Israel and Judah back from captivity and restore them to the land I gave their ancestors to possess,’ says the LORD.”

~Jeremiah 30:1-3

Chasing Waterfalls.

I feel like I am on the edge of something.

Something that combines all the things my heart loves.

I have lots to learn & seek the Lord on. 

I don't know what it is going to look like

but I must get in the water and see where

it takes me.....

Picture perfect

photo:vi.sualize.us

I just love this picture.

This is what I want my life to look like.

Have you thought about that? 

If you had to have just one picture of what you want your life to look like..what would it be?

Bridge over troubled waters

A bridge has been built between my unstable past and my solid future. 

It is up to me to walk across it.

As I walk, I look down seeing the dreams and ideas that have fallen below.

My hope can no longer reside in those things. 

Not in a marriage, not in a degree, not in a cute house with great appliances. 

My hope won't rest in a great wardrobe or the best body or the most wonderful travels.

My hope is in the Lord. 

My dreams have been too small. 

My vision cloudy.

' And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the LORD'

-Luke 1:45

Happily Ever After

My life is turning into quite the fairy tale. 

I still feel like Cinderella pre Prince Charming days.

A castle is in the future but a dream right now.

Time to get cleaning.

What if...

 What if the Lord gave you a vision that was so big and crazy and perfect. 

What if the only way for the vision to manifest was through keeping your eyes solely on Him and being obedient to all He asks of you along the journey.

What if you stayed focused and determined and ignored the voices of fear and doubt.

What if you had ruthless faith and protected that vision with all of your heart.

I think lives would be forever changed.

I think hearts would be healed. 

I think souls would be set free.

I think the Lord would be pleased....

Best buds

I hear friends talk about marrying their best friend. 

Sounds like a great idea.

Maybe one day..

Sweet Bed

This week has been a bit rough as I have been sick for most of it.  I feel much better now and it is good to be back in society.

The Lord has been speaking to my heart a lot this week and I am really excited to see how things manifest. 

We have a choice when it comes to walking in obedience. We have a part to play. I think sometimes, we  wait for God to do something when He is waiting for us to move and be obedient to what He has already told us to do. We have to take a step. It is scary.

I am currently in a situation where, from the natural eye, there seems to be no way out. The cool thing about following the Lord is that when there seems to be no way...He makes a way. 

The hard thing about watching miracles happen in your life is that...well, you have to wait. You have to trust. Things have to been against you and then, by God's grace, things work out. 

This.is.not.fun.

NOT. FUN!

But is it awesome after the fact when the Lord, in fact, comes through. 

So much is going on and so much of it I can't see. 

The Lord has been nothing but faithful throughout this journey I have been on. 

He promises not to leave me. 

He won't leave you either. 

He has not brought you this far to leave you. 

Keep pressing on; through the pain, through the uncertainty.

The Lord spoke this to me this week:

'I will not leave you. I have not brought you this far to leave you. I will not leave you. I am not man who will leave you. I am your God. When you feel like you can go no further...keep going. It is through that push; just like the last pushes of labor, when you feel you can push no more, that you birth the promises I have for you.'

(I am pushing. We might have to do a c-section though. Get this thing OUT!!!)

The drive

There is a place that I am trying to get to. I have no clue how to get there..I just know that I am suppose to be there. 

If you have ever had the opportunity to drive from, say, Missouri to Colorado, then you can understand my pain. 

Kansas has some great basketball and people but the drive...oh..my..boring. 

And not just boring but hours and hours and hours of boring. It feels like you are never going to make it and you think about turing back often. 

There is a place that I am trying to get to. The only way to get there is to keep going and to ask for directions along the way. 

Have you ever felt like you have been driving and driving yet you still can't see the outline of the mountains? 

Next please..

I will gladly and confidently close this chapter of my story. 

2 things.

I was made for short hair and the camera. 

This is the year

I am going after my dream. 

I am the only one to blame if I don't. 

I will not be afraid. 

I will work hard. 

It will take time and not happen overnight. 

I will work very hard.

A year will go by regardless.

This will be the year. 

I feel like I can make it

Because of HIS grace, I have been able to walk through this storm. And ya know what...

It's.almost.over!!

Bright

How many more weeks of this winter?

There is a bright future waiting. 

I'm gonna get it. 

Seasons

It is not here yet. This new season. The spring. Although my heart longs for it, my soul is learning yet another important lesson. It is a lesson in finishing the race that is set before me. I need this time. These last days, weeks and months. I will need this for my future. For what I am called to. One day, this season I am in will be but a memory. I hope to make it a good one. 

Destiny

I see the life I so desire and I am going after it.  It doesn't make sense on paper.  It must happen though, because when you mix what the Lord has called you to with obedience and trust, you birth your destiny. It is not an easy road but I have a feeling it will be well worth the journey. 

a Stripper?

I made cookies today. When I took them out of the oven, I thought they looked a bit funny. Then...I realized I forgot to add the flour. I am a cook. not a baker. I like to put in what I want and when you bake, it just doesn't work like that.

I love this picture. I saw it online and had to steal it. I love the couch and the chairs and the walls and the ceiling. I love it all. My heart was a bit heavy today. I don't know if it was just the complete lack of quality sleep this weekend or the fact that I payed bills and, well, we know how stressful that can be, but nonetheless, my heart was a bit heavy. I am so glad that my dear friend V. came over. That helped to process things.

I realized that my vision is much bigger than my reality. I see big things in my future. Really big things. Then, I look at my reality. I am then reminded of Noah. He didn't just build that huge boat overnight. It took years and years and years and a whole heck of a lot of work. I am ready to work. The sermon Sunday was great. Talking about faith and whatnot.  I am realizing that this time is the time of sowing into the next chapter. A year from now, my life will look completely different. The things that I do today and tomorrow will effect a year from now. It is time to get busy. To start sowing into my business, to sow deeper into my relationships and my mailbox community of eleven.

Mailbox community. I love you. Hearing your voice on paper is priceless.

Why did 3 people last week, from the lounge that I work at on the weekends, guess that my other job was a stripper?? I am confused by this. Very confused. I was not, in any way, dressed in a way that would remotely encourage the word STRIPPER to pop into the mind of the guesser. Hmm. Maybe I should just stop having people guess what it is I do. No..Its kinda fun to hear the guesses. I also get Police Officer, Firefighter, PR, hairstylist...hmmm.

I just remembered what I wanted to blog about and none of this was it. Gotta go find another pic. I will wait till after midnight to post though so I don't seem to blog happy.

No clue

Does it look like I have no clue what lies ahead in my little life? In my "beautiful mess" of a life? Because I don't. I don't like this feeling. This new feeling of TRUST.
I don't like it.
It doesn't feel stable.
It feels reckless.
It doesn't feel secure.
It feels free. But not in a good free, like a buy one get one free, but like a jumping off a cliff free in the air sort of free.
I chose to jump. I chose to TRUST. Now, I must deal with the consequences of TRUSTING the AlmightY GOD.

Freeing?

My life feels so open right now. I feel like I can be whatever I want to be and live wherever I want to live and write whatever I want to write and sleep whenever I want to sleep.
As freeing as this may sound, it does come with some serious decision making if you read the last post you will know that I am great with making a decision. It just might not be the right one....but I will make one.
I think that sometimes, the Lord will lead us towards a certain decision or kinda give a "HEY, Over HERE!!" but that is not always or often the case, at least in my life.
There is a time when the Lord says, "Hey, you are a big kid now. YOU pick and I will bless you and shine upon you in that decision".
Although the page of todays story was like the end of a chapter...like when you just have a few sentences on the page and then the rest of the page is blank..ya know..not a lot going on...A new chapter  is coming. That both excites and frightens me all at the same time.