Emmanuel

"Emmanuel: from Hebrew `immānū'el, literally: God with us".

As long as I can remember, this simple word has been my favorite name for God. I would belt the Amy Grant song at the top of my four year old lungs, and I even tried to name a babydoll of mine "Emmanuel." My dad, the quick-thinker he is, suggested "Emma" instead.

This is going to be a short blog, but I felt I needed to reflect. The concept of "Emmanuel" has been manifested in my life recently, and I am ever so thankful for the resurfacing of this truth. God is so good, and He is ever-present in my daily life, loving me fiercely through my countless mistakes and shortcomings.

Lately, I have reminded myself to reshape my prayers slightly. Instead of praying to be a better woman of God or praying for Him to teach me to try harder, I find myself thanking Him for being there with me. I pray I see His love, mercy, or grace in every situation. Through my crazy freak-outs, through deaths of beloved pets, through deep longing for my family, through it all.

God is with us.

Media-Naranja

I'm blessed. Hard to the core. And I'm gonna brag to blogger about how much love God gives me, because those who'll make fun of me or get annoyed with this post think blogs are stupid.

Garrett Daniel. There are too many awesome things about him to list. But I'll start with some:

He loves Jesus. First and foremost.
He loves me. Through everything.
He's funny.
He's ridiculously good-looking.
We can quote movies together.
He can do almost any accent flawlessly.
He'll make goofy faces with me and let me take pictures of them.
He is my best friend.
He is very intelligent.
He's talented.
He loves his family, and he's a wonderful son, brother, and uncle.
He knows me.
He sticks around anyway.
His love teaches me about God's love.
We can laugh at ridiculous things.
We just fit together: our senses of humor, our love for others, our beliefs, so much.
He can be honest with me.
He is so encouraging and affirming.
We make up ridiculous pet names on the spot.
We have awesome inside-jokes.
When I try and get away with something, he'll laugh and kiss me and say no way.
But sometimes he gives in :).
When I talk to him with a baby voice, he'll talk back with one.
He makes me wicked awesome mixes and fake serenades me.
Our voices sound real good together.
We look real good together.
He tells me I'm beautiful when I don't think I am.
Like when I have no makeup on and my retainers in.
He doesn't like tomatoes, so more for me!
He lets me borrow like three sweatshirts at a time.
We go to church together.
We worship together.
We love together.
He is my media-naranja, my soul-mate.


I'm just gonna post pictures :)



















I just love this man, and most of all, I love where Jesus is leading him to lead us. Happy (belated) one year, pookie.

New season, new blog cover.

I love how random life can be.
How unexpected.
How scattered.
How imperfect.
How perfectly it aligns with God's plan.

I love moments. I've been realizing more and more that I just love moments. Moments with God, with people I love, doing things I enjoy...lately, moments to breathe.

I've been learning to breathe the Holy Spirit back into my everyday life. I've been calling on Him to lead me and guide me through my choices, molding my shaky faith with all its worries into a strong, firm trust with a big faith to back it up.


This is a great new season in my life. A time when God is encouraging me to enjoy all of the pleasures life has for me, whether it is taking up kickboxing (which I did; it's AWESOME!) or pressing into God and what His plan entails for my journey into a more full life.

I keep noticing three key themes in this new season: trust, identity, and thankfulness. I'm so very excited for what God has in store for me and my growth in Him.

Happy Birthday Moon, Jo!

I've been realizing lately that doing things in bullet points will actually get things done/said/accomplished.

I love:

weekends.
road trips.
jenna.
talks.
long talks.
deep talks.
the Holy Spirit.
prophecy.
laughter.
diet pepsi.
bagels.
hugs.
janelle.
very one-sided basketball games.
joanna.
stars.
moon rises.
pizza.
toe-headed children.
joy.
taboo.
kelci.
memories.
sleepovers.
pancakes.
bacon.
restful afternoons.
massages.
texting.
forever 21.
blogging.

So....here's to Jo's birthday week! :)

(Jenna and I are celebrating in this picture!)