Purim and Esther

I know I've fallen behind in my study of Esther. Please excuse the mess I just moved into my new job and new place of residence. The whole process has been up in the air for a couple weeks so it has been a little stressful. 

I was kind of excited about sharing Purim with you. But it looks like that is going to have to wait until next year. 

In the meantime: 

Head on over to Live It Well and check out the video about Purim.

http://sara-liveitwell.blogspot.com/2013/02/purim-story-of-esther.html

Also, to feast after you fast check out Epicurus' Purim Meals 

I'll try to get caught up on Esther as soon as I get settled in here.

Happy Purim!

Freebie Friday

Scripture Memory Cards Click here.

Life Management Notebook

It's Snowing!!!!

I think the Lord is allowing me to become better prepared before I pop into a new way of life. I’ve said before that I am about to become a kind of “foster mom” to six teenaged girls.

SURPRISE! You prayed for it! BAM!

Well…it’s not QUIET been like that…it’s been more like…

Weeks of interviews…testing’s…medical appointments…background checks and piles of paper work.

And then my start date keeps getting pushed back due to unforeseen circumstances…

Like today for instance was supposed to be my start day AND It’s SNOWING LIKE CRAZY!!!

So, in between substitute teaching, I’ve been staying up really late and NOT waking up in time to do my Hello Mornings working on this:

I know, I know it’s huge! But I like the idea of keeping EVERYTHING in one place so I know where it is and don’t have to make a huge mess tearing things apart.

I just had a meeting with my new supervisor and she needs me to come up with three goals for the first three weeks living/working there.

So Goal #1 is to carve out my mornings and begin my days before the rest of the house wakes up in bible study, and daily planning, and exercise…like I’m supposed to do with Hello Mornings anyways….but some weeks I’m more consistent at it than others.

I have used a system similar to this before, an it has always been helpful to have schedules and plans made. I feel a lot more accomplished and find I have a lot more time in my day because I tend not to waste so much time surfing the net or watching television.

Many of the worksheets I included in my binder I found through pintrest or other means on the web. It took me awhile to find a combination of worksheets that would serve my exact needs.

You can check out my pintrest board for links to some of the forms I used as well as this previous post. 

There are a few items I created myself because I couldn't find them online. You can download them off of the printables page. 

I used a combination of resources to help construct me binder 

Leslie and Eric Ludy's Book: When God Writes Your Life Stories 

Donna Partows Book:  Becoming the Woman God wants me to Be

Holley Gerths: You're Already Amazing

Laurie Beth Jones: The Path

Fly Lady

My first section was section my "personal" Section

A place to develop my life mission Statement: As Inspired by "The Path"

Contents

Personal

Mission Statement

Goals and Habits

Daily Routines

Planner (including daily bible studies)

                                                      Spiritual Tools

• Body (sexual expression. exercise. beauty. nutrition.)
• Heart (friends. family. significant other. creativity)
• Soul (personal growth. discovery. personality. expression. style.)
• Selectivity
• Mind (education. profession. balance.)
• Spirit  (prayer. praise. bible study. ministry.)
• Affirmations
• Prayer Requests
• The Gospel
•  Promises of God
• Attributes of God

Emergency

Money

Budget

Bills

Dave Ramsey Budgeting

Car Information

Contact Information

Meal Plans and Shopping

Menu Planner

Take Out

Entertaining

Ideas

Planning

Community

Home

Insurance Information

Lifestyle Purpose Statement

Decorating Plans

Cleaning

Room Zones and Cleaning Schedule

I also included cork boards in the front and back for additional information I might need on hand

The Physics of Walking on Water: God Sized Dreams

Part of my "journey" in Los Angeles included a bi-weekly trip to a Career Coach. I kept telling her I hadn't "figured out" what my life was supposed to look like.
Laurie said, "We need to change your language, it's not about "figuring things out" it's about being open."
My mom had a similar bit of wisdom to share. " I learned that I needed to stop asking God for what I wanted to happen, and start asking Him for what He wanted for me."
In college I had a roommate named Quin, we called her Quindolyn. While I didn't always agree with her she would frequently ask, "Why does everyone have to DO something. Sometimes there is nothing to DO, you just have to BE."

Joseph Campbell said, “You must give up the life you planned in order to have the life that is waiting for you.”

I frequently feel like a TOTAL failure because I am not living the life I would have imagined for myself,

but the life I would have imagined for myself required me to fit God into it, as opposed to God being the center of it. 

Laura at The Wellspring spoke of how I feel frequently, God's provision and last minute "yes"'s. 

Sometimes I think those last minutes are to remind us that He is in charge, and not us; to teach us to relax in His will and not our will. 

But when he opens the doors, after all that resting, the constant reminders that we don't need to worry, for God provides for the birds and loves us more than they, we need to take that same peace, that same relaxation, and that same courage to walk through the door. 

I'm about to start my new job as a House Mother (yay! I got the job!) I keep getting asked if I'm excited. I'm not excited. I'm at peace. 

I just scheduled my interview to attend Seminary in the fall. (Yay! I'm on to the next step.)

I am hoping to attend "lay counselor" sessions in a couple weeks, and a singles bible study at the church I'm trying to plug into in march. 

I'm about to hit 2,000 views on this blog in less than two months. (I truly hope and pray that it is bringing glory to the Lord and encouragement to you.)

I've been asked if I was "excited" about starting my new job. I'm not. I'm at peace about it. It is the answer to multiple prayers. I'm trying to go where God leads me.

When Peter stepped out of the boat, he didn't spend too much time thinking of the process. He asked permission, received confirmation and took that first step with his eyes on the Lord. 

It was only when he started worrying too much about the waves and the storm around him, the process of putting his foot down on the inexplicable, trying to "figure it out", focusing on the process, taking his eyes off the Lord. 

Take the first step. ...seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

(Matthew 6:32-34 ESV)

Sometimes we plan and plan and plan. We look for all the possible things that could go wrong, and we try to circumvent them. 

Commit your work to the LORD,

and your plans will be established.

(Proverbs 16:3 ESV)

(When your) ways please the LORD,

he makes even (your) enemies to be at peace with (you).

(Proverbs 16:7 ESV)

The heart of man plans his way,

but the LORD establishes (your) steps.

(Proverbs 16:9 ESV)

Linking up with Holley Gerth

The Gospel in the Story: Brigadoon

   

 I have a background in theatre and entertainment. I've been working and teaching in the industry since I was a teenager.

       What God has made aware to me  in the past couple of years is how we flock to stories, novels, plays, movies that tell us allegory's of the gospel. The entertainment and story industry spends a lot of time focusing on telling truth. This is really close to my heart, and I will probably speak to it from time to time as I come across it.
      Sunday evening I attended a high school production of the musical, Brigadoon.

The story is this:
The main character Tommy, and his buddy Cliff are living successful, unfullfilled lives in New York. Tommy has come to Scotland to sort out his thoughts. The two men get lost in Scotland and come across this magical village that appears every 100 years. Every year it appears is one day in Brigadoon. The men visit the village and learn it's secrets. Inevitably Tommy falls in love with one of the women in the village and he finds for once in his life he feels "alive."

"Maybe the sun gave me the pow'r,
For I could swim Loch Lomond and be home in half an hour.
Maybe the air gave me the drive,
For I'm all aglow and alive."

Tommy has to make a decision; will he stay and leave his world behind him for love, or will he he leave the woman he has fallen in love with?

While the story isn't particularly well constructed, there is always a point in a well loved story that my heart begins to swell and I know that truth is being spoken. God is speaking through the story, just like He spoke through Jesus' parables.

The reason that the village is magical is because the priest in the village was worried about witches entering the village, and he wanted to protect his people from evil, so he asks God for a miracle. Knowing that he couldn't ask for such a miracle without giving something up, he figures that the greatest thing he can give up is his own life, so he leaves the village to experience the outside world, never to be seen by the villagers again.

Research on story says that the stories that are the most loved, and make the most amount of money are stories about the fully alive or the living dead: the redeemed or the lost, the redeemed walking the fine line of becoming lost, or the lost walking the fine of becoming redeemed. We are horrified while we watch someone choose death, and cheer when they choose life.

When Tommy chooses to go back to New York and leave Brigadoon behind, we are horrified for him. Our hearts sink. While we understand he would be giving up his whole life for love and living in the 18th century, we somehow instinctively know that it's worth it.


I don't want to ruin the end of the story for you. Gene Kelly I believe is in the movie version of it.

But I did want to leave you with a couple quotes to ponder the truth in the story.

"Why do you have to *lose* something, to find out what it *really* means? "

"You'll never find peace by hating, lad. It only shuts ye off more from the world."

"It's the hardest thing in the world to give everything. Though it's usually the only way to get everything."

"What happened in Brigadoon was a miracle, and most folks dinna believe in miracles. Miracles require faith, " 

"No, lad, he didna! No, a stranger could stay if he loved someone here... not Brigadoon itself, mind, but someone *in* Brigadoon... enough to be willing to give up everything to stay near that person... which is only right because after all, lad... if you love someone deeply enough, anything is possible. "

Can you see the truth of the Gospel already? 


Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.
(Matthew 13:10-13 ESV)


Jesus taught us in stories. God is still speaking truth in parables. The story of the Gospel is all around us. We are in love with it and are drawn to it. What's your favorite play? Movie? Story? 

Check it out: Is it speaking the truth of the Gospel? Is it about the living dead or the fully living? 

Single on a Sunday Link-Up #1 Set Apart Sean Lowe

I was standing in the grocery line with my mother yesterday when my eyes landed on Us Magazine. In big capital yellow letters are the words.

VIRGIN

shocking.

Okay... so it said The VIRGIN Bachelor. 

My heart became sick as I looked at the subtitle stating that he was a 'born again Vrigin" and his "fiance" was "dealing" with his choice of celibacy.

I don't watch The Bachelor. It seems rather like the Esther harem. Girls brutally vying for one mans attention....but at this point, I'm more concerned that the article is focused on Sean Lowe's virginity and not his Christianity.

He's not a born again VIRGIN, he's a repentant and forgiven CHRISTIAN, and if he's engaged to someone who needs to "deal" with that, I pray that Sean makes a prayerful and wise final decision, and that if God leads him to marriage it will be a public testimony of faith.

Needless to say, I didn't buy a copy of the magazine, but I did do a quick google search on Sean Lowe, VIRGIN.Honestly, one article was enough to read. I couldn't read anymore because I got so upset and sick to my stomach.  I began following Sean on twitter however. I want to pray for him to continue his walk with God and to be a beacon to the world.

The Huffington Post quoted former Bachelorette Jillian Harris as saying “I just can’t get over the whole sex thing. What happens if he doesn't meet the right person -- he just won’t have sex until he does? This is crazy, as it's a huge part of a healthy relationship."


Reality TV World quoted a show source, "[The Bachelor's decision] can be a stress on a relationship. They need to see how the physical aspect affects them in the long run," said the show source, insisting that's why the couple isn't rushing to the altar."


I also did a quick search of TIm Tebow Virgin. The first line that popped up? 

"Football's most famous virgin, Tim Tebow, has reportedly broken up with actress Camilla Belle after a mere two months of dating.

Us Weekly reports that the relationship "just didn't work out." Hmm, we wonder why.

Could the couple have split because the 25-year-old New York Jets quarterback is saving himself for marriage?"

Tim may be a virgin, but it's BECAUSE he's a Christian. 

Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.
(Hebrews 13:4 ESV)

I know that God's heart is torn apart because of the persecution of these set apart men. 

As my friend Rachelle says, "We don't 'struggle' with sin we 'snuggle' with sin. If we were actually struggling we wouldn't be sinning.

I have made some unwise choices and have come very close to crossing lines I shouldn't cross in my dating life.  I believed the lies such as the ones perpetuated by comments like the ones above. 


Have you ever had someone break up with you because you wouldn't have sex with them? 

I have, and you know what? Praise God! I want to raise my children to respect the opposite sex, and honor God, and it would be a lot harder to relate to my godly children and encourage them through that if I had snuggled, as opposed to struggled with that sin.

Look, if God doesn't give you peace in your heart about what you're about to do, then DON'T DO IT. 

I know that's easier said than done, and we, in our search for independence, have found anxiety, sin, and brokenness, instead of the truth freedom and saving grace of God's word.

These two men are admirably struggling with sexual sin in a public way, I don't believe I'd be amiss in saying that they would give the glory of their struggles to God and not to themselves.


Being a 29 year old virgin, I can speak to the temptation of passion and desire. I can inform you of the awkward decision of just when to tell the person that you are dating that you are saving yourself for marriage, hoping that they won't leave you in that minute. I can testify to watching a man struggle through wanting the most sacred of intimacy, and needing to leave because their head is about to explode over the overwhelming temptation of it all. 

 I can also speak to the awkward, humorous conversations with Doctors;


The Anesthesiologist: "Are you pregnant? Are you sure? If you are pregnant we can't go through with this. IS there any chance you COULD be pregnant?"

My family doctor: "Are you sexually active? Are you dating anyone? Oh, that's why you're not sexually active huh?"

I have only had one doctor since I hit my teen aged years who believed me the first time I told her that I was a virgin. 

Is it really that uncommon? I wonder. 

Narrow is the path. 

We are set apart for the King of Kings. Daughters and Sons of the King.  Royalty does not behave in the same manner as the common people. 


There are over 200 bible verses about being set apart in this world.

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

(Romans 12:2 ESV)

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
(1 Peter 2:9 ESV)

I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.

(John 17:15-18 ESV)

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

(Romans 12:1 ESV)

Read more here. 

The world may think that we are foolish,

There is a way that seems right to a man,
but its end is the way to death.
(Proverbs 14:12 ESV)

Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
(Revelation 22:15 ESV)

For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written,

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,

and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”

Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.

(1 Corinthians 1:18-21 ESV)

Oh friend Christ is  coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. 
(Revelation 3:11 ESV)

If God SAYS we are to keep the marriage bed undefiled- the TRUTH of GOD which is foolish to man, is that when you keep your relationship centered on the Lord, and your marriage striving for a reflection of God's love for the church, it will NOT fail, and sex will NOT jut be a physical experience, but also a spiritual one.

I have struggled with these lies, I'm sure Tim, Sean and you have had similar thoughts go through your head. 

If I don't have sex with him, is he going to stay with me? Am I the only Virgin in the whole entire world? 

Is there a guy alive who is saving themselves for marriage? Is it even worth it, because he is probably sleeping around with some girl right now? 

Well Sean and Tim are not perfect, but they are proof that there are good Christian men who love Jesus, are celibate and girls all over are swooning over them.  I pray that God keeps them strong, and that they marry wonderful godly women. 

I confess my snuggling with sin. I'm a broken person and  have crossed lines I do not believe God would have had me cross.  For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.

(Romans 7:15 ESV)

Have you snuggled with sexual sin or struggled with it?

That's what the good news of the gospel is for. Don't become a born again VIRGIN become a born again CHRISTIAN.

It may be impossible to remain celibate on your own accord, but with God, nothing is impossible.

We're starting off our Single on a Sunday link-up this week. 

If you are single and have a blog, please feel free to link up. 

Rules for Link Up:

1. You must be a single woman.

2. Please list the NAME of your post. 

3. Please visit the 2 people who posted before you and offer them some encouragement.
4. Attach my button or link back to this page at the end of your post.

<br /> <div class="Single on a Sunday-button" style="width: 150px; margin: 0 auto;"> <a href="http://reducationofthefemininesoul.blogspot.com"><br /> <img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik675w-dCeqpxuPE1QFbDOIcgn_bpPnYR7hfZOTYq3D7Kmi9tpbTYwHhm9pLGp9fUTwho7kSDkzhrUVsWPvNcC02XHyg_jJqiRX2XZYb4Tc6sFtEO-ApBKvv-9_X9kd3dFZ99AzF5UKKY/s350/300x300.jpg" alt="Single on a Sunday" width="150" height="150" /><br /> </a><br /> </div> <!--end button code box--><br />

That's it! 

Looking forward to reading about your lives! 

Random Acts of Love: Loving the Lonely

Grab free printable at The Creative Paige

 ~Mother Teresa

So yesterday I celebrated Random Acts of Kindness week by committing Random Acts of Love.

I got to thinking: In my lifetime I have had precisely three significant others on Valentines Day. Each relationship ended in an un-loving, messy, extremely hurtful situation. I did not enter any of those relationships with the good counsel of friends, family, or most importantly, God.

So yet another Valentines Day was about to round itself out, dismissed as "Singles Awareness Day" when my mom made the comment,

"When I was in elementary school I used to get Valentines that said 'I hate you' or 'Drop Dead.' I hated Valentines Day."

Oh Mama! My mom, though imperfect, and broken, is one of the sweetest, kindest, most heart hurt person I know.

I've experienced similar cruelties from Children, and adults, and I'm sure others have too.

I know many people in retirement homes are left there, forgotten.

Children in Hospitals are without their friends in school. No Valentines Day Mail Boxes or classroom parties.

There are people in this world who don't have significant others either. Some because of divorce, or breakup, or death. Some have lost their children, or their parents.

There are professions that are taken for granted as we pass through a drive through, or the checkout counter at the grocery store.

How many people do you pass by as "scenery" every day?

Oh look at all the lonely people -The Beatles

Well the Lord told us to take care of the motherless and the widows. Deut 10:18

So I spent my Valentines Day in an attempt to give at least one person a Valentine, who otherwise would not get one.

Valentines went to the Church Office



Flowers went to a Retirement Center with the express instruction of delivering them to someone who did not receive flowers this Valentines Day.



I bought some McDonalds Valentines vouchers I was going to give to the homeless man who hangs out by the off ramp, but when I read the back of them, it said they were only redeemable by children of 12 and under. Sux.

Hats I crocheted were dropped off at the Children's Hospital. On my way to pay my parking ticket I delivered a Justin Bieber Valentine to the Parking Attendant. She gave me my dollar back and said "No Charge" (YES!)



I gave the McDonalds Coupons to a family that was leaving the hospital.

Cupcakes and Brownies were delivered to the secretary's at the school I went to, where my Dad works, I did my Student Teaching, and I Substitute Teach at. (I learned how to use an icing piper. Whoot!)



I put over 30 valentines on the windshields of cars in a parking lot.



We gave a Valentine to the waitress after dinner.

How many people are forgotten on Valentines Day? How many people are hurting?

I didn't see many of the faces that received the Valentines gifts. In my mind and imagination, I hope they have the warm comforting sense that someone loves them.

And Someone does. The Someone who is greater than all someones put together. The Someone who comforts, and helps you get through your days.

God loves you. You are greatly, most magnificently loved, even when you don't feel it.

I pray that God wrapped his arms around those people when they received the gifts. I hope that, if only for a moment, they felt the love of God.

Show me how to love the unlovable
Show me how to reach the unreachable
Help me now to do the impossible
Forgiveness

I want to finally set it free
So show me how to see what Your mercy sees
Help me now to give what You gave to me

~Mathew West

Beloved

By Rosen Georgiev,

Linking up with Five Minute Fridays on Lisa-Joeb Baker's website. She gives a prompt every Friday and you get five minutes to respond to it. No editing. No planning.

Today's Prompt is Beloved

GO
Dearly Beloved

You're my Beloved...lover I'm yours

I've been wondering over my future husband for the past couple of days. Praying for him. Frustratrated with God that it seems I'm the only one who hasn't been blessed with the love of my life yet.

And yet, I have been blessed with the lover of my soul. The one who loves me more than any man will. The one who knows me better than any human being ever will.

And  I wonder, is He keeping me for himself? Is my singleness a refiners fire preparing me to be more like Him and a better wife to he?

Most prayers I have prayed the Lord has answered in a positive light, in His perfect timing. Will I wait until I die for the wedding presents my mother has stored up for me? Will I be alone after my parents have passed on and I am no longer on anyone's "Top 5 people list?"

I pray for him. That he will find me. That the Lord will quickly bring him to me.

STOP

Random Acts of Love Day is HERE!

If you are here because you received a card like this today. You found me!
I wanted to make sure you knew you are loved 

and to wish you a Happy Valentines Day!

"Not all of us can do great things. But we cand do small things with great love."
~Mother Teresa

 Please spread the Love! 

One quick and easy way to do that is to donate to donate to an organization that is close to your heart.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

(John 3:16 ESV)

Do Small Things With Great Love

  This Valentine's Day, I'm celebrating real love — love that protects and love that defends.

       

America prides itself on being the land of the free, but many of its children still live in captivity. The National Center For Missing & Exploited Children estimates that over 100,000 children in the U.S. are trafficked and exploited annually.

We can do something about that.

I'm helping Love146 this Valentine's Day so they can hire an additional social worker who will work to protect thousands of students in U.S. schools.

Support real love this Valentine's Day by making a donation to my page and help protect children who are at risk.

If you can't make a donation at this point, help me reach my goal by sharing this page on Facebook and Twitter! 

Or, even better, send an e-mail to friends you think might be interested in contributing and include a link to my page!

Thanks so much for your generosity!

Please help me support Love146 by making a donation through my page. Even a small donation will help me achieve my goal! The process is fast, easy, and secure. Thanks so much for your support.

Please also visit the Love146 page for more information and ideas for conducting your own awareness events around Valentines Day.

And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

(Colossians 3:14 ESV)

How to fill a cupcake

Maybe I'm ridiculous. Wait. Okay, I AM ridiculous. I was baffled by the filled cupcakes.

For Christmas my friend Lia gave me a lemon cupcake mix and Lemon Curd from William Sonoma. I was going to a book swap at church and signed up to bring a dessert. I figured it would be a great time to use my Christmas present, but I had no idea what to do with the curd....UNLESS I filled the cupcakes with them.

I didn't know how to fill a cupcake so I figure it out and I thought I'd let you know just in case you were curious too.

So, first you are going to make your cupcakes like normal.

Let the cupcakes cool.

Then you are going to use a small spoon, like the size of a baby spoon to dig out the center of your cupcake. If you are making enough cupcakes, you can use the excess cake and make cakepops to accompany your cupcakes.

I didn't.

So then put your filling inside a ziplock bag, leave a bit of the ziplock unzipped to allow air to escape.

Cut a small sliver in the corner of your ziplock bag and squish your filling out of the hole into the cupcake well you just made.

Voila!

My cupcakes were Lemon Meringue Cupcakes so I made a Meringue frosting on top. Oh man! That was a bigger project than it should have been.

You take salt, cream of tarter and egg whites an whip them to a soft peak stage. Which means that when you lift your beaters out of the egg whites it should create a little mountain that flops over.

Then you VERY gradually (that's how I screwed up the first time) add your granulated sugar until the eggs whip up to a hard peak stage. Which means the mountains stick straight up.

Pipe or spoon the meringue on top of the cupcakes then put them in the oven at 375* for no more than 7 minutes so that you don't over cook your cupcakes.

Yum!

Random Acts of Luv Update

by Sandara Lee

So one of my ideas for RAOL was to bring spaghetti over to the nearby firemen. I called yesterday to make sure it was allowed. Bummer of all bummers, it wasn't. :( But Toby from the Creve Couer Fire Department was very gracious and seems like a lovely man! :)

I have 68 Valentines Prepared and at this point 4 Beanies to bring over to the Children's hos[ital. I'm going to see if I can't crank out a few more tonight. 

A couple other ideas are bubbling in my brain. I'm tight on funds so my resourcefulness is going to have to play a HUGE part tomorrow. 

Freebie Friday

You get your freebie early this week, just in time for Valentines day. I love Jeanne Winters Artwork. She is graciously letting us have a printable for Valentines day. Head on over to her blog. Here to download.

Leaving the Last Chapter Behind

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

(Jeremiah 29:11 ESV)

With each new prayer journal I start, another chapter of my life begins. I have been in a transition/learning period for such a long time, I'm almost numb to the fact that my life is about to change completely.


I am face to face with dreams I have been dreaming in ways I have never imagined in my life.

I am about to become a house mother for 6 teen aged girls. I have been praying to be a foster mother for years, but was concerned about the impossibility of it because I am not married and cannot afford more than a one bedroom apartment.

God has eliminated all of those road blocks, and has made the seemingly impossible possible.

I started connecting with the women at the church I am attending and was blessed to meet some wonderful women who are interested in many of the same things I am interested in. I can't wait to get to know them better and get more involved in the church and it's ministries.

I applied to Seminary and am waiting to hear back to see if I will be interviewed for the program. (Please pray for God's will for me in this)

I started this blog and in a month have had almost 1500 views and many of you lovely ladies posting. I pray every day that God speaks through me and my struggles to you, and it encourages you, and gives you hope, and comfort.

In order for me to give God the quantity in all of this. I have realized that I need to carve out something I have made the center of my life since I was a child.  My own quality.


If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.
(Matthew 5:29-30 ESV)


I have always been involved in the theatre. I have held my work to incredibly high standards and have always pushed my abilities and my resources to the limit. I really don't know anything else.

I don't know why God took me through this journey, but I do know that through it I have learned many skills that will be applied in the life that God has planned for me.

But I need to say "not right now" to working in the theatre. It takes SO much time and the work, and the demands are endless. The money you make compared to the amount of work you put in is never proportionate and I usually come out of work grumpy and unhappy. Not worth it right now.


As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace:
(1 Peter 4:10 ESV)


 I hope to use my skills in the theatre to help with ministries, counseling, and therapy. I don't think that God would have me so emerged in the theatre and entertainment industry for the majority of my life, that it is not going to come into play in the future.

It's just time to use that knowledge for His glory, and not mans.

Sarah- Let Go and Let God.


Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
(Proverbs 3:5-6 ESV)


As I close the book and start a new journal, I don't close the door on the life behind me. God has written each chapter of my life expertly leading to the next.

Random Acts of Luv

I'm REALLY EXCITED to tell you about this idea.

I don't have a Valentine.

Lot's of people don't have Valentines. I remember in High School and college we would refer to it as "Singles Awareness Day" because as a single, on Valentines Day, you are hyper aware of the fact that you are single...again.

Or when we were in elementary school, and that one kid didn't get Valentines in his or her mailbox, or like my mom, got valentines that said things like "Drop Dead" and "I hate you!"

Today begins Random Acts of Kindness week and I would like to celebrate by performing as many random acts of kindness as humanly possible on Valentines Day.

If you have any ideas for inexpensive ways that I can bless someone on Valentines Day, please let me know!

I would love it if you join me and post your Valentines Day acts of Kindness. I'll have a link up on this page so you can show us what you did!

Check out RAK's website.

A Call to Love by Jennifer van Leeuwen

Use Valentines Day To Teach God's Love

Lent 2013: Ideas to Inspire your Preparations

For You

Fasting 40 Days

Forty Days for 1,000 Days
Daniel Fast (This actually takes a lot of preparation) 
40 Days of Water
40 Days on the Makers Diet

Prayer

40 Days of Prayer for Survivors of Sex Trafficking

Read the Bible in 40 Days
World Vision Set the Captives Free
Pray through the Psalms
Book of Common Prayer
Prayer Walking
Transform your Mornings
Memorize Scripture
Create a Prayer Space In Your Home 
Read a Book

Praise

Create New Habits 
40 Days of Worship Music 
Write in a Gratitude Journal
40 Days of Beauty Treatments to Honor Gods Temple: Your Body

Giving

40 Days of Community
Love 146
Give of Your Gifts
Give of Your Cooking
Give of Your Time

For the Little Ones

Create a Forgiveness and Fresh Start Place
Easter Passion Tree
Lenten Prayer Garden
A Repentance Box
Resurrection Tree
Hands on Experience of the Resurrection 
DIY Resurrection Eggs
Kindness Jar
An Easter Garden
Countdown to Easter
Un-Easter Baskets
Memory Verses for Kids