Doodletopia

One thing I enjoy about blogging is being able to review books, especially when I am able to review books like "doodletopia cartoons" by Christopher Hart. I have never been much of an artist, but I always love to try. I enjoy reading, but sometimes I just need a fun book to review, and this one caught my eye. I love the way that I am able to doodle right in the book. The book includes many different chapters such as a 'finish the drawing' chapter, a chapter focused on facial expressions, funny couples, and cartoon animals. The book is super colorful, with lots of helpful hints and space to try different doodles. 

The book is very colorful and catches your eye, and is very fun and low key throughout. Hart gives great hints and ideas. I also love that he adds a chapter on cartoon calligraphy. I like that Hart has a good balance of instruction, examples, and free space to let your imagination flow. I am not much of an artist, but I enjoy that I am able to draw the cartoons that Hart has drawn, as well as try my own things right in the book. I would recommend this book to anyone who is wanting to learn how to draw cartoons as well as anyone just looking for a fun doodling book.

I received a copy of this book for free from blooggingforbooks.com

Check out more about this book here.

'Tis the Season for New Years Resolutions

These past few days have been a whirlwind of activity, all reminding of how good God is, and why we weren't meant to do this life alone. I've also been thinking about New Year's Resolutions (only 26 days left until the new year...)

On Friday, a couple of our friends had a very small get together for Koen's first birthday. It was at this amazing play place (think McDonald's on steroids) and the kids absolutely loved it. 

Friday night, we walked around downtown at the city's Christmas tree lighting -- they had jump houses, craft tables, Anna, Elsa and Kristof were there, and a lot of music. Today, we sat down for some family time and did an edible craft, Christmas trees made with sugar cones and candies for decorations! It was a lot of fun (and delicious).

While we were decorating our edible trees, I asked Aurelia if we should hang up our stockings today, and we were figuring out where to do it. While I was a bit bummed that we didn't have a tree to put up yet, I was going to build up hanging our stockings, because I know that she really enjoys decorating. And then, someone knocks on our door. I thought it was probably a neighborhood kid wondering if Aurelia could play (because thats usually who it is 95% of the time). When Josh answered the door, however, it was our friends, Rachel, and TJ, with a Christmas tree for us. They also brought lights and bulbs! Oh, and it was a live Christmas tree :D 

Along with that, its the help that we've had from people at church with our marriage, its the knowing that people care and are here to support us and love us, even though we aren't perfect people, that I have really been feeling. This might be the first time in our marriage where we have really felt like we have people in our lives who we consider ourselves close to... Its not that we haven't had community in the past, we have. But we feel like we fit in here. I love that. I love having community. I love really getting to know the people in our small group and doing life with them. 

We weren't meant to do life alone. Friends have done so much for us. Their love reminds me of Jesus -- He loved people. He saw a need, and He helped. What if we took our love for our friends one step further, and loved the widows and the orphans? What if we loved the homeless the way our friends love us? 

Thats why my New Year's Resolution is a bit more in depth this year. Honestly, I don't ever really have anything I set in stone to accomplish. This year, we have made many great memories fitting our life into a minivan, going out across the country, trying to go where God called us. We've also been in situations that tested our faith, and tested our patience. In the end, God has blessed us far more than we deserve, and people have loved us and helped us even though they didn't have to. 

Next year, I want to give back. I want to love back. I want to show my kids what it means to truly love like Jesus, and show them that they can love that way to. I want our family to be so in tune with Christ that He is whom people see, not us. I want to bring my faith to life and not run away from the hard questions, but speak truth in love. I want to love people. 

What are your New Year's Resolutions? What are your blessings? 

Sorry this is kind of choppy... I was trying to multitask (generally a bad idea when I'm trying to write a blog.)

God Bless!

Blessings In A Difficult Season

color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px; margin-bottom: 6px;"> Happy Thanksgiving! Its a bit late, but it is still a good thing to think about. I have been reminded over and over again about all the blessings in my life. You see, in all honesty, things are tight. Moving across the country doesn't come easily. It is probably in the top ten on my 'hardest things I've ever done' list. With that said, it is probably the very first item on my 'Best choices I've ever made' list ( I don't actually have lists like that. They just fit well with what I was writing. But maybe I should make lists like these...)

Where was I? Oh yes.

This journey has had its challenges. A few of them have been being away from our loved ones, financial stress (everything really is more expensive in California!), figuring out things like health insurance and preschool, and also time management. As the icing on the cake, all of these have caused quite a bit of strain in our marriage and our motivation.

But, here's the best part: I see God in all of these (not always in the moment of stress, but when I reflect on the moment later, He is ALWAYS there). These struggles have, first and foremost, pushed us to a point in our marriage where we HAD to seek help. And God had someone lined up who is meeting with us weekly and guiding us with a biblical outlook on what a Godly marriage should look like.

You see, in every difficult situation, God is there saying, "Trust me. I am here for You. I love you." He has brought us here, and He isn't about to forsake us now. I haven't had to go grocery shopping in a while because of the food pantry that our church puts on. We don't have a Christmas tree or lights this year, but someone had an extra tree that they are letting us borrow. People from the church helped to furnish our entire home, including a crib and a bed for us. Aurelia is in preschool and loving it (and it doesn't cost anything for us).

God is with us. And we have had to rely on Him to be there for us, because we can't do it on our own. This is a hard season of life right now, but God never called us to an easy life. God is working in and through the church we go to. I get to see not only the congregation grow but also the leaders. We are being shaped into what He wants us to be, and it is something worth fighting for.

My blessings don't look like success to the world. And I think I am thankful for that. Yes, sometimes I forget about what we have, and think I want something different, but then I truly take a moment to look around at what is surrounding me - a God who is Love, friends that help me and love me for who I am, a husband who hasn't given up on our marriage (even when I have quit trying), beautiful, happy children - and I know that I have all that we need. Because God is taking care of us.

That's where my help comes from. That's where my peace comes from. That's where my joy comes from. I want to always turn my eyes to the one who created me.

This Christmas, I am thankful for all the ways that God is working in my life, and I am remembering who He is.

May Peace be with you all!

Let's Love Like Jesus

As humans, I think that it is a very difficult thing to love like Jesus loved. Jesus loves selflessly, and humans are naturally selfish. Jesus loves to serve people, and humans are naturally greedy. Jesus loves unconditionally and humans are conditional. We were born with the natural ability to love ourselves first. That's why grace and mercy are so important. God has so much of both of these. Grace is the free and unmerited favor of God. Mercy is compassion and forgiveness shown to someone whom it is in ones power to harm or punish. Both of these definitions make me stop and really try to fathom the beautiful God we serve. Mercy, however, is something that I just can't wrap my mind around.

God has mercy for us. He knows what selfish, greedy people we are, and yet he has compassion for us. He forgives us. Why? Because He is a loving God. And because of His grace and His mercy, we are able to love others in the same ways that He loves us. We love because God loves us. We extend mercy because we have been given mercy (that none of us deserve).

So why does the Christian world have such a hard time loving certain people? For instance, the LGBT community. Whether we consider ourselves a part of it or not, the Christian faith has had a bad name with the LGBT community. They tend to be cold and hateful toward Christians because many Christians have been cold and hateful toward them. As Caleb Kaltenbach explains in his book, Messy Grace, Christians and the LGBT community have a lot in common. They just dont realize it because they are too busy hating each
other.

Kaltenbach's book is a book written for Christians and the LGBT community alike. It is a call to love others like Jesus loves us. As a pastor with gay parents, Kaltenbach has had experience in both worlds, and this book talks of how he has learned to love without sacrificing his convictions. It is truly a book that should be read by all people, especially Christians. Its time for us to get in the Word, see what the Bible really says, and stop hating people because they make you uncomfortable. Let's love like Jesus loves.

I received this book free from bloggingforbooks.com.

To learn more about this book or the author (which I highly recommend you do), click here.

All in God's Time

As much as I try to make this entry sound sophisticated and well written, I just can't contain my excitement enough to do so. You see, today, Josh has secured us a place of our own. After three and a half months, after sleeping in our van, in hotels, and on the floor of other peoples' homes, we finally will have a place to call ours. 

Don't get me wrong -- the adventure that we have been on has been an amazing one! God called us to go, and we obeyed. Because of that, we got to experience some things that we never would have been able to experience. I learned a lot about myself, and became closer with my family. And, because we decided to be obedient, we were led to this wonderful church family who has taken us in and loved us like one of their own.

I will admit, it was a stressful time looking for an apartment. It was difficult because most of the places want proof of at least a years worth of income, and we obviously don't have that. There was also the fact that Fairfield is much larger than Mt. Pleasant, making the application process more of a competition of sorts. 

And of course, our budget for rent limits us on where we can live... California living is much more expensive than Michigan living! Because of this, we have been doing a lot of prayer, asking God to lead us to the best place for us. We know that wherever we end up, we will be right where God wants us, and He will keep us safe. We will definitely not be in the rich areas of the city, but we won't be living in the ghetto, either. I know that God is pushing me out of my comfort zone daily, and this will be a way of pushing us to love the people around us (and probably learn Spanish as well... most of our neighbors are Spanish speaking, I believe) no matter what, and to be a light n the darkness. 

All this to say that we are SUPER excited to start this next chapter of our lives -- it will be challenging yet rewarding, because we know that we are following God to the best of our ability, and God will shine. His people will hear of Him, and that is something to be excited about :D

This is My Body

Health is all the rage right now, with our society getting more and more unhealthy. I see it all over my news  font-family: 'Brandon Text', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">feed: Invitations to become an independent product salesperson for all types of health lines that are popping up all across the nation. I find myself getting annoyed by the constant barrage of invitations, but I will admit that I do enjoy a good success story. I find it motivating and helpful in my own journey toward becoming as healthy as I can be.

Ragan Sutterfield's story is one of those inspiring stories. He was unhealthy and uncomfortable in his own body, so he decided to do something about it. He started eating right and exercising, and found his niche in running. He has run crazy long races -- 50K's! -- and also competed in the infamous Iron Man competition. In his book, he talks about how he started the journey to health, and also talks about the training process for the Iron Man. Throughout the book, he talks of the why of why we should be getting fit... His reasoning is to be the best we can be for Christ.

I will admit, he has put much thought into this idea. He goes into detail on things that I have never truly thought about, and really had me pondering my reasons on why I want to get healthy. It was a pretty good read, and I think that deep thinkers would really enjoy sinking their teeth into the ideas that Sutterfield puts forth.

I received this book for free from bloggingforbooks.com

You can learn more about the author and where to buy his book here

The Ups and Downs of Social Media

Whether we like it or not, social media is part of this new generation and society we live in. It exploded into being with websites like Classmates.com and sixdegrees.com, but got really popular with sites like Linkedn, Friendster, Myspace, and of course, Facebook. The goal with these sites was always the same: Get connected with people. That's what its always been about, whether its about reconnecting with people you once knew, or meeting entirely new people. 

These days (with Facebook being the queen of all social media), while the goal is still to be 'connected', it seems to do just the opposite. We see people on their phones, tablets, or computers just about anywhere: waiting in the doctor's office, in line at the grocery store, in church... everywhere. It can be so easy to get pulled into the online community where many people post all the good things about their lives (leading us to start hating our life or wishing it was more like what we see). We can spend all of our time on social media and miss the everyday things happening around us. Or, we can spend all of our time trying to take the 'perfect' picture to post to social media that we are completely missing the moment to cherish forever. 

I've definitely done my fair share of  'Facebook Bashing', mainly because I feel convicted about the time I spend on the site. These days, however, while I still need to make sure to live in the moment and not spend all of my extra time on it, I have come to be thankful for Facebook, and use it for the true reason it was created: to stay connected.

Living 2400 miles away from our family and friends has proven to be no easy task, and it has only been about two weeks since we have officially moved. Facebook helps us to be a part of their everyday lives and for them to be a part of ours. I love that! 

I also love the accountability Facebook can give me. I don't put up post-run photos of my nasty sweaty self because I think it looks nice, or because I want people to feel bad about themselves: I post them because by posting them, it holds me accountable. When I don't post them, my runner friends can go, "um, where is your nasty sweaty running shot? Go get your run in!" Or they can motivate me if I had a particularly rough workout. If anything, I am going to be able to look back at all of my nasty sweaty pictures of myself and know that I am making a change for the better in my life. 

I guess I have a love/hate relationship with Facebook. I will keep posting photos of my family, though, and not feel like I am OVER posting.. Because after all, if you are my friend on Facebook, I am assuming you are interested in what is going on with my life :) 

**I apologize if this is scattered and not well put together... I am trying to write it while feeding children and answering the daily 100,000 questions that my four year old asks :)