#43

What I've been creating:  This weekend I decided to look through the different pages in my Bible journal.  I counted the ones I had finished... I'm amazed that since January I have finished 43 pages.  43 pages full of prayers, watercolors, verses that spoke to my heart and still do.  That's over a page a week.  I am not very good at math, but I believe it's two pages a week.  That means two times a week I set aside a good chunk of time to spend with Jesus.

I have spent more time in the Word in 2016 than I ever have in my life.  I have spent more time prayer journaling in 2016.  I have no doubt in my mind it's because of this creative faith community I have found.

Here are some of my latest pages.

How are you creatively expressing your faith?  God is an artist.  A creator.  Spend some time with Him this week creating.

Con mucho amor.

Looking for Lovely

What I've been reading:  Throughout my life I have always been a fiction-lover.  In middle and high school I stuck to realistic fiction.  In college my taste switched to Christian fiction.  I fell in love with the Baxter family in Karen Kingsbury's series Redemption and then Sunrise.  I actually cried when I finished all 15 of them...  After college, though, my book taste switched to non-fiction, and that's where it's stayed these past few months.

Another summer read I kept seeing on social media was Looking for Lovely by Annie Downs.  After stalking her on Instagram, I decided to get her latest book.  I loved her concept of finding loveliness in everyday life.  At the end of each chapter she has a looking for lovely challenge, such as going on a walk and looking for what God wants you to see, or painting your nails.  I thought I might create a looking for lovely bucket list to put in a journal or something.

One thing that surprised me about this book is that it is much more autobiographical that I thought it was going to be.  Annie weaves tales of her struggles in life to connect with the topic of the book.  It is showing readers her own personal journey to find lovely.  It is a quick read that left me looking at the world in a different way, always searching to find beauty in the day to day.
 

Annie also wrote Let's All Be Brave, which sounds like a title I need to read.  What's on your summer reading list?

Con mucho amor.

Stamps, stickers, paper, oh my!

What I've been using:  Lately I have spent more time than I should browsing on Instagram, looking at other Bible journaling accounts.  I love looking at the Target dollar spot hashtag, the May Designs hashtag, along with Illustrated Faith and #biblejournaling.  One store kept popping up, Tuesday Morning.  They have a location nearby my house, but I hadn't been in ages.  My mom and I were in the area, so we stopped by.

I found all sorts of fun crafting supplies on sale.  The best part?  The cashier asked me what I was going to do with the new supplies.  I got to witness to her and share about Bible journaling, which was so neat.  God opened a door for me there.

Recently I got a normal date stamp from an office supply store.  Although it was more expensive than I would have liked, I have used it SO much lately.  I use it in my Bible journaling and in my prayer journals.  At Tuesday Morning I found this letter stamp, and I thought it was too unique to pass up.  It has over ten spaces for letters, so you can stamp out whole sentences or phrases.

My new favorite thing are these journal stickers (I might have gotten three packages).  I thought they had white backgrounds, but when I went to use them they were actually clear!

These mason jar stickers also stuck out to me.  I have seen similar shapes in the Print and Pray shop at Illustrated Faith, but I love that these are stickers.  I can write prayers or verses inside of them.

What new supplies are you playing with?  I would love to know!

Con mucho amor.

Currently

Reading: As I roam on Instagram, I find book suggestions from other Jesus girls.  Two books that kept popping up on social media are Girls with Swords by Lisa Bevere and Wild and Free by Jess Connolly and Hayley Morgan.  One of my coworkers was also talking about Radical by David Platt.  I love being able to have time to soak up a good book.

I haven't started Wild and Free yet, but I have read half of Girls with Swords.  Bevere's main idea is that the devil  is out to get us girls because God has called us to do mighty things for His kingdom.  I 100% agree with her on that.  It is so easy to feel like a target, but God has given us tools to fight back against the enemy.

"You are a royal daughter of the King - handpicked for a purpose."  Lisa Bevere

"Lovely One, you already know you are a target.  You might as well choose to be a warrior hero."  Lisa Bevere

Radical is about the church in the United States.  He makes readers question, what is the point of church in the USA?  Are we spending more money on fancier buildings, air hockey tables for the youth room, or are we using our resources to reach out to the lost people?  Especially since I am working as staff at a church, this book is making me think about what we do and why we do it.

"We are afraid that if we stop and really look at God in His Word, we might discover that He evokes greater awe and demands deeper worship than we are ready to give Him."  David Platt

Finishing: Garden City by John Mark Comer - a nonfiction book about work and rest and finding our passions.  I feel like I am in this strange in between time of trying to figure out what is next in my life.  This book encourages us to use the passions God has placed in our hearts.

"If you don't do it, not only do you rob yourself of the life God called you to live, but you also rob the rest of us.  We need you."  John Mark Comer

Writing: Prayers and song lyrics that touch my heart and bring me back to Jesus.

Listening to: Thy Will by Hillary Scott, Hay Libertdad by La IBI, Estar a tus pies by Miel San Marcos, and Messengers by Lecrae and For King and Country

Using:  Recollections washi tape in everything!  In my Bible, prayer journals, notecards...

Obsessing over:  Anything and everything with pineapples.  Stickers, clothing, wall decals, journals.

Teaching and Learning:  Wednesday nights I co-lead the middle school youth group at my church.  I love that God uses those moments with them to teach me lessons as I am teaching them.  Last Wednesday we had a campfire, and we read through Exodus 3:1-12, the story about Moses and the burning bush.

I love how Moses asks God, "Who am I..."  Many times I feel inadequate to do what God calls me to do.  But if He is asking us to do whatever it is, He will not leave us on our own.

This week we went to an arcade/game center nearby.  One of the girls had never been on the go-karts before, and she was too short to drive one herself.  I volunteered to drive her.  Every single day I drive.  I have been on go-karts many times before.  I was happy to go, but she was ecstatic.  She was screaming from happiness as we went around the course.  She had a huge smile on her face, even after we stopped.

I was thinking about how so often when we start or do something new - job, relationship, project, etc., it can seem so thrilling at first.  But then, we get into a routine.  We get bored, and it loses the specialness.  I want to encourage you all to take back that excitement, that zest, for whatever you are doing in life.  Do it with joy.  Do it with love.  Do it with passion.

Con mucho amor.

Lessons from the Road: Part II

What God has been teaching me:  I struggle with patience.  I struggle with waiting, yet the Bible is full of people who waited.  I was having a conversation with someone about this struggle on Monday.  I want to know everything now.  I want to understand what God is doing now.  We live in a world full of now now nows.  But God is asking us to W A I T.

from: here 

The next morning I was reading Jesus Calling and the whole meditation for the day was about patience. I thought, "Wow, God.  You sure have a good sense of humor.  Glad to have learned that lesson."  I put a check mark by the topic in my mind.  Little did I know that God was going to continue teaching it to me.  All.  Day.  Long.

Then I went to drive to church to work, and I got stuck behind a slow car.  I missed the green light at the stoplight.  Within a 15 minute drive to work God continued teaching me the lesson.  Don't worry, on the way home, I also got stuck behind a slow car.  Same message: Hillary, be patient!  Don't rush things.

But that wasn't enough.  Later on that night I was scrolling through Facebook, and someone else shared a memory of them posting the passage from Jesus Calling.  The same one.  About patience.

God keeps pestering blessing me by teaching me the same thing.  Over and over.  I clearly need it.  I LOVE getting to see what He will show me next.

What else God has been teaching me:  Wednesday I felt a strong urge to read through 1 Corinthians.  I started reading the first and second chapter.  Those chapters focus on how God can use our weaknesses.  Then chapter 3 talks about how we plant the seeds, but God makes them grow.  Both of those themes are perfect for working in ministry.

The ladies from the DR have graciously allowed me to stay in the group chat that we have from church.  Each day one of them sends a meditation.  The meditation for the day was all about planing seeds and God making them grow...

And a third time He did something crazy:  I love the fact that He keeps teaching me the same lessons over and over again.  Thursday morning it was about trust.  My mother wood burned a beautiful coaster for me.  She engraved the word: T R U S T

I have been needing to lean more and more on God lately, trusting in HIS amazing plan for my future.  Handing over my plans to Him because He knows what I need and what the world needs more than I know.  Thursday and Friday the devotional was about the same theme: T R U S T

"Que todo mi ser espere en silencio delante de Dios, porque en Él esta mi esperanza.  Solo Él es mi roca y mi salvacion."  Salmos 56:5-6

What crazy things is God doing in your life right now?

Con mucho amor.

Lessons from the Road: Part I

What I've been thinking about: Monday morning the passage in Jesus Calling was about looking for God each day.  He is always eager to talk to us, we just need to be open and receptive to His "touches" throughout our days.  God loves it when we discover His marvelous presence.  Monday I went out with eyes open to see Him.

Monday night I was driving home.  The roads were pitch black. It was late.  I was slightly scared.  I could barely see the road.  I could barely see what was in front of me.  The moon, however, was full and bright.  Its beautiful rays were shining down on the road.  God was telling me something:  He is like the moon, shining down on our dark lives.  We cannot see the whole road.  We cannot see the whole path to the end when we arrive at home, but the moon sees it all; God can see the future.  

Our vision is so limited.  He can only show us the next steps little by little.  He cannot show us the whole path, but He is faithful.  We can trust that He will show us in His timing, not our own.

 "Los cielos cuentan la gloria de Dios, y el firmamento auncia la obra de sus manos." Salmos 19:1-2

Where are you seeing God today?

Con mucho amor.

Reminder

What I found:  I spent the afternoon cleaning my bedroom, and I found these two papers that really touched my heart.  May they inspire you today, too.

Con mucho amor.