FALLING OVER
A little while back I woke up with fall on my mind. I know what you’re thinking…nooooooooooooooooo it’s not fall yet, it’s still summer, it’s still summer. I hate to break it to ya love but summer is almost over. The sun is going down at 8:30pm and it will just get earlier every night. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not one of those summer hating girls. If I could live in any item of clothing, it would be my jean cut-offs. My favourite days are those spent soaking up the sun. I love picnics and summer sunsets. See? I DO love summer…BUT I also love fall. Like, really, really, love fall. A few days ago I was getting ready for Church. My first step of getting ready is opening my closet and seeing which article makes my heart sparkle. This particular day my heart smiled at jewel toned blazers, leather leggings and velvet dresses. I had to actually walk outside and see if it was still summer. It was.
I’m day dreaming of leaves changing colours, crisp autumn walks, over-sized knits, leather, baking pumpkin cream cheese muffins, fall tv shows (greys! vampire diaries! 30rock!), hugging my sweetheart to get warm, writing in a warm coffee shop, pumpkin spice lattes, halloween, thanksgiving…My heart is starting to beat a bit quicker for fall…is yours? What are you most excited for?
image from honestly wtf
image from free people
xoxo,
s.s.♥.
DARE TO HOPE
i decided not to go to adore sports tonight. I decided instead to go for a run. Funny how little choices we make can affect us greatly. You may call it fate but I call it God’s providence. In order for me to go further, I must rewind. As soon as I wake up, I turn off my alarm and proceed to check the texts/emails/etc I received over night. My daily devotional from Rick Warren was titled, ‘What to do when your World Falls Apart’. In order for me to go further, I must rewind yet again.
Yesterday I bawled. It was not a pretty sight aside from my eyes being mega bright from all the redness. Some serious things are happening. My grandma (Mom’s mom) is in the most advanced state of Alzheimer’s. It’s hard and it’s affecting my entire family. I guess the realization of the entire situation sunk into my heart and broke me. I couldn’t hold back the tears anymore. I would appreciate your guys’ prayers for my grandma and family.
I’m learning that as you let someone close to your heart, you have to have some hard conversations. Yesterday also included one of those.
Yeah, let’s just say yesterday was an extremely hard day. Emotionally and spiritually exhausting.
But my amazing God knew all these things.
So when I read, WHEN YOUR WORLD FALLS APART, I paid attention. Rick Warren is going to be taking people on a 6 day journey about suffering. Is it weird that I’m excited for this?
Today he asked us to read Lamentations 3. My world was completely rocked. Oh and it doesn’t stop there…so back to that run. Lately, I’ve gone back to running while listening to a podcast and it’s changing my life! I’ve been listening to Steven Furtick’s counseling series and tonight’s was on Depression. (Amazing, seriously love his sermons!) And you’ll never guess what chapter he solely preached from.
Yep…Lamentations 3. The exact same chapter I read earlier today.
Jeremiah is going through crap. Most of us will go through crap in our lives. Pastor Steven said this statement which I fully agree with (and shared with someone very dear to me) “I believe that often the people who have the greatest call of God on their lives are the people who have to go through the most in order to be what God wants them to be and to do what God wants them to do.”
Life is not always dandy. No Jesus even said we will have troubles, but to TAKE HEART for He has overcome the world.
The thought of my suffering and homelessness
is bitter beyond words.
20 I will never forget this awful time,
as I grieve over my loss.
21Yet I still dare to hope
when I remember this:
22 The faithful love of the Lord never ends!
His mercies never cease.
23 Great is his faithfulness;
his mercies begin afresh each morning.
24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance;
therefore, I will hope in him!”-Lamentations 3:19-24
Through all my trials and circumstances I will dare to hope. I will remember that His faithfulness is great. I will know that His mercies are new every morning. I WILL HOPE IN HIM.
His goodness stretches wide enough to handle your grief.
Love you incredibly,
s.s.♥.
DIY: SMORES STUFFED CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
There are some things on earth that are just meant to be consumed. Chocolate is one of them. And chocolate chips. And marshmallows. And graham crackers. I once heard a very sad quote from Kate Moss, “Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.” Well Kate, I think these cookies taste 1000000x better. I should mail her one.
I had a girls night with my city youth small group girls. We squished into my teensy living room to catch up on life, watch a movie, laugh and talk about boys (duh). I knew this would be the perfect night to make SMORES STUFFED CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES.
I did not invent this little masterpiece but found it here.
WARNING: these suckers are HUGE. Most of us could only consume half and that left us feeling extremely full.
I think I’ll try adding peanut butter to the cookie dough next time because peanut butter makes everything better.
These cookies, will win cuddles, make friends, cure heartbreaks and may send some people into cardiac arrest. BAKE WITH CAUTION.
They will basically make your life better.
you’re welcome,
s.s.♥.
DEAR DIARY #010
So i’m a busy girl. And my boyfriend is a busy boy. Tomorrow will be 4 months. And in those 4 months, almost 6 weeks will have been long distance. Make that 7 weeks in a week. So when we have days off together, it’s a magical thing.
It was his birthday on July 28th, because he was playing at a campish thing in Saskatchewan and I was speaking at a girls camp up island, we had to celebrate on skype. We finally got to celebrate together on Monday. I planned a day of adventures, sunshine & sparkles…because sparkles make everything more fun, right?
I gave him a patch in his card which needed to be sewn into something. (On the patch is a line from one of my fav poems, I carry your heart, e.e.cummings) I didn’t tell him that something was going to be jeans which I would buy him. He was stoked. Ladies, if your man likes clothes, jeans are a good gift. Sorry it’s such a crappy photo, James took it on his flip phone…ya flip phones still exist.
We then had a delightful picnic at a little spot in Oak Bay. PHOTO DISCLAIMER: He’s not sitting there in his boxers. He’s wearing khaki coloured shorts. And we’re drinking juice…I thought the martini glasses would make the picnic more special…just in case…you were wondering….
Isn’t he a hottie? (Borrowed picnic basket from Kendal & Evan Allnutt…thanks!!)
After the picnic we had a BBQ at James’ house with his amazing family…seriously lovely times.
In other news…my clutch died :( I finally got my car back today. Very, very, hard thing handing over a huge amount of money…I could have purchased Louboutins, TWO Marc bags…oh man.
The plus side of it all was getting some exercise running to work, walking places & taking the bus with my sweetheart.
a little gem we discovered on the Gorge…
Tomorrow is Ivor’s birthday! (He has the same birthday as James..crazy!) We’re going to a local beach to have a picnic…and there will be a pinata!! Then my good friend is having a pool party, oh and I’ll finally get to see James again briefly before he heads off for another week leading worship in Van…life is insane…but more beautiful. Tonight I miraculously am spending the night alone at home. I got some cleaning to do and hopefully will get some work done on my novel (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
Love you to the moon and back,
s.s.♥.
BACK INTO IT
hello kids,
i’m back again! man, it feels good to be home…yay. and you know what’s crazy? i was actually excited to come into work on tuesday. i know. i’ve been going non-stop for almost two months, and it’s not like i don’t have any work to do (there are mountain piles on my desk), it’s just i am so happy to fall back into a somewhat routine. and to sleep in my own bed…ahhhhhhhhhhh bliss.
ok so i had an incredible time away! when i last left you, I was madly prepping sermons for teen girls camp and lamenting over the fact that my body was not prepped for nanoose teen camp….
nanoose was soooo fun as always! my body was not prepped, it suffered greatly. i even managed to sprain my ankle running from my cabin to the camp photo (i’m probably one of the klutziest people you’ll meet). we didn’t have the best of weather, which isn’t too bad because who really likes playing sports in 25degree weather? not i. God moved in teens lives. it’s a beautiful thing to witness. i loved the speaker (Vaden Earle). he wasn’t your conventional teen camp speaker, and i loved that about him…and he could probably beat you up. for serious. he’s jacked.
i left nanoose early on the last day to jet home, do some laundry (well my grandma did it for me while i napped awwe), grab all my sermons, pack and repack and then head back up island to imadene! this is the 3rd year in a row that i was the camp speaker (i’m sure some girls are probably getting sick of me by now) well as always, it was amazing. i still can’t believe how i get to be a part of what God is doing in the lives of teen girls. serious honour & privilege. i had so much fun with the girls. and i’m so excited for what God is doing/going to do in their lives. my dream for the next generation is that God gives them realities we only ever dreamed of, that they cover ground we were too afraid to step on, that they would truly see the end of the aids crisis, sex trafficking, bullying, slavery and so much more. when these girls grab hold of who God created them to be and the plans that he has for them…wow…watch out world.
so i had to leave imadene a day early because, dun dun dun dun, dun, dun dun dun….my brother’s wedding!!! yes, my little brother got married this past Sunday! he married Emy (they had been together since they were 18 awwe). Emy is really the sweetest. she has a heart of gold and truly makes my brother a better man. i couldn’t have imagined a better sister in law! the wedding was gorgeous! i already saw a few of pics and i cannot wait to see the rest!
Photo cred: Jon-Mark Wiltshire
Didn’t Emy look STUNNING? I know, my brother is one lucky man!
Love you two!
Well friends, that’s all for now but now that I am home be prepared for CONSTANT updates! (yah, you heard me right AND you can hold me to it)
stay gold,
s.s.♥.