SUNDAY STILL // 7
Trust. It's often the hardest thing to do. Most times worry and stress are my companions rather than letting go and trusting. Today I'm choosing to let go and trusting in Him.
Happy Sunday friends,
s.s.♥.
P.S. Need some more encouragement? Check out these past Sunday Stills: 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 //
HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE // GOLD
Did you know there are only seven Fridays left until CHRISTMAS!!? SEVEN!! Have you started your Christmas shopping yet? We started the other night with shopping for our Operation Christmas Child Boxes. You've probably heard of OCC but if you haven't, OCC is an amazing program through Samaritan's Purse that delivers Christmas presents to kids all over the world. James shopped for a little boy and I shopped for a little girl. We had so much fun filling those boxes with toys, school supplies and clothing. I highly encourage it!
Well my first holiday gift guide is for lovers of gold. Happy Christmas shopping season!!
How cute is everything? I'm especially eyeing that gold lipstick mug!
How do you manage your Christmas shopping? Are you an early shopper or a last minute type of person? I like to say I'm a planner but really, I usually get it done last minute on my lunch hours in those final days before Christmas!
Stay gold,
s.s.♥.
HOUSE HUNTING
WE'RE BUYING A HOUSE!!!! Well...looking to buy a house....
A few months back James & I started the process of looking for a house. It's a crazy, surreal thing and makes me feel like a reeeeeal adult. Scary but so good. It's a complete miracle that this is able to happen and I am so grateful.
We can't wait to find a home that we can start a family in.
When we first started the process we wrote down things that we were looking for. Some of those things included:
- Natural light
- Yard
- Nearish to downtown (No westshore for us)
- At least two bedrooms
- Extra room or potential studio space for James
- Dining area
- Suite (hello income!)
We've seen four houses so far and the latest one has a lot of potential...it was the only one that I could actually see us living in. We have a few more to peep this weekend but who knows, we could have potentially found our home.....eeeeeeeeee!
Naturally, I've been pinning house interiors non-stop. I cannot wait to have some new projects!!
Here's what's been inspiring me lately...
1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 // 7
See more of my house inspiration on my Pinterest Board!
How gorgeous are those spaces? I can't wait till we find a space that we can make our own!!
We've been googling everything on the home buying process but obviously we are totally newbies. If you have any home buying advice please comment below or send me an email!!
Until next time,
s.s.♥︎.
ON CALLING AND PURPOSE AND MY EX-OBSESSION WITH C.S.I.
I remember at a young age I wanted to grow up and be a mermaid. Shortly after I realized that dream probably wasn't going to happen, I changed my aspiration to being a lawyer. Yes, when I was seven years old, I dreamed of being a LAWYER. In high school it changed to coroner and then to forensic investigator (I blame my obsession with C.S.I...I was absolutely obsessed with C.S.I. in high school....like OBSESSED. Grissom was the bomb. I never got into C.S.I Miami though. And FYI I haven't seen an episode of C.S.I. since high school...Are they even making it still? Ok...enough with C.S.I.) After high school when I became a Christian, it changed to pastor.
Tonight at my small group, we spent some time talking about calling and purpose. 10 years ago I learned about a concept that really helped shape my view on my "calling". The teacher at the night leadership course I was going to at the time, had us trace a picture of our hand. She then had us start filling in our hand with areas of responsibilities that we had in our life- people we were in relationship with, jobs, family, area of serving at church, etc. I found out that those areas were my current "calling". My mind was blown.
Now don't get me wrong, I believe that all of us have are given purpose and calling. It burns in your heart. It may seem massive, it may seem small, it may seem out of reach, it may seem like what you're doing now is the furthest thing from that. But sometimes we can get so consumed with what's in our heart that we forget what's in our hand.
There's a story in the Bible about a guy named Moses. Some of you know this story well, but some of you may not know about this guy. Basically God called Moses to do something very big. He called Moses to go to the Pharaoh and bring God's enslaved children out of Egypt. It was a very big deal. Moses was obviously freaked and kept questioning God about this calling. And in Exodus 4 God asked Moses, "What is that in your hand?" Moses was holding a staff and God told him to throw it on the ground. The staff miraculously became a serpent. When Moses picked it up it became a staff again. That staff, that was in Moses' hand, became a tool that led Moses to his calling.
You are not in your current arena of life to just chill until your calling magically appears in your lap. You have a purpose. You have a calling. But right now you are called to something, called to someone. You have been given responsibility. It may seem small, it may seem dismal but who knows, perhaps it's going to be a tool that will lead you to your calling? Or who knows, maybe as you're faithful to what is placed in your hand, that calling in your heart may change?
What I do know is that God blesses obedience. He sees your faithfulness and your perseverance. And He also sees and knows your heart better than anyone else.
"If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones."
-Luke 16:10
"Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin..." -Zechariah 4:10
I'd love to hear from you! Is there something burning in your heart that you feel is your purpose or calling? What's currently in your hand? Has your calling changed as you've walked through different seasons of life?
s.s.♥︎.
NO SUGAR NOVEMBER + SOME SUGAR FREE RECIPES
So October for me was one full month and it seems like when my stress levels go up, my sweet tooth cravings go through the roof. I am a sugar addict through and through. In October, I'm pretty sure I had chocolate every single day. Things got a little cray.
So James and I decided to go a month without refined sugar (sweets, pastries, chocolate) and fast food. This may not seem like a lot to some people...like all you people who cut out dairy, carbs, gluten, etc (you guys are my HEROES!)...but it's a lot for a sugar addict like me! We're still having fruit and because sugar is in everything we'll probably have some of it in pasta sauces, bread etc. We're on day 3 and withdrawal has definitely hit. I don't really feel like myself and have been getting headaches. I miss my late night bowl of mini-wheats and my morning cookie in my coffee but I know that my body will soon get accustomed and I'll feel much better!
So now I'm on the hunt for sugar-free recipes. I still want to satisfy my sweet tooth with natural sugars in dates and bananas but I don't really do non-sugar baking. I've been peeping Pinterest and I've come across some recipes that I want to try....
These banana walnut oat bars look pretty enticing to me!
And believe it or not, these cookies are made from 5 ingredients!!!
Vegan, sugar-free banana bread...YES PLEASE!
I guess I'm going to have to get my bake on and use things like dates to satisfy my sweet tooth! Do you have any favourite sugar-free recipes? PLEASE SEND THEM MY WAY!!
Here's to a healthy November!
xo,
s.s.♥︎.