SPARK!

Happy Friday! No Friday Faves post is scheduled because I'm off to speak at Spark! I'd love your prayers! Pray for God to move powerfully among the pre-teens in our province!!

Hope you have a fantastic weekend!

xo,

s.s.♥.

ONE WORD 2014 // JULIA

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Today's one word is from one of the lovely youth girls that I lead. I've known Julia for almost two years and I can say for sure, that she knows and loves God. It makes my heart sparkle to see young girls live out their faith. She wants to be a pastor and I truly believe she will be one. (She's one of the reasons why I'm so passionate that about seeing women empowered in the church!!) Take it away lovely Julia...

Laura is an amazing role model to me. I have loved having her guide me and lead me these past couple of years. When I first heard about Laura’s one word idea, I thought it was an interesting approach to goal setting. I’m the kind of person that will write lists upon lists of goals for myself. When reading Laura’s blog, I found it challenging to pick just one word, but before finishing her post, a word popped into my mind instantly. Passion.

I have always seen passion as an amazing characteristic, something people are drawn to...that spreads like a wildfire.

“Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you.”– Oprah Winfrey

I’ve seen what passion does to people, it makes them uniquely excited about a certain thing and it’s impossible to hide. Passion shapes our lives, and when you find someone else that shares the same passions as you, you fit together like a puzzle. Recently I had to memorize a speech from one of Shakespeare’s plays in English class, and I found myself complaining to my brother. He asked me what the difference is between memorizing Shakespeare and memorizing biblical scripture, and I replied, “Because God’s word is what I’m passionate about”. He told me that that makes all the difference. People sometimes say that they ‘wish they could find their passion’, but passion comes when you’re being your authentic self and embracing your heart’s true desires. I feel very fortunate, being a high school student and having so much passion towards what I was created to do. I thank God regularly that I am able to live out my passions every single day. By doing so I feel joy, excitement, and anticipation for what God has in store.

We are so far from perfect, we face trails, heartache and pain, but take a second to praise God that He gave us passion. He blesses us with the opportunity (though sometimes it’s hard) to live every day for Him. God gives us passion in our hearts, and we need to share them with the people around us. That’s what I’m inspired to do

Wow, Julia. So beautiful! And wise beyond your years (she's in grade 10 people!!!) Thank you for sharing your heart and your passion!!! Love you :)

Previous one words- Amy | Sarah | Tiffany | Danae | Nadia | Micaela | Kristy | Me

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Mine consisted mainly of homework and running and a few good coffee dates squeezed in, ptL.

Happy Monday!

xo,

s.s.♥︎.

ONE WORD BRUNCH

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FYI I am a straight up lover of brunch. You want to take me out for dinner? Ahhh, let's do brunch instead? Waffles, morning light, pretty flowers, the comforting smell of coffee and bacon...now those are my game. Orange juice? Oh, you got me hooked. Now add inspiring conversation to the mix...a little piece of Heaven.

And that's what last Saturday morning was. I invited some girlfriends over to have a One Word brunch. As you know, I've been doing this One Word thang for a few years now (2012, 2013, 2014). Last year I hosted a One Word dinner (which was so lovely). This year I decided upon brunch because as you know, I'm a lover of brunch. Basically each girl brought her incredible self, some delicious food and the word God had given her for 2014. 

I made waffles (which my sister in law had made on Christmas day and are THE BEST and yes, I'll be sure to share the recipe soon) and Danae made candied bacon (which was ahhhmaazing!) We ate a lot and laughed a lot...the best combo.

Ok, and can we talk about the elephant in the room for just a moment? You may be wondering why I have pictures of a lovely girly brunch with a "Let's get it on" chalkboard in the background? Ha, it's only up because of sheer laziness. It's been up since I hosted a lingerie shower for a friend in October…October, oh gosh, I know. Note to self: get around to decorating dining room...

It was so incredibly, cool to see how God gave each of us unique words. I'm in awe of how good our God is. He cares for each of us individually and He speaks clearly today!

Each girl's word was so inspiring that I have decided to feature them all. Yes, you'll be hearing from five beautiful women of God over the next couple weeks...get pumped!

You may notice only five women appear in these photos, that's because the incredible Amy was taking the photos (hire her, she's amazing!) You'll get to meet her soon enough though, because she's sharing her one word tomorrow.

We each left that brunch feeling soooo refreshed. It was so so so so good to gather with intentionality and bacon too of course.

xoxo,

s.s.♥.

P.S. Do you have a word for 2014? if so, I want to hear from you! Blog about it or comment below :)

SOME THOUGHTS ON CHRISTMAS

Christmas tends to bring a mixed bag of feelings to people. for some, Christmas is filled with high levels of anticipation and excitement as one looks forward to family dinners, church services, baking, decorations, lights, etc… for others Christmas time tends to be filled with anxiety, stress, and depression. the days are shorter. the weather is colder. the family is non-existent… 

i tend to relate more to the former. i get excited to bake and decorate and buy gifts for people. i get caught up in watching Christmas specials and eat way too many sweets. but i also have some not so fond Christmas memories…fights with siblings. that family member continually commenting on my second helping of dinner. the first Christmas after my parents separated…

if i’m not careful, i can either find myself being consumed with commercialistic Christmas or caught up in dark moments of Christmas past…

neither of these perspectives are healthy. i’m thankful for God’s truth that brings us into a clear perspective. i stumbled upon this beautiful verse a few summers ago. it sheds some serious light on the true meaning of Christmas.

it’s a prophetic word proclaimed by John the Baptist’s father, Zechariah. John the Baptist had just been born (which was a miracle in itself because his parents were old and had been trying for a looong time!) and Zechariah starts praising God and prophesying (by the way, he hadn’t been able to speak, so him speaking was a miracle as well… just go and read Luke 1!!) i can just picture Zechariah holding and smiling down at his long awaited son…

"And you, my little son, will be called the prophet of the Most High, because you will prepare the way for the Lord. You will tell his people how to find salvation through forgiveness of their sins.

 Because of God’s tender mercy, the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide us to the path of peace.”

                              -Luke 1:78-79 

Jesus coming to earth is what Christmas is about. He came to give LIGHT to those who sit in darkness and guide us all to the path of PEACE. now that is what Christmas is about. hope and peace and JESUS. isn’t it wonderful that Jesus came for both those who are caught up in Christmas craziness and those who want to push it all away? He came to bring you peace. He came to bring light to your dark situation. 

my prayer is that for a few moments this Christmas season, you would push aside the eggnog lattes, the gifts, the baking, the dwelling on Christmases past, the negativity, the loneliness and grab your Bible and sit. read Luke 1 and let verses 78-79 sink into your soul. allow God’s truth to wash over you. let His light come into the darkest parts of your mind. let His peace fill every single part of you. and then read luke 2 and be in awe of God’s great gift for you.

xoxo,

s.s.♥.