ONE WORD

ONE WORD.

I am a girl. I like to talk. When I’m passionate about something, I can talk your ear off. I like to use more words than less. So when I heard of "Life Women’s One Word to define your year", I was like yaaaa right, how on earth could one word define my year?  But I prayed about it and ohhh, the sweet, sweet power of prayer. See friends, the Lord answered my prayer. He gave me a word I had been hiding from for a long time. He gave me a word that I knew was hidden deep within the layers of my heart. He gave me a word that needs to be unleashed this year. The word he gave for me was…

BOLD

When I was a young girl, I was never shy. I was that kid with their hand up who the teacher would say to, “You answered the last question, let someone else have a turn.” I was that kid who loved reading in front of the class. I loved acting. One night James and I were going through a box of my old report cards and we stumbled upon a gem note from my grade 3 teacher, Mrs. Samuelson. It read, "Laura loves expressing her creativity through writing stories. She equally loves reading these stories out in front of the whole class." 

Through out high school and my late teen years, I was never one to hold back my opinion. I grew up in a household where having your own opinion was encouraged. In a lot of ways my boldness didn’t work the best for me. I made countless, stupid, “bold" decisions and said a lot of "bold" things, that were hurtful to others and best left unsaid. I "boldly" declared that I was a Christian then lived a "bold" life that was anything but Christ-like.

When I finally let Christ into my heart to begin to fully transform my life, my boldness transferred over. I was so bold those first few years, also very young in my wisdom and understanding. Over the years as I grew “wiser” as a more mature Christian, I felt as if I hid that boldness away. I felt that I didn’t want to offend anyone or embarrass myself. I held back my opinion more and more (which isn’t always a bad thing). I held prayers in my heart instead of boldly expressing them. I kept ideas in my mind instead of casting them out into the open. That little girl who boldly put up her hand to be a part of anything, was shrouded behind a veil of pride.

Well this year things are going to be a bit different around here. The enemy has tried to keep me timid but this lioness is rising to what her Father in Heaven is calling her to. I read this verse a couple days after God gave me the word of Bold for the year.

"God doesn’t want us to be shy with his gifts, but bold and loving and sensible.” -2 Timothy 7 MESSAGE

I know the gifts that God has given me and I’m ready to be bold in them. I’m ready to pray those bold prayers. I’m ready to speak those bold words. I’m ready to dream those bold dreams. And I’m ready to do boldly whatever the Lord will ask me to do.

Already this year, I’ve been asked to do things which will require some boldness. I know that if I tried on my own, I’d fail terribly. But God is with me, guiding me, strengthening me, filling me with His Spirit that can “accomplish infinitely more than we (I) might ask or think.”-Ephesians 3:20 

Oh hey 2012. This year I’m ready to be BOLD.

Be encouraged friends! I want to know the ONE WORD that God gives for you for 2012. Share on the comments or facebook or email me so i can be praying for you!!

Love you to the moon & back,

s.s.♥.

SNOW DAY

Never take the tundra lightly kids.

It’s a snow day in good ol Victoria, BC. Today’s prediction is 15-20cm, which is highly unlikely around these parts. So today I’m working from home. Later though, I’ll be tackling the local hills with my boyfriend. Can’t wait.

What you doing this snow day? Enjoy…and remember, the arctic is no respecter of fashion.

xoxo,

s.s.♥.

NYC vs LA

I went to NYC in 2010. I went to LA in 2011. Both cities were pretty dang magical.

In both cities, I didn’t get to spend the copious amount of time that I would have preferred. Both were HOT. NYC was experiencing a little heat wave when we were there, and it was seriously smoldering. If I were to choose one to live in, without a doubt, I’d pick NYC. The skyscrapers alone make the ol’ ticker sparkle. I could handle throngs of people at all times. I’m a city girl at heart. Yes, LA does have the Californian sun and DISNEYLAND going for them but there is just something sooo alluring about NYC. I want to go back and get lost in that concrete jungle.

Free People's January NYC vs LA lookbook displayed looks from both cities. Clearly NYC takes the cake.

NYC

LA

Which one wins your heart? LA? or NYC?

over n out,

s.s.♥.

TWENTY ELEVEN ROUND UP: PART THREE

Now this is where I draw attention to what made my soul sparkle. (Falling in Love & Adventures also made my soul sparkle.)

I started the year off with a corporate fast in my Church. It was incredibly hard but incredibly amazing at the same time. In January God taught me a heck of a lot of things. Last December (2010) I went through a season of depression and in January I received the wake up call & swift kick in the butt that I needed. The Lord helped me recognize priorities and let go of attitudes that were bringing me down. So starting the year off with fasting was absolutely amazing. I prayed and prayed for my family and on the very last day of the fast, my sister asked to come to Church. Just over 2 months later, she became a Christian. And on January 1st, she got baptized!!! How incredible! I am beyond excited for her.

In February we had our 2nd annual conference for teen girls, ILLUMINATE. We had 60 the first year and somehow our numbers doubled! 120 teen girls being encouraged, equipped & empowered to go & love for Jesus in their worlds! Chocolate + high pitched screams + girls learning their value & worth + chocolate + 844 roses = one amazing weekend. You can read the incredible story about how God gave us 844 roses here. YOU MUST READ IT!!!

So many more things made my soul sparkle that spring…City Reach, Historymaker… but another huge thing for me was going to CRIMEA ! Seriously, such an amazing mission’s trip. You can read more about that here.

In July I spoke again at Camp Imadene’s, Teen Girls Camp. What an incredible honour & privilege. I’m still amazed that God would let me be a part of seeing young people come to know Christ. Seriously, beautiful stuff.

Adore Conference was another amazing soul sparkler. To see people of the church rise up and serve wholeheartedly with so much excellence was unreal. God moved in drastic ways. When you devote a weekend to spending time with Jesus, the possibilities are endless. Today we picked out a tentative date for this year’s! I’ll let you know as soon as it’s confirmed.

Obviously there were things everyday which made my soul sparkle but these were just a few highlights. Currently I’m at the beginning of the 21 Day Fast with my church. This year I’m believing for even bigger things! More on the fast tomorrow!

xoxo,

s.s.♥.

TWENTY ELEVEN ROUND UP: PART 2

Adventures

2011 was also jam packed with adventures. 

CADTOOL was the main one….HELLO! We labeled quite possibly the greatest trip of life CADTOOL as soon as we starting talking about it. Pretentiously we would randomly tweet, fb or put our bbm status as CADTOOL. It got kind of awkward when we wouldn’t tell friends what the infamous CADTOOL was. But all is fair in love & vacationing….

CADTOOL = COACHELLA AND DISNEY TRIP OF OUR LIVES (incase you were wondering…)

In the fall of 2010 my friends (Rachel, Thea & Courtney) and I decided to embark on an amazing journey. We had dreamed of going to COACHELLA for quite some time and decided 2011 would be a great year to do so. So we left on April 6th. It was MIGHTY FINE. Make sure you put ‘road trip with your besties’ on your bucket list.

Seriously the list of memories goes on and on and on….

-Driving through the beautiful North West Washington Coast

-Hitting countless Targets

-Driving straight to San Francisco…driving over the golden gate bridge after being up for 24 hours

-COACHELLA!!! everything about COACHELLA!

Amazing bands// Arcade Fire/ Lauryn Hill/ Brandon Flowers (THE KILLERS DID A CAMEO!! I PEED MY PANTS) / Chromeo (DANCE PARTY WITH 80,000 NBD)/ Kanye/ Swell Season/ Angus & Julia Stone/ Kings of Leon/ Mumford & Sons (Probs my fav show!)/ Bright Eyes/ The National/ Cold War Kids/ Tallest Man on Earth/ Black Keys… oh my gosh the list goes on…

Along with the amazing bands there was amazing food, funny people and a flipping indie crafts tent! Coachella was truly hipsters paradise.

-Disneyland (my most favourite place on Earth)

-Hollywood

-IN & OUT BURGER

-Portland

ahhhhhh there were so so so so so so many amazing memories.

best trip of my life, thus far…

Read up on more CADTOOL stuff here & here!

I also got to go to EUROPE!!…On a Missions trip with my church (which I’ll talk about in the next category)…but on route to Crimea we were able to stop in LONDON. London is one of those cities that grabs hold of my heart. It’s grip has loosened but it’s still there. It’s a city where my life was changed. I fell absolutely in love with Jesus and started to actually see Him transform my life. Ohhhh, it was beautiful. So yeah, I was beyond stoked to have a layover in London. Obviously I made my way to Top Shop.

Other amazing adventures were…

Bon Iver & James Blake on September 25th!

Biking round Stanley Park w/ Rachel

Joining the y! (yes, I consider this an adventure)

So 2011 Adventures are over and done with. I am very much looking forward to 2012’s…no big trips planned yet but certainly adventures…

What was your favourite adventure of 2011?

love you to the moon and back,

s.s.♥.