(BE)Truth :: Done in Love

Link up with your posts that speak the truth we need to fill our lives with here each Thursday with (BE)Truth

(BE) Church :: One Friend Away

Since starting my new job almost two months ago, I've been unable to attend Sunday worship with my church. Which surprisingly has been a GREAT thing. For this sometimes "Check-box Christian", Sundays have been given in my life, and God is breaking down that box of what his Church and Community should look like - and too often I've stuffed it into Sunday services and church programs.

However, I fully believe that listening to scripture and sermons is SOOO valuable - so I've been attending {ChurchOnline} through {LifeChurch} based in my childhood hometown: Oklahoma City.

We're currently walking through a series called

"Friending: Show me your friends,
and I'll show you your future."

Sophomore Year Friends

Last night Pastor Craig shared about three types of friends we should have in our lives based off the life of David in 1 Samuel

1) Samuel: a friend who makes you better (16:12-13)

2) Jonathan: a friend who helps you find spiritual strength (23:15-16)

3) Nathan: a friend who will tell us the truth (2 Sam 12:7)

Senior Year of High School - me and this lady are still friends despite different colleges and living 1,000 miles (literally) away from each other. 16 years strong friend!

Which brings a lot of reflection on my life

• Who has been that in my life and how can I thank them for the positive impact they've played on my life?
• Who is becoming that as I make roots here in Chicago?

I've decided (and I'm telling this crazy blog world to hold myself accountable), that:

A) I'm gonna write good old fashioned snail mail notes to those who have played these roles in previous seasons

B) I'm gonna pray about who here in Chicago is walking daily life with me and currently playing one of these roles in my life.

Me and my college Roomie during our Sophomore year.

Do you have a Samuel? Jonathan? Nathan?

How did you make friends with these people?

How can you show them you appreciate the role they play in your life?

The 9 lovely ladies who made me who I am today thanks to their friendship in college and since.

Coming Your Way

Earlier this week I received a surprise...

A sweet thank you note from {Amy} one of the hosts of the first ever {Etsy Swaps}

What a sweet idea to thank all the participants.

And guess what I sent off today... 

My secret gifts to my Etsy Swap participant.

GET EXCITED!

(Be)Truth :: Rend Your Heart

My morning studies brought me to this beautiful passage.

Remember today, all you need to do is REND your heart

THINK upon the Lord

and he will be GRACIOUS and COMPASSIONATE!

I seek to (Be)Truth in my life, and one of those ways are these weekly posts. If you're also putting truth out on this crazy world wide web, feel free to link up by adding your post in the form below!

Becoming (BE)Loved :: When Doubt Enters

Doubt entered into my life at the age of 12. Doesn't it come into everyone's life somewhere around there. Teenage years are difficult with body changes, the start of middle school, and boys only "sort of have cooties."

But more than anything for me, this was doubt in my relationship with Christ. 
As I mentioned,I didn't have a singular conversion experience. God was simply a part of my life because I went to church and I obeyed my parents and I enjoyed VBS and church camps. 

I remember QUESTIONING God to see if he would miraculously tell me that I'd get to spend eternity with him and "properly" hold the title Christian.

One summer day I was sitting in our mostly empty pool 

(only mostly empty because it was being worked on... we didn't make it a habit to have an empty pool)

with my feet several inches away from the water, praying:

"God, if I'm really saved, then let that water touch my feet."

And when it didn't MIRACULOUSLY rush over my whole foot, 

my fear and desperation inched me forward physically

and repeated the question till I myself slipped my toes into the water.

The following fall I entered to the youth group.

And with youth group came weekend conferences.

Places full of people who were raising there hands, passionate speakers who talked about P.U. (Persecution University) and door-to-door evangelism, and the POWER OF THE LOVE OF GOD! Conferences where you were supposed to invite your non-Christian friends so that they could hear about Christ and choose to follow him. And at the end of everyone of these conferences they'd do the "alter call" and thousands of people would go down to the front and pray with someone and accept Christ into their life. And their whole lives would change. They had their CONVERSION MOMENT.

And while they had their MOMENT, my doubt deepened -

Maybe I'm not saved.

Maybe God doesn't love me because I've never said those exact words to invite him into my heart.

But others THINK I'm a Christian, so I was ashamed to ever walk to the front.

But I wanted to be "safe."

I wanted to get to spend eternity in heaven with the rest of family. 

I didn't want to go to Hell.

So every conference I went to, I SECRETLY prayed THE prayer. I let worry and doubt drag on my young mind and hid the fear that maybe I wasn't a Christian.

{...}To Be Continued 

M&P :: Prayer Wall

So I've lived in Chicago for just over two years now. Since moving here in July of 2011, I've moved 4 times. And finally I'm some place that I hope to stay for the next several years :) And it's a roommate situation rather than a host family situation. Which means I get to decide on furniture, artwork, paint colors and 

SO MUCH MORE!

However, settling takes time, and making it into a home is not an overnight thing

(check out a really good post about that {HERE} by Stephanie)

So even though I officially moved out of my parents house in OKC and into this one last May, I still have very few things hanging on my wall. But one that I did finally get up before summer ended is THIS:

MY PRAYER BOARD

I had a beautifully blank wall over my desk that I realized I stared at all the time. And with a roommate in the ministry field along with other family and friends spread all the way across the world, I thought this would be a great way to focus in on intentional prayers.

All it took was:
 {THIS} map
Cork Board {SQUARES}
3M stickies
Ribbon
Push pins
Paper & Photos - for all the people you're praying for!

And to inspire you on setting physical reminders for yourself in your next DIY project
REND COLLECTIVE EXPERIMENT!

How have you been productive recently?

Becoming (Be)Loved :: Claiming Christ

I remember the first time I claimed my faith. I was probably 6 or 7. 

My family had gone to a magic show at one of the local high schools and the performer was a Christian. At the end of the night, he made an "invitation" for anyone who wanted to know more about Christ. We had gone with some family friends and the kids were sitting apart from the parents.
Attendants were passing out info cards with several boxes we could check:

 - Uninterested

 - Would like more information

 - Already a Christian.

(or something like that... this is a 20 year old memory, ha ha)

I remember not really knowing what to do with it. My parents were not close enough to know what to do. So I checked the "Already a Christian" box. Not thinking much about it at the time. I went to church, I knew who Jesus was. So I guessed I was a Christian.

We passed the cards down the row, he finished his act and we went home.

 
A week or so later, I returned home from school to a piece of mail

(Which was already a BIG deal to me - oh how I LOVE snail mail!)

I'd received follow up letter from the magician.
It read:

 "So glad that you know Christ"

… or something like that. Again, 20ish year old memory

What I do remember is my mom reading that letter and being surprised. She didn't know.
I wasn't the kid who said the "Prayer of Salvation" right before bed at her parents prompting. God was a part of my parents life, so he was a part of my life.

I guess it was natural for me  - and I didn't understand at the time why my mom was so surprised.. Or even the mix of excitement and disappointment that I remember being in her voice.

Surprise because she didn't know I claimed the title

at that age you don't really understand the meaning of community and sharing your faith with others.

Excitement because I suddenly went from being a daughter to a sister in Christ.

Disappointment…

 maybe disappointment because she didn't get to share that "moment" with me. She might have felt like she missed out on the beginning of my relationship with God.

She hugged me and asked me when I had asked Jesus into my heart - when I couldn't tell her, she just smiled and said she was happy no matter if I could remember the moment or not.

No bedside prayers, confessions before the alter or instant moment of change...

My faith started out as much of a given as it was going to church every Sunday with my mom.

(Be)Truth :: Pure Joy

"Consider it PURE JOY, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of MANY kinds,"

James 1:2

M & P :: Saving Money

This week in Music & Productivity is all about the GREEN!

With taking my new job I knew I'd be taking a paycut

And I've seen in so many ways God provision in keeping me on the path he wants me traveling and the circles he wants to use me in.

HOWEVER, I also know is that he's provided me with a mind that allows me to think and budget and use the little bit of money that He is giving me paycheck. So I've started an intense budget sheet on excel and am tracking on my spending.

Along with that I'm trying to make wiser choices on purchases so I can "splurge" on the things I value more

i.e. I spend $5 on the GREAT healthy bread from my local farmers market because I value that.

One of the things I'm okay shaving money off of is cleaning products - you don't need that $10 bottle of name brand cleaner - and with the help of {Pinterest} and {THIS} handy dandy book

my first product to tackle was laundry detergent!

My pretty new detergent on my not so pretty dryer - but hey the thing still works, so we're not complaining :)

After some research I decided on a 1:1:1 ratio

One bar of soap

One cup of washing soda

One cup of Borax

I went with Irish Spring soap for several reasons.
First off, it was cheapest - and this is all about saving money right!
Secondly, one of the reasons some people don't want to make their own detergent is because of the lack of scent... I LOVE fresh smelling clothes -- and Irish Spring definitely smells fresh
Third, well, there's not actually a third. So there you go - Irish Spring it was.

The Canister I found at Home Goods for $5 and actually matches 3 canisters I have in my kitchen that I found at garage sales back in college (BONUS). I also used a Birthday Credit card from my grandmother to make that purchase - so spent no money on that.

This is the 1:1:1 ratio four times

I also have enough ingredients left over to DOUBLE THIS!
Saving Money Success!

Have you tried any homemade cleaning products?

(Be)LOVED :: My Story

I've never enjoyed telling my story. It bored me. I didn't think there was depth to it. I'm your classic "good girl". 

Practically invisible 

in the shadow of two very active, talkative and mildly problematic older brothers.

Introvert by personality and by choice, 

because sitting alone watching movies and eating Chinese is better 

than realizing no one had made plans to hang out with me, 

or worse, call someone to make Friday night plans. 

I lived by and large with my religion as an excuse.

An excuse to be a loner.

An excuse to be self-righteous.

An excuse to build walls.

Not only does my story feel boring to me, but I'm afraid.

I'm afraid of what the world will think - because the stories we hear most often are those of RADICAL transformation and because I was never found drunk and sleeping around before Jesus "found" me I fear people won't listen and people won't be changed.

But slowly God has peeled away the layers of stubbornness at keeping my story to myself. Just as He's faithfully claimed me as his through all the small times of disobedience He's shown me day by day the woman he wants me to become. 

And so it's time...

Over the next few weeks I'm gonna be bold and own the story that God is writing for me

Check back in a couple days for the first chapters of my story...

Becoming Beloved.