Day eleven: a photo of a night you loved.

This is a photo of four special ladies I love dearly.  They are my Scrappy Chics.  On this day, one of our fellow chics got married.  Not only did we all get to fly to the BEAUTIFUL San Marco, FL but we stood as witnesses to such a beautiful and breathtaking wedding.  These ladies are so very special to me and I feel honored to have been a part of such a special day for one of them.  I love this photo because of the joy I feel when I am with my friends.  Great friends + Great times = Priceless Memories!

Book Club Pick for January

Our book club selection for the month of January was The Hand that First Held Mine by Maggie O'Farrell.  This was a story of motherhood, determination, love and loss.  Overall I really enjoyed this read.  The author delicately portrayed the lives of two very different women set in different time periods and intricately intertwined their lives together in a pretty amazing story.  Not too many authors are able to pull that off effectively.   Here is a description taken from www.readinggroupguides.com

Lexie Sinclair cannot stay. Enclosed within her parents’ genteel country lawn, she yearns for more. She makes her way to the city, and meets a magazine editor, Innes, a man unlike any she has ever imagined. He introduces her to the thrilling world of bohemian postwar London, and she learns to be a reporter, to know art and artists, to live her life fully and with a deep love at the center of it. She creates many lives --- all of them unconventional. And when she finds herself pregnant by a man wholly unsuitable for marriage or fatherhood, she doesn’t hesitate for a minute to have the baby on her own.

Later, in present-day London, a young painter named Elina dizzily navigates the first weeks of motherhood. Her boyfriend, Ted, traumatized by nearly losing her in labor, begins to recover lost memories. He cannot place them. But as they become more disconcerting and return more frequently, we discover that something connects these two stories --- these two women --- something that becomes all the more heartbreaking and beautiful as they all hurtle toward its revelation.

A stunning portrait of motherhood and the artist’s life in all their terror and glory, Maggie O’Farrell’s newest novel is a gorgeous inquiry into the ways we make and unmake our lives, who we know ourselves to be, and how even our most accidental legacies connect us.

What's your word?

Over the past few months a few of my lovely friends have been sharing their "word" for the year.  What I mean by their "word" is this... a word you will claim as your mission to live out through the rest of the year.  One friend's word is "intention" and I think another friend's word is "peace".  So what exactly is my "word" and how can I live out my word.  Being a woman of Christ, I feel it necessary to always try to live intentionally but what does that really mean?  Day in and day out we live our lives.  We wake up, go about our day and basically go through the motions.  Being intentional does not come naturally.  It's a conscience effort to be the best you can be according to God's plan and purpose.  Along the way, we all have shortfalls and shortcomings.  We stumble, we fall, we get back up and move about our merry way.  It's often hard to live each day by what God called us to do.  Just a few weeks ago I went through a somewhat difficult situation.  My first instinct was to react in a way that is not pleasing to my Holy Father.  Isn't reacting in a negative way the natural thing to do?  I say YES, but God says NO.  Immediately following the situation, I began to pray and before I could get two statements out of my brain, the word Grace was uttered.  I felt this strong sense that God wanted me to handle the entire situation with Grace.  So I did.  I retreated and continued to pray.  I had to let the situation go.  It was an extremely difficult thing to do.  Ten years ago, I would have probably put on my sassy pants, gone into the war zone with my sharp words and quick temper as my ammo.  Ten years ago I would have said some not so nice things and severed that relationship.  I would have allowed the enemy to control my emotions and all cool would have been lost.  For me personally, it was an incredible gain.  Not only did I feel better but I got something that I needed most.  Peace and calm.  While I cannot say what will come from the situation later on down the road, what I can say is this... if you allow God to take control of your life you will remain victorious.  Just letting go and letting God is no easy task but with time and lots of prayer it gets so much easier.  Thank you heavenly father for this one small victory in the constant battles I face each and every day.  Today and each day after my "word" is Grace.  What's your word?

But He gives us more and more grace (power of the Holy Spirit, to meet this evil tendency and all others fully). That is why He says, God sets Himself against the proud and haughty, but gives grace [continually] to the lowly (those who are humble enough to receive it). James 4: 6

Day ten: any photo you like for any reason

This is probably the sweetest picture taken on the face of the earth.  The moment when big sister first meets her baby brother.  So very precious and so very priceless.

Day nine: a photo of yourself when you were a baby.

Day eight: a photo of something you enjoy doing.

Most that know me know that I love to scrapbook.  It's my way of preserving memories for my family for generations to come.  I often get together with several girlfriends so that we can scrapbook, talk, laugh and have some "me" time.  I love it!

Photo of our tables at a Crop Retreat

My quote: Been there, done that, scrapped a page about it!

Day seven: a photo of something you stand for

I stand for the unborn.  Life begins at conception, not birth.

 "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that fully well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be" (Psalm 139:13-16).