A Purity Lesson From The Author Of Romance, Part 2

If you haven't read part 1, you can find it here.

One night, after collapsing into my comfy purple recliner in my bedroom, I began to think about the things that had been happening. I noticed for the first time that God was speaking to me. Not through a powerful steady voice, but through other people, circumstances, and a restless spirit. I realized Jesus was calling me to have a different kind of romance, to live a different kind of life, to be able to offer a priceless purity to my future husband without any baggage.

I remembered the verse from the popular Proverbs 31, "she brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life." All the days meaning every single day. Every single day meaning.....


Now.


Then I actually realized, for the first time, that I have someone out there that God specifically designed for me. A real actual person, alive right now. For the first time in my life, I prayed for this guy. The thought of him actually being out there made me want to honor him even more. People usually only think of you as only being "taken" or "unavailable" when you're in a relationship, but Jesus showed me that technically my heart belonged to the person He had picked out for me from day one...unless I gave pieces of my heart to someone or something else. The purity right that I wear on my left ring finger every single day of my life suddenly took on a whole new meaning.


That same night I had a dream about my future husband. God revealed many valuable things to me in that dream, and in a way it was like the icing on the cake. Then I really knew that all this stuff lining up perfectly was no coincidence. He wanted me to live my single years set apart for my soul mate, focusing my eyes on Himself rather than flirting and getting mixed up in oceans of emotions. 


The word "courtship" came to my mind. Is that what God wanted for me?


Dating or courtship....whatever you choose to call it, I don't think there is a specific word God prefers. "Dating" is a hugely controversial word, and my beliefs tend to match up more on the side of courtship. My sister is in a relationship, though, and finds it easier to use the word dating, and I don't think there is anything wrong with that. I suppose I'll cross that bridge when I get there.


What God revealed to me through this process was way more important that tirelessly trying to figure out what to call "it". He showed me that purity is so, sooo much more than saving sex for marriage. It's a lifestyle, a lifestyle of honoring Jesus and my future husband with my thoughts and interactions with other guys. 


And when that day comes and my love story begins, I will thank God for gently showing me His idea of purity. But until then I will enjoy every moment of intimacy with my First Love, the One who died to save me, the Ultimate Gentleman, the One whose love is unshakable and undeniable.


The One whose love alone will always, always be enough for me. 

A Purity Lesson From The Author Of Romance

Note: Before reading this, know that I have always planned on staying abstinent until marriage, always hoped only to go through one relationship, and never really believed in the whole "dating" scene. This is how God showed me a deeper meaning of the word pure.




Purity.

It was the word that seemed to come to my mind almost every time I would go to pray or read my Bible. It was also the same time that many guys my age began to come into my life. And well...we all know how that goes.

The first few times the word came to me, I would go flipping through the thousands of pages of my Bible trying to find more verses on it, but after a couple weeks of finding what seemed to be like a dead end, I gave up. I eventually forgot about it and thought that it must have all been in my head. About 2 months later, I randomly picked up the book "Being A Girl Who Serves" by Shannon Kubiak Primicerio, and to be honest, I expected it to be shallow.

By the end of chapter 1, I was pleasantly surprised at the message of the book. She talked about many things relating to servant hood, but one thing that really stood out to me was her talking about letting God speak to you, opening your spiritual ears to listen to Him, and the many ways He speaks into a persons' life. At the end of the chapter she challenges the readers to ask God to speak into their own lives, and that's exactly what I did. "Father, if there is something you are trying to speak to me about-anything-I open my heart to you."

As I continued to read the book, that continued to be my prayer. And no, I didn't have an angel show up to me in the middle of the night, and I didn't hear God's voice speaking through a burning bush. In fact, I didn't hear as much as a whisper. But I was sure He would be faithful in His own timing.

If any of you are familiar to the show "19 Kids & Counting", you know that they are a very strong Christian family with conservative values, "courtship" being one of them. While watching the show one day, they had a part of the episode where they talked about courtship. It was an episode that I had seen before, but for some reason it struck me differently this time. I watched the love story of the young couple carefully unfold, both of them fully dedicated to guarding their hearts, emotions, and bodies in a God-honoring way while they fell in love.

It was a beautiful thing to see, especially in comparison to the shallow flings I see happen so often in the culture around me. Neither of these two people had never dated or even had a "love interest" in their lives before, and they were both in their 20's and had never been kissed. The relationship was so pure and innocent though, and it really stirred my thoughts.

In the course of the next few days, I discovered an extremely thought-provoking article on "True Purity With Your Lifestyle" while reading a Christian magazine, had my youth leader text me and tell me that he was going to be talking about honoring God in relationships that week, and had my spirit become restless as my thoughts kept going to the word "purity". I started to pick up on the pattern. God was speaking into my life. And funny thing is, I didn't even remember that  just a few months back, my thoughts were on the very same word.


Stay tuned tomorrow night for part 2!

12 Days of Christmas: Day 1-Music

Sooo....there is 12 days until Christmasss! Who can seriously believe that?

It's crazy, but with that comes the first day in my 12 days of Christmas series! The first thing I'm going to talk about is some of my favorite Christmas music. These are in order, but I absolutely love all of them!


6. Barlow Girl: Home For Christmas


I have to say, Barlow Girl did a phenomenal job with this Christmas cd. They included the classics but did a modern twist on many of them. And they have gorgeous voices!

 5. Celine Dion: These are Special Times


Who doesn't love Celine Dion? With one of the most incredible voices in the world, she shows everyone who's boss when it comes to singing carols ;) One of my favorite Christmas songs of all time is her version of "O Holy Night".

4. Josh Groban: Noel


This guy seriously has one of the best male voices of all time! His voice is just magic, and he sings some really amazing songs on this cd!

3. Chris Tomlin: Glory in the Highest


If you want a crazy good Christmas worship album, this is the way to go! Chris Tomlin is one of my favorite Christian artist and he didn't disappoint with this cd.

2. David Archuleta: Christmas From the Heart


David Archuleta, American Idol's season 7 runner up, did a gorgeous job with this Christmas cd. His voice so soothing and flawless, I love love LOVE this one!

And, in first place is....

1. Michael Buble: Christmas


So folks, I literary have had this cd for one day, and it has become my all time favorite! Something about his warm, jazzy style creates the perfect Christmas atmosphere and I'm probably going to listen to this about 100 more times this holiday season. It's just that amazing :)

I hope you guys liked that, and I hope you got some good recommendations for Christmas music! Comment and tell me what your favorite Christmas cd is :D Have a fabulous evening!

Warm Caramel Apple Cider.....

Last Friday I did a post on a drink, Maple Limeade, and I am back again with another drink "recipe"...only this one is even more enthralling! Apple cider (especially hot apple cider) is one of my favorite drinks of the fall/holiday season, and its even better when you doll it up with a little caramel. Here's how to make this super yummy cider!

Hot Caramel Apple Cider:

-8.oz of regular apple cider

-1 tablespoon of caramel sauce or dip

-1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

-Whipped cream (optional)

 *Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan, heating over medium heat while stirring. When the caramel is melted and the cider is hot, pour into a mug. Top it off with whipped cream and drizzle the caramel over the cider to your liking. Prepare for heaven! 

I hope you guys enjoy this cozy drink as much as I did, and have a fabulous evening!

Tonight's Love: Maple Limeade

For the past couple days I have been loving to drink a little concoction I like to call Maple Limeade. It began when I saw a bottle of fresh lime juice sitting in the fridge, and then something beautiful happened....

Here's how I did it: 
*the glass I put it in was 16 ounces, but you could cut the recipe in half if you only want 8oz.

-3-4 tablespoons of lime juice (depending on how tart you like it, and you could also use lemon juice)
-2 tablespoons of maple syrup
-15 ounces of water

Just mix everything together and add some ice! Even though you can't taste it too strongly, the maple syrup really compliments the tang of the lime. And it you using all natural syrup, its a great alternative to sugar.

Limes are also know to be great for your hair, skin, teeth and eyes, they help digestion, they're an awesome source of Vitamin C, and their citric acid will even help burn fat, great for anyone out there trying to loose weight. So eat (or in this case, drink) your limes!

The Skin You've Always Wanted

Today I came across this recipe on thebeautydepartment.com and I wanted to share it with you all! It's a brown sugar body scrub, perfect to achieve smooth, exfoliated, glowy skin.

Here is all you need:

• 
  
• -half a cup of brown sugar
• -three tablespoons of (preferably organic) olive oil
• -a few drops of water.
• 
  
• 
  
• Mix all the ingredients together, and use in the shower as an all over body exfoliator!  The brown sugar smooths away dead skin cells (gross, huh?!), and the olive oil give your skin tons of moisture. I will definitely be trying this soon and hope you do too :) 

Will you choose joy?

When I wake up in the morning, the first thing I usually think of is how I can get ready faster so I can squeeze in a few more z's before starting the day. I sluggishly hit the snooze button and go back to sleep wishing it was a Saturday, and hoping that the time will pass by slowly. I don't always wake up and happily thank God for the beautiful day he created (this usually takes an hour or so of "waking up" for me to do ;) and then start my morning with a bright smile.

But the truth is, I have absolutely no reason to start my day with a frown. Every morning I wake up there is a new day, a new sunrise, and a new chance to serve my Creator with all I have. The Bible considers joy a very important aspect of being a christian...after all, knowing that Jesus died so that we can wake up each morning with a clean slate should be more than enough to put a smile on our faces! Here are some verses I found that talk about joy:


"The commandments of the Lord are right, bringing joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are clear, giving insight for living." Psalm 19:8


"You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy." Psalm 30:11


"When he prays to God, he will be accepted. And God will receive him with joy and restore him to good standing." Job 33:26


"So you have sorrow now, but I will see you again; then you will rejoice, and no one can rob you of that joy." John 16:22


And finally,


"But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them sing joyful praises forever. Spread your protection over them, that all who love your name may be filled with joy." Psalm 5:11


So from now on, it will be my goal not to think of waking up in the morning as a burden, but as something refreshing: a new start.  Farewell my friends, and remember...choose joy!

A little romance talk ;)

Hello friends! I saw this picture on facebook today and really wanted to share it with everyone :)

From what I have seen in my past few years of being around guys more, this is absolutely true! I think if you are a girl saving your heart for the a godly guy, its easy to feel like your unattractive or undesirable because a majority of them are too lazy to "climb the tree" to get to you. I am by NO means a relationship expert or anything, but almost all the girls I know my age are dating and this can sometimes make me feel like a loner. But, that is no reason for us to settle for someone that is not worthy of us! 

I truly believe there are guys out there willing to climb the tree for us, we just have to guard our hearts wait patiently. :)

A Fantasy for your Nostrils...

I recently ran out of this heavenly scent called "Fantasy" by...*cringe*...Britney Spears. I know she isn't the best role model or anything, but it smells SO good! 


The website describes it as "a sweet temptation of a fragrance that is tantalizing and magical". Haha. I won't go as far to say that this is "tantalizing", but it does smell like a cupcake! What I like about it is it doesn't make me smell like those $1 cotton candy body sprays at the checkout counter at Walmart, but it's very sweet and vanilla-y in more of a  non-cheap smelling way. (Quite the description, huh?!)


So my lovely female friends, if you ever get the chance to smell Fantasy, do it! Then we can all walk around smelling like non-cheap Britney Spears cupcakes :D Have a fabulous day! 


P.S-don't you love the bottle?! It totally matches my blog!

Tonight's dessert......

I must say that Betty Crocker is quite the lady. I mean, who would have though to cross over a cookie and a brownie?

No, these are not the exact ones that I am making (mine are in the oven as of now), but I would be happy if they turn out to look half as good as these baby's!

Have a great night, and cheers to eating dessert first! :)


The photo is from here.

When everything else becomes a loss.....

"What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ." Philippians 3:8 

This is my all time favorite verse of the whole entire Bible. And no, even though it is a beautiful verse, I don't just love it because it sounds nice. I love it because it's true. 


I am still young in my relationship with Christ. I am still prideful, selfish and vain, but I fully believe that when you put your eyes on the Almighty God, everything else in the world seems so small. So useless. Everything else is like garbage. 


If you have ever truly encountered God before, you probably know this. You know that when you see everything else compared to Him, it almost makes you feel like a complete idiot. But yet we still get caught up in sin because of the enemies relentless quest to capture out hearts, souls and minds. 


Its important to realize that no matter what, we will always sin while on earth, but that shouldn't stop us from pursing our King. I am constantly striving to discover this breathtaking relationship between God and man. And even though I will never understand it completely, my prayer is that Jesus Christ would turn my eyes and your eyes onto Him: the Unchanging Rock, the Prince of Peace, the Almighty God who's love is larger than life. 

Riding boots....?

I am typically not a  super "trendy" person, I pretty much wear what I like and don't wear what's ugly; not to mention many trends can be a little "edgy" for my taste. But one trend I have fallen in LOVE with is 

Riding boots!

They are super stylish but give off a really relaxed, western-styled look. Boots have been on the fashion scene for quite a while now, but I really love this fresh take on the trend. 

The one's in the picture above are the Steve Madden "Candence" style boots, one of the cutest styles I have seen yet.

I don't have a pair of riding boots as of now, but if the wallet allows it, I would love to get a pair soon. :)

Enjoy this beautiful fall day!

An Explanation

So....

I started a blog! This is something I have been wanting to do for a pretty long time now and I am super excited to finally have it up.

Basically what this will be is my life in a nutshell....things that I love, books I'm reading, stuff that inspires me, things that God is revealing to me, and anything else that just so happens to end up on here :)

With all that said, I hope you guys enjoy and and be sure to check back for more!