Are you a shopaholic?

Okay, the question is a bit extreme, but I am sure you know what I am talking about:
the thrill of buying something new.
Sometimes it doesn't even have to be something big, a new shirt will do, or for me a new book. If you've read my post about how I treat books and how much I love them, then you know how hard it is for me to pass by a book that I think I would really enjoy. 

Well, I have found an outlet. (Or should I say I am healed?)

It's called the library.

We try to go there every two weeks, sometimes it will be three weeks when it is more chaotic. So every two weeks, I bring back 'new' books. And guess what, you can put as many books in your bag as you want. Now that is a satisfying feeling.

No, seriously, the library is a great place to find great and awesome books for the kids and for me, and especially in our case, for homeschooling. We like going there.

Gratitude

"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever." (Psalm 107:1)

This goes along with one other post that I wrote a while ago: Count Your Blessings. I don't do it regularly, but I am aware of all the things that God has done for me and all that I have. And I do enjoy God's creations fairly often. And even though we don't thank Him for nature's beauty every single day, we can enjoy those all the time, year-round. We all have favorite seasons and favorite holidays, favorite weather or favorite days. Nonetheless, God made them all for us to simply enjoy them.

My devotional today asked me to name three things from God's creation and thank Him for them.

So here I go:
1.) God made the oceans.
I love the ocean, it's beauty, the sound of the waves, and the colors of the water (in nice waters like in the Caribbean). The ocean is one thing that I dearly miss from New Jersey where I could go to the beach any day I wanted to..... and I will never miss a visit without going to see the ocean, even in winter time.

2.) God made the sun.
The sun brings warmness, something you long for after a hard winter full or snow and ice. But sun also brings happiness. I love the sun and I love that there are so many sunny days in Texas. On a rainy day, I just get so depressed and passive and apathetic. When the sun comes out, I can feel the flow of energy returning to my body, I feel a smile on my face and it makes me wanna go to the beach. 

3.) God made the seasons, He made Spring.
My favorite season is Spring. It used to be Summer when I still lived in a region that had four seasons and the summer were really nice. (And my birthday is in summer.) But since living in Texas, I had to change my mind. Also because I think I grew older and wiser, maybe?
Spring brings freshness - I love that everything grows anew, everything is green outside. Spring stands for optimism and a new beginning. I love when the flowers start to spring, the bees and the birds are coming back, and their is a business in the air (after the long winter laziness) that is contagious.

Too many bags?

I am sure you remember when I blogged about my new purse that my best friend made for me?

Well, just before that, I had ordered a bag that I have been wanting for a very long time - probably a year or so. It's handmade - and that is pretty special. It's made by a friend - and I want to support her business. And it's made from recycled fabrics - being green is something that I am pretty passionate about.

So when my husband wanted a new 'toy' - I told him he was only allowed to get it if I could have the bag, finally. He agreed. (Should I mention that the bag was on sale at the time?)

Picture property of Jola V. Designs

Here is a picture of the lovely bag....

And here is the artist's webpage: Jola V. Designs.

She is also advertising on Facebook here.

And you can see her bags on etsy as well here. 

I know her personally, yes - we used to be very good friends and have shared a couple of good times together. We lost track for a few years, but now we found each other again - the internet made it possible.

She is passionate about what she does and dreamed about it pretty much her whole life. She is the one person that I know has found her calling. She is a true artist. (She used to be my fashion coach - and probably still would be if we lived closer.)
I love to see all her creations, so it was kind of hard to choose from all of the wonderful things she has made so far. And each season, I am looking forward to more.

 I am a happy customer 

and feel blessed that I can surround myself with homemade things.

My Prayer Language

My thirst for Jesus has increased so much lately. I want to be filled by God's presence. I have so much to be thankful for. I enjoy my morning prayer time with just me and Him. It helps me to focus on the One and Only who can help me in every circumstance, may it be a personal struggle, a fight with health, disobeying children, or financial troubles. Jesus gives love, Jesus gives hope, faithfully.

I am going to a weekly prayer meeting with a couple of women from our church. It's a great time to spend in the house of God, worshiping Him, praising Him, sharing testimonies and asking for prayers.
Last week, I had felt kind of 'bla' - you know not sad and not happy, more like living next to my body. And there was so much going on to be thankful for at this particular time. So I had asked God to show me why I felt this way, or just take it away. Well, the very next morning, something happened at prayer group: I was asked to do something that I had never done, and pray about it out loud. And it worked, immediately. I felt better, joyful and happy, thankful and blessed. And it hasn't stopped since....

Now YOU that know me, know, that I am not very comfortable to pray out loud. And here is way!

It's my insecurity in my prayer language. As a new Christian, I don't have the vocabulary of a  person that has been brought up as a Christian. If you are one of them, I bet that you have never thought about your prayer language being a language of it's own that needs to be learned. So just trust me: it is. (Also learning it as a second language-er is not making it easier!)

So naturally my prayer language is more that of a two-year-old. And it bothers me. The language that hardcore prayers use is quite intimidating. And according to an article that I read and that encouraged me, it is "formulaic". To hear that from a person that is in ministry was shocking but it spoke to the heart....
He referred this to the prayer of his own two-year-old son at dinner time, where what the son said just blew him away, because the son only used simple words, thanked God for his family and asked for healing of a family member. Simple. Honest. From the heart.

So this author also states that adults can get "caught up in the “prayer game” of trying to balance praise and thanksgiving against requests and intercession" - and I know that I have a hard time with that. There were times, when I went through cancer, where there was just no thanksgiving or praising God! I was angry and had to deal with my emotions, my body hurting, and my faith fainting.... Being now a four-year survivor, I can only shout praises and thanksgiving to my Lord, my Savior, my Sustainer. From the rooftops! But at the time, I was happy making it through the day without major breakdowns.

God pulled me through!

When I read that this man was blessed by his son's prayer because it used simple words and it came from the heart, I felt better about my own prayer language. If my cry for help comes from the heart, I think that God will forgive me that I didn't start with 1) praying for my family, 2) praying for my leaders, and so on.... and then only last to pray for myself.
If I tell Him point blank in simple words what is on my heart, I truly believe that He will hear me and answer my prayers. He is our Father, our Daddy, and I believe He rather has a real personal conversation with me, the true me, with the language of a two-year-old-ME, than when I try to come up with big words that are not me at all. It's all about the personal relationship with Him.

This was very liberating. Liberating to know that my words are enough for Him. He hears me. He cares for me. And he doesn't care that my words are not coming from the dictionary but from my heart. Because I do love Him with my heart and with my soul and with all my might.

So I can go to my prayer meeting tomorrow morning, thank my Lord for everything that I have, for Him, for my family, for my church family, and for my friends. I can pray for our church, the sick and my family. I can ask Him for what my heart is longing for.  I don't have to be ashamed of that.

Amen.

I was a winner

A while ago, I had won something - see the post here.

I had guessed the right (or close enough) number of stitches that my friend Beth had used to make her mother's purse (just like the one I have now). Well, and to be honest, I didn't just guess, I also counted, on the screen. So I knew that I would be pretty close to the actual number, but you never know, they could have been one more accurate than me. I was lucky....

Beth gave me a choice of what I wanted and I said that I could use a little bag for my phone. At the time, I still had my old phone, so I told her to make it a bit bigger - anticipation for my new phone that I ended up getting much earlier than expected! Yeah. I chose the yarn and she made it.With lots of love.

Here is the beauty:

I love the way it came out. The bag is really thick and sturdy, so absolutely perfect to protect my new toy...

Thank you, Beth, for making it. 

I feel blessed.