I had my mom do some digging to find a "real" #TBT to share with you today. And she sent me two that I couldn't decide between... so I'm sharing both of them. After all... it's my birthday. So I can do that! My third birthday. I love the face I'm making. Who has to open their mouth like that to blow out...
It's so easy to get caught up in this mess we call life. To focus on the, "I am and there is none besides me." Let's face it: Who doesn't want to make it all about them?
I get very caught up in social media. I try not to. But it creeps in. After all, it's so accessible-- especially to those with a smart phone. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter... You name it. It's all there at your finger tips. So I upload who knows how many pictures a day and update my status and share links, and then I spend way too much time waiting, checking, stalking, and waiting some more. Somehow this ends in unwarranted anger towards people. Perhaps someone didn't text me back. Perhaps someone didn't like a picture I was certain they would. Perhaps no one liked my status or shared my link I posted. Perhaps....
Why does it make me angry? Because I get caught up in the, "I am."
(This idea I'm taking from Beth Moore's study on Daniel I'm currently doing at the women's study at my church.)
It means I get so caught up in me. Thinking about myself and how "wonderful" I am, how creative I am, or how original or how pretty or how blessed and I want EVERYONE to recognize it. I want people to humble themselves before me.
Wait. WHAT?!
Isn't that what we are doing? Getting sucked in to the craziness of this world and wanting it to be all about us? So where is God in all this?
Oh. Right. HIM.
Yeah, you know, The GREAT I am.
Sound familiar? Here I am getting caught up in the "I am" and forgetting the GREAT I am.
Oops.
No, my friends, that's more than just "oops".
What I so easily forget as I spend mindless moments on my social media plugins is that I am not for this world. Another amazing thing a woman in my small group said. I am not living for this world. I am living for heaven. For the days when I will get to spend all my time glorifying God.
But... wait.. shouldn't I be doing that now as well?
There is a simple answer to that question: yes .
I can say I'm only human, I can say I have flaws, but that doesn't excuse me or give me room to skirt away from my purpose. My purpose is to "represent". To shine my light and let the whole world see that I am not for this world.
I am challenging myself to take a step back from Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter and focus on the relationship that matters the most: My relationship with Christ.
Do you get caught up in the "I am"? How can you challenge yourself to take a step back?
A super easy and healthy dinner alternative to pasta, I absolutely love these. If you're a zucchini lover, then you definitely need to put this recipe on your "to make" list or Pinterest board. I realize that I've started posting quite a few Italian-Veggie dishes... like my Eggplant Parmesan (and there's another one on the horizon). What can I say? I'm trying to...
Dear Friends, We have survived the week. Boy has it been one for the books. All I can say is I am so thankful/grateful for my family and friends, and tragedies always seem to bring this realization more to light. Hug those you love. Thank God for all that you have. And if you have been effected by these devastations, know you are...
April 14th was my dear, dear friend's birthday. We've known each other since we were five. Yeah. I can hardly believe she's put up with me that long... kidding (sort of). As is tradition, I love to send people baked goods for special occasions... although I do have a tendency to send them just because or to let them know I'm thinking about...
This is more than a little delayed. At this point Easter was two weeks ago... oops.Needless to say time sometimes slips away from me all of us. Easter We really kept his Easter basket simple *although the Easter basket itself came from his grandparents, Marmee and Papa!*. Bubbles, two Easter books, a balloon, two activity packets (restaurant friendly), and a few plastic eggs...
I LOVE eggplant. It's a new obsession. Much like my zucchini love. Last year on my birthday Clark took me out to dinner and I got eggplant parmesan for the first time. I fell in love. I can't believe it's taken me this long to make it. Perhaps it's because Clark doesn't really like eggplant, so I made this on a night when...
Dear Past Week, You have been fun and stressful all at the same time. Thank you for the perfect weather. Dear Next Week, Please prove to be not as stressful and let Michael and I get back to our typical routine. Let Michael start sleeping through the night (in his own room, if possible), and help me be in a better mood during...
I know I have several posts on my body-after-baby and getting in shape and clean eating and so on and so forth and so on.... Yeah. I know. Part of it is because body care is so important to me. Sometimes you wouldn't know it. I mean, it's not like I'm some built muscular female, or a super thin model, but I do...
I'm still horribly behind on my Easter posts. I hope you all had a wonderful time celebrating the resurrection! I do promise to share our Easter story, but for now here's what I made for dessert for our Easter dinner with friends! Ingredients: I only made a half batch due to only needing enough for four people. - 2 C all-purpose, unbleached flour...
Clark's favorite cereal is Fruity Pebbles. I've never been one for the sugary cereal (ok... except Cocoa Puffs and Cinnamon Toast Crunch), but Clark complained for quite some time that I wouldn't buy it. To me all the sugar and all the stuff in it, not to mention paying for the brand name cereal, isn't exactly worth it to me. However, once in...
This picture is from 1996 or 1997... I think. My little sister was about three and I was around seven. Lining stuffed animals up on the stairs was, apparently, something enormously fun to do. This has to be true all around, because next is a picture of my older sister and me doing the same thing (well, the stuffed animals were along some...