What Do You Love?

I apologize for the lack of posts these past weeks, but I just couldn't find a new topic to blog about. I really don't want my page to become a sort of diary; I want to write and post about things that I truly feel are worth being said. I stopped trying to rack my brain for something to say and decided to wait and let the words come. Well, I heard it said recently that the demise of mankind can be partly blamed on the fact that humans have misinterpreted the meaning of "love," not merely in definition, but in action. What does LOVE mean to a sinful and fallen world? In a nation where we can love hotdogs, love NASCAR, and love running, how do we know what love is? Those who do not know true Love, those living without God, have replaced the definition of love, the feeling of love, the action of loving, with PASSION. Why do so many marriages fail? Why don't relationships last? Why do families fall apart? If God is love, then love is not passion. 1 John 4:8, "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." The Greek word for "love" in this context is the word "agape." Agape love is a selfless, self-sacrificing love. To "agape" someone (or something) means to serve them whole-heartedly and relentlessly even if you receive nothing in return. If agape is love, then to love means to SERVE. For the past few days I have been turning this thought over and over in my mind. Is God not the ultimate example of true love? Is Jesus not the ultimate servant? Did He not command me to love the Lord my God with all my heart, soul, and mind? Did He not command me to love others as myself? I have often wondered how I KNOW if I love God. I don't feel my love for him the way I love my boyfriend or the way I love my parents. How do I love others when I don't necessarily like them all? I had fallen into the trap of redefining love. Love is not a feeling. Love is an action. Love is servanthood. I now hear the word "love" as "serve." I will serve the Lord my God. I will serve my neighbor as myself. I say I love you, but am I serving you?
A servant is patient. A servant is kind. A servant does not envy, she does not boast, she is not proud. She does not dishonor others, is not self-seeking, is not easily angered, keeps no record of wrongs. A servant does not delight in evil, but delights in the truth. She always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
What do you love?

Mid-Year's Resolution

The title may be a misnomer. I've always had the resolution to "get fit," but not in a cardio-bunny kind of way. The treadmill makes me cringe, and if I'm going to be honest, it has been a life goal of mine to avoid running at all costs. I want to get fit in a "get strong," I-can-pull-my-own-weight kind of way. However, I've never been able to quite muster the resolve to resolve this dying resolution. And it dies a little more every time I get fast food after leaving the gym. To resuscitate this dying goal of mine, I've created a Mid-Year's Resolution Intervention! I don't know how I stumbled upon it, it must have been Pinterest or something (the sarcasm is dripping digitally down the page), but I found this great 12-week program by Jamie Eason, and I've firmly resolved to carry out my resolution of getting (and staying) fit and healthy! The website is awesome; she has day-by-day schedules for workouts, recipes, shopping lists, videos, and did I mention recipes?? She's made it so easy! You can find the website here, if you would like to join me! I'll be starting Day 3 tomorrow!
If you find that you're wanting to try her Carrot Cake Protein Bars, don't hesitate! I made them today. However, here's some tips: Don't bother to go out and hunt down the Oat Flour it calls for. You will wind up on an endless search like I did. Instead, I put 1 and 1/2 cups of oatmeal into a blender until it was fine like flour, and I mixed 1/3 cup of whole wheat flour with it. Also, do not use the recommended amount of sweetener. I used Stevia, and it seems my mouth will perpetually taste like sugar. It calls for 3/4 cup, but I would only use 1/3. However, despite the fact that they were a bit too sweet, these bars are AMAZING!

It was all I could do not to eat the whole batch right out of the oven! Well, since I have resolved not to un-resolve this Mid-Year's Resolution, I must go to bed now or else I won't want to get up and go to the gym tomorrow! If you want to join me, it's never too late for a Mid-Year's Resolution!

More of You and less of me...

I thought that summer would be a time for relaxation and fun, travels and adventures, baking and eating, sewing and wearing, reading and maybe even some writing. My daily plans were to get a little sun and then read a renowned classic in literature with the occasional sewing project and baking venture mixed somewhere in between. Well, according to this list I just made, my summer has been moving right along without deviating from the schedule one bit. My current projects are of the knit nature (to get a head start on winter!), and I just finished "Emma" by Jane Austen. It was a long, slow, but very good read. Up next, "Sense and Sensibility." After that, "The Great Gatsby!" (Did you hear they are making a new movie for this book? Check it out!)
However, amidst all the scheduled relaxation and fun, sometimes I forget to just take a moment and sit somewhere and really relax. I often forget to take Psalm 46:10's advice, the crucial key to true relaxation at any time of the year.
"Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!" Psalm 46:10.
How simple a to-do list:
(1) Be still.
(2) Know that he is God.
Such a simple command, yet it gives you total relaxation in knowing that HE is God. HE has everything under control. HE has it all figured out. Who am I to worry and stress and try to do everything myself? Who am I to try to elevate myself in my mind to His position? HE is God, not me. And sometimes I forget to just let Him be who He is without questioning or complaining. My job is to sit there and know that He is God. But that involves, of course, making more of Him and making less of me. John 3:30, "He must increase, but I must decrease." More of You and less of me...

"You are Too Smart to Be Bored"

As I was laying in bed, lamenting the recent extraction of my wisdom teeth and nursing the bruises on my cheeks, I fell prey to boredom. The words of my Grandmama reminded me that "I am too smart to be bored." Maybe I was bored because I had lost my wisdom teeth. All that was left of my "smart" was four holes in my gums and an achy jaw. Throwing off the fear that I would forever be dumb and bored, I grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil and began to draw. I drew a few sketches of some dresses I wanted to make. The day before, I had found (and much to my delight) some lovely fabric on sale at Walmart for 49 cents a yard! That, my friends, is a steal. So, I began making plans for the bright futures of these fabrics. After a few hours of measuring, cutting, trimming, pinning, hemming, cutting again, re-measuring, re-fitting, and ruffling....

Ta-da! A sweet little sundress that is perfect for the beach! All I need to make this outfit complete is a trip to the beach...

And, if I so choose, I can add this sash with the cute little ribbon! And so, despite the loss of my wisdom via the extraction of my wisdom teeth, I proved to my Grandmama that I am still too smart to be bored!

Patience is a Virtue... or So I Hear

Ironically, whenever I pray for patience God never automatically deems me "patient." Instead, and much to my displeasure, he gives me opportunities to be patient. And in my case, my impatience only grows with every single one of these opportunities. Is it too much to ask for patience and never actually have to use it? Why can't I just have the virtue of patience tucked away in my repertoire, and have everything just go my way when I want it to go my way? I guess that then defeats the purpose of actually being patient, doesn't it? I mean, I can tell you I'm a runner, that I can run a 6 minute mile, but if I have never done it in my life, then the title "runner" does not apply to me. And I can't wake up tomorrow and decide to run a mile in 6 minutes flat when the truth is I can only walk it in 14 (yeah, it's that bad). I have to train for it. And God has taught me that when I pray for patience, I better be ready because there's a lot of red lights coming my way.
"Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." Romans 5:1-5

My patience was thus tested as I was sewing the other day. The skirt actually turned out quite nicely, but the road this skirt and I traveled on was filled with many meetings with the infamous (I always think of the Three Amigos when I use that word) seam ripper. Or as I like to call it, "the Picker." The waistband had to be redone twice, and as I don't have a serger and was forced to use the zigzag stitch, I had some complications with the waist. With each stitch I ripped, I just told myself that this is going to be the cutest skirt ever and everyone is going to be jealous. I don't know if wishing jealousy into the hearts of others is very Christ-like, but it got me through to my finished product. All in all, patience the virtue won out. And I live to sew another day!

A Little "Me" Time

Before I really get started with this whole new blogging adventure, I figured (and, yes, I did use the word "figured" because I am happily southern) I would take a moment to tell you a little more about me. I call two different states home, Kentucky and North Carolina. I was born in Kentucky, and that is where I'm at now for college, but if I really had to put my finger on it, North Carolina is where I say I'm from.
I like to think I'm a creative adventurer. I love to write stories (I'm a creative writing major), I love to sew, I love to bake, and I try to cook. I equate reading to breathing, and my favorite mode of transportation is my bicycle. I also love pink. Sister can't get enough.

And last, I am going to share a few of my favorite verses. Just because:

"Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she smiles at the future." Proverbs 31:25. This is the woman I am embarking on a journey to become. 

"Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God." 1 Corinthians 1:3-4. I've just always loved this verse because it really gives meaning to the trials I go through. It brings me peace in knowing that one day I may be able to comfort someone and encourage them to be strong because I've been in their shoes before. 

"I charge you, O you daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or by the hinds of the field, that you stir not up, nor awaken love, till it pleases." Song of Solomon 2:7. Man knows what he's talking about. God has the perfect timing for your future, and as a Christian woman I find it extremely pressing for other young women to simply wait on God's timing. More often than not, young women cheat themselves out of a Godly relationship by trying to rush in to what they think is love. They just don't see that God is the perfect matchmaker. He knows what he's doing!

Alright, so I have some sewing projects that I've done and am working on that I will be posting soon. Stay tuned!

The best place to start is at the beginning!

Well, here goes nothing! I've been wanting to start blogging for a while (by the way, what kind of word is "blogging"? It sounds like some kind of Irish folk dance), but could never really muster up the motivation, or was it just courage? The point is, here I go!
This is the part of the story where I tell you straight up what kind of blog this is, but the fact is that I can't. Not really. It's a mix of everything. For months I have been relentlessly "pinning" and "re-pinning" on Pinterest (if you don't know what I'm talking about, ignorance is complete bliss. But, really, you're missing out). And I figured it was time to put it all into action. No more making a list of all the cute outfits I wanted to sew and all the DIY projects I wanted to do. No more, I say! I am going to become crafty this summer. That is goal one.
Goal two. Become a proficient cook, and by "cook" I also mean "baker." I have too many recipes that I've forgotten I ever wanted to make in the first place. If you're hungry anytime this summer, the Johnson house will be the place to be! I'm not making any promises as to how good the food will be, though...
Goal three. Become a sophisticated reader of the classics. "Emma" by Jane Austen is the first on my list. "Sense and Sensibility" is runner-up. They're classics for a reason, and I want to find out.
And most importantly, Goal four. Become more like a Proverbs 31 woman. It may take all summer for me just to learn to be patient, but that gets me one step closer to my goal and makes me a little bit better of a daughter, sister, and friend.
Here goes nothing!