Change the World with Love

I recently read Nicole Johnson’s book, Fresh – Brewed Life, which made me realize that I needed to get control of my schedule. How you spend your time becomes the essence of who you let yourself become. You may be missing out on blessings that God wants to give you when you allow yourselves to get too busy to call a friend or say hi to a neighbor. Johnson goes on to talk about what you would want to be remembered for after you pass. What would be your epitaph? She states:

An epitaph is very ‘big picture.’ It seeks to capture the most important aspects of you're life. Since these words are not etched until after your dead, they are usually written by someone else, someone who looks at your life from the outside, all they have to go by many times is what you ‘did’ and how you spent your time, this is why it is so critical to get control of your schedule - to let who you are come out in what you do. People may look at your calendar of activities and completely miss what you would want them to see.

This inspired me to design a planner. One that would be best suited for my life now. One that would be fun; not like any other planner that I have had in the past. I have had a planner since middle school. My middle school gave a planner to every student on the first day. Those were quite fun actually. They included random facts and fun quotes. My favorite was from hockey player, Wayne Gretzky, you miss 100% of the shot you never take. I still remember it. After that, planners became basic but functional, which is why I opted out of buying another one. I needed one that would keep me focused on more than just what needs to get done. I needed one that would help me “fight to focus on Jesus,” as guest speaker, Pastor Ryan Stevenson said during his sermon on Sunday. (If you are interested in hearing the amazing message, you can listen to it via Podcast here)

This led me to the overall theme. The root of our existence is love. I can see this more so as I have become a mother, wife, sister, and friend. We are only capable of truly loving when we fully entrust ourselves to Jesus. Therefore, I have entwined verses pertaining to love throughout the pages as a reminder to myself to LOVE others because He loved me first. I cannot love on my own. True love can only come through Him. 

Monthly Calendar, starting with March through December

I also opted to make it colorful for a change. I have a tendency to keep things black and white, literally. If you have ever stepped in to my living room or guest bathroom, you may have noticed. Black and white is a classic combination. Not to mention, it goes with anything, except brown. It is easy to change accent colors but  also gets boring and predictable. It does not scream “take a chance” or “live a little” but rather a sort of complacent hum dum “been there, done that.” So, with all this in mind, my “Change the World with Love Planner” was born.

Hope you enjoy it. Feel free to download all or some of it by clicking the links below, for personal use only. 

Meal Planner with Shopping List

Weekly Pages, six colors total

Notes & Inspiration

Important Dates

Contacts 



Share the Love

Oh, Valentine’s day. Such a silly day really. The decorations get me though. I am a sucker for heart prints and the word love in general. The pretty pink hues are perfectly fitting, too.  In elementary school it really was all about the candy attached to the silly cards that mattered. Junior high left me questioning what those silly cards meant. Was he really bananas for me? In high school no one even bothered with the cards. My friends and I tended to be boyfriendless and did our own awesome Valentine exchange. Although, reading through countless teen magazines and watching chick flicks always left me wanting my own Valentine.

As with all holidays, it is overly commercialized with red heart shaped boxes of chocolates on every shelf for that special someone and roses to boot. Do not get to wrong, I love a yummy box of dark chocolate goodness but I would much rather it come on any other day than this. It is too man dated for me.

So, this Valentine’s day I wanted to do something different and send a message to the girls in my Awana group about true love. I wanted to let them know that they are beautiful and are loved by the One who is greater than any boy who may ever attract their precious attention. I wanted to let them to know that Jesus loves them. My wish for them is to be able to set their hopes and security in Him and not the boy in gym class. This is the part where I have to say if I only knew then what I know now, ah. Love and feeling valued comes from no one else but God but you have to accept and know that in order to live it out. Thankfully, these girls get the privilege to learn about his love each week.

I made up some Valentine-ish packaging and baked some yumminess for them to remember this little lesson. I made an extra set for each girl to let someone else know that Jesus loves them, too.



Whole wheat sugar cookies and chocolate cookies topped with ganache, ready for packaging







A small mountain of love <3





If you would like to share the love, download the template here.

Each design is 4” wide by 3” tall. I do not like marking the cutting edges on templates (they get in the way!), so cutting ½” off the left margin and then 4” across will give you the correct cut. Cut down 3", fold in half and you have the perfect package measurements :)

Thank you Jesus for loving me so much!

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. – John 3:16 (NIV)

Recall Notice

I am really not one to forward emails (if you knew me back in high school that was a different story, ha) but I found this particular one to be quirky and fun with an obviously great message. Special thanks to my aunt for the forward. So this is me passing it on without it being sent to your inbox. To make that clear, I did not write this although I would like to be clever enough to be the one who did.  I love the bible acronym.

RECALL NOTICE:

The Maker of all human beings (GOD) is recalling all units manufactured, regardless of make or year, due to a serious defect in the primary and central component of the heart. This is due to a malfunction in the original prototype units code named Adam and Eve, resulting in the reproduction of the same defect in all subsequent units. This defect has been identified as "Subsequential Internal Non-morality," more commonly known as S.I.N., as it is primarily expressed.

Some of the symptoms include:
1. Loss of direction
2. Foul vocal emissions
3. Amnesia of origin
4. Lack of peace and joy
5. Selfish or violent behavior
6. Depression or confusion
7. Fearfulness
8. Idolatry
9. Rebellion

The Manufacturer, who is neither liable nor at fault for this defect, is providing factory-authorized repair and service free of charge to correct this defect. The Repair Technician, JESUS, has most generously offered to bear the entire burden of the staggering cost of these repairs. There is no additional fee required. The number to call for repair in all areas is: P-R-A-Y-E-R.

Once connected, please upload your burden of SIN through the REPENTANCE procedure.

Next, download ATONEMENT from the Repair Technician, Jesus, into the heart component.

No matter how big or small the SIN defect is, Jesus will replace it with:

1. Love
2. Joy
3. Peace
4. Patience
5. Kindness
6. Goodness
7. Faithfulness
8. Gentleness
9. Self control

Please see the operating manual, the B.I.B.L.E. (BEST Instructions Before Leaving Earth) for further details on the use of these fixes.

WARNING: Continuing to operate the human being unit without correction voids any manufacturer warranties, exposing the unit to dangers and problems too numerous to list, and will result in the human unit being permanently impounded. For free emergency service, call on Jesus.

DANGER: The human being units not responding to this recall action will have to be scrapped in the furnace. The SIN defect will not be permitted to enter Heaven so as to prevent contamination of that facility. Thank you for your attention!

- GOD

P.S. Please assist where possible by notifying others of this important recall notice, and you may contact the Father any time by 'Knee mail'!

Because HE Lives!

power of prayer, yes please

Even the most minute answered prayers make me smile. God must be a humorous one, after all He instilled it in us and we are modeled after Him. For me, prayer can be like a phone call to my mom, all the spur of the moment thoughts included.  Naturally, the bible tells us to pray without ceasing. I try and probably get a little too close at times. Then Ecclesiastes 5:2 pops in with “don't be hasty in bringing matters before God. After all, God is in heaven, and you are here on earth. So let your words be few” (NIV). It seems to be a tug of war between the two for me. Thankfully, God takes me as I am, words and all.

Last night, dinner inspiration was at a low but I needed something, so I started flipping through the cookbook from my latest library adventure; I am trying to broaden my cooking skills and dress up our usual dinner menu. Two weeks ago Nugget had eggplants on sale and without really knowing if I liked them or how to cook them, the first eggplant entered my kitchen. Thank you Google for the awesome eggplant parmesan recipe. As it turns out, I do like eggplant but I digress.

As I turned the pages of the book, I said a little prayer for God to direct me to a recipe Ricardo would enjoy. I stumbled upon grilled cheese Panini style, an old favorite of ours and it was decided. Of course, grilled bell peppers and chipotle mayonnaise would be added, as well. Immediately after I decided this, the phone rang and Ricardo told me we should have grilled cheese for dinner. It made me laugh.

I LOVE how God works. I know this is not some miraculous healing or life changing occurrence but it is God hearing little ol me and answering my little prayers. He does have an awesome track record for doing so. There really is nothing like the little things in life that make me smile. Thank you God for being so faithful.

Hungry Much?

My library card has been getting a great work out the past few months from books on baking and cooking to bilingual books for my little one to these awesome devotionals and more. Yay public library! A few weeks ago Fasting: Spiritual Freedom Beyond Our Appetite by Lynne M. Baab caught my eye from its shelf space and it made its way home with me in my book bag.

“You are blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God” – Matthew 5:6, The Message

I am not a huge fan of The Message bible translation, more of an NIV gal myself, but this seems pretty fitting for the overall tone of the book, which is probably why Baab strategically placed it on the back cover. It has been an interesting read and covered a few topics that I first found out of place in a book about fasting, such as eating disorders and dieting. Thankfully, eating disorders has never been an issue for me but I know people that it has been.

When I think of fasting, part of me reverts back to my upbringing as a Mormon where we fasted most Sunday breakfasts because that was what you were suppose to do. I never knew of a purpose like closeness to God through it or a relationship for that matter until I became a Christian. I know fasting can be from anything – your morning lattes to music to your favorite TV show, whatever works for you. My brain always goes straight to food.

No one likes to be hungry but there is an unexplainable freedom in fasting that overcomes hunger. Yes, we do need food but “man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD” (Deuteronomy 8:3 NIV).  

Baab scatters people’s reasons for fasting throughout the pages from a college student to a seventy year old retired teacher. There are a lot of views and interesting aspects I never thought of. Turning the pages of people’s stories and bible verses, I found myself disheartened at how far from God I get and how easy our culture makes it. I absolutely agree with Baab’s statement “our addiction to filling space and our discomfort with truth make the discipline of fasting challenging.” My conviction: more space filled with GOD less of everything else.

Happy January!

I cannot believe it is nearly the end of January. This year has launched with a running start and the last ended the same. I finished reading the bible in 88 days. The coolest, most invigorating thing I did all year besides giving birth of course. God has continued to surprise and bless me in more ways than I can fathom.

Between all of my little projects and taking care of my now seven month old and life, it has been nearly impossible to update. This Christmas I managed to find time to do nearly all of the homemade gifts that my little heart desired. Yay! So I thought I would post some of the awesome items I found from some amazing blogs, mostly via Tipnut (one of my favorites), and some I made up that I gifted and shared this Christmas.

Starting from the left:

-Head bands to entice the girls in my Awana group to come prepared with verses ready
-Of course some for my little one
-Yummy almond cookies with chocolate drizzle for my married's bible study group
-Cupcakes celebrating jesus’ birthday for the Awana girls with toppers designed by yours truly
-A tea wreath inspired by Kojo Designs
-Cloth napkins with mitered corners, thank you to Heather Bailey for the easy tutorial!
-Candle covers and a felt bouquet made with flowers from the Purl Bee's  template for her beautiful wreath
-Cupcake carrier patterned by yours truely out of paper bags

I conjured up a bunch of other items – a Christmas dress for the little one, mustache mugs for the gentlemen in my family thanks to The Tortoise and the Hare, and reusable sandwich bags and more. There is nothing like a homemade gift to give.

Now that the holidays have settled, I am finally getting things situated around the house. The little one is getting pretty mobile these days. Baby proofing is almost complete but I am sure there will be more to go as she moves about.

Here is to a new year and new blessings to unfold.

the art of a challege

It is hard to believe it is already August. Awana came to a close mid May. I gave birth to our first in June and have been working on mastering the art of motherhood since. It has been an amazing experience and I am so thankful for her every day. God has been too good to me.

I have found it all too easy to get caught up in the day to day – bath time, feeding, cleaning, sleeping – to do my daily devotionals, which has been convicting. Then I was contacted by Christy of Skinned Knees to do a giveaway for His Love Endures Forever on her blog. Of course, I visited her site, which was very inspiring, and proceeded to find her involvement with MomsToolBox and their Bible in 90 Days challenge. I have been wanting to read the bible all the way through – I have read all of the New Testiment and most of the Old but not completely, 100% of it. Unfortunately, they have already started and are over 20 days in to it but there is no reason I cannot give it a whirl on my own. So this is my Bible in 90 Days challenge. I always love a good challenge and seeing as God is involved, well this should be my best one yet. Tomorrow marks day one.

God, please change me and reveal to me your wisdom in my life.

heaven bound

Shortly after I was saved, I was shown a video in the college group I attended by Penn of Penn and Teller, a renowned atheist. He tells of how a Christian gave him a bible and wanted to talk to him about Jesus after one of his shows. He goes on to say he is an atheist but how much would someone (a Christian) have to hate someone to not tell them about Jesus and eternal life if that is what they believe in the depths of their souls.

This thought been tossing in my head over the past week as I have been reading Heaven is for real by Todd Burpo, an account of his four year old son’s visit to heaven while he in surgery. Yes, the bible talks about heaven in revelations and many other parts but something about reading the innocent words of a child makes it seem that much more real to me. Maybe it is because I am getting ready to have my first.

Burpo’s son is so concerned about the eternal status of a man his father, a pastor, does a funeral for - whom he never met. That is how I pray God will transform me. I know I am saved but what about the person sitting next to me in the break room at work or the lady in line behind me at the grocery store.

I am not an evangelist by any means, although I have a heart for missions and missionaries but this has made me open my eyes even wider. I have close friends and family who are not saved. I know that I cannot single handedly convert them; that is God’s job as it says in John 15:16 "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit--fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name." I do have a voice and a relationship with God for Him to use me in their lives.

This life is so minute compared to eternity. After all, we are in this world but not of it.

Hallelujah.