Breathing His Name - a thankful thursday

456: family time in the car - "always bring a flashlight!"
458: words from a brother -"Thank you for suggesting to play a game with Titus when he was just sittin' on the stairs bored. I remember that!"
459: late night games with little siblings


460: giggles late into the night
461: early morning light and snow dusted branches


463: cold prayer walks - even though they are hard
464: breathing His name - YHWH

"The letters of the name of God in Hebrew.. are infrequently pronounced Yahweh. But in truth they are inutterable...

This word {YHWH} is the sound of breathing.

The holiest name in the world, the Name of Creator, is the sound of your own breathing. That those letters are unpronounceable is no accident. Just as it is no accident that they are also the root letters of the Hebrew verb 'to be' ...
God's name is of Being itself."

- Rabbi Lawrence Kushner (read on a holy experience)

The Sound of Our Breathing - Jason Gray

465: grace gifts
466: reminders to be intentional  in everything
462: daily putting on 'love' - a physical reminder through this necklace to share His love to those around me

Tuesday's Tips - Customizing Gadget Heading Format

Gadget Headings are the titles for each item on your sidebar/lowerbar. 
To customize the gadget headings format you're going to look for this code in your template:

h2 {

The CSS inside the brackets {} following that code will control what your gadget headings(ie. on your sidebar/lowerbar/or above your posts) look like.
You can customize the code however you'd like--be creative! You can use my CSS Basics posts on Borders, Backgrounds, Text, and Padding & Margins for specific codes. If you have any questions on how to do something specific, ask in a comment and I'll get back as soon as I can.

For example, my current gadget heading code looks like this:

h2 {
background:transparent;
background-image:url();background-repeat:no repeat; background-position:bottom left;
color: #70543e;
font-family: Perpetua;
line-height:20px;
text-transform:none;
letter-spacing:0px;
text-align:center;
font-size:20px;
font-weight:normal;
font-variant: none;
letter-spacing:2px;
padding: 8px;
}

So Much More

436: Sometimes the Lord tests us and asks us to give up something in order to teach us to get our priorities right. If we pass, He lovingly gives back that something and so much more. 


Trust in the Lord and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
Delight yourself in the Lord
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Psalm 37:3-4

What defines me...and how I cry at goodbye

I cried after I had over 12" of my hair cut off. I cried when I said goodbye to dance and packed away my shoes. I cried when I filed away another months worth of sermon notes and knew there would be no more of those. I cried when I let go of perfection so that I could complete. I cried when I packed away my camera--my new birthday camera. Now I cry as I say goodbye to blogging for a season.

I was known for my long hair--but it does not define me. Hair grows back in time.
I was known as a dancer--but it does not define me. Some people still notice and it makes me either cringe or do a happy dance inside.
I was known as a part of that church--but it does not define me. The Church is not a certain building or a few people. The Church is all believers everywhere.
I was known as a perfectionist--but it does not define me. I will hold myself to a standard of grace, not perfection.
I was known as a photographer--but it does not define me. I simply enjoy capturing what I see.
I was known as a blogger--but it does not define me. Blogging is merely a way to write my thoughts and share them with others to encourage them.

I am defined only by Jesus Christ--in Him I find my identity. He is my life--a life worthy of the Lord. 

"The Christian life can be explained only in terms of Jesus Christ, and if your life as a Christian can still be explained in terms of you - you personality, your willpower, your gift, your talent, your money, your courage, your scholarship, your dedication, your sacrifice, or your anything - then although you may have the Christian life, you are not yet living it." - Ian Thomas


When I let go of these things, I cried because it was hard. Hard to let go of what I thought had a right to hold and call mine. Really, I was hiding behind these things. Hiding because I was scared.
But God used these moments when I let go to do great things in my life. Now I look to see what he will do with this change. Change is needed, change is good, but change makes me cry--because I'm scared.
This quote by Charles Spurgeon sums up what I've been learning recently:


He is enough.  He is.

The Unfailing Promises of God - a thankful thursday

404: life -- full of abounding joy!

405: family -- whole & complete

Please be praying for a family who lost their eight year old little boy during the storm on Monday. He was hit by a falling tree limb. I taught his class at Church on Thursday nights last year and he played soccer with my brother--so hard to believe that he's gone.  But we know he's in the arms of his Heavenly Father.

406: Singing "I Love My Lips" VeggieTales silly song with Titus while cooking supper...Ten days after I turned 8, Got my lips stuck in a gate, My friends all laughed…And I just stood there until the fire department came and broke the lock with a crowbar and I had to spend the next six weeks in lip rehab with this kid named Oscar who got stung by a bee right on the lip and we couldn't even talk to each other until the fifth week because both our lips were so swollen and when he did start speaking he just spoke polish and I only knew like three words in polish except now I know four because Oscar taught me the word for lip, “Usta!”

407: a home overflowing with music -- constantly -- someone is always playing or singing =)

408: the promises of God's unfailing love Psalm 103