blog has been very short on content lately.

i apologize. will do better in the coming days.

until then, keep calm and carry on!

look at that sweet boy...

whew! it's tough work being a kindergartner.

perplexed but not in despair

loved this weekend's sermon....leverage your suffering. isn't God's timing ALWAYS perfect? for there certainly is plenty of suffering going on in the spartan nation.

we. will. win. again.

"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

We are hard pressed on every side but not crushed; perplexed but not in despair; persecuted but not abandoned; struck down but not destroyed." 2 Cor 4:7-9

go spartans. beat the wolverines!

currently...

excited about...my family visiting next week
worried about...the pressure next week brings with UofM coming to town
reading....joyce meyers' Battlefield of the Mind with my Bible study girls
creating...20 goddess bracelets this weekend for a girlfriend to give away
loving...that i do not have to be anywhere tomorrow (except in front of the tv for kick off)
hating...my nose
wondering...if we'll win tomorrow
craving...a view of the ocean
listening to...npr on a classical station
watching on tv...mad men (love, love, love)
aspiring...to find my groove
needing...some attention from my husband
grateful for...my little blog

so , currently, what's your pulse?

passionate about purple

a co-worker was wearing this color a couple of weeks ago. i fell in LOVE with it.

it's from opi's new fall line. it's called pamplona purple.

typically, i wear a french but took a deep breath and gave it a try.

i heart it!

lots and lots of compliments over the weekend.

trust me on this one...it's a beautiful rich color!

great for fall.

perspective

notre dame 33
michigan state 30

"There's nothing I can do about it except learn from it and keep my head up. I've got faith. Football's not my foundation, it is not my identity. My faith is in Jesus Christ, and he's not changing any time soon."

spartan QB kirk cousins as quoted in the Lansing State Journal sunday morning following our loss to notre dame. no need to re-hash the circumstances surrounding this quote.

we're 2 plays away from being 3-0. ahhhhh.....college football. what a ride.

go spartans. beat the badgers.

i'm here...

and have these...

i'm sorry if that's too visual for you.
the spartans are in south bend today and we need this win.

GO SPARTANS!
BEAT THE IRISH!

fab tailgate idea

how cute are these kabobs?! what a great and EASY idea! i love it! i'm going to try it! i'm always looking for tailgate ideas. this one is courtesy of my favorite mag, Southern Living.


Prep: 20 min., Chill: 30 min. The dipping sauce can also be served with fried chicken breast strips from the deli.

Yield
Makes 27 kabobs

Ingredients
1 pound deli-smoked turkey, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 (8-oz.) package Cheddar cheese cubes
1 pt. grape tomatoes
1 (16-oz.) jar dill gherkin pickles
27 (4-inch) wooden skewers
Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce

Preparation
1. Thread 1 each of first 4 ingredients evenly onto wooden skewers. Cover and chill 30 minutes or up to 1 day. Serve kabobs with Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce.

Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce: Stir together 3/4 cup light mayonnaise, 1/4 cup coarse grained Dijon mustard, and 2 Tbsp. honey. Cover and chill 20 minutes or up to 3 days. Makes about 1 1/2 cups. Prep: 5 min., Chill: 20 min.

gulp!

"prince harry turns 25" reads the headline.

two questions:

1) how is that possible? and

2) how old am I?

that HURT

a day later and still feeling shell shocked over a 29-27 defeat.

{moment of silence}.

the loss did however spark an interesting comment from my 5 year old. as we were making our way out of the stadium, he says to me, 'mommy, why did Jesus let the Spartans lose?"

how's that for a teachable moment? made for a great bedtime talk - though i'm not sure he fully understood the concept of sovereignty.

do any of us?

{smile}

i'm just teasing about using the big word "sovereignty" with him. i'm not teasing about trying to understand it!

{again, smile}


go spartans.

a little friday funny

i was going through my journal looking for comfort for a situation that has broken my heart into pieces this week. pieces. little. bitty. small. pieces.

in doing so, i ran across this snippet that made me smile. felt nice to smile. it was from the beth moore simulcast which i wrote of earlier. at one point during the simulcast she pointed us to Micah 7:18 - the last line of the verse - which states, God DELIGHTS to show us mercy.

let that sink in a little. God DELIGHTS to show ME mercy.

her next line is what slayed me!

"girlfriends, He's not just tolerating you!"

another fav

if you scroll down, you'll find that last week i shared a new favorite - chapstick tropical shimmer. crazy, i know! it's just chapstick, you say! trust me when i say, i am a lipstick aficionado and the shimmer on this chapstick is perfect (as is the price)!

this week i thought i would share an old favorite.

i love candles. i love to burn candles. i love to give/get candles. the most important thing about a candle? the scent.

now, i'm not a big yankee candle girl but just let me tell you the candles below are won-der-ful. i've loved them now for a couple of years. I MUST because (a) i think they're pretty stickin' expensive and (b) i'm not into the jar look. ahhhh....but the smell. and, they do last (guess that's what i'm paying for).

here's my very,very favorite scent:

followed closely by this one:

notice a theme? sun, sand, ocean? just doing what i can to bring the things i LOVE to my mid-MICHIGAN home.

school days

today was the first day of school - better, the FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN! i'm resisting the strong urge to plaster photos of my cute little man all over this post - all dressed up on his first day. instead, what i thought i would share is this sweet, sweet book - My ABC Bible Verses.

this morning, we began our morning devotionals - it is my goal/hope to do this each morning over breakfast.

our first verse was based on the letter "a."
"A soft answer turns away wrath"
Proverbs 15:1

accompanying the verse is a brief story illustrating how it can be applied to the every day. so here's the plan: verse goes up on refridgerator. mommy, daddy and little man will all memorize it. once suffiently memorized and UNDERSTOOD we'll move on to our next verse. we'll definitely move at our own pace...maybe two verses a month.

okay, so i couldn't resist...

msu 44 montana state 3

what a great day for football! i love these kind of games...big lead, big plays, nice win. wish every game this season would be so enjoyable. that definitely will NOT be the case! but, we can certainly enjoy this one!

as coaches wives, i think we tend to enjoy the win (or feel the loss) until about tuesday, then we begin looking to the next game.

coaches, on the other hand, enjoy the win until 11am the next day (sunday) when they trek back to the office. and, unfortunately, they tend to feel the loss until the next win comes along.

the highs and lows of college football. wouldn't trade it for a "thang!"

boothill talk - translation "thing."

go green. go white. go spartans.

GO GREEN! GO WHITE! GO STATE!

and so it begins....

desires of your heart - part 2

Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Psalm 37:4

here's the next premise we examined in last weekend's beth moore simulcast: beneath the desires of our heart is our heart's desires.

God will trump what we believe is our heart's desire by looking "underneath" it.

if you have been praying for something for weeks, months or years and you're not getting it then something's up! something is at stake!

glory or destiny is at stake.

can you think back? what were some of the "desires of your heart" from years past? example given in the simulcast: picture your 8th grade boyfriend. do you remember how you use to pray you would marry him? wasn't that a desire of your heart? smile.

i remember once wanting my husband to get this one particular job SO bad. but, if that had happened....boy! destiny and, in this case, glory was both at stake.

i loved this statement: the absence of something you are praying for presents the opportunity for something greater to be revealed.

take a moment. can you think of some examples in your life?

are you still waiting for a desire of your heart?

i wonder which is at stake...your destiny or God's glory?

desires of your heart - part 1

did you hear the shouts of celebration last night about midnight eastern time. that was me, celebrating the end of august. oh. my. stars. the month ABSOLUTELY kicked my tail.

on the final weekend of the month, i found myself EMPTY. emotionally, spiritually EMPTY (and my husband would quickly add cranky and moody).

ahhh...but then came Friday night! i attended a beth moore simulcast friday evening and saturday morning with my dear friend, julie. rejuvenation, reaffirmation and amazing declarations were made during that sweet time. the message centered on Psalm 37:4.

Delight yourself in the Lord

and he will give you the desires of your heart.

we spent several hours on this verse - dissecting it, laughing, pondering, asking difficult questions and finding amazing answers.

so over the next couple of days i thought i would share a few snippets from our lesson. an important note: my attempt at this will - at best - be feeble, lacking and incomplete as NO ONE can do this like beth moore.

we began by examining desire. beth (we're on a first name basis) shared this strong and powerful statement:

nothing dictates our lives like our desires.

how profoundly true is that statement? pause and think through it.

what is desire? desire is defined as a craving, an unmet need, a sustained longing. desire necessitates a wait. if we had it/possessed it right now, it would not be a desire.

so, to close today, what are the desires of your heart?

stay tuned...