What I'm Listening To

I heard this song for the first time about a month ago, and it brought me to tears. Since then I have listened to it many, many times and it can still bring tears to my eyes. Maybe you are wondering why, maybe you're thinking "it's a beautiful song but why the tears...repeatedly?". The answer is simple, it speaks to my heart because I could have written it, word for word. It could be the theme song for most of my life. I have always, always, loved the Lord. I have always, always, believed His word is truth but I put Him inside a box. I made the box based on my views of myself, my idea of how other's saw me, and stuffed Him inside. When I first heard the song the line "those were only empty words on a page" didn't ring true with me at first, I thought "well, most of this song sounds about right, but I always believed His word was true". It wasn't until I'd listened to it a few times that it occurred to me that, despite always believing the bible and what God was able to do, I never believed He would do it for me, so doesn't that make the words empty? If I don't believe they have power for my life, isn't it the same thing? Invisibility and insignificance are two things I have struggled with my whole life, I even blogged about it once. Only in the last year have I learned that this view of myself as being unseen, unknown, not special caused me to limit my knowledge of who God truly is. I have experienced His presence many times over in my life, but I never really dove in so to speak, not like I could have, not like He wanted me to. Now that I see, now that I have tasted the real truth about God's heart for me... I cannot even describe it. I am left wanting more; to know more, to see more, to taste more, to feel more of the overwhelming, all consuming, never ending, never failing love of the Father. I want to experience more of His power manifested in my life, for His glory, for His kingdom, that my life would be used in an even greater capacity to show His love, His life changing grace and mercy to pour out into other's lives. Don't walk through life with a limited view of who He is, don't put Him in a box, give Him free reign, you won't be sorry, I promise. 
(I posted the lyrics below the video in case you don't have time to listen to the song, so this blog makes more sense...listen if you can though, it's beatiful:)



I made You promises a thousand times 
I tried to hear from Heaven 
But I talked the whole time 
I think I made You too small 
I never feared You at all No 
If You touched my face would I know You? 
Looked into my eyes could I behold You? 


What do I know of You 
Who spoke me into motion? 
Where have I even stood 
But the shore along Your ocean? 
Are You fire? Are You fury? 
Are You sacred? Are You beautiful? 
What do I know? What do I know of Holy? 


I guess I thought that I had figured You out 
I knew all the stories and I learned to talk about 
How You were might to save 
Those were only empty words on a page 
Then I caught a glimpse of who You might be 
The slightest hint of You brought me down to my knees 

What do I know of You 
Who spoke me into motion? 
Where have I even stood 
But the shore along Your ocean? 
Are You fire? Are You fury? 
Are You sacred? Are You beautiful? 
What do I know? What do I know of Holy? 

What do I know of Holy? 
What do I know of wounds that will heal my shame? 
And a God who gave life it's name? 
What do I know of Holy? 
Of the One who the angels praise? 
All creation knows Your name 
On earth and heaven above 
What do I know of this love? 

What do I know of You 
Who spoke me into motion? 
Where have I even stood 
But the shore along Your ocean? 
Are You fire? Are You fury? 
Are You sacred? Are You beautiful? 
What do I know? What do I know of Holy? 
What do I know of Holy? 
What do I know of Holy?

Friends, Faces & FUN

I am so blessed, really, really blessed. I have the privilege, the honor, to call many incredible women my friends. I spend time laughing, talking and occasionally crying with some of the most amazing women. I am blessed because I have many that have been my friends for years and years, we've lived a lot of life together and I am so thankful. I think women have such a gift for encouraging one another, lifting each other up and helping each other see the funny in life, whether it is plain as day or muddled a bit. I love each one of my sweet girlfriends for the unique and special way they have impacted my life and I am so thankful. 

In the last week I was fortunate enough to get to spend time with a pair of these gals, two of my very best friends. We met in college when we were still just kids, became fast friends and have never looked back, that was over 12 years ago. Our lives now are a bit different then they were in our "early days" of friendship, we all have husbands, kids, busy lives and are separated by many miles but every time we get together, it's just like it was when we were first friends.every.single.time. We spend hours talking about life, laughing about silly things and staying up way too late, it's the best! The three days we spent together recently were fun, exhausting and full of lots and lots of laughter.

So, what do three "grown" women in their 30's (barely ;-) do for fun when the kiddies are asleep? Well, one night we decided to try out our friend Bri's new all natural skin care masks (check them out here!). I thought it would be fun to take a few pictures in them, Julia, who has a degree in photography and is pretty great at it, decided we should really take pictures (lights & everything) and maybe we could get some good ones to help our friend advertise while nourishing our skin and having fun. How's that for multitasking? That's another thing women are good at :). Once we settled the kids in, set up the lights and got the masks on, we got to "work". I am not sure that I have laughed that much in a long time, the mascara we wore to keep our eyes from disappearing in the pictures had to be wiped up more than once. At one point, I was not sure I was going to start breathing again I was laughing so hard. It was such a wonderful night, and because we are geniuses, we have lots of pictures to remind us of the fun, not to mention great skin. 

Me, Karey & Julia, best friends since 1999 :)

Karey tried the Skin Cereal mask, I wore the Fruit Smoothie & Julia tested out the Mint Mudd

I was a bit over tired & super giggly 

As if her skin wasn't perfect already, she looks gorgeous even with oatmeal on her face 

Her products are all natural so you can actually eat them, if you wanted too. I did taste mine, it was sweet & tangy,  but I had the fruit mask, I am not sure you'd actually want to eat the mud one :)

I told you we laughed, a lot