Getaways, Showers, Birthdays, & A New Blog?

Every once in awhile, Michael and I will sneak off for the night and leave the kiddo with my mom. I've said it here before, I love my child. I couldn't imagine life without her. Buuuuut Mama needs a break occasionally. Amen? I haven't done a Brooklynn update on here in awhile, so here's a reader's digest version: She thinks she's three. Everything that comes with those 2's & 3's that people warn you about from the moment you announce that you're pregnant. We are there. And we aren't even 2 yet. The "I'll just throw myself on the floor and pout"... "everything is MINE"... "entitlement" ... "I'm going to scream for an hour in my crib so I don't have to nap" ... It's real, ya'll. Maybe she'll get it out of her system early? One can hope :) On the other hand, she can be so super sweet. She'll freely give out kisses, hugs, & "knuckles" (if she's feelin' it). She'll say "wuh you" and demand to watch "mitty moush" with a "nack" the SECOND I put her in her carseat. If I had the patience to sit with her in my lap and read all.day.long or let her take my hand and drag me around the house all day, she would. I really just follow her around all day cleaning up her messes behind her. 

Like I was saying, we needed a night away. So we escaped to Asheville and ate at one of our favorite restaurants, grabbed starbucks, hit the outlets, mall, and made ourselves myself sick eating comfort food. 

If anyone wants to bless my heart with an early Christmas gift...;)

Greer's first playoff game was Friday and so we made it through the first half with all smiles!

Saturday was like any other. Football, family, and food.

Sunday we celebrated with my future sister! Her sweet MOH threw her such a fun shower and we had a blast laughing, crying, and embarrassing her ;) Now I'm not going to lie, I've always been a little nervous as to who my brothers would marry because the love that our immediate family shares is so strong. BUT when I met Kaylin as she was just finishing middle school (I KNOW!), we all just knew she was the one. We are SO thankful that they both followed the Lord and ended up back in each other's lives. Our God is a great orchestrator if we let Him do it in His own timing!

Sunday night was the only night that our family would all be together this week so we headed to Stephen's favorite place to eat, Lake Bowen, for his birthday which is TODAY! Ya'll. My baby brother is 24. What in the world...

P.S. Give me some time on here, Blogger refuses to be my friend, lately. Which is the reason for the lack of posts. For some reason, the formatting just wants to do it's own thing. I'm trying to find a way to switch over to a new host without losing all my posts. Ideas are welcome but hang with me!

Elephant Room + Stress & Anxiety

Stress & Anxiety. Something that if you're breathing, you've struggled with since birth. So, what do we do with it?

Our anxiety should drive us into a deeper relationship with Jesus.

We get anxious when we try to play God. We try and control everything and end up carrying a weight that wasn't meant for us to carry. Our anxiety will decrease when we remember who God is and how big He is.

Our problems are like a grain of salt to God.

If God can take care of our eternity, He can take care of your anxiety. Some of us believe He can but aren't letting Him.

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:6,7 

When we humble ourselves, God lifts us up. When we lift ourselves up, God will humble us. 

Always recognize Jesus as a DAILY need in your life. When we go to God daily, we let go of anxiety. 

You need two things: JESUS and the CHURCH.

God asks us to cast our anxieties onto Him and do not real them back in!

We can tend to overwhelm our friends and family with our stress and anxiety but they, too, are carrying their own weights. BUT JESUS can't be overwhelmed.

...hear me and answer me. My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught. Psalm 55:2

 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philippians 4:5-6

Gods presence > Our problems 

Concentrate on what you DO have and not on what you DON'T have. 

We can't always change our circumstances but we can change our perspective.

We worry so much because we pray so little...but no one cares about you like Jesus does!

Watch ALIVE here!

Elephant Room: Pornography

Last night you could have heard a pin drop in the room at Alive. Why? Because we wrestled with a topic that 80% of guys struggle with and 30% of girls struggle with. A topic where addictions begin at the ripe age of 9 years old. That's a lot of struggle going on and not a lot of speaking about it and
So, last night it was spoken about.

THE GREATEST THREAT TO THE BODY OF CHRIST IS PORNOGRAPHY.

• Playboy's website averages about 5,000,000 hits per day.
• There are more porn outlets in our world than there are McDonald's restaurants. 
• The effect of pornography is just as addictive as cocaine or heroine. 
• $97,000,000,000.00 is made off of the porn industry. That is more money than ALL the combined revenues of professional sports! 
• Every minute, 2,000,000 people view pornography.
• 58% of all divorces involve an addiction to porn. Not alcohol, not drugs...pornography
• 747,000 sex offenders are in the U.S. 87% looked at porn.
• 40% of people lose their jobs because of an issue with pornography.
• Pornography increases marital infidelity by 30%!

I'll say it again. The greatest threat to the body of Christ is pornography. It destroys your mind, your jobs, your families, and the money spent in this industry supports sex trafficking, exploits someone's daughter, someone's sister, someone's mother. They are not their for our enjoyment.

So, the church has to speak up. 

The enemy wants us to start viewing women and men as objects and toys. Not as sons and daughters of the King.

Porn may be one click away but HOPE is one prayer away!

Unfortunately, facts do not change people. Only Jesus can change people! 

"It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God; and that in this matter no one should wrong or take advantage of a brother or sister. The Lord will punish all those who commit such sins, as we told you and warned you before. For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life." 1 Thessalonians 4:3-7

The more we fall in love with JESUS...the less likely we are to love our sin. 

What you feed GROWS. What you starve DIES. 

God cares about your ETERNITY & your PURITY

When God asks you to do something, like forego sin, He will give you the strength to do it.

"But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell." Matthew 5:28-29

If your phone being in your room at night causes you to stumble, leave it in the living room. If you have a laptop in your room, get it out. If you have magazines or books that cause your mind to go places that they shouldn't go, get rid of them. 

Ladies, dress to be looked at but not lusted after. Dress so that guys are eager to know you and not your body.

"How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your word." Psalm 119:9

Confess, Repent, and Eliminate Access. We can have victory over sin by surrendering to Jesus! 

helpful resources:

*XXXChurch.com

*My Purity Coach APP

Watch the service here

 

Halloween Weekend

Better late than never, right? It's been a crazy busy last couple of days week. From our church's Fall Festival to a day spent with my little family downtown to a day spent with my big family watching football to a special offering day at church and rounding out Monday with seeing 21 football players say "yes!" to Jesus in a movie theater. 

And...occasionally Blogger and I get into arguments and I lose which is why all the pictures are on the left side instead of in the middle. SO, if you're OCD like I am, I apologize for you having to cringe the whole way down but I threw up the white flag.

Like last Halloween, I wanted something easy, cheap, and something I could whip together myself for Brooklynn. Knowing her, too, I know that it needed to be something she'd keep on! Haha! So I grabbed a tutu, some tassels. And a feather and whipped this Indian costume up. I'm sure next year she will tell me what she wants to dress up as but until then, we do simple! She camped out at the petting zoo the whole night. That's the closest she'll be to having her own dog for the time being! 

Friday we spent the day downtown. We are normally held up in the house on Saturdays in front of the TV so we like to get out on Fridays. Brooklynn got to see more doggies, duckies, and "wata". We finished out Friday with the last high school football game of the regular season.

Halloween was spent watching football, painting pumpkins, eating taco soup and waiting for the THREE trick or treaters to show up. 

Hope you all had a fun Halloween... but you know what that means...

It's time for Christmas because the Hallmark Channel and the Haywood Mall said so.

Cooler Weather Fashion + Favorites

If I had to choose my favorite time of the year to dress it would be Fall. Not the "it's not cold but not hot" phase but the "it's cold but not freezing" phase.

If I had to describe my style in one word it'd be: simple. My ideal outfit and one I would wear if I had to choose one for the rest of my life would be a white tee and dark skinny jeans. I've always been a girly/preppy dresser. For a short stint of time I tried to be somewhat "hipster" because that was the trend but it just wasn't me. I never felt confident. I think the most important thing when it comes to your style is to find what you feel the most confident in and go with that. It also makes getting ready in the mornings SO much easier.

I'm a layer nut. Which is why I love Fall. It's hard to layer in the Summer without becoming a sweaty mess. That white tee and jean combo I love? Still works when it's cold. Add a vest, jacket, scarf, boots, and go. Basics are your friend. Invest in them and wear them different ways.

Here are some staples I'm loving for Fall and my favorite ways to wear them with the basics that are already in your closet.

Plaid & Gingham

Plaid isn't going anywhere anytime soon. Plaid has become a neutral. It goes with anything and can be worn however you like- whether it's around your waste or around your neck.

cyndispivey.com

theodysseyonline.com

stylishwife.com

brandedgirls.com

Vests

I really hate wearing jackets. Especially when you're just going to be running around. No one wants to lug a jacket around. Enter vests.

thesweetestthingblog.com

southerncurlsandpearls.com

uoionline.com 

foiclothing.com

thissillygirlslife.com

Cardigans

Again with the alternative to a jacket. Cuter and still warm.

lizmarieblog.com

buzzfeed.com

lolajefeed.com

fashionqe.com

Boots

You can't have a Fall outfit without boots. I wait all year long to break these babies out. If you're going to get one pair of boots, I'd grab a pair of camel color boots. The color goes with black or brown, they're clean, and pull any outfit together. I have to say I turned my nose up to those "duck boots" that started appearing last year. After all this rain, they're next on my list!

glamradar.com

ae.com

pinkpeonies.com

Leather

Okay. I know I said I don't like jackets. When I do wear a jacket, it's normally leather (unless it's 20 degrees or I'm skiing then I'll bring out the puffer jacket). I know leather can be scary, especially the pants BUT if done right, I think they look great!

stylishwife.com

fashiongum.com

blog.styleestate.com

stephaniesterjovski.com

So when you're out shopping, grab a few things that can be paired with many other things. I try not to buy a lot of "trendy" items because next season they'll be out so invest in a few of these things that are classic and will stick around for a while. P.S. I don't think plaid is going anywhere so all you hipster kiddos and student pastors are good.to.go. ;-)

Our Weekend + Apple Picking

This weekend was one for the books on both ends of the spectrum. Friday & Saturday were all kinds of crazy. Brooklynn was fighting a cold so we tried to stay in as much as possible. On top of that, she has officially entered the terrible twos, cranky twos, don't-need-no -sleep-twos, etc. Anyways, we needed some fun so Sunday we headed to the Apple Orchard to burn off some steam. 

We tested fate and decided to skip Brooklynn's nap time and head to Hendersonville for the day. I wanted Brooklynn to pick a pumpkin to paint and get some fresh air after being sick but let's be honest, we all went for the apple cider and pumpkin donuts and frozen apple cider. 

A lot of people consider our family to be cliquish. Honestly, these are the people who have never failed me or disappointed me. I'd rather hang with them (& their significant others) than anyone on this planet. They're the worlds greatest.

Happy Monday and Happy Halloween Week!