At our house, we are focusing more on celebrating Advent this year than in years past. We've been spending time singing the sweet carols that I so wish we sang year-round! I'm loving the words of "O Holy Night" so much right now. The simple truth and weight of Christmas, put so beautifully in just a few lines of this old hymn! In sin and error we were pining, until He came, and the soul felt its worth. Thank you, precious Jesus. You are my thrill of hope!

I've been talking about these 50 Promises memory cards that are available in my shop, and I often forget to share how much I use them myself. When I'm having an off day, when I feel unmotivated, anxious, or just completely out of joy (it usually hits me in the mornings) I like to sit down on the couch and just flip through the whole stack of cards all in one go. It's like a shot in the arm. Really. 

But usually at some point during the week there is a situation that comes up, or a worry that won't leave my mind, that calls for picking one promise in particular. I read that one promise over and over and coach my mind to think on it. I pray over it, and I plead it. We glorify God when we plead His promises. He loves it when we take one of His own promises back to Him and say,"Do as You have said, Lord." As C.H. Spurgeon says in his legendary devotional book Morning & Evening (which, let me just say, YES, I highly recommend buying this one or finding an app for it):



Last week I was facing a situation that was (and still is) confusing and hard and sad and painful. I was aching to have clarity on how to handle/respond to it. I needed to respond to it somehow, and I needed to decide how I was going to do that. I needed guidance. And the Lord brought this verse to mind- Psalm 32:8, Promise #38 in my the memory card collection:
I had just seen this verse not long ago in one of my devotional readings and knew it was for me. It was perfect- exactly what I needed. I did recite it over and over to myself, day by day, all week long. And I did go to the Lord with it and I asked Him to "do as He said." And He did. I found rest for my mind and made my decision, knowing that He had instructed me. The only One who gives perfect wisdom, who never changes, and never fails.

My friends, I know you are facing lots of decisions today, this week, and always. Let me encourage you with my own experience from last week. When you are anxious about a decision you need to make, battle the unbelief, stress, and worried thoughts with the promise of Psalm 32:8.

Now it's your turn to talk! Are you using His promises and cashing them in day by day? Yay! Please, if you feel like sharing, I'd love to hear a particular promise that you have pleaded lately. Let's encourage each other and give praise to Jesus by talking about all the great things He has done for us. It doesn't have to be a long comment, just a quick reference or word of praise, because...

Yesterday the snow whipped around our windows all day. This morning, I looked out and the world was frozen- so still and sparkling. A blue sky and a backyard blanketed with with glittering hard snow. I don't know what it is about this March, but I'm really content with it. Loving the gray days, the blustery days, all of it. Like I mentioned last week, I'm not tired of the winter weather here in Minnesota and was excited to see more snow coming later in the week. (!!!) So thankful the Lord gives grace to outlast an average 5-6 month winter. Not that I won't be thrilled when it's sunny and 70.

I think this contentment is all part of a gift I've been given from the Lord recently. A season of peace. Quiet days at home, an abundance of time with my husband. Not all parts of the year are like this, and I'm stopping a minute to let it sink in.

This is awesome.

Thank you, Lord. This is from You.

To top it all off, I feel like dinner has been getting freshened up around here. We've found a few new favorites and this red curry over rice is one of them. I think we'll be having it at least once a week for awhile. It's made with delicious grass-fed beef, red curry paste, and soaked brown rice, and has just the right amount of mild heat- warm enough for us grown ups and not too spicy for Hadley. She loves it. Big thanks to my sweet friend Erin for her recipe, which she assures me is not authentic, but it's yummy! I know absolutely nothing about curry, but I'm learning that there's the Indian kind of curry and there's Thai kind of curry and this is Thai-ish. For you guys who know more than me, I think it might fall somewhere between panang curry and pad gra pow? Regardless, it's delicious and really fun (easy, just stand at the stove and stir one pan) to make.

yesterday was grant's first day back to school. it is a notoriously rude day, cutting into any routines we had gotten into since coming home from camp and generally breaking the three of us up. i always have a hard time transitioning. i knew the familiar feeling would come while saying goodbye and watching him drive away: here we go... day 1 of the 270 that lie ahead. oh boy.

so i was determined to pray. it was going to be a long, 12-hour day for grant and potentially a lonely/sad time for me. but i didn't want my own (bad) attitude to rule the day. i asked Him to fill my heart with His joy. and i just wanted to write it down: He did. we made it! i found myself appreciating tiny things all day long… getting a pan washed, taking Hadley for a walk, eating guacamole, baking some chicken, opening the kitchen window, seeing the sun.. everything. i was not feeling discouraged. by His grace, i was feeling thankful- cheerful, even! thank you, Jesus for answering prayer! i love that our God is faithful. and He will be faithful through another school year.

unrelated photo is of a teeny flower i found in my broccoli from the farmers market. sweet, isn't it? 
store-bought broccoli does not have flowers :) 

as i'm gearing up to write my big thankful list this week, i need to write a little precursor. 

in everything, give thanks. it's so simple. but can i make it ring true in my life? some days it's hard. the past several weeks i've been sort of.. distracted. ineffective. letting the dishes pile up. procrastinating on the gym. just sort of plodding along, in a funny kind of slump. last week i mentioned to a friend that i was afraid of this spirit of "sliding by" i had let creep in on me. i was constantly keeping handy a mindset of, "hmm. i don't really feel like it." now, don't get me wrong- my days are cheery enough. after all, christmas is coming! but all the more reason for me to wonder at why i felt so out of it. then today i read this:

Heaven is not here, it's There. If we were given all we wanted here, our hearts would settle for this world rather than the next. God is forever luring us up and away from this one, wooing us to Himself and His still invisible kingdom, where we will certainly find what we so keenly long for. 


"Running aground," (a trial, a failure, a slump, whatever has you feeling unsatisfied) then, is not the end of the world. But it helps to make the world a bit less appealing. It may even be God's answer to "Lead us not into temptation"- the temptation complacently to settle for visible things.

elisabeth elliot
keep a quiet heart 

this was the perfect reminder to straighten me out. if everything went absolutely smoothly everyday, if i was always satisfied and never out of it, if i was completely content with how i'm doing and forever fulfilled with "visible things," i would certainly not want to leave. i would never desire heaven. i wouldn't depend on Him for my joy. everything would be all wrong. this world will never satisfy fully, and i should stop trying to make it do so. that's not what it's been designed to do.

so i can be thankful in all things, including and maybe especially a slump. (which by the way, has been fading recently) thank you Lord, for keeping me in check. thank you for trials and failures and all the little things that go wrong. thank you for reminding me that no matter how merry the days are here, they will be even more dazzling There!