Without Borders

"Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders
Let me walk upon the waters
Wherever You would call me
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander
And my faith will be made stronger
In the presence of my Savior"

Oceans (Where My Feet Fail) by Hillsong United

Such beautiful words. 

Such a beautiful heart behind them. 

How often is this our prayer? That God would lead us into a place where there are no borders for our trust...nothing standing in between my faith, and His will. No fears, no walls, no preconceptions, nothing standing in the way of me trusting the one whom my soul loves so desperately.  A place as this would mean a place where we have no choice but to trust...for there is nothing else to grab hold of. That is a scary place...yet that is where My God resides. And there...in that place...the one called surrender...I will be made stronger. For He is all that is left to draw from. And after all...He is enough.

Where I am is not enough. I desire more faith. I desire to go deeper...always deeper. 

Love,

C

A time to plant...

"There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens..."

It's been a while since I've written. To be honest, the reason for that is I haven't really had much to say. I'm in a bit of a funk.

 I've been living here in Dallas now for almost 8 months. 8 months of a new job, a new church, new city, new friends. New everything. For someone who lived her entire life in the same city and never experienced anything like this before, that is a lot of new!

Some of that "new" has been so exciting! I love meeting new people and being the new girl can be a lot of fun. I have loved exploring a new city! Dallas has so much culture and tons of areas to explore. I love all the trees and the green ( so different than phoenix). I love my new church. There are great people there who love the Lord and really seek His will for their life and that of the church. I love my family here who have taken me in and supported me during this transition.

Lately though, its been hard to focus on all that I love about this new life. It's a lot easier to only see the areas I feel I am lacking in. I am still working hard to make good friendships; I am lonely and would really like to have the right guy in my life;  work is a lot of work sometimes; I miss everyone in AZ.

Blah Blah Blah.. you get the picture! Pity parties have been a little more frequent with this girl lately. I hope I'm not being too depressing about any of this. Just being real. I came across this staple of a verse in Ecclesiastes and felt a little peace about where I'm at right now. I have a lot of people out there who have encouraged me in this season of newness that I am in. The thing I keep hearing over and over is that this is my time to plant. To do the hard work. To do. To work the extra hours at church, go out on a limb and make the effort to develop more friendships. Put myself out there a little. Man oh man! That kind of stuff is hard for me! But if I really am in a season of harvest, than there must be something coming forth soon :)

So, this has just been me being a little more raw than I usually am. For anyone else out there in a season of something not so fun, I encourage you to devote your all to wherever you are right now. Because it too is only a season and who knows what you will reap from it down the road :)

Shan

Home

Nothing like the gentle warmth of a citrus scented candle to warm your hands on a cool afternoon blazing 118 degree summer day. Who's with me? Nobody?
If you're from Phoenix, maybe you understand my dilemma. Blistering temps outside.
We're talking bake cookies on your hood, fry an egg on the sidewalk, blow torch wind in your face, I might possibly melt today hot outside Oh, but don't worry it's a "dry heat." (I'm rolling my eyes in case you are unaware of the sarcasm attached to that last statement). Personally, I think heat is heat...boil a chicken, bake a chicken...either way, that baby's gettin' cooked, and so am I...until I walk inside that is.
Everyone in Phoenix has to make up for the oven like air qualities outside by making it Antarctica inside...I mean, really? is that necessary? I'm freezing in this heat!
Alas, here I sit, warming my hands with a candle and dreading the painful walk to my car that awaits me at the end of this work day.

In other news, I have had the lovliest of weekends. (Two in a row to be exact!)

Despite the ridiculously hot temperatures this weekend, I ventured out into the city with some sweet friends. Friday night we had a wonderful dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, Postino, and shared the most delicious array of Bruschetta. I mean, who has 12 different types of bruschetta?! Ah, so yummy! And then, I spent Saturday with my sister shopping and being girly.

 

Last weekend I had the opportunity to throw a baby shower for my the lovely Bex of Bex, a Diary blog. This woman is inspirational. You should check out her blog if you haven't and read through her journey of infertility and adoption. A long time in the waiting, they were finally licensed to foster and hopefully adopt a sweet little one. We had a beautiful party to celebrate this and spoil her with all kinds of necessities for mommyhood. I hope to have some pictures for you soon.

For now I just wanted to say how amazed I am at the heart of foster care. What an incredible noble, and selfless task. To love children...to welcome them into your home and make them your own. To provide for them and nurture them to growth. What a beautiful, beautiful example of Christ's love.

Much like a child that requires love in order to grow, we too need to be adopted into a new kind of home; One full of love and grace like we have never known. I always had a difficult time with the idea of God adopting me as an orphan, because I have wonderful parents. Yet, even the best of parents cannot compare to the love God has for me, His daughter. And if I am to grow, I need to be with Him where I am always learning.

John 15 talks a lot about this being 'in Him." If we don't, we perish. We must make our home with Him as The Message version puts it:

"4Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can’t bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can’t bear fruit unless you are joined with me...
9-10I’ve loved you the way my Father has loved me. Make yourselves at home in my love. If you keep my commands, you’ll remain intimately at home in my love. That’s what I’ve done—kept my Father’s commands and made myself at home in his love.11-15“I’ve told you these things for a purpose: that my joy might be your joy, and your joy wholly mature. This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you."

 I love that not only do we get to be loved and adopted, and not only do we get to grow and bear fruit, and not only do gain the Joy of Christ, but we also get to learn how to love and extend those same things to others. A wonderful and worthy task.

Hope your Monday is going well! Much Love,
C

Here's a completely random pic of my mom and I...just cause I think she's cool. :)