multitude monday.

93. holding my sleeping baby girl.

94. yellow pom-pom flowers. so cheeful and happy. i'm obsessed with them.

95. gloomy days and pajamas.

96. homemade cinnamon rolls and coffee on a lazy sunday morning.

97. bella's soft, chubby hands and how they feel grasped in mine.

98. an inspiring church service.

99. soft blankets.

100. the familiarity and comfort of my husband.

101. sharing cadillac fajitas at seven salsas with the man i went on a first date with there four years ago.

102. hanging out with my cousin, rachel who i haven't gotten to spend a lot of time with in probably ten years thanks to college, grad school and living out of state.

103. snuggling with my sick bella. even at two oclock in the morning, i am thankful for the sweet time with my baby in our rocking chair.

pretty-ing up a bedroom.

i love decorating. i *especially* love decorating when i can create something cheap and pretty. it just makes my heart happy.

this weekend, a few changes/additions to our bedroom was exactly that thing that made my heart happy. we've lived in our apartment for almost two years and had yet to hang anything on our bedroom walls. b-o-r-i-n-g. it was driving me crazy. i loved our bedding, which you can see here, but we needed to add some wall decor very badly.

about two months ago, i made these frames on a craft night with one of my girlfriends, amanda. i simply took one of our pillowcases that matched our bedspread and framed them in some old white frames i had laying around. perfect. and the cost? zero dollars. even better.

yes, it took about two months for them to actually make it up on our wall, but ta-da! here they are hung above our dresser.

love. it. i love little knick-knacks, but not tacky ones. pretty ones. here i have used a few to embellish the top of our dresser.

- clearance picture frames: i found these silver frames on clearance at target. i made some black and white prints and here is one of bella; a newborn shot from the hospital. so sweet. i love decorating with art that's us. in my opinion, using pictures of our family to fill empty spaces and add a nice touch is so much better than pictures of random things.

- money jar: nick&i have a "money jar". it's actually a vase you can see peeking out from the back that we throw all of our spare change in. if my wallet gets bulging with change, i dump it into this vase. if nick has spare coins that he leaves by his wallet, i snag them and throw them in the vase. it isn't much now, but it's adding up and our hope is to be saving towards a treat for ourselves at some point (maybe a 5 year anniversary trip?? one can dream... i guess we still have two years to save!)

- vase filled with stones: i got the square vase at target (again, on clearance) and filled it with river rocks that i found at wal-mart. we used these river rocks everywhere in the decor for our wedding, so i love incorporating them into our home. i think it's important--and fun--to be able to look around your home and see memories in the items that you use to decorate.

- white vase with flowers: my favorite. this sweet little vase we had on our wedding registry at crate&barrel, that i filled with some sweet lil yellow pom-pom flowers. they just make me feel cheerful. and add a fun pop of color to the room. love it!

on the other side...

- clearance picture frames: again. i have another frame from clearance at target (can you tell i love that aisle?) this time with a print of one of our wedding pictures.

- candle holder: a quartz-like candle holder we got as a wedding gift that i think is so quirky and great! i love character pieces like this that are unique and add a great twist to decorating. especially if it's something special and sentimental like a wedding gift.

- necklace holder: i found this silver tree at target (yep, you guessed it... in the clearance aisle) that is originally meant to be a necklace holder, but i just loved it for a little accessory to add to our room decor. i love it, and it matches the nature theme of our bedding. i'm a huge fan of re-purposing items in decorating and being creative with what you find.

i have a few other projects i'll be working on... it will probably take me a few months to finish those ones, too ;) but i'll be sure to post them when i do.

happy decorating!

what's for dinner tonight {healthy chinese chicken salad}.

i *love* salads. i really, really do. and i really love chinese chicken salads... and yall know how much i love my crockpot, so this recipe changed my life.

seriously.

you need to try this!! lately whenever i cook something asian, nick doesn't love it so much. which is especially strange because i could "make" him a bowl of cereal for dinner and he would love it. i made a stir fry the other night with bok choy, carrot, water chestnuts, lean organic pork in soy sauce with fresh garlic and ginger... yum. he wasn't a big fan. i also make amazing peanut noodles with my own peanut sauce by whisking together peanut butter, soy sauce, honey and orange juice. he says it's too "peanut-buttery" {sigh} so... i was pretty sure he may not like this one, but i wanted to give it a try anyway.

end result: one. happy. husband. he loved it. maybe even more than i did, which is pretty amazing! here's the recipe. go make it. right now.

(note: this recipe is for 2 servings although you will have alot of dressing... just double other ingredients for larger serving amounts and keep the dressing the same; you should have enough of this dressing for four salads. adapted from fix it and forget it lightly cookbook, p.34)

healthy chinese chicken salad

marinade:
* 3 cloves garlic, minced
* 1 T. fresh ginger, grated
* 2 T. honey
* 3 T. low sodium soy sauce
* 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, frozen

dressing:
* 1/2 c. rice wine vinegar (i just used white since we had it on hand)
* 1 clove garlic, minced
* 1 t. fresh ginger, grated
* 1 T. honey
* i added a few dashes of soy sauce, too... just season according to your preference

salad:
* shredded romaine lettuce
* 1 lg. carrot, julienned
* 1/4 c. cilantro, chopped
* 1 pkg. tofu shirataki noodles (LOVE these! they are lowfat, lowcarb, gluten-free and taste amazing!!)
* crushed peanuts for garnish (i used sunflower seeds since we didn't have any peanuts)

- whisk marinade together. place chicken in crockpot, coat with marinade. cook chicken on low 6 to 8 hrs. (note: i put my meat in frozen since i am gone in the afternoons... that way, it cooks longer and i find it is more moist this way)
- remove chicken from crockpot, set aside to cook. in a small bowl, combine dressing ingredients and whisk together.
- place lettuce, carrot and cilantro on plates. with two forks, shred chicken and place ontop of salads.
- remove noodles from package and rinse well in cold water. after thouroughly rinsing and draining dry, place ontop of chicken. drizzle with dressing and sprinkle with peanuts.

a-maz-ing. not even joking. and healthy, too which is a double bonus in our house.
nutritional facts: (130 calories, 2.5 g fat, 21 g protein, 6 g carbohydrate)

enjoy!

thursday three.

well, it's 11:43 and i had fallen asleep but woke up to a huge coughing fit. we are seeming to pass allergies and colds around this house and it's kind of a drag. i decided to get up and use my trusty netti pot and get some water, while also allowing time for my husband (who i undoubtedly startled half to death with my racking coughs) to fall blissfully off to sleep once again.

and here i sit.

which gives me time to write the thursday three in the fifteen minutes i have left before it is no longer thursday.

nick
miracle of all miracles this week is no guessing game (although i guessed it right on my first try... i told you i know the mind of my husband!) i actually remembered to ask nick today what his top moment of the week was... and alas, it was going to the mavs game last night with three of his best friends for *free*. that's right, people... f-r-e-e. love that! his friend matt won free tickets because he won some score-guessing-contest (and actually guessed the score to a mavs game spot on which is pretty crazy) and was awarded four free tickets to last night's mavs game against the jazz. i know my husband acted like the crazy sports fan that he is; complete with his mavs t-shirt, screaming&yelling and his giant-number-one-foam-hand waving in the air (just kidding on the giant hand... but still.) anyone who knows my husband knows he loves his sports, and i just love watching him in action, as does everyone else. love. that. man.

meg
i would have to say my highlight of the week may sound like a shallow one, but please hear me out... these days shopping for myself is an extremely rare occasion. but as i have been learning over the past several months, the lord reminded me of again this week: god always takes care of our needs... and sometimes he chooses to take care of our wants. this week with some sale-watching, coupon clipping and store credit at the gap, i managed to snag a pair of $70 skinny jeans for a mere twenty bucks. yep, i loved it. almost as much as i love. these. jeans. aaaaand due to a shipping mishap (long story) i also was blessed with a super cute easter dress for bel for practically free. i definitely tend to struggle sometimes with our lack of "things" or the means to obtain "things" especially since we chose to have me be a stay-at-home-mom for our family. i wouldn't have it any other way; it just makes finances a bit tighter. i've been asking jesus to help me with that this week, and to keep my mind stayed on the many things i'm so thankful for. he--as always--has been faithfully changing my heart and helping me focus on the irreplaceable blessings around me that i could never even imagine my life being without. the "things" that are worth *far* more than all the money in the entire world. so that, my friends, is really the highlight of my week :) doesn't mean my struggle is over, but it's always good to have those little reminders... and god is so sweet to give them.

bel
our poor little sweetie has not been feeling so hot the past few days. she's had a runny nose, cough and just doesn't look or act like herself. it's quite sad. but this has also meant more time in her pjs, more cuddle time with daddy and mama, and more "praisebaby" and "baby einstein" (which we ordinarily limit to a few times a week... but this week i think she has watched one or the other every single day. ahhh well.) i think bella's highlight this week was getting a couple new toys from grammie and grampy! they had given bel her first tea set (plastic, of course) for christmas, and i stashed it in the closet to bring out later when the newness of some of her other christmas toys had worn off. we brought it out this week, much to her excitement in only the way a baby can show it. as soon as she saw the box, she began squealing and kicking her feet with a huge smile on her face. so. cute. so we've been playing "tea" which she hasn't quite gotten the hang of yet and certainly has no manners. the english would be sorely disappointed. for valentines day, grammie and grampy gave her an activity walker that we just picked up this week. it makes lots of noises and has tons of buttons that light up and play songs. it keeps her entertained for a while. hard to imagine that she will soon be pushing it all over the apartment as she waddles behind it! it seems like just yesterday when all she did was lay on a blanket and blink. she has been growing up so fast i think i cry about it every day. just kidding, but i do get teary-eyed. a lot.

and there you have it, friends. our thursday three just before midnight. i will now go back to bed and hopefully be asleep within seconds. stay away, cough. stay away.

multitude monday.

85. movie nights with my best friend (aka: "my husband").
86. lazy weekends.
87. hazelnut coffee creamer.
88. gap clearance sales.
89. target gift cards.
90. weekend mornings in bed snuggling with my loves. bella squealing with excitement and learning to play peek-a-boo on her own. so cute.
91. homemade fajitas.
92. riding in the car with windows done, sunroof open, music blaring. spring is here in dallas!

thursday three.

it's been a good week. nothing extraordinary, but good. spring is in the air... after a couple of weeks of snow&ice, it's been in the 70s the past few days here in dallas.

crazy.

there's something about valentines day that i love, even though i think it's annoying it's become such a commercial "holiday". i still think its fun. i've had to convince nick of this fact a little bit... he always says he'd rather show me he loves me every day, rather than one day dictated by the pink and red aisles at target and flowers-chocolate-and-candy-businesses. true, but i'm still a fan. i've been real nostalgic lately... amazed and thankful at how our life has changed in the past year. this year, i had two valentines; last year one of them was hiding out in my belly:

can't believe how fast time flies... so thankful for where we are right. this. moment. here is this week's thursday three.

nick
as usual, i forgot to ask him about his highlight this week. but i like to think i know the mind of my husband so well that i can figure it out on my own. here goes. nick was the assistant coach for the second year in a row for the girls varsity basketball team at his school, first baptist academy. while he enjoyed it, and it was fun for bel&i to go to his games, the season ended on saturday and i know he was relieved to have a bit of a break! his girls were so sweet and gave him a big bag full of gift cards and other goodies, which was really nice. seriously, i think my husband has gotten close to $100 in starbucks gift cards over the past couple of months. crazy. and he loves it, that coffee addict that i married. i would also guess that another highlight for nick would be our date night on saturday which we used as our "valentines date". we dropped bella off at his parents, went and got take out from our fav sushi place, brought it home and watched a movie on our couch. we've done this alot lately for date night, but it is our favorite. with our weeks being so busy, it's so nice to be able to relax together, baby-free, at home in our pj's. our idea of a perfect date night.

meg
definitely date night would be a highlight for sure (goes without saying). we also wrote each other letters this year for valentines day... which is always the *best* gift ever to me! another highlight for me was some "me" time i was given this past weekend! on saturday afternoon, nick took bella to his sisters while he was at his game and i got to go have some great time with my girlfriends. it's such a blessing for me to have time to myself, and i was so excited! even better: we had an "anne of green gables" marathon. can we say blast from the past?! so fun. i grew up on those movies, so it brought me right back to being an eight year old girl watching them with my sister. we ate snacks all day and got lost in the world of prince edward island. it was pure bliss. so thankful for my girl friends!

bel
baby girl is changing *so* much. it's pretty unbelievable. she has her four front teeth, is eating chicken and toast and graham crackers, and loooooves people; mostly when they're giving her attention :) if she could tell me what her highlight was this week, i think she would say getting to see so much family. she spent the afternoon on saturday with her aunt jessica, uncle james and her favorite: her cousin wyatt :) then, she got to spend the night at her nonni and papa's saturday night, which she loves! and sunday she skyped with her grammie and grampy in maine, smiling, shrieking and kicking her feet with excitement! such a fun weekend for our little social butterfly.

there you have it, friends. this week's thursday three. so much to be thankful for.

before--or after--you say "i do" (part three).

here is part three of my three part series of an article i wrote on marriage. if you need parts one and two, read those first and then come back. it will make alot more sense that way!

not having those hard conversations

oftentimes in dating or marriage, we are afraid to deal with areas of potential conflict, so instead we resort to avoidance... a behavior that is fatal to the level of intimacy within a relationship. everyone has issues, struggles and things that we'd rather not have someone else see. every relationship deals with areas of conflict--whether how to squeeze toothpaste from the tube or working through communication differences--and it seems easier sometimes to just bottle in our anger rather than address it. we are oftentimes afraid to deal with these struggles or "hot button" issues so we don't share with our partner, and thus avoid bringing up these hard conversations altogether. we don't want to "upset the apple cart" so instead we choose to compromise our closeness as a couple.

when my husband, nick and i began dating, he suggested from the start that we share with one another our struggles and issues--whether past or current. though we were both nervous and scared to be so vulnerable, it helped establish a pattern for us early on... we were able to fall in love with each other for who we really were; not who we pretended to be. this didn't just start (or stop) when we met each other. we both had mentor figures in our lives that helped us see things that we may not otherwise see. they helped give us guidance, godly advice and provided wisdom and discernment for us before we even met one another. throughout our dating relationship, we had these relationships and sought advice from those around us to help keep us level-headed and clear minded amidst the brain-cloudiness that often happens when falling in love. by god's grace, we both got involved in a recovery ministry through my job on staff at a church and began recognizing even more not only our shortcomings and issues, but the root of them as well. we say over and over this was god's grace at work in our lives... we don't know where we would be had that not been such an integral foundation to our marriage! we are far from perfect; that goes without saying! god graciously allowed us to be engaged in dealing with our struggles, seeking accountability and allowing others to ask tough questions of our lives.

not only did our mentor relationships and the support around us open us up to the practice of having hard, vulnerable conversations, but it also helped us deal with our "junk" before dragging it with us into a marriage where it has the ability to hurt another person so deeply. we've had some pretty tough conversations throughout our dating relationship, engagement and marriage. we've both had to work through dealing with each other's sin and the things that make us insecure and afraid. these moments of truth can be scary. they can tempt me to retreat back into my desire for a cozy, comfortable marriage... however, i know that's not what i desire at all. we cannot possibly have complete oneness in marriage if we're not willing to go to the dark places with our spouse. the battlefields. intimacy will only happen to the level of which we are willing to be open and honest with ourselves and with one another.

for me there is great fear in having these conversations because it feels like i am exposed to my husband; walking around without my skin on. and that is scary. vulnerability is oftentimes something that causes most of us great fear. we all, on some level, have the need for security. and baring our soul to another person (or having them bare theirs to us) seems like we are being robbed of that sense of safety. however, learning to communicate through these hard issues will only result in a greater sense of security and trust within a marital relationship. this must first begin in the dating process. all too often, people sign on to marry someone that doesn't really exist; they marry who that person pretends to be--or who they desire that person to be--rather than the reality. this is when the most intimate of relationships is established on shaky ground. a couple must work even harder then to re-establish crumbled trust and security within the relationship.

opening up our wounds to one another also allows the beauty of the healing process to take place. shame and guilt are met with grace... this is where the gospel gets to live within a marriage. while it is a scary process, a marriage can be deepened as the result. more importantly, god is glorified as we allow his grace and love to transform us from the inside out. authors jim and sarah sumner have truly lived this out in their marriage. though they write honestly about their struggle to live the gospel out within their marriage, their example implores to live the deeper marital relationship god desires for us. jim (a former male stripper) met sarah (a seminary graduate and theologian) after he had first met christ at willow creek church just outside of chicago. their story is marked by the beauty of oneness and christ's restoration as we take ownership of our junk and ask him to help us live authentically with one another. jim writes this:

"whatever we had been fighting about may have started with a hot button, but it ended in rage. yet god was right there with us. because i had turned to god, and sarah had turned to god while i was away, both of us had gained a fresh willingness to take ownership of our stuff. time and again we have gone to god, rediscovering our need for his forgiveness. in all our pettiness from past pain, immaturity from 'hot buttons' and sin from marital fights, we have found forgiveness in the lord. because god has forgiven us in christ jesus, we can forgive each other. we are partners in forgiveness. that is how we managed our engagement, and that is how we live together now. our relationship isn't easy, but it's strong--because forgiveness is the method that enables us to venture through this humbling life as one flesh." (just how married do you want to be? p. 137)

their book begs an intriguing question... just how married do you want to be? now, or someday in the future? how deeply do you want to experience intimacy in your relationship? how far do you want to practice oneness and allow the gospel to live out in your marriage--current or future? it may be scary to open up to one another on such an authentic level, but it allows us to experience god's design for marriage: total reliance on him, allowing him to chisel us more into the image of his son, and practicing his grace and forgiveness with ourselves and with our spouse.

god's purpose for marriage is far different than our culture's; and far more rewarding. marriage is an amazing journey... good, hard, messy and beautiful. all rolled into one. god wants us to experience nothing less. we can be sharpening ourselves now--whether married or single--in these areas of our lives. dependency on the lord, making him our number one love and passion, developing an understanding of holiness vs. happiness and living in authenticity with ourselves and others. it's what god calls us to.

multitude monday.

"i pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his spirit in your inner being, so that christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. and i pray that you, being rooted and established in love may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of christ, and to know this love that suprasses knowledge--that you may be filled ot the measure of all the fullness of god.

now to him who his able to do immeasureably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us."

eph. 3:16-20

79. thinking about god's love for me today... how he cares about the little things. his plans for me. his hope, peace and love.

80. valentine's date with nick; how there is no other place i'd rather be than in our home, wearing our pj's, eating sushi take out on our couch. we've come along way since our first valentine's day date four years ago!

81. squeezing my little girl and remembering last valentines day feeling her wiggling in my swollen belly.

82. my family and how we support, encourage and love one another.

83. friends all over the country--some who have known me through many seasons of my life--and how we have had the privilege of walking with one another and supporting each other through the valleys, and rejoicing with one another on the mountaintops.

84. the lavish blessings and richness of christ's love... not in material ways... but in far more important ones.

happy valentine's day!

what's for breakfast this morning {easy cinnamon rolls}.

these cinnamon rolls are not only scrumptious and easy, but they hold a special place in my heart. when we got home from the hospital with bella, we were blessed with meals and goodies from lots of friends and family. some of our friends, the lovely zimmermans, brought us some *delish* goodies our first day at home. penney is an amazing cook, so we were especially excited :) among the deliciousness were these yummy cinnamon rolls that we would pop in our toaster oven to warm before popping them into our hungry-and-sleep-deprived-but-so-in-love-with-our-new-bundle bellies. the key? these are made with bisquick mix, so they are super simple. as well as delish. have i mentioned that yet?

well, they are.

perfect for a saturday morning breakfast. i have two additional girlies in my home this morning from a sleepover last night and they requested these from when i made them last time :) can't wait until bella can eat them, too!

easy cinnamon rolls

* 2 1/4 c. bisquick mix

* 2/3 c. milk

* 6 T. butter, softened

* 1/4 c. white sugar

* 1/2 c. light brown sugar, divided

* cinnamon to taste

- preheat oven to 450 degrees.

- mix bisquick and milk until dough is formed. sprinkle countertop with flour and turn out dough onto the surface. knead 3 or 4 times.

- roll dough into long rectangle. spread 3 T. of softened butter onto dough. sprinkle white sugar and 1/4 c. brown sugar over butter and top with cinnamon to taste.

- roll dough from the bottom, making a long, thin log. cut into eight slices. place rolls in a sprayed pan and bake for 10-12 minutes.

- while baking rolls, melt 3 T. and stir in remaining 1/4 c. brown sugar. when cinnamon rolls are finished, pour brown-sugar-butter over the top and allow to cool before eating.

not only do they taste delicious, but they make your house smell absolutely *scrumptious*.

enjoy! yum.

before--or after--you say "i do" (part two).

if you missed the first part, you can find it here. this is an article i wrote for a friend's blog a few years ago about three pitfalls in dating/marriage that can lead to hardship within the relationship. here's part two.

thinking marriage is about happiness

one of my favorite books on marriage is sacred marriage by gary thomas. it caught my eye once because of the tagline of the book which reads, "what if god designed marriage to make us holy rather than happy?" this sentence can singlehandedly revolutionize the way we look at marriage. i can't tell you how many women and couples i see in my office on a weekly basis, complaining about their marriages because they are just not "happy" anymore. this thought not only applies to our marriages, but it beckons us to look more deeply into the sole purpose of life. is it to make us happy? or does life exist so that we can make god happy? in his book, gary speaks to this thought as he writes:

"one of the reasons i am determined to keep my marriage together is not because doing so will make me happier (although i believe it will); not because i want my kids to have a secure home (although i do desire that); not because it would tear me up to watch my wife having to start over (although it would). the first reason i keep my marriage together is because it is my christian duty. if my life is based on proclaiming christ's message to the world, i don't want anything to challenge that message. and how can i proclaim reconciliation when i seek dissolution? this analogy of reconciliation does more than merely provide the purpose for our marriage. it also helps us live out this purpose 'even when lightening strikes'... if i'm married only for my happiness, and my happiness wanes for whatever reason, one little spark will burn the entire forest of my relationship." (sacred marriage, p. 37)

many people in their single phase of life buy into the lie that "if only i were married, i would be happy". i certainly fell victim to this thought from time to time. this is when marriage begins to be elevated in one's life as the source of ultimate happiness. sure, marriage brings about so many wonderful blessings; with that, it also brings about a different set of trials, a different set of difficulties. this is where the "becoming holy" process begins. just two months into our marriage, my husband and i had a fairly severe falling out with some family and it impacted us greatly. being newly married, we were still trying to adjust to this new life and now this conflict was looming over us. it felt as though we were dragging a huge cinder block behind us in the months that followed. it was heavy and exhausting. i remember sitting on the couch one day, both of us in tears, as i told my husband i just wanted us to be able to enjoy being newlyweds. i wanted that bliss, that giddiness, that chance to just sail through life for a while, enjoying the benefits of marriage that were still new and exciting. instead, the lord allowed this huge hardship to slap us in the face so early on. i was angry. it just didn't seem fair.

being on the other side of this conflict now, and seeing how god used it in our marriage, however painful it was, i wouldn't trade that time in our life together for anything in the world. the lord used it to remind me that his desires for my marriage with my husband are so much greater than mine. i thought i wanted a blissful, easy, smooth, happy marriage, but i know that my heart longs for something so much deeper. i long for passion, for a profound sense of connection with my husband that comes as the result of working through conflict and hardship. not only that; but god longs for something deeper in my marriage as well. he longs to make me more like him.

don't give in to our culture's lie that finding love will make you happy; that marriage is all about our comfort, our satisfaction, our fulfillment. i believe it's important for us to develop a healthy sense of marriage while we are still single... not only that, but developing a healthy view of life in general. it's not about our happiness. it's about our holiness.

**part 3 coming soon...

better than a sparrow.

tonight bel&i got some precious girl time. nick had a game out of town, so we came home and got to hang out... just the two of us.

she has this praise&worship dvd that i *love* watching with her. i got her in her jammies and we sat in the recliner and rocked as we watched it together. it's amazing how many times god has tugged at my heart while reading bella stories out of her "baby bible" or in watching these baby videos... god works in mysterious ways.

this song brought tears to my eyes tonight:

"this is my father's world, and to my listening ears

all nature sings and round me rings

the music of the spheres.

this is my father's world i rest me in the thought

of rocks and trees, of skies and seas;

his hand the wonders wrought.

this is my father's world.

o let me ne'er forget

that though the wrong seems oft so strong

god is the ruler yet.

this is my father's world:

the battle is not done

jesus, who died shall be satisfied

and earth and heaven be one."

love. it.

it makes me think of the passage in matthew (10:29-31) that outlines god's love for us: "are not two sparrows sold for a penny? yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your father. and even the very hairs on your head are all numbered. so don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows."

as i take in the world around me... especially now through the eyes of my daughter... i am struck so often with the majesty of it's creator. and even more so, the fact that the creator of this world and all it's intricacies is the holder of my heart.

{let that soak in for a moment}.

i love reading psalm 8 where david is thinking these very thoughts. he says: "when i consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?" (v. 3,4)

jesus, may i see more of you--your power, your love, your indescribable beauty--in the world around me. in bella's laugh and twinkling eyes. in the quiet stillness of the night air. in the sun bringing it's glistening warmth. in the barren, old fingers of dark, gnarly trees and the white blossoms of spring signaling new life.

this is my father's world. and he intimately cares for everything in it... even the sparrows. and i mean far more to him than they.

(i couldn't resist: how could i write this blog with the word sparrow in the title and not think about "his eye is on the sparrow" from sister act 2... i know, i know so old but it still gives me goosebumps every time. enjoy.)

multitude monday.

68. snow&ice in dallas; and how it caused life to slow down for a whole week.
69. going to sleep under a mound of blankets, watching fluffy snowflakes falling from the sky.
70. waking up at 3 am to the sound of sleet hitting the window and knowing that nick will have a snow day.
71. coffee on cold days.
72. bella's rosy cheeks and red button nose.
73. endless games with friends.
74. the superbowl. most specifically watching the steelers lose the superbowl.
75. the way bella sleeps with her little bottom sticking up in the air. so. cute.
76. movie nights on the couch with the husband. perfect.
77. salt&pepper kettle cooked chips.
78. looking around my home and seeing it filled with people i love. having fun, eating together, laughing and playing with my daughter. blessed.

before--or after--you say "i do" (part one).

one thing i'm passionate about (if you haven't figured this out already) is improving marriages in our society. i wrote this article a few years ago when i was working as a counselor on staff at irving bible church. it was for a friend of ours who asked me to create something for his blog and a series he was doing on singleness, dating and marriage. robert asked me to write on three things i thought contributed to hardship in marriage. whether you are single, dating or married i think it's important to challenge ourselves in this area. we can (and should) always be improving ourselves, which in turn, will improve our relationships.

with valentine's day around the corner, i decided to dig out this article and post it in a three part series on my blog. it challenges me to stay proactive in my marriage and i hope that it may encourage and challenge you--whether single or married--to live out what jesus calls us to.

part one.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------as we look around it is impossible to deny the state of marriage today in our society.

divorces are happening at an alarming rate, our society tells us if we're not "happy" to jump ship, and mainstream media seemingly applauds adultery presenting it as a glamorous option within marriage. it would be highly negligent of us as a Church not to examine the cracks in the sanctity of marriage within our culture to see what is at the root of its brokenness. as i have met with countless men and women as a pastoral counselor, i have seen several patterns contributing to such pitfalls within marriage. i'd like to outline three of them in this article--three ways to increase the likelihood of conflict and hardship within your marriage... current or future.

making marriage your everything

this pitfall establishes itself early on... well before marriage in most cases. our hearts begin to long for the love of a person who will live life with us. this desire in and of itself is not necessarily a bad thing; however, it can become very harmful if marriage is set as "life's biggest goal". before we know it, we've begun putting our life on hold until "the one" comes and sweeps us off our feet. this is where the danger begins. when this poor person does come, unbeknownst to them, they have all the pressure of the world on their shoulders because we have made them our everything...the fulfillment of all of our dreams, our satisfaction, our first love, our main goal in life.

can you see the danger here? i remember struggling with this so much at times during my singleness. i wanted so badly to have that companion, that best friend, that man i was going to do life with. i had ten... yes, ten... bridesmaids dresses hanging in my closet, one of them i wore in my sister's wedding who is almost four years younger than me. i remember it being a struggle to fully live and enjoy those years being single. and now, as hard and lonely as they were at times, i have moments of missing them because they were some of the sweetest years of my life.

jesus found me in that season and helped me see that it was HIM and me doing life together. i remember my dad telling me "megan, even after you get married, it's always going to be you and jesus." if the lord did have marriage for me, i wanted my husband to be attracted to me because of the way i was running after jesus and making him my life... because that's what i wanted to do together in our marriage.

i have also seen married couples who make marriage their everything and at some point in their journey together, they're bound to be sorely disappointed. god made us for relationship. and that doesn't mean just with our spouse; it means with his people--single, married, old and young. period. once couples return from their honeymoon, there is a temptation to shut others out and just enjoy each other. while this definitely needs to happen at times to grow and enrich a martial relationship, there is so much joy that takes place in reaching out to others, getting involved in ministry, having alone time and time with individual friends (girl time/guy time) that is essential for a healthy, happy marriage. in their book just how married do you want to be?, authors jim and sarah sumner touch on the importance of living in community as a married couple:

"every christian couple needs to be in christian community. couples who get along well need it every bit as much as couples who argue and fight. being active in christ's body is part of what it means to love the church's head, christ jesus. authentic christian community is interpersonal. being in it is not the same as merely attending church. to be in christian community is to be relationally connected with other people who are connected to jesus christ." (just how married do you want to be? p. 156)

this again, is a pattern that begins in a dating relationship; before one even enters marriage. if you're dating, make sure to surround your relationship with community. not only will this help establish a sense of accountability for both you and your partner, but it will also keep your sole focus and attention off of each other and help remind you both that there is a world that exists outside your dating relationship! stay grounded in your church community, in your friendships. don't center your entire life around your romantic relationship. this will only assist in creating a pattern of unhealthiness in your relationship. make sure you're spending time apart and enjoying your own individual friendships, ministries and activities. if you're expecting your spouse to be your everything, you're setting yourself up for disappointment and you're guaranteed to cause your spouse undue frustration. that is *not* the way god designed marriage to be. he wants to be our number one love, passion and desire. no one and nothing else is designed to fulfill that position in our lives, including our spouse.

when my husband and i were first falling in love, he always made a point to tell me that i was his "second love." he told me that i will never be his first, nor should he ever be mine. i found myself getting annoyed when he would tell me that; it sounded so abrasive to me! now, i'm so thankful that my husband reminds me of that because it reminds me of my place in his life, and where his place in mine should be. this order was not instituted after we walked down the aisle; it was established in each of our lives long before we met one another. this only helped us keep god where he needs to be--as number one; not only in our individual lives, but in our life together.

**stay tuned for parts 2 and 3...

snow storm six.

so this post title took a lot of brain power on my part. instead of "thursday three" i wanted to do something different for this week... since it's been, well, a different week. dallas has been hammered by winter weather this week, which caused the entire city to shut down from tuesday until saturday morning. businesses, offices and schools were closed. streets were just sheets of ice. cars were spinning out all over the roads. people were losing power. and just when we all thought it was about to be over, we went to bed thursday night watching it snow and woke up friday morning to over five inches of powdery white! for a city that seemingly has one snowplow to take care of every snow-covered street in the entire dallas-fort worth metroplex, and a salt/sand supply that doesn't know icy roads, this was a week we will not soon forget. so crazy... and for the cornwell three: so fun.

so i bring you: the snow storm six. our top six favorite things about this snowy, icy week when dallas shut down and life slowed for just a little while.

clever, i know. here goes.

1. school cancellations. ahhhh yes, i still feel like a child in grade school growing up in maine, where we actually had snow days because of... well, snow. but here in dallas if the word ice is breathed from the lips of any weather man or woman, i am anxiously awaiting news that nick will be home for the day. it is like music to my ears and i am a giddy eight year old girl all over again.

2. mexican train dominoes. this goes without saying. the best all-day-play-forever game in the entire world.

3. family time. i truly began living for the weekends when i became a mom. i *love* our time as a family to relax and be together. it's also nice to have an extra hand with baby-duty, too and nick is beyond helpful. we were given the best gift this week to have four days together when we otherwise would've been apart. love. it.

4. f.r.i.e.n.d.s. the tv show and the real thing. nick&i love getting in bed at night and watching our boxed dvd sets of our fav show. not going to lie i think we've watched all ten seasons maybe three times through in the almost-three-years we've been married. it makes us laugh and something we both love. this week we stayed up extra late and thursday night got to get in bed to watch tv with the curtains open in our bedroom, big snowflakes falling outside. so cozy. we also happen to live in the same apartment complex as some of our best friends. which makes snow days even better. every day we walked to each other's homes, shared meals together, played games, stayed up late and even walked to starbucks and walmart when we got really stir crazy. we are so blessed by our friends!

5. games, games and more games. yes, it's true. in addition to mexican train dominoes, we spent our four snow days playing trivial pursuit, some dice game and spoons.

6. snow, snow, snow! "it won't be long before we'll all be there with snoooow. i want to wash my face, my hands, my hair with snow." ahhh, yes. white christmas, anyone?? nick and i were up late talking thursday night when we discovered the beautiful snow falling outside. i think nick went out on our balcony at least four times to check it out and take pictures. i love how much he loves snow... because i love it too :) friday afternoon we brought bella out in the snow for her first time! she LOVED it. not even kidding. squealed and kicked her feet like crazy. we spent a good hour sliding down a hill in our apartment complex with all of our friends with whatever "sledding" supplies we could find (this included a blow-up plastic baby pool, a card table, and several cardboard boxes. gotta love texas!) nick took bella for a couple trips down the hill and most of all, she loved watching everyone having fun. and it was!!

life doesn't slow down for much. it presses on--sometimes with an unforgiving tenacity that leaves me scrambling in its wake. scrambling for more time to get things done, another chance to accomplish daily tasks, some peace and quiet and some time to treasure sweet little moments with my family. this week, i was given the precious gift of time. quiet, peaceful, stillness. it was bliss. pure bliss. and still, went by too fast. so thankful for the past few days and for the snow that made life slow down. even for just a bit.