Isaiah 58:11

Scents.

2011-01-03T18:17:00.000-08:00

Today, Will and I had to run a few errands. He needed some jeans altered, so we went and took care of that. After we left the alteration place, I asked Will if he would mind going to Bath and Body Works. Being the loving brother that he is, Will agreed to go with me, stating, "I would do it for my sister." <3

While we were there, Will approached me with a pair of cute socks asking if I would purchase them for him. If you know Will at all, it should come as no surprise to you that he has worn the socks posted below all afternoon.

After Will and I took our super cute sock pictures, Will discovered this bad boy:

And to think that the plug has been in there since after Thanksgiving.... sheesh.

But, I have to confess that I indulged a little. Since the last time that I have been in there, Bath and Body Works has received some new scents. They smell DIVINE! Here is a sneak peak at the ones I got. :)

I am a sucker for heavenly smells. haha.

All in all, today has been nice. I thoroughly enjoyed the time I got with my little koala bear.

-JJ

Cozy.

2011-01-02T19:07:00.000-08:00

Today has kind of been one of those lazy, do-nothing kind of days. Other than church, I have just kind of bummed around. But for part of the afternoon, I read a book entitled, When God Writes Your Life Story by Eric and Leslie Ludy. I haven't gotten too far, but Eric has been talking about having child-like faith and the importance of dreaming the impossible. One of the things that he mentioned along with the other stuff was, "The God of the Universe wants to write your life story. And when He does, you musn't expect a mediocre tale." But how often do I settle for mediocre? Lately, I have been thinking about how much God desires to take us deeper in our walk with Him. In order to go deeper, you can't settle for less or be complacent. Through changes and various life experiences, God desires to pull us out mediocrity, and take us to new depths with Him.

A couple of hours ago, a friend and I were talking about a situation she is currently experiencing in life. What she said reminded me of this desire God has to write our stories and make it a grand display of His glory. While discussing a book she has been reading, she said:

"So in this book Pastor Steven is talking about sun stand still prayers and how everyone probably has one. For me, my sun stand still prayer has been for my parents to repair their marraige because I know there's no way I could fix that, but God can fix it so easily. I've been really excited about praying this prayer, but at the same time I had what ifs running through my head. My biggest one was "what if what I want isn't what God wants? What if restoring my parents marraige isn't what He wants to do?" Last night I was watching one of the videos that goes with the book and it's titled "When the Sun goes down". He talks about how for some people, they don't get to see the miracle, but they get to be the miracle. For some people, God wants to use their situation to get so much glory for his name. I thought about it and felt such a peace thinking that God might want to use my parent's divorce to glorify himself. He might want to use me! How crazy! Realizing this has made me ok with my parents' divorce. If they get back together, awesome. If they don't, that's awesome too because then God gets to use my situation and what seems like the end of rope to be the most miraculous thing in my life! Ahhh, it gets me so pumped!!"

She grasps it. Not only is she letting the Creator of the Universe write her story, but she isn't settling for less. When God writes our story, every chapter is used for His glory. Yes, the good, the bad, and the ugly. All of it. In everything, God desires that we trust His heart and plan for us (Jeremiah 29:11), and take every invitation to walk more intimately with Him.

That's my prayer for this year: to walk deeper and more intimately with Him.

As for now, mom and I are about to play some games and enjoy our new cozy socks. ;)

-JJ

* P.S.-These are the most comfortable socks I have ever owned. :)

Changes.

2011-01-01T20:11:00.000-08:00

My lovely sis, Nikki Eidson, designed this blog for me. She did a fabulous job with it!

But, why did I want one is probably the burning question on your mind right now, I suppose...

Well, I figured this year was going to be full of changes and transitions, as well as many memories and events that all needed a place to be recorded.

Here are a few of the things I am most excited about:

Graduation (June 3, 2011)
Discerning which college I will attend in the fall: UNT or UGA
Summer 2011
Preparing for college
Starting my first college semester in the fall

While I am aware that most of that stuff pertains to school, there are a lot of other things I am looking forward to as well.

Such as:

Spending time with my friends and family
Possibly seeing my lovely friends in SC
Getting my hair cut short
Momma being a nurse (even though she is NOT allowed to practice on me ;) )
Seeing Will finish his freshman year

Among all of the above listed, I am super excited to see what each day will have waiting for me and those around me.

Hopefully, this did not bore you to tears. I just wanted to make a little post on my new, nifty blog. :)

-JJ