Monday, February 25, 2013

Lace Love

I love lace and I love my new bag!

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For Valentines day, our mom made each of us girls the sweetest bags! She had seen me eying all the pretty laces at the craft store and went back and bought them to sew on a little tote bag! I was so surprised and just adore how cute it turned out!

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-Dani

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Changing it up

My recent state of continual change in circumstances has made me think that maybe “change” can almost be considered my consistent way of life. I’ve started to wonder if instead of being one of those people who is afraid of change, I’m afraid of no change—of being stuck in a rut somewhere and feeling inactive. I’ve thought that if you’re willing to constantly be changed and challenged by the grace of God, then change is a good thing. Right? I want to always be open to the idea of being transformed, renewed and through that, strengthened by God’s love.

But personally, lately sometimes I wonder if my antsy-ness and restlessness—my yearning for knowing what’s coming next and for being anxious about where God is leading me now… maybe it’s not okay. I’ve been in this state of never-ending shake-ups in my life for the past I don’t know, 5 years. Always moving around, leaving home for months on end, going through nursing school, moving away, having different friends coming and going in and out of my life. I’ve started to wonder if I should take it easy on the whole “trying to constantly make big decisions and do something life changing” as much as possible attitude. THAT is a struggle for me. I’ve always been the type of person to feel a need for activity. I thrive under a little pressure and stress. Basically, the more I have going on and the more I can accomplish in a day, the better I tend to feel about my life in general. (Dad, I get this from you!) I want to be engaged in change so it feels like I’m getting somewhere or making progress. I don’t think I even realized that this is something I really really struggle with until recently. But maybe God is changing me and allowing me to realize that’s not how it has to be:

Learn to live from your true Center in Me. I reside in the deepest depths of your being, in eternal union with your spirit. It is at this deep level that My Peace reigns continually. You will not find lasting peace in the world around you, in circumstances, or in human relationships. The external world is always in flux—under the curse of death and decay. But there is a gold mine of Peace deep within you, waiting to be tapped. Take time to delve into the riches of My residing Presence. I want you to live increasingly from your real Center, where My Love has an eternal grip on you. I am Christ in you, the hope of Glory.--Jesus Calling


I heard something from one of my favorites, Joyce Meyer, the other day. She said, “the devil hates progress and any determination of it.” So wait… where does that leave me? I need to be doing something. Making progress. Getting things done. Naturally, I started thinking about all the things I need to start doing: how I could improve some of my relationships, things I should be doing to serve in my city, how to be a better nurse.

I’d been struggling over what exactly I wanted to say on this subject. Then it hit me at church this morning: It’s not the change in circumstances or actions I need to be concerned about. It’s letting God change my heart that’s important.

My circumstances don’t matter. Being busy, building relationships, serving in the community… those things are all important and God continually leads me in those areas. But it’s even more important to not let those things be a distraction to the changes He’s trying to make inside of me. Without His presence and influence, my work is meaningless.

So, it’s my hope and prayer this week that we can all take a step back and focus on what God is trying to do inside of us, rather than being caught up in all the exciting external circumstances. If we slow down, listen to God in every moment, and be open to the little things He’s working to change in our hearts, life will fall into place exactly as He already planned it.


Megan

Saturday, February 23, 2013

So happy

We are so excited and proud of this girl! After what I know has been an extremely long, stressful, and often discouraging process for her, Jenny received the news that she was accepted to her desired college for grad school! She has always had such a heart for taking care of people and animals and plans to go into occupational therapy. Congratulations Jenny! We are so happy for you!

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Friday, February 22, 2013

Craft Break

Over my long Christmas break I finally had time to try some of the craft ideas I had been thinking of. Plus, my room needed some sprucing up since it had become a dumping zone for school supplies and projects.

I had some canvases sitting around for a while but I had been too scared to commit to painting something on them to end up changing my mind. Finally I just did it. I decided to put on a phrase on one of them and it was super easy to do. All you need is your canvas, paint, paint brushes, and letter stickers. I just painted the whole canvas the color I wanted the letters to be, stuck on the stickers, painted the whole canvas in another color as a "wash", then took the stickers off.

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I had been wanting a little chalk board where I could easily change out verses. I found an unfinished wood frame, sanded it a little, then painted the frame white and the inside part with chalkboard paint.

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One day when I was bored and in a crafty mood, I made some chiffon flowers. Then I found some twigs outside and attached the flowers to them and put them in a bottle.

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It's funny how some simple little projects can revive a room!

-Dani

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Lake Michigan Winter

A couple weeks ago Matt (the little brother) and I took an excursion to Lake Michigan. Or should I say on? We were walking out to the water when all the sudden we realized that we were way farther out than the shore usually is. We were on ice! We probably should have turned back right away but we just had to get some pictures first!

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The lake was like a giant slushie with rolling waves. It was so crazy but even more beautiful! I promise we didn't go as close to the edge as it looks! But I'm very thankful we didn't fall through the icebergs!

-Dani

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Tennessee in December

Way back in December (can you remember that far back?) after I was finished with my classes, I made a trip down to East Tennessee to visit the best sisters ever.

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I love being up in the clouds looking at nothing but God's beautiful creation. Views like these remind me of how unimaginably perfect heaven will be!

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We completed some serious Christmas shopping at the mall, but we also visited some fun antique stores. I think we might have had a little too much fun.

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Before I got there we were already planning to make a gingerbread house. We went out and bought pounds of candy. Apparently they don't sell bulk candy in TN?

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Here's our finished gingerbread house complete with a jello swimming pool (Jenny's genius idea) and a stream. So what if a swimming pool in the snow doesn't make sense. I'm pretty sure a house made out of gingerbread (graham crackers in our case) and candy also doesn't make sense!

We drove to Asheville, NC one of the days to meet our grandparents and take a tour of the Biltmore. Sadly we did not get many pictures because photography is not allowed inside the house and it was rainy outside. What an interesting place!

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One night we went to what is called the Speedway in Lights. We saw millions of Christmas lights and Megan got to live her dream of driving her car on the speedway!

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Sadly, Megan and Jenny had to work a few times while I was there... Welcome to the real world. After going to church on Sunday, Jenny and I brought frozen yogurt to Megan while at work. She was so busy that it melted! We were so sad for her. She says she is "fake" smiling in this picture, but we tried our best to cheer her up!

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I don't know about them, but I had an absolute blast and many laughs. I was totally not ready to leave, but luckily they came home for a few days a week later! Oh how I miss them!

-Dani