life lately

I'm taking this day to take a look back at the past few weeks and share a whole bunch of pictures and I'm linking up with Blair to do it.

Another wedding! Photos were done by my VERY talented friend Danaea of Danaea Li Photography!

What's happening in your life??! I'd love to hear.

that time she asked me

Jessi Connolly was one of the first bloggers that I started reading everyday about a year or so ago. My friend Margaret tweeted about Influence, I looked into it, saw some girl named Jessi, and fell for her writing. I fell for her love for Jesus, her sincere understanding of the Gospel, her passion for truth, her creative ability, and just her!

She did my blog design which resulted in countless emails over a series of months. After the design was done, the emails continued, fewer and fewer, and then over time, more and more. Over the past few months, through the providence of God (I really really truly believe that), we've become sweet friends.

We met for the first time about a month or so ago via video. With her kids roaming in and out of the camera shot, we chatted. We'd been planning for ages to have this chat, and it was just what my heart needed.

A cool thing about Jessi is that she has spotted some gifts in me that I didn't really realize were in me, and God has done some serious speaking to my heart simply because of this friendship. I always know that if I'm feeling a bit under the weather, spiritually speaking, Jessi will speak some health and wellness back into me.

A few weeks ago, Jessi asked me to become a contributing writer for Naptime Diaries. I'm honoured and delighted to be over at Naptime Diaries today to share how Proverbs 18:10 is a really good space to start a refresh journey.

An extra fun perk of this day, is that today only, Jessi is offering a special sale on her print shop! YAY!  So be sure to pop on over to her blog to read my words, or just skip to the bottom and get that coupon code and buy yourself a scripture print (or 25)!

 

{a walk through} psalm 48

Today is less about Psalm 48 and more about fun other stuff. BUT I didn't want to skip the day and I do love this verse.

I'm really excited to be over on my friend Moriah's blog today! I had a fun idea of doing a vlog instead of a typical blog sponsor post and she was all for it!

The questions she asked me were on the spot so I hadn't thought through them before. One answer that I gave was really good for me. I think I spoke out what I had been thinking about for a while so I want to share it below.

But go check out the vlog too okay? OKAY!

That's the purpose of my blog.

Not that I'll be so good. 
But that God will really be so good. Because HE IS SO GOOD!
And that I'll be able to show that through what I write.

You don't drink water just because you're weary. You drink it so that you don't become weary.

So let's drink up some of that living water today.

How do you actively seek the Lord? What are you doing to fill yourself up with truth?

the spaces between the walls

So today the members of the Influence Network are hanging out for the day in our hometowns together. We're looking back at where we're from and then we're supposed to share about where we are now.

First up, I should warn ya, I'm from Canada. I know. Exotic! Right?

I was born in a small town called Mission, but we moved to Abbotsford by the time I was about one, so Abby (as most call it) has always been my home town. I lived in the same house until I was 17. A few weeks before I graduated high school, my parents moved to a house not far from where we'd already lived in town. It was fun to move for me. I don't actually think I played much of a role in deciding houses, but my Dad and I would drive around town looking at places for sale, so as a teenager, I'm pretty sure I thought I had made the decision.

The spaces in Abby that really resonate in my mind when I think back to living there (I've now lived in Vancouver for 3 1/4 years) are the movie theatre where my friend Becky and I would go to movie after movie after movie, the school I grew up at, and the restaurant that I worked in.

Yet more so than those spaces is the home that my parents built for us. Not physically the buildings we lived in, but the spaces that filled the building. I have so many fond memories of our house being full of people because that's just something they did. They welcomed people in all the time. Whether it was friends, clients of my Dad who were hard to love but needed extra care, family, or who knows who else, from an early age, I watched them model gracious hospitality.

Now I live in my own apartment. I've been in this space for 2 1/2 years and I love it. It's this big heritage style apartment with hardwood floors, tall ceilings, pretty door handles, large windows, and just a lot of heart. It's a space of my own to show that hospitality. I don't think I've mastered the art of hospitality as well as they modeled it, but I'm working on it. I want to fill the spaces between the walls with joy, peace, and hope. I think that sounds like a good space to me.

P.S. In this bottom collage, I'm the one laughing my face off at my birthday party. For some reason, my friends and I decided to crouch down in front of the guys and photo bomb their conversation. I was the only one who crouched, and it really wasn't that funny. But I laughed, because that's what I do.

{a walk through} psalm 47

God is so good. So so so good.

I'm a season of busy. So busy that I keep putting posts into drafts instead of finishing them and putting them up here. I'm so excited to come back here and dust off some cobwebs. I know I've still posted pretty consistently, but it's felt sparse for me. It's felt like I'm not here as much as I'd like because I serve a good God and I want to talk about Him. Yet busy keeps keeping me away.

I had plans to continue my refresh series tomorrow but I just don't think I have those words in me. I've made some sweet changes in the area of refreshment, but they'll be just as true next week and the week after. I'll also be over on Jessi's blog Friday sharing a little about refreshment.

Speaking of refreshment, at least, speaking of things that make my heart get happy, let's talk about the Influence Network for a minute. This community is beautiful. One of my extra busy sections of life is happening over there. I'm doing a bit more behind the scenes in the forums to keep them kind and neat, which is fun. If you're considering joining the network, recently joined, or have been around for awhile, get excited about the network. Good things are in the works friends!

Friday I'm helping plan a fundraiser for a local church plant! I spent most of my day yesterday at the church office planning, emailing, praying, dreaming, and just getting stuff done! I'm so excited for my friends to start this new church. It's called Christ City Church and I'd love if you'd consider donating to their fundraising start-up fund. You can donate at www.sentandsending.com. If you're a local blog reader, be sure to come out to the event Friday! 

I absolutely love going to a church that is committed to planting churches. This is the second church plant that's happened while I've been a part of the church, and I've only been going for just over 3 years.

On Sunday I was on worship team at church, and it was so good. The goodness had so little to do with my fingers hitting the keys and my voice hitting the notes. The goodness had to do with looking out at my church and watching people experience Jesus. The goodness was Jesus. It's such an honour. Few things bring joy to my heart like the opportunity to lead people in worship to Jesus.

I'm excited to hear how you are doing! How are you? What's keeping you busy? What's keeping you not busy? What's causing you to sing praise to God?