Faith, Hope, and Love

At the beginning of 2015, I tried something new. I had given up resolutions many years before, and decided to try picking a word for the year instead . My word was intentional . It felt like a good word. I wanted to be more intentional about my career, and so in 2015 I pursued different opportunities to get back into writing and the editorial world. I wanted to be more intentional about my creative hobbies, like writing and photography, and so I looked at a lot of different class options and made some new contacts. I wanted to be more intentional about my relationships--mostly friendships, but also in the romance category. And so I said "yes" to things I was tempted to say "no" to, and signed up for things at church and beyond in order to get involved and meet more people. I wanted to be more intentional about my health, and did a barre class once a week for a while. And drank more water, and ate healthy in general. I wanted to be more intentional at ...

Dear Family and Friends, In February, I participated in a women’s conference called IF: Gathering. The theme this year was all about faith—if God is real, then what? If I believe in His word, then what? If I trust that He is good, how do I respond? At the end of the week, we were asked to think about our “next step of faith” and offered different ways for us to actively live out our faith. One of those ways was through a mission trip to work alongside Africa New Life Ministries in Rwanda. Rwanda is a small but densely populated country nestled in East Africa. During the 20th century, Rwanda reached a height of violence in the 1994 Genocide. Now, over 20 years since the Genocide, Rwanda has and continues to demonstrate to the world the power of reconciliation and forgiveness. Africa New Life Ministries is a child sponsorship organization that provides a comprehensive level of care to the students, ministering to both physical and spiritual needs as well as focusing on the comm...

Thinking about my #OneWord365 and I found this old blog draft that I never posted. It's still incomplete, but it makes me feel that much more excited that I chose intentional as my word!  Since I've come back from India, I've felt the huge challenge of living an intentional life. I'm the classic, go-with-the-flow kind of girl, and while I don't think I've necessarily been simply a follower, I know I am more reactive in my choices than proactive. India showed me the power of what it looks like to intentionally give of your life and your time to others. And I've really been wanting to make sure that my life just isn't there , but that it's a life of impact. That I'm not wasting my days or my resources, but I'm making the most of them for the glory of God. And that takes some serious intentionality!  I just finished the book Notes from a Blue Bike , and she goes through how she and her family live intentionally when it comes to work,...

Happy New Year, guys! It's crazy to think that 2014 is over and 2015 is here... and yes, I am quite aware that it's been here for almost a full month and I'm just  now acknowledging it (well, on the blog at least). Let's do a little bit of catch-up like we did last year , shall we... 1.  I still live in the same place (no new moves, yay!)... although there might be a new move in June. It's the cutest place I've lived in since moving to Houston, but the landlord is a bit crazy. My neighbors are amazing though... we all hold false hope that we'll find another triplex we can all move into at the same time (we can dream, right?). 2. I still teach and I'm still a course leader. And I still love both... but I'm also beginning to think about what might be next. 3. I can no longer call myself a runner, but I did buy a bike! 4. My family got A LOT bigger... my niece was born last April and my sister got married in December! The niece is the cut...