You

So one of my Christmas gifts from Mama Reed was a new iPod... it is a purple 5th generation nano with 16 GB of space!! My old ipod only had 2G so if I wanted to put new music on, I had to take some off and I was constantly rearranging. I am loving the new ipod and finding some of my old music!

One of things I found on it was an old CD my friend Lara had given me and the following poem is read as one of the tracks and it just touched me again tonight so I wanted to share:

(you can also see her read this poem on youtube)

You

by Amena J Brown

You find me when I'm hiding behind all my disguises

You see me

It takes you to keep me breathing

You are heart...Passion...Vision...Word Incision

You send me and you bring me close

Close close closer

Until when you look at me you see you

You are heavenly

My present and future destiny

You are Father...Creator...Sustainer...Life changer...Pride breaker...

You are yesterday today and forever

You are pleasure...You are worth...Reason...Present in every season

You are worship...Devotion

You are the reason for all my commotion

You are the one that I pray to

You can tell that I'm nothing without you

So awesome that I can pray to you about you

To know you...To sense you ...To believe you more...To love you more...To obey you more

To give you more of my heart

Oh God search me...Know me...See me...Examine me...Test me...Love me...Watch me...Protect me...Show me...Investigate me...Be pleased with me...Question me...Keep me...Change me...Have me...Correct me...Take me...Help me...Create in me...Break in on me...Be my reality...Sustain me...Decrease me...

Decrease me

Decrease me

Decrease me

Until there is no me left

Only you

Only you

Only you

You are light...Are true... Are you... Are hope... Are love... Are strength... Are escape rescue safe... You are peace... You are belief... You are advance and retreat

Of what, to what, to whom can I compare you?

You are my all things new

You are my place of refuge

You are my fortress

My rest

My creativity in the strength of your words to me

You are my ability to see hear feel move live breathe be

You are life and death all at the same time

You are friend

You are believer savior redeemer

You are today tomorrow and the next day

And the next day and the next day and the next day

You are truth

You transcend old age and youth

You are timeless... priceless... lightness in darkness... greatness...goodness...sinless

And in a mess like my life you see righteousness

You leave me speechless

You alone are God

Christmas Baking

So one of my favorite parts of Christmas season is BAKING. For as long as I can remember, my mom has baked lots of goodies to give out as Christmas gifts. Last weekend I came over to help her getting everything done and here is a little sampling:

There were kiss cookies

and chocolate covered peanuts

and Butterscotch Haystacks

....Red Velvet Cake Balls....

.... and 3 pans of fudge....

... and my personal favorite: Peanut Butter Balls!!

Now if I could just keep myself from eating it all....

Merry Christmas! :)

A Simple Life

So the Christmas background was just a place-holder until I could get my new one all figured out :) Even though it's not yet a new year, I was ready for a fresh start on my blog. I found this background at The Cutest Blog on the Block and fell in love with it!!

I started searching through my quote book that I keep to find a new one for my header. This quote from Laura Ingalls Wilder (who I've loved since I was very little) is actually the first one written in my book and I thought it was a good one.

And it really is so much more than a quote. I want to simplify my life... I want to not make things so complicated... I want to not want as much and give more... I want to live on what I need instead of the abundance that I continue to pursue... I want to de-clutter my life. And I feel like a lot of it goes hand-in-hand with the Bible Verse I added to the side from John 1:16 "From the fullness of His grace, we have all received one blessing after another." I am beyond blessed in so many ways and truly desire to live more simply.

I also added new pictures to the side! This design should stick around for a while.... just needed to get it right :)

A Humble Heart

I am so blessed. Today is my birthday and I have been beyond blessed by my friends, family and co-workers. Even though being an adult makes birthdays not quite as fun I mean it was really just a normal Tuesday... I worked out, I went to work (which PS apparently, my company used to give everyone their birthday off... how amazing is that?), I went to my BSF leaders' meeting. But it was nice to get sweet messages throughout the day from people!

And I got some wonderful gifts as well! When I visited Nicki in VA earlier this fall I got my birthday present early... she gave me a Holiday Dessert Cookbook and a Pampered Chef Scoop (which btw I will be using tomorrow to make Red Velvet Cake Balls for Thursday night's BSF!) And tonight after leaders' meeting, Erin gave me some really cute jewelry! She said it best when she said that jewelry is always a fun gift because we're not as likely to buy it for ourselves... I totally agree and I am excited to wear it!

And tonight I grabbed a quick dinner with Mama Reed before BSF and she gave me my gift... the Creche for the Willow Tree Nativity!! I love Willow Tree angels and received the basic Nativity from her a few years ago for my birthday and have been wanting other pieces to build it... but I have especially had my eye on the Creche so I was very excited to get it! Once I got home tonight I was unloading it to put up and was reading through the insert that came with it and I wanted to share because it touched me...

The new Willow Tree Creche is more than just a backdrop for the Nativity collection. While its simple architecture is in keeping with the overall Willow Tree look, the Creche has meaning built into its very design. The artist gave this piece a regal, stately appearance, yet chose to make it from the humble materials of barn wood and nails. This mirrors the belief of Christ's holiness and humanity. The structure's proportions also suggest the size and shape of the cross, while its rusty nails foretell the crucifixion. The Creche intimately shelters the Holy Family, then opens wide to welcome shepherds and travelers from afar who came to praise the newborn son.

I want to approach this season with a humbled heart. A heart that is humbled by His love and grace. A heart that is changed by His mercy. A heart that is fully aware of the true reason behind Christmas... that a baby was born to bring Light into our darkness and still today Jesus brings light to us. And that He was born for the purpose of dying to save me. I want my life to reflect this grace and to be an offering to Him instead of continuing to chase the things that I want.

I am humbled and in awe of His love and mercy and want the to be shown in every aspect of my life